How far down should quick disconnects go onto button prongs?

#1

Hey all,

I’m working on my first mod of a fightstick, putting some Sanwas into my cheap Madcatz Alpha. Things are going pretty well, but one thing that surprised me is that my quick disconnects don’t seem to go all the way down onto the button prongs. They cover that first round “hole”, but not the longer “slot” below it. It seems like the disconnect should be long enough to cover the whole thing, but I can’t seem to push it any farther, wiggling as much as I can.

Should I be trying to get the disconnect to totally cover that prong? I’m just a bit nervous about pushing on it as hard as I can 0_0 … I should note, that I have tested them and they do work when down only this far. I’m just worried that they won’t fit in the case when it’s closed.

Thanks for any advice!

#2

Here is a pic of the button with nothing on…

https://i.imgur.com/BY2cc5N.jpg

And here is pic of the button with the quick disconnects, as far as I can get them…

https://i.imgur.com/ZiGFuSb.jpg

Thoughts?

#3

They should go further, you need to give a little force, but if you don’t feel comfortable with it or if you feel the amount of force you’re exerting on them is too much, stop.
As long as it works there’s no issue though, if they come loose you may need to secure them a bit more.

#4

Some quick disconnects require a lot of force to get fully seated. When I moved the buttons around in my Hori FE, I had to use needle nose pliers to push the connector onto the terminal, while holding the button down to keep the switch from popping out.
The Sanwa buttons in my TE stick weren’t quite that bad, but I was still afraid that I would break the terminal off sometimes.

#5

Thanks guys,

So after reading your replies I took a deep breath and lay into that disconnect, with a finger pushing the button from the other side. They did indeed move down much farther ( most of the prong is covered now ) with a bit of a click.

Man I had to work it though. And I was feeling a “pop” in my button too; it seems like the black box moves a bit. But it all seems to move back into place once I press the button normally?..

Good to know others have had to push so hard as well.

#6

Yeah that’s normal, its just some small plastic clips holding the switch in since they can be swapped/replaced easily.
Fret not!

#7

Ahh man. So I got them all wired up, went to close the case and… it won’t shut. I squeezed it shut but then the buttons wouldn’t press. The quick disconnects are too long for my cheapo case!

I’m going to clip off the collars with wire cutters and try again, hopefully that’s enough room. Man though good thing I got those things all the way down the terminal. No room for slack here…

#8

The Mad Catz Alpha is notorious for being a very shallow case.
You can always bend the microswitch prongs so that the Quick Disconnects lie at an angle.

#9

L-shaped QDs might also be shallow enough. Too much bending tends to make them brittle and prone to breaking if you ever have to replace a button.

#10

So with the clipped collars on the disconnects it ALMOST shut. I did have to bend two terminals in the end :frowning: But now it shuts. Two buttons kinda have a “thud” sound instead of a “click” but they feel fine when I press them and they all seem to function normally.

Not exactly the most professilnal mod but I’ll probably stop the tinkering at this point.