Saturn twin stick repair investigation

[tcancian]

Hi everyone. I've recently opened up a Saturn Twin Stick that was long in storage and I just realized it's feeling really bad compared to my other Saturn stick and more so to the Dreamcast stick. The DC stick appears to have much better quality parts but this Saturn one out of the four is really bad and sticking up on activation points.

I've tried lubbing it up and I've also managed to defeat the hellish spring washer after cutting my hands and nearly rage-quitting. Any tips on how to improve this unit? I thought I had done too much lube but even the other Saturn one that's better than this one still doesn't return to center as tightly as the Dreamcast sticks. I wonder if this is a design fault and maybe they improved the controller for VOOT more precise moves? I'll try adding spray lube tomorrow but if the spring is so damn strong how come it won't center as nice as the VOOT one?

I'm considering ordering these from ali: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/10050051 ... 4itemAdapt and using it with the Twin-Stick handle if it matches the screw locations. I've read somewhere there's the Seimitsu LS-57 but that's hard to find from an english storefront.

[tcancian]

Updating anyone who might come over this issue.

I'm investigating using Seimitsu LS-56 parts for repair. The shaft on the Dreamcast version appears to be longer at the bottom (the holes are spaced apart just like the Saturn stick but the shaft itself is longer). I think I'll be able to use a Seimitsu LS-56 actuator (which will reduce the deadzone), spring holder (like the Dreamcast repair which I've done), e-clip and spring. A soft Seimitsu spring (I'll purchase 1lb, 2lb and 4lb) might also improve the throw return to neutral and make it more like the Dreamcast. I think the biggest difference between the two models is the spring. Perhaps because the shaft is shorter, ASCII used a really, really strong spring that's almost impossible to put back without a wrench to hold it down and even then you'll still have to yank it and eat away some of the plastic and deform the metal on the shaft thus making the e-clip an even tighter fit. As it happens, the actuator will get deformed and won't come out so it's not easy to open and repair like the Dreamcast stick.

Spring-wise, worst case scenario, I'll have to use the lighter spring which will be held more tensile against the top. It seems wise perhaps to add a metal washer to distribute the pressure on the plastic parts of the Saturn stick (which I also noticed are beginning to fracture; not sure if I'm the cause or if it's due wear and tear).

If all goes well, we might find a way to improve Saturn sticks with Seimitsu parts.

[MentholMoose]

Thanks for the update! I'm not very familiar with the Saturn TS so I'm interested in the result. I've used LS-56 parts with the DC TS. Here's a relevant thread about it. Seimitsu LS-56 to fix TwinStick ?

[tcancian]

Hi, Moose. How are you doing? I'll be ordering the LS-56 parts (spring, actuator and spring-holder) soon to try them out on the Saturn stick. I believe they'll work as I've seen someone swapping the plastic trigger parts and the diameter on the end and top of the shaft on both sticks is the same. I did not want to disassemble my Dreamcast Twin-Stick. This Saturn experience got me some PTSD with the spring thing.

It seems that in the worst case scenario the only part that won't fit outright is the actuator then I'll either cut it or 3D print a newer part which opens the way for custom actuator sizes.

On the plus side. If someone is thinking about doing this. Please buy yourself an e-clip removal tool. There are many out there and they'll likely make this much easier and don't damage the metal shaft and plastic actuator. The original actuator is kind of an odd size being larger near the spring-base and narrower near the e-clip instead of the DCTS where the actuator is pretty much the same diameter size all throught. I think this is why the Saturn stick feels more "loose" inside the stick.

Next month I'll have some updates.

[MentholMoose]

Looking forward to the result!