Zipstick 'autofire' problem

[mattyjim]

Does anybody know anything about the inner workings of the old 'Competition Pro Zipsticks'?

I opened mine up the other day to investigate an autofire switch that appeared to have been pushed almost completely inside the base of the joystick.

I couldn't see any damage to anything other than the piece of circuitboard that holds the switch itself, which had just snapped loose at one corner, and so I managed to stick everything back together without too much trouble.

Only problem is that the autofire switch is still very loose, and seems to have an unpleasant effect on certain games.

The situation's actually pretty weird, because: -

1. Before I clipped the switch back into position, autofire was permanently active on 'Shadow of the Beast 2' (which is a major pain).

2. Now that I've clipped the switch back into position, autofire is no longer active on 'Shadow of the Beast 2', but still seems to effect 'Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge 2' (You can never get the car up to full speed when you use either of the fire buttons as an accelerator, but it's ok when you use the joystick method).

I suppose you're gonna need a knowledge of these games to know what I'm on about - sorry.

Maybe I've gone into too much detail here, but all I really need to know is how to disable the autofire (permanently if necessary).


Any help would be great.


Cheers!

[sarek2k]

I suppose the easiest way would be to take out the circuit (autofire) tape off the ends and tape the loose wires inside the joystick or if you can solder buy a new switch and replace the current circuit! I am no expert but made many running repairs to my broken joysticks over the years (i had LOT'S)

however before you do any of this have you also discounted your fire buttons??? could be a dodgy micro switch with (intermittent) fault! Finally check and double check that non of the wiring loom has got crimped / broken!

Also you say it's a competition pro zipstick ? thats actually 2 different joysticks 1 has red (round) buttons (comp pro) and the Zipstick has 2 yellow Sqaure buttons that look like tunes. comp pro has red handle / zipstick black.

i doubt this will help you but till someone else comes along with a better answer

[mattyjim]

Thanks for your reply!

It's actually a Zipstick (black with square, yellow buttons); sorry about the confusion - looks as though my memory's as dusty as the darned joystick.

I'll try out your suggestions, and see if I can't get back into them ol' classics.



Cheers!