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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Permanent Joystick fix...?

J. Bernard Vallon

J. Bernard Vallon

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My joystick fell off. We had the little kit to replace it, and within about 2 days, the second joystick has become loose and won't properly tighten with red's .9mm allen wrench. (I think the little tiny screw has been stripped, but its hard to tell with such a small screw)

One of my DITs said "why don't we just epoxy it on forever?"

This seems like an either an extreme solution that will end badly, or a very very good idea.

Any thoughts?
 
If the joystick handle is fixed in place, does that prevent opening the case? Not that you should need to do that, just wondering what happens if the camera ever needs service.

Anyway, if you decide to go down that path I'd use 5-minute epoxy. It can still be removed easily enough with some heat from a hairdryer. (On the other hand, it may not be strong enough for the job.)
 
jbeale said:
If the joystick handle is fixed in place, does that prevent opening the case?
Click to expand...

Didn't think of that, anyone from Red want to weigh in? I had to retighten that thing 5 or 6 times at the shoot yesterday, we ended up using a key chain.
 
The only time you need to take the knob off is when you will be replacing the joystick.

Yet when you have to replace the joystick you can cut off the damn knob anyway.


What I have noticed however, some joysticks are very intuitive and some are very badly behaving. Some are smooooth and right on mark and some are pain in the neck to operate. I wonder if there is any adjustment?
So far I had access to 5 cameras or so including mine, so not much experience with different joysticks.

My girlfriend though…….. maybe I tell this story next time….
 
The problem with the joystick is that the small bar that the knob fits to has a flat piece on it, the idea is the screw screws upto this flat piece and holds on tight... However if you slide the joystick knob on so that it butts up against the back of the cut out on the small bar the knob is then pushed in too close to the body. The result is that the joystick cannot be pressed left or right, up or down enough to move through the menus.

If you have used a joystick that doesn't respond well it likely needs the knob to be untightened, moved away from the body a little and then retightened, it'll then work better.

The problem is the knob slips back over time because it's impossible to get it tight enough with such a poxy small allen key.

A redesigned knob that fits the butts upto the back of the cutout and then tightens up ought to solve the problem. A larger allen key would also be helpful to help tighten the knob on.

Paul
 
PaulClements said:
A redesigned knob that fits the butts upto the back of the cutout and then tightens up ought to solve the problem. A larger allen key would also be helpful to help tighten the knob on.

Paul
Click to expand...

How did you redesigned it? made a new one?
I have to check if all bad behaving joysticks are the short one?
 
Why not just wedge something in the knob recess so it can't slide in too much?
 
I wonder why a small part like this with such a bad rep hasn't been replaced long ago.
 
Not necessarily do we have to remove the joystick to take the back segment of the body off, but to remove the board under the the knob we would have to remove the knob

If the knob is seated on the it's happy place on the prong it should not pop off or push in. The secret is getting it perfectly seated on that happy place. The best way I have found to accomplish this is to tighten the set-screw on the knob to the point where you cannot slip it on the prong (because it is tightened down to far), push it against the prong, slightly loosen the set-pin so you can push it down on the prong just a bit. If the set-screw is loosened the perfect amount you should be able to slip the knob onto the flat section prong but it will stop before getting to the round section of the prong.

Now tighten the set-screw down. Pinch the knob and pull firmly, if it does not pop off then put pressure directly in on it to see if it slips down the prong. If it does not pop off or slip down you have found it's happy place.:biggrin:
 
I lost my joystick knob on a shoot. We had been fighting it all day. It came loose early and I never could get it tight again. The wrench or set screw probably was stripped.

As a quick fix I went to the hobby shop and bought some wheel collars and a nice allen wrench with a handle. The set screw is a little bigger so you can really lock it down. A small strip of gaff tape on it gave it some grip. Works so well I'm just sticking with it. Either have a backup knob in your bag or get 4 of these for $2 as a backup because no joystick means no joy on a RED shoot.

Pretty sure this is what I bought.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK186&P=FR
 
joelnet said:
I lost my joystick knob on a shoot. We had been fighting it all day. It came loose early and I never could get it tight again. The wrench or set screw probably was stripped.

As a quick fix I went to the hobby shop and bought some wheel collars and a nice allen wrench with a handle. The set screw is a little bigger so you can really lock it down. A small strip of gaff tape on it gave it some grip. Works so well I'm just sticking with it. Either have a backup knob in your bag or get 4 of these for $2 as a backup because no joystick means no joy on a RED shoot.

Pretty sure this is what I bought.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK186&P=FR
Click to expand...

Brilliant! I think the problem in this case wasn't that the knob was not installed properly in its "happy spot," but rather that the screw/wrench isn't strong enough to easily tighten it enough to stay in the "happy spot."
 
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