Fanatec McLaren GT3 rim problems...

[anton_Chez]

Hey guys,

Anyone having problems with their newly released McLaren GT3 rim? I am having the clutch paddles drop out on me after a random amount of time. Upon plugging the rim into the base (I use an OSW with the Fanatec wheel base side conversion kit with the newly flashed firmware to operate the GT3 rim) everything is recognized, map-able and works fine. After a while driving, the clutch paddles just drop out and become unusable. I've had the gear paddles drop out once or twice but it's the clutch paddles that do it pretty much every session. Sometimes after 20 minutes, sometimes after a couple of minutes. I've contacted both Fanatec and Simracingmachines.com where I got the conversion kit from in a hope to get to the bottom of it. Just wondering if anyone else is having drama with it.

When you first plug it in, everything is recognized so their shouldn't be a problem with compatibility. Just a reliability thing now.

 

[Fil140]

oh i took simons advice and knocked out a few of those ribs,the plugs do come off of the board with a bit of wiggling and sometime pulling away the hot glue.I just used a blade for the bump stops and a small sharp screwdriver for the screw holes. Its well worth the swearing and shouting though, it feels tons better. well done mate!

 

[Xero]

After trying various things i started wondering how soft the metal was on the shifters and discovered by careful manipulation that the metal is indeed quite malleable. It is possible that pressure over several hundred/ thousand presses could bend the rocker inwards and shorten the activation gap and cause misreads. I bent both sides very slightly away from the body of the wheel, thereby proving how easily bent it was and my problem disappeared.

After getting my wheel back from an RMA repair, the shifting problem appeared again after 30 seconds. I then tried this advice given by Ray T. I firmly pressed the paddles back, pressing the bottom part of each at the same time, so it moves back and upwards. After doing this a few times you'll notice the rocker pin will raise up slightly, which I think is key. 1 month later I haven't had a single mis-shift! It's clear the contacts on the buttons aren't quite lining up correctly with the paddle. I'm not certain if the paddle metal is actually bending, but having the rocker pin slightly loose may be allowing it to press the contacts correctly. Perhaps a combo of both, but it's been a flawless fix for me.

 

[anton_Chez]

Thanks for sharing! Easy fix to an annoying problem. Hopefully it saves a few RMA's...

 

[Sim Strata]

After getting my wheel back from an RMA repair, the shifting problem appeared again after 30 seconds. I then tried this advice given by Ray T. I firmly pressed the paddles back...

This is very cool. I wonder if anybody has fed this back to Fanatec?

 

[Fil140]

no guys, the issue is internal, yes your fix will remedy it for a while but the actual issue is the adhesive tape holding the snap dome in position which warms and softens after a few presses or sometimes its lesft from your last run in a position where 5 minutes of use shifts it. it pnly has to move a mil or so to loose a sound conection, simon maltby has cured this by removing the tape and soldering around the corners of the snap dome to stop it from shifting. some people have the same issue with the P&N buttons too. ive attached pics so that you can see inside my first gt3 where it had just moved in a 40min practice session.

 

[Jeremy Ford]

Dome buttons for the shifters, that's not good for longevity. I remember them in my Spectrum joysticks, they broke all the time.

 

[Fil140]

yep, so true. HOLD ON! JEREMY!? GET BACK TO ISRTV WHERE YOU BELONG!!!!

 

[Jeremy Ford]

yep, so true. HOLD ON! JEREMY!? GET BACK TO ISRTV WHERE YOU BELONG!!!!

Bah, I've been caught out!

 

[Fil140]

traitor!! get him............ooh hang on? im here too! run jezza!!!

 

[DomB_Fanatec]

no guys, the issue is internal, yes your fix will remedy it for a while but the actual issue is the adhesive tape holding the snap dome in position which warms and softens after a few presses or sometimes its lesft from your last run in a position where 5 minutes of use shifts it. it pnly has to move a mil or so to loose a sound conection, simon maltby has cured this by removing the tape and soldering around the corners of the snap dome to stop it from shifting. some people have the same issue with the P&N buttons too. ive attached pics so that you can see inside my first gt3 where it had just moved in a 40min practice session.

Hi Fil40, the shifting issue is more complex than what you are describing here. The assessment that it is caused by snap dome movement on the tape is certainly not the whole story. Following a thorough investigation, we know there are actually three separate factors involved, and therefore this fix of soldering the snap domes is not going to solve all cases of miss-shifting. As such, we recommend that anyone with shifting issues contacts our support team to initiate a full repair.

 

[anton_Chez]

Nice work Dom, great to hear that you are being proactive with the solution. I've had luck with mine so far, especially after the firmware update. Hopefully I dodge the issue for this one.

 

[F1Aussie]

This has been a long standing issue for a number of people, it would have been good if fanatec got on the front foot and mentioned this openly in official forums or on their FB page rather than to a small group of people on another forum, seems a bit backward to me.

 

[anton_Chez]

I guess it depends on the amount of rims affected. If it's 1 in 200 then probably no need but if it's 50% then yeah probably should be recalling most if not all of them. They have everyone's email that has purchased one so getting to the relevant customers shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Chris_I]

Hi Fil40, the shifting issue is more complex than what you are describing here. The assessment that it is caused by snap dome movement on the tape is certainly not the whole story. Following a thorough investigation, we know there are actually three separate factors involved, and therefore this fix of soldering the snap domes is not going to solve all cases of miss-shifting. As such, we recommend that anyone with shifting issues contacts our support team to initiate a full repair.

@DomB_Fanatec ,
does this issue still exist in new wheels? Or is it solved? Cause I'm still looking into buying one but if I have to send it back within a few days/weeks because of this known issue I'm not soo keen to order one.

 

[Fil140]

actually dom is right but i was speaking about the shift issue after the latest firmware update, even with the firmware update, which solves both the shifter issue and the clutch issue, the issue of the snap domes physically moving is still very apparent.

 

[DomB_Fanatec]

This has been a long standing issue for a number of people, it would have been good if fanatec got on the front foot and mentioned this openly in official forums or on their FB page rather than to a small group of people on another forum, seems a bit backward to me.

I can understand your point F1Aussie, but my post was only to correct a specific statement here about the snap domes. As with any of our products, if a customer has issues, they should contact support. Customers should not attempt to perform unverified fixes like the one suggested here, as it voids the warranty.

I guess it depends on the amount of rims affected. If it's 1 in 200 then probably no need but if it's 50% then yeah probably should be recalling most if not all of them. They have everyone's email that has purchased one so getting to the relevant customers shouldn't be an issue.

The small number of units affected combined with the complexities of the problem itself is why we have chosen to deal with this on a case-by-case basis.

@DomB_Fanatec ,
does this issue still exist in new wheels? Or is it solved? Cause I'm still looking into buying one but if I have to send it back within a few days/weeks because of this known issue I'm not soo keen to order one.

We have taken steps to address the issue, but it would be unrealistic to guarantee that every unit is immune to this kind of problem. Of course, any problems of this nature will be handled by our service team as quickly as possible, and at no cost to you.

 

[F1Aussie]

I can understand your point F1Aussie, but my post was only to correct a specific statement here about the snap domes. As with any of our products, if a customer has issues, they should contact support. Customers should not attempt to perform unverified fixes like the one suggested here, as it voids the warranty.


The small number of units affected combined with the complexities of the problem itself is why we have chosen to deal with this on a case-by-case basis.


We have taken steps to address the issue, but it would be unrealistic to guarantee that every unit is immune to this kind of problem. Of course, any problems of this nature will be handled by our service team as quickly as possible, and at no cost to you.

I like your honesty Dom.

 

[Jonathan Young]

Well I have my fingers crossed then. I’ve had mine for three or four weeks now and it’s been pretty solid. Actually it’s been fantastic and seriously adds to the immersion in ACC particularly. Big Fanatec fan, as my diminished wallet will attest to.

 

[Fil140]

Yep, if you got a recent one then i cant see any reason for it not to be sorted, i've been in constant communication with fanatec since last september and should add that my teardown was actually authorised by cust.serv.
after a few chats with some very switched on mates we came to the conclusion, as dom said, not all units were faulty and so a complete recall would be so unnecessarily costly that there would be no point and if someone has an issue then in all likelihood they will contact fanatec.
If fanatec were to put out a statement declaring their product to be faulty then this could well start a panic and result in hundreds, if not thousands of unneeded RMA's.I am a total fanboy and wouldn't want to see the company take a massive hit as the result of such a minor error.Anyway, my wheel's been great since the las firmware update and i'm loving it more than ever, and what a great price!

 

[wozza]

Just to backup what Fil140 has said, my rim was one of the first batch and I have not had a problem with it. The only reason I swapped out the shifter paddles was to have something a bit more tactile not because of any issue.