🚀 go-pugleaf

Louis Wood <Louis...@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:39bae736.89604061@news.mindspring.com...
> Where do you get spare parts for the Sidewinder 3D Pro?  My top hat is
> getting a bit worn out (no click and little movement in the forward
> direction).  Is it difficult to dissassemble and get back together?

I live in Denmark in a town with about 300,000 citizens and so far I've
found 3 places which carry the switches - 2 electronics stores and 1 radio
warehouse (as they call it).
Seek out these kinds of stores and ask them. The switches here are called
'6x6 milimeter vertical' (sorry, we use the metric system ;-). Vertical
means it is 'standing up'.

Actually, It's not too difficult to replace the tophat switches, you only
have to open the handle. First remove the trigger plate gently with a
screwdriver, it sort of 'pops off', then unscrew the screws and open the
handle. To remove the last half of the handle you have to locate a tiny
screw inside.
Now you have the 'guts' of the handle connected to the base with some
colored wires. Pull out the tophat and you'll see the 4 switches for it. It
may be a good idea to do this at the beginning so you know what you're
looking for in the stores. Or even better: bring one of the switches (or
even the open-handled stick) and show it at the stores.
Lastly comes the tricky part: unsoldering the worn-out switches and
soldering the new ones back in. If you're not too familiar with soldering,
get a friend or relative who is to do it for you.
Bingo, now all you have to do is reassemble the parts. Not too difficult.

Hope this helps.

LeKak