My Momo racing wheel connector plug (kinda looks like a vga plug) that leads to the pedals seems to have a faulty or touchy connection; I have to jiggle it around sometimes right at the base for the input information to transmit properly (otherwise the gas/brakes don’t work, or the steering input is whacked). A friend told me last night that this is actually an easy thing to fix, if you know basic electronics. I’d love to get it fixed, but who do I drag this to, and what’s involved? I don’t want to buy a new wheel since this one works great other than the plug, but it is annoying to have the cable move slightly and suddenly have my race get ruined.
Which end is male and which is female? Is this for a console or a PC?
Usually what happens is one of the connect on the male connector will get pushed back or bent. But that’s actually the second thing to look for. What is more likely is that a bad connection causes heat which causes oxidation of a connect. Some thin cleaning apparatus (a q-tip, if it fits, otherwise a thin pair of tweezers grasping a bit of cloth from a cotton ball or q-tip) and some solvent (rubbing alcohol, acetone) will clean connectors and you’ll get back to having a good connection. If something like a pin is bent, you can perform some delicate surgery, which might actually be easier on the console/PC end than on the actual wire connector itself.
I presume if all else fails, your friend is talking about taking the connector itself apart, probably by taking a razor to the sealed connector, fixing whatever wiring is faulty, and then rebuilding the connector possibly with some glue or rubber cement.
The plug attached to the wire is male, and the socket built into the wheel is female. None of the pins appear bent or pushed back, and the whole plug is far more likely to just get pulled out than jacked on accidental yanking since it’s pretty shallow and has no screws to hold it in place. I’ll try your cleaning tip on the pins and see if that helps.
Gonna resurrect my own thread here, to commend Logitech on some good support.
After trying to clean the connectors on my Momo wheel, it was still not working right, so I emailed their tech support. I was honest about how long I’ve had it (3 years) and they said it was out of warranty, but still offered for me to send it in with a proof of purchase for assessment. Fast forward a week or two and bam, brand new Logitech Force wheel at my door, no payment asked for. It’s a sweet wheel, smaller, tighter, and more smartly built (connectors off to the side instead of what used to press up against my moniter/keyboard.)
It’s a refreshing change compared to Apple and Creative, who on similar hardware failures outside of warranty told me to just buy a new one (apple) or buy some refurbished stock from their website (creative).
Thanks Logitech!