X52 throttle sensitivity fading

[Anthony Atkielski 985811]

Lately I've noticed mysterious changes in the autothrottle and reverse thrust in my aircraft, and I've traced it to the X52 throttle quadrant, the lower end of which is getting higher and noisier with time. Is anyone else having this problem with the X52 throttle? Is there any practical way to restore the lower end so that I don't have to set a large deadzone to get it to work? I've had mine for about a year. If it gets much worse and there's no way to fix it I'll have to start thinking about replacing it, but that's a very expensive option and I don't really have a budget for it.

[Daniel Doorgakant]

I got my X52 for Christmas (2006) so thats a year also, still the same as when I got it really, I use it often. Try forcing back the throttle to the end or adjusting the knob to the left of the throttle whilst moving up or down. Just an idea, I'm yet to experience problems with mine so I don't know.

[Anthony Atkielski 985811]

I got my X52 for Christmas (2006) so thats a year also, still the same as when I got it really, I use it often. Try forcing back the throttle to the end or adjusting the knob to the left of the throttle whilst moving up or down. Just an idea, I'm yet to experience problems with mine so I don't know.

 

Do you use autothrottle on your aircraft? It's usually not noticeable unless you do. When you use autothrottle, if the X52 (or any joystick throttle you might be using) jitters in the idle position, it will continuously try to set the throttle to idle, overriding the autothrottle. As a result, when you are, say, setting TOGA for take-off, the engines will mysteriously and randomly return to idle; or when you try to set reverse thrust on landing, the engines will again tend to mysteriously return to idle. It may even happen in flight.

 

Look at the control panel for the X52 and check the deadzones, and see if your throttle goes all the way to the bottom and stays there when you set it to idle. Mine doesn't, unfortunately.

 

Apparently Saitek uses Hall-effect sensors in the joystick X and Y axes, but not elsewhere (even in the Pro version). These sensors are pretty reliable, but ordinary potentiometers aren't.

[Steve Ogrodowski 876322]

I've had the old X45 since 2004 I think...some time round then. Never has failed me. Never had any problems, either...except on my old computer near the end, it wouldn't always save the Key [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ignments in FS9 (every time FS9 would run, they would be reset...dunno what that came from).

 

That's an interesting problem...what I'm wondering though is, if your autothrottle is set to "ON" then why is the joystick throttle affecting it at all? Whenever I use the autothrottle (on any aircraft), I can move my throttle to whatever position I want and it doesn't affect the plane anymore. Then when I turn off the autothrottle, I just move the throttle to where I want it, or give it a nudge if it was already in position.

 

You're saying that even when the autothrottle is on, and you have your joystick throttle near idle, the sensor "jumps around" or is somehow "buggy" and thus causes a reaction to set the FS throttle to idle (if FS autothrottle had it at, say 50% N1 or some other level)? Kinda like when I said that I position my joystick throttle at a setting, and then give it a tiny nudge to change the FS throttle after I switch off the Autothrottle?

 

That sure sounds weird...I can't immediately think of a solution. What if you push the throttle all the way back to the idle position and push really hard on it, increase the pressure. Does the sensitivity jumping stop, or does it keep going? If you can get the jumping to stop, it looks like there might be a problem with the casing or throttle stick, or something, such that the throttle can't fully get to the idle position. If it keeps jumping around, then it sounds like there is a sensor problem, where the sensor is just buggy.

 

Those are possible diagnoses...you probably could've come to the same ones. What I can't think of are good solutions.

[Anthony Atkielski 985811]

That's an interesting problem...what I'm wondering though is, if your autothrottle is set to "ON" then why is the joystick throttle affecting it at all?

 

The PMDG jets (737-800, 747-400 at least) let you override the autothrottle by moving the throttle yourself, just like real life. So if the throttle is jittering while AT is on, it constantly "fights" with the AT. Normally you avoid this by putting the throttle in a dead zone (idle or full power, usually), but if the throttle isn't in the dead zone at the end of its travel, you still have a problem.

 

You can get around it with Ctrl-K (disables all joystick input) or with a setting on the registered version of FSUIPC that ignores the joystick throttle when AT is on, but I'd prefer to find a way to remove the problem in the throttle.

 

Whenever I use the autothrottle (on any aircraft), I can move my throttle to whatever position I want and it doesn't affect the plane anymore. Then when I turn off the autothrottle, I just move the throttle to where I want it, or give it a nudge if it was already in position.

 

It depends on which aircraft you're using, and how you have some other stuff configured (such as the things mentioned above).

 

You're saying that even when the autothrottle is on, and you have your joystick throttle near idle, the sensor "jumps around" or is somehow "buggy" and thus causes a reaction to set the FS throttle to idle (if FS autothrottle had it at, say 50% N1 or some other level)?

 

Exactly. And the symptoms are odd, so it takes a while to figure out. I had engines going to idle just before V1 on my 747, and reverse thrust that kept going back to idle after landing. I finally realized what was going on.

 

Kinda like when I said that I position my joystick throttle at a setting, and then give it a tiny nudge to change the FS throttle after I switch off the Autothrottle?

 

Yes. If the throttle doesn't jitter, you can put it anywhere and it may not bother the AT unless you move some other joystick control.

 

In real life, the throttles on Boeing aircraft are moved by the autothrottle, so the manual throttle and autothrottle always match. But on a sim, there's no way for the autothrottle to move the manual throttles to keep them in sync.

 

What if you push the throttle all the way back to the idle position and push really hard on it, increase the pressure. Does the sensitivity jumping stop, or does it keep going?

 

Sometimes it stops, but I hesitate to press hard like that, as it might make it worse.

 

If you can get the jumping to stop, it looks like there might be a problem with the casing or throttle stick, or something, such that the throttle can't fully get to the idle position. If it keeps jumping around, then it sounds like there is a sensor problem, where the sensor is just buggy.

 

I tend to favor the first possibility. Something must gradually move or wear as time p[Mod - Happy Thoughts]es. The throttle spends a lot of time at or near idle, especially on airliners.

[Scott Johnston 890281]

My X45 has the same problem. Mine wouldn't idle completely, but I fixed that by calibrating it in FSUIPC. It still jitters, though.

[Robert Kurtz 1034837]

I, too, had the same problem with my X45; idle position was quite jittery.

 

My solution was this:

 

When calibrating the joystick/throttle, when it asks you to move the throttle all of the way forward and back, don't set it all the way back (in the idle position), leave the throttle "open" just a hair.

 

I did this, because I noticed that simply adjusting the null zones (far to the right) in MSFS tended to make the throttle act sort of funny altogether. So in a way, this sort of creates a null-zone at the bottom of the throttle. Thus, no forcing the throttle back to idle, no neglegable affects on the rest of the throttle operation, and no idle jitters.

 

Good luck!

[Daniel Doorgakant]

Strange, Could you send me your profile Anthony?

[Anthony Atkielski 985811]

You mean the joystick profile, or what?

[Davi Rich 1039878]

Lately I've noticed mysterious changes in the autothrottle and reverse thrust in my aircraft, and I've traced it to the X52 throttle quadrant, the lower end of which is getting higher and noisier with time. Is anyone else having this problem with the X52 throttle? Is there any practical way to restore the lower end so that I don't have to set a large deadzone to get it to work? I've had mine for about a year. If it gets much worse and there's no way to fix it I'll have to start thinking about replacing it, but that's a very expensive option and I don't really have a budget for it.

 

It's most likely possible to use electronic spray cleaner to wash out the pots inside the unit. But taking it apart will most likely void the warranty.