I've finally spent a decent amount of time with the wheel after yesterday. I did also move my air pump into my closet (which is always a few noticeable degrees cooler) and I cut a small notch out of the bottom corner of my door to make room for the power and airlines. Now, like Eric, all I hear is wooshing of air which easily gets drowned out by my TV.
I'll detail my whole experience here rather than just say how 🤬 rad my wheel is now
That way if someone else is on the fence about doing it, this may help inform them to make their decision.
Time: I spent 2 months or so without my wheel. But part of that time was because of a UPS delay, hammering out details with eKretz and him making/tweaking/manufacturing the parts. So now that Eric has done mods for the CSW and CSR-E, has parts made, I think it would normally take about 3-4 weeks from shipment, to receiving.
Cost: This is the single biggest hurdle to swallow. You are looking to spend a little less than the cost of a new CSW wheel to get this mod/upgrade. What I can't stress enough is that if you were thinking about getting another wheel instead of getting it upgraded, the motors will likely give you trouble again in the near future; this is for a more permanent fix to enjoy your wheel without that 'when will the motors go out again' monkey on your back.
Prices below include shipping. Google/Ebay/Amazon searches for names in quotes should show items you can buy if interested.
- Shipping: Just my wheelbase, plus my Buhler Motors To and from Chicago, from Oregon (shipping will vary of course): $35 there, $90 back (my delayed package made me waste about $50 there)
- Parts:
- Motors: I bought 4 "
Xerox Phaser 860/8200 Printer Process" motors to have two spares that I can drop in if necessary in the future. Each motor is usually between $20 and $50 each. I scoured the web and paid about $125 for all four.
- Air Pump: A "
Medo Linear Air Pump Aquarium Pump" for $40.
- Power Supply: A "
MEAN WELL SP-240-24 24VDC 10A 240W POWER SUPPLY" that was $50.
- Mechanical Materials, Parts & Labor: $150-ish,
this will vary depending on many factors from Eric, this is just a rough estimate, he will tell you what the actual cost will be when he does his research and prep for you 👍
- Shifter Mod: To quiet the shifting paddle shifting noise. $15.
- Etc. Items. $25 This includes:
- 3/16" silicone tubing (about 12ft.)
- Liquid rubber cement (to coat/cover exposed wires connected to the power supply)
- New 3/16" out-bound air nozzle for the air pump.
I think that is all the components I bought.
My total costs: $525.
***Things you may not need to buy:***
- Shifter Mod (save $15)
- Super fast shipping (save $50)
- Only buy two Buhler motors (save $75)
So for 'normal' circumstances, I'd say
The Grand Total Cost is roughly: $385.
Again it wasn't cheap but now I get to reap the benefits of an excellent wheel. How great is it you should ask? Let me tell you....
First, let me say my expectations were nothing more than the wheel feeling the same as before, but I don't have to replace the motors every 9 months. My expectations have been met so far. I don't have any testing equipment to gauge the temp of the motors, but Eric spent an entire evening with the wheel testing the motors durability, temp, etc. before shipping it back. I only bought 4 motors because I have trust issues with dc motors now (thanks Fanatec!
).
Last night, after I moved my air pump, I did what I've been itching to do since my wheel motors when out; try this
WRS Qualifier combo again. I spent a few hours with it before and was the last thing I did. I brought up the combo and the first thing I noticed was the wheel didn't hit what I call a 'speedbump' when I 'unsteer' the wheel as I exit a turn. It wouldn't do this all the time, enough that I noticed, but never affected anything.
I did a few laps just to work the rust out, I swear it took my 10 attempts just to complete one lap, haha. I then thought of what the issue could've been, and I was right. I normally raced most cars with the FFB setting @ 70. It was much too strong, way stronger than before. I turned it to 50 and that felt right. Then before I knew it, I was turning lap after lap after lap. Then I surprised myself when, after an hour and 2 months without racing, I beat my previous time by .2. Which, again, after spending about 3 hours on the combo initially and my goal time was to be just .1 faster, I'm quite pleased.
So, I then proceeded to try the second
WRS Qualifier. This one is known for being much tougher and, because of the severe understeer on this tight, twisty track, harder on a wheel too. I didn't spend anytime on this combo 2 months ago, so I was starting fresh. This was a good test because what made my motors go out before were the hours upon hours I spent doing the drifting events in GT6's career mode. The constant back and forth over and over made my motors overheat and eventually, give up the ghost. The wheel did great, there are many instances where I had to quickly countersteer and it took them like a champ, perfectly smooth all the way. I did lower the FFB to 30 and my max turn angle to 750 just to make turning easier.
Lastly, I will
talk brag about my experience with Eric. Saying I'm satisfied with Eric's knowledge, patience, hard work and flexibility isn't enough. Sure, I've built many, many PC's in my day. I've soldered a few "chips" before. But I have little to zero experience working with electricity and I think I asked Eric every possible question. And he made sure to answer them and promptly too. I didn't have to wait a week for a reply, always the next day. He told me what to buy, how much/many and recommended tips from his own setup. This is money well spent; a true investment if you are like me and you love your CSR-E/CSW wheel. Yes, the price can be a bit steep, but like anything that is expensive (like an HDTV perhaps), you gotta save up the money or bite the bullet because the pay off on this is huge.
Many thanks again Eric!
I think that's about it. Back to racing!
Jerome