Fanatec CSW/CSR Elite Modders Thread *UPDATE February 2014*

  • Thread starter eKretz
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I modded my wheel with the bühler motors. they are amazing!

But what i'm unsure is about the belt tightness, how tight should it be ?

And about the cooling i built, the motors have around 30°C on the outside after a long test drive with 100FFB.
Is this too much, but i guess it should be ok ?
 
Indeed, mod is amazing!

Questions/answers im interested too.

My belt slips slightly on max force @ 24V (i have a two ribbon CSR-E belt).

In assetto corsa i get 60°C motor temperatur after three nordschleife laps in a nissan GT-R and i think temp stays there (100 FFB, 30L/min air pump). Interesting other cars get 40-50°C only.
Is 60° too hot, should i be worried? I read in the bühler datasheet operating temperature is 0-70°C.

I can't feel (with my hands) that air is getting out of the motors. Where should the air get out, shouldn't i be able to feel it?
 
70°C is about the max I like to see. If your motors are not getting above this temp with extended high FFB racing your cooling is DEFINITELY working.

If your belt slip isn't noticeable while racing you should be OK. I always recommend that people clean their pulleys and belts thoroughly (I use acetone on mine) before putting the wheel back together, this helps quite a bit with belt grip.

You won't feel the air escape very much because it's escaping over quite a bit of surface area and not moving all that fast once it spreads out. If you feel the heat being pulled out of the wheel by the fan and the housing feels a bit warm, it's doing its job, so don't worry about it - remember how little (if any) heat came out with the stock motors and cooling - and those get quite a lot hotter than the Bühlers because of the inferior cooling setup. The heat coming out is very good - that means it's being pulled out of the motors and they are keeping cool.

Keep in mind that heat produced varies significantly from Sim to Sim and car to car.
 
Thanks for the quick response eKretz! Yes cooling is definitely working. I can feel warm air coming out from the fan. With fanatec's original "cooling system" the air never got noticeable warm although motors were way too hot.
I wonder if a second fan would help (noticeable), i only have one fan in my CSR-E.
 
BTW iRacing, for whatever reason, tends to be very easy on FFB motors unless the FFB is turned way up. That is the sim that seems to give them the least workout. The console sims seem to be the worst heat perpetrators, probably because not many people take the time to set their wheels so there's no clipping, and also because their default settings are set for much weaker wheels, which boosts the weaker signals so they can be felt with the weaker wheels. Assetto Corsa gives a pretty good workout too.

It's especially important with stock wheels to get the wheel set to avoid clipping to help with heat management.

I'm currently not subscribed to iRacing due to financial issues, so no help with settings. I almost always use firmware V037 for everything, but IIRC that's not possible if you have a universal hub. The later firmware seem to be slightly neutered in the low and midrange - likely in an effort to reduce heat buildup in the stock motors.
 
vittorio
Thanks for the quick response eKretz! Yes cooling is definitely working. I can feel warm air coming out from the fan. With fanatec's original "cooling system" the air never got noticeable warm although motors were way too hot.
I wonder if a second fan would help (noticeable), i only have one fan in my CSR-E.
Click to expand...

Couldn't hurt, right? I even increased the size of my left side fan to 80mm.
 
I will "downgrade" my CSR-E to 721b (722) firmware. It's the firmware i got with my wheel and IIRC FFB was alot better. With all later firmware it seemed FFB got worse, like watered down. I thought fanatec tried alot to reduce motor heat and motor failure. 721b even had an option to always have the fan at max speed regardless of temperatur sensor.
 
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Yeah, that's another mod I have on my CSW too. I built a simple circuit to switch the fans on at full speed when the wheel is switched on and switch them off when the wheel is switched off. Much prefer it that way personally, the fans are pretty quiet. I've installed it on a couple other guys' wheels also, as well as shared the schematic with a few guys so they could do it themselves.
 
I have a CSW V1 with a 1.5 motor for home use. I like the feel of it, however it lacks bit of feeling compared to an ECCI 7000 that I use at my office. I might want to go down this route, who sells a complete DIY kit to upgrade the V1?
 
I downgraded my CSR-E to firmware 721b. Don't know if FFB got better compared to 757, i think so but it's too subjective. Added a second 8cm fan on the left side (connected in parallel to right side fan, soldered on fan connector on board) and closed all gaps with tape. Set fans to max RPM with 721b firmware. Temperature doesn't get above 55°C with nissan GT-R in assetto corse anymore (before 60°C). FFB feels so good with this mod!! , and got stiff over-worked muscles now :)

BTW firmware 721b is alot more reliable regarding calibrating FFB offset than 757. Offset isn't an issue anymore now. 757 was unreliable calibrating offset with stock motors and bühler motor.
 
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BTW, someone asked how I drilled the motors, forget who, but I didn't have the fixture with me to post a picture of the setup. Here it is:

IMG_20150425_163355.jpg


This pressurizes the inside of the motor can, so any debris from drilling in will be blown out immediately.
 
I tested a set and they do a decent job, but aren't near as strong as the Bühlers. You would absolutely need to work out a way to cool them beyond just letting the stock fan blow air past them though.
 
eKretz
I tested a set and they do a decent job, but aren't near as strong as the Bühlers. You would absolutely need to work out a way to cool them beyond just letting the stock fan blow air past them though.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply eKretz, I'd like to put in the buhlers, is there a source that has them readily available for sale? also, do you have a video for install instructions? I would be able to do all physical modifications to them myself, but I don't really know where to start.
 
Hi guys!
I have one problem with my CSW. I live in Barcelona and i have a distributor of bülher at close quarters, I asked a new motors, mounted the motors but now the wheel check no complete the sequence, go all to left, turn to center and again all to left and turn off. Any idea?

I remove the cable X position and Y for try only and same process but to righ or don't move.

a video is worth a thousand words:

All conected
X connector position off
Y connector position off

Thanks!
 
Yep, if the wheel isn't turning the correct direction your polarity is wrong. Seems they went a bit willy-nilly with it, as some wheels are one way and others are the opposite.

P.S. I hope you are either doing something to cool those motors other than the stock fan blowing on the cans or if not that you're running lower FFB.
 
@ksero i always remember when im doing work on my wheels, if it turns right its right haha. Its an easy mistake to make but just as easy to fix, glad you sorted it out.

with the Xbox one compatibility now available on all CSW's i thought i would give it a try and see if i could buy the necessary parts from fanatec (PCB, Q/R collar and power button) to sort of upgrade one of my elite wheels to work on XB1 with the new uni hub but i have hit a wall, fanatec will not sell the parts and i am now stuck. i cannot afford to buy V2 now (just signed up for a mortgage so i really need to be careful with my pennys now) and CSW V1 are quite difficult to find second hand. im really itching to try the newer forza titles on a proper setup
 
I did manage to collect the parts to convert my CSR-E to a CSW V1. I bought the PCB, power button and wiring harness from an eBay seller (he does not have any more) and Fanatec sold me the QR hub.

My plan was to keep it a CSR-E until the Xbox One hub became available then do the conversion, but this weekend my CSR-E decided it will no longer make a USB connection so it seems the PCB has a failure and I no longer have a wheel. Pretty bummed.

If anyone has a CSR-E main PCB available to sell please let me know.
 
Hey bud, double-check your USB connectors to make sure you don't have any broken pins and try switching cables also if you haven't already. Best to make sure before going after a new board.
 
Yeah I have checked all that I can. Wheel spins on power up and it works fine in Xbox 360 mode. When I try USB mode the LCD screen goes blank like it should when I press the Back button, but no USB connect to multiple PC's or a PS3. It has to be a failure in the main PCB. Also tried different USB cable and I see no visible problem with the USB port.
 
eKretz
P.S. I hope you are either doing something to cool those motors other than the stock fan blowing on the cans or if not that you're running lower FFB.
Click to expand...

Yes, im waiting a Hailea pump air (1800l/h).
You drill the front the motors, really? To create a air flow.

Thanks
 
Great, you will be golden if you are using the same system.

Yes, the front of the motors need to have a hole drilled through for airflow because the new model motors have blind holes rather than the through holes like the old model. I just use one of the mounting screw holes that aren't being used for mounting (the motors have dual hole patterns) and drill it the rest of the way through the same size as the airflow hole. This way the air gets completely exchanged because it's pushed out from front to rear. If you just go in one hole at the rear of the can and exit another at the rear, you won't get good cooling.
 
thanks Eric i will let you know, i have a few more places to try first though. still waiting on a reply back from fanatec to see if they will sell me just the QR collar, without that it will just make things more diffucult
 
Well fanatec were unable to help me with anything but I have found a QR collar, it has a short in one of the wires but ill be changing it to a slip ring so that wont be a problem. Also a power button but it's missing the cable to connect it to the PCB, im hoping that won't be too hard to find, does anyone know what the name of the connector is for it?

Now all I need is the pcb, I think I might have to take your offer Eric, no one seems to have any in Australia.
@FatnSlo are you still chasing a csre PCB?
 
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