G27 belt drive mod
- Thread starter sesselpupser
- 70 comments
- 64,019 views
- 6
- Toronto
Have any musician friends? Used Guitar strings, or better yet upright Bass strings (the thinnest ones) would be perfect! Music stores who re-string instruments chuck this stuff all the time.
Cheers,
Cheers,
- 9,174
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
In case you hadn't guessed (if anyone is still interested), the project is on hold for now. I finished college, got a full-time job and now I'm saving up in the hope that I'll have enough to move in September, finishing this off will require at least another £100 which is just too much right now. But, since I'll be living with my girlfriend in a studio flat, my G27 will have to become a lot quieter - either by being converted to belt drive or by never being used - so I've got that motivation at least. Then I'll have to work on silencing the pedals...
- 2,865
- Australia
I was looking at garage roller door cables and spindles the other day and thinking of your mod neema. I don't know if the cable used is any different to standard metal cabling - it's hardcore strong stuff though, and made to sustain exacting tolerances, with no stretch. Also don't know how small the spindles come, but they are made with a corkscrew groove cut in to them as a guide for the cable.
Was meaning to mention it, just in case it's of any use to you.
Was meaning to mention it, just in case it's of any use to you.
- 9,174
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
So my girlfriend and I have found a place to live and it's so cheap that I might have a modest hobby fund after all. The only thing is it's a shared converted pool hall so the low noise thing is even more important than before - the walls are basically paper. Space is also very tight, so before I carry on with the belt conversion I need to work out how to store the wheel in such a way that it won't occupy any 'swept volume' in the room at all, otherwise it'll be nagged straight back out again!
So far my best idea is a flip-top desk similar to the old drawing boards I had at school; they had a bolt latch (like a bathroom door) on the bottom, you open that, pull the table top toward you by maybe an inch, then you can freely flip it over so it converts from a flat desk to an inclined drawing board. Slide the table top away from you, lock it and that's that. If I could work that out (and build it) I could either just leave the pedals on the floor or put them on a plate that can be swung up under the desk to clear the floor, maybe - I should probably start work on that.
So far my best idea is a flip-top desk similar to the old drawing boards I had at school; they had a bolt latch (like a bathroom door) on the bottom, you open that, pull the table top toward you by maybe an inch, then you can freely flip it over so it converts from a flat desk to an inclined drawing board. Slide the table top away from you, lock it and that's that. If I could work that out (and build it) I could either just leave the pedals on the floor or put them on a plate that can be swung up under the desk to clear the floor, maybe - I should probably start work on that.
- 1
- United States
I'll make a case for it eventually, but given how long it has taken me to do basic things like permanently mount my G27 to my rig if it doesn't need to be in case, it'll probably take a few years...
I think I remember seeing that too, I can't remember for the life of me where I saw that, though. I think they used to do a MOSFET upgrade kit for the G25 or 27 too but they disappeared and I have no idea how to find them again. Their name might've had 'Club' in it? I have no idea.
Edit: Might've found it, was it this one?
The site is mostly broken so I can't find anything too useful on this particular mod, but this helpful page still works: http://jlvrh.de/G27.htm
Here is the same site in english -----> http://www.jlvrh.de/G27_UK.htm
- 9,174
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Thanks for linking that @Tom Barber, I think I've seen it before but it's always good to collect links in one place!
So I haven't been working on this at all recently because a) I don't have my G27 with me and haven't used it since maybe August and b) my money is being spent elsewhere and will continue to be for a little while - I need somewhere to store my clothes and when I do move my G27 in I'll need another SSD to store the sims I've uninstalled to make room for games I can play.
So in the meantime I've been thinking (because thinking is free and doesn't yet require me to be in possession of my G27) about what else can be done with it, my conclusion is that unless you just want to change the pedals, shifter and FETs for higher power motors, you'll have to get really creative with microcontrollers; either to replace the various interfaces (like, say, if you want to swap the optical encoder with something like a hall effect sensor) or to replace the entire control board with something easier to modify.
To that end I started another thread (which has now stalled too because it's reached the point where I need to get my hands on a G27 to develop it further, it could probably be merged with this thread) exploring the possibility of making a map of the G27's PCB and reading the USB data exchange in order to create a direct replacement for Logitech's own microcontroller.
I'm going to be moving my G27 in on Wednesday, after that I hope to be able to study the USB data and the signals that go into and out of the wheel using my oscilloscope to see what I can see. Apart from that I hope to have enough spare cash in January or February to buy some aluminium beams and get some laser cutting done to assemble my mod... Not that I've figured out the shaft lock yet or anything!
So I haven't been working on this at all recently because a) I don't have my G27 with me and haven't used it since maybe August and b) my money is being spent elsewhere and will continue to be for a little while - I need somewhere to store my clothes and when I do move my G27 in I'll need another SSD to store the sims I've uninstalled to make room for games I can play.
So in the meantime I've been thinking (because thinking is free and doesn't yet require me to be in possession of my G27) about what else can be done with it, my conclusion is that unless you just want to change the pedals, shifter and FETs for higher power motors, you'll have to get really creative with microcontrollers; either to replace the various interfaces (like, say, if you want to swap the optical encoder with something like a hall effect sensor) or to replace the entire control board with something easier to modify.
To that end I started another thread (which has now stalled too because it's reached the point where I need to get my hands on a G27 to develop it further, it could probably be merged with this thread) exploring the possibility of making a map of the G27's PCB and reading the USB data exchange in order to create a direct replacement for Logitech's own microcontroller.
I'm going to be moving my G27 in on Wednesday, after that I hope to be able to study the USB data and the signals that go into and out of the wheel using my oscilloscope to see what I can see. Apart from that I hope to have enough spare cash in January or February to buy some aluminium beams and get some laser cutting done to assemble my mod... Not that I've figured out the shaft lock yet or anything!
- 9,174
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Gentlemen (and ladies)... BEHOLD! I think a solution to the shaft rotation problem has been found and it really couldn't be simpler.
Essentially what it is is a disc with a spiral slot cut in it that affixes to the steering wheel shaft and a sliding follower, which is basically a pin that goes through the slot attached to some rails or something. Turning the wheel will mean the follower pin travels through the spiral until it reaches the end of the slot, at which point it stops.
Pretty simple, right?
Essentially what it is is a disc with a spiral slot cut in it that affixes to the steering wheel shaft and a sliding follower, which is basically a pin that goes through the slot attached to some rails or something. Turning the wheel will mean the follower pin travels through the spiral until it reaches the end of the slot, at which point it stops.
Pretty simple, right?
- 3,475
- Vilnius
- 9,174
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
It is, and I can say that because I didn't come up with it! I was about to start investigating the possibility of cutting a spiral slot into the shaft itself (which would've weakened it considerably) then someone said hey, use the same idea but with a flat disc attached to the shaft instead, and having thought about it for a while I can't think of any reason that wouldn't work.
So, here it is (links to an imgur album). I need to talk to the metalworkers next door to see if they can make it out of one or two pieces of aluminium but I'm confident that if they are even half as professional as they appear to be it'll be quite easy for them. The follower is a simple 5mm piece of aluminium with nine holes in it that would then be bolted to two linear bearings and an M6 screw would go through the ninth hole to become the spiral follower, then some rails for the follower to sit on will be added to the rear of the case I've already designed.
I'm also going to ask them about the possibility of them machining the steering wheel mount adaptor and the various plates that make up the case too, they live literally right next door to my flat so why not, right?
