Logitech Driving Force Question

[Jerwin]

I recently bought an old Driving Force from eBay. It didn't come with the power adapter. Everything seems fine, except the Force Feedback doesn't work and the wheel doesn't go back to the middle when I let go, making it hard to drive on straights. I did a search on the forums but I didn't find an answer regarding this specific wheel. I also tried playing the wheel on PC and the same issues occurred. Does this wheel really work like this? Would buying the power adapter solve this? Or is the wheel really broken? (I highly doubt it though)

This is the wheel I'm talking about. The very first Driving Force for Ps2.

 

[sesselpupser]

The motor that does the feedback and wheel centring needs 12V at over 1 amp, USB only supplies 5V at 500mA at the most. Without the power adaptor the motor is getting no power at all because the 12V motor power is on an isolated circuit from the 5V logic power, and that's what the power adaptor is for.

The good news is that you don't have to find that particular power adaptor, you should be able to buy a power adaptor that matches the output of a Logitech one (there should be a label on the wheel saying what input voltage and current it needs, off the top of my head it's 12V at 1.25A), but make sure it's a regulated supply and not an unregulated one or you will kill the wheel.

 

[Gdog96]

Yep buy a power adapter and you should begin to get force feedback.

 

[Jerwin]

Thanks for the info. Very informative. But wont I break the wheel without the power adapter? I've been using it for more than a week now.

 

[sesselpupser]

No, you won't break it, as long as you don't hammer it against the rotation stops. You'd have to be driving very strangely to be able to do that, though. It's designed to function without the 12V supply because it's a sure bet that someone, somewhere will always use it without 12V, just because there is the option.

 

[Jerwin]

I guess I have to deal with not having the power adapter for now. I'm planning to buy the power adapter for the DFGT from Amazon. According to the Logitech website http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9004/section/troubleshoot/crid/441/lt_product_id/272/tabs/1,3,2,4,5/cl/us,en, its power adapter is the same for all Driving Force wheels.