The Thrustmaster T500RS Thread

[HOODFIELD]

Does anyone know what changes are in each revision of the t500rs? Are they both hardware and software?

One of the significant differences is the type of springs used in the pedals. Version 4+ uses a compression type spring while earlier versions use a very cheap torsion type spring prone to breaking. So make sure what you buy is Version 4+.

 

[PLazarou]

I just received mine from Amazon.co.uk... it says V.2 on the outer box. Below that, it says 'Description: T500 RS GT Racing Wheel US Version' and the 'US' has been covered (but clearly not very well) with a black marker pen. There are a few other 'US' labels on the box and they've all been covered with pen.

Not too concerned about that, more about the 'V.2'.

From glancing through this thread, the V2 seems like an old production run that is prone to issues, and they're on at least V5 now... so I'm wondering if I should just send it straight back without opening it?

 

[thiagobertolo]

Hi PLazarou,

I am in the same situation. I am trying to play GT5 but the wheel is spinning all over the place for a good 30 minutes now... (Calibrating, I suppose).

When I opened the box, there is the actual T500 RS box inside and it says UK version at the bottom. No reference to version, though.

Have you reached any conclusions? My PS3 is also a US one and so is my account. I managed to play F1 earlier without many issues but GT5 is not looking good.

 

[PLazarou]

Pretty sure the calibration is only supposed to take a matter of seconds?

I opened up the outer packaging, and like you, I found a 'UK version' sticker on the bottom, which is nice. No version number also, so I guess I'll just open it and hope for the best.

It says GT5 needs some updates for this wheel to work, but I assume you've done that.

Will try GT5 later, but my priority is PC sims. Will update if I'm brave enough to get it out of the box.

 

[thiagobertolo]

I only figured it out a few minutes ago... finishing the updates now.

So, did you buy the stand from Amazon as well? I have a very well improvised stand but I can't really use it when it starts to get serious...

Ready to roll! Testing now.

 

[PLazarou]

Nope, I have a fairly large desk to clamp it to for PC use. My PS3 is often in the living room, but if I wanna test GT5 I plug it into my monitor.

So to clarify, you just received one from Amazon that was a V.2 as well?

 

[thiagobertolo]

On the outer box it said V.2, yes.
Did you get it from the Black Friday deals?

Great deal, that was. 289.99

If I don't get used to it, I am going to sell it on my home country, where the prices are around £750

 

[PLazarou]

Yep, same deal.

I've opened it up, immediately noticed that there is a bit of resistance near the centre of the rotation (when switched off), but it's slightly to the left. When I plugged it in, it seems to calibrate off centre to where this 'notch' is. It's off by about 2 or 3 degrees.

Thought it might go away in games, but it's still off centre.

Is this a known issue? Seems like a hardware problem, seeing as I can feel it when it's turned off...

 

[WildRun]

FAQ here for calibration & wheel centering:
http://ts.thrustmaster.com/download/accessories/Manuals/T500RS/T500RS_AutoCalibration_Centering_Process.pdf

 

[PLazarou]

Thanks WildRun. Unfortunately, it doesn't fix the issue here.

I went through the process of lining it up perfectly by eye so that it remembers a correct centre position for both PC and PS3, that worked fine. However there is still a physical 'notch' in the rotation slightly left of centre. This is noticeable whether it is plugged in or not. It's nothing to do with the software or the firmware. It's quite clearly a hardware defect. Even though the wheel now remembers a centre position, it never returns to centre after initial calibration, it's always slightly off, and it's no coincidence that the place where it finishes is exactly where the weird feeling is.

 

[mrbasher]

It's possible this happens for the same reason it happens on many of the Fanatec wheels prior to the CSR Elite and CSW. What happens on them is that if the wheel sits for a period of time in one spot, it warps the belt right where it goes over the pinion gear on the motor. Because this is such a small gear, the belt makes a very tight turn. After some use it goes away on the Fanatec wheels.

It's possible that the same is the case with your wheel. Maybe it just sat in the box for a long time. Maybe it was in a really warm location when that happened, making the belt more susceptible to this.

I can't know for sure, it's just a thought based upon experience I've had with the Fanatec wheels. I finally started leaving my sit in an off center location when I was done each time, that prevented the issue for the most part.

My new T500 is coming in the mail this Wed... It will be interesting to see if it exhibits this same behavior.

 

[Adam41]

So to clarify, you just received one from Amazon that was a V.2 as well?

On the outer box it said V.2, yes.
Did you get it from the Black Friday deals?

Great deal, that was. 289.99

I got my T500 through the same deal. Mine also had 'US Version' on the outside box with black marker through US as well as "V.2". At least with mine however, I checked the base of the wheel just above the serial number and I have a version 4. 👍

I'm yet to try it out so I hope there aren't any problems with it.

 

[thiagobertolo]

PLazarou, When you update the firmware and go to the control panel, on your PC, check the settings. It defaults the angle to 48,9 degrees to the left so you can change that if you prefer. During gameplay, I noticed that the alignment is perfect though.

 

[PLazarou]

It's possible this happens for the same reason it happens on many of the Fanatec wheels prior to the CSR Elite and CSW. What happens on them is that if the wheel sits for a period of time in one spot, it warps the belt right where it goes over the pinion gear on the motor. Because this is such a small gear, the belt makes a very tight turn. After some use it goes away on the Fanatec wheels.

It's possible that the same is the case with your wheel. Maybe it just sat in the box for a long time. Maybe it was in a really warm location when that happened, making the belt more susceptible to this.

I can't know for sure, it's just a thought based upon experience I've had with the Fanatec wheels. I finally started leaving my sit in an off center location when I was done each time, that prevented the issue for the most part.

My new T500 is coming in the mail this Wed... It will be interesting to see if it exhibits this same behavior.

You may be onto something there, the notch off centre does seem to have reduced slightly after a few hours of testing. And last night, the startup calibration finished exactly in the centre for the first time. What you say makes sense - there's no reason for a notch to be there at all, even if it was exactly central. So it may have been caused by being in storage, slightly off centre like that, resulting in the belt warping slightly at that position.

I'm now making sure I leave the wheel off centre to the other side each time I turn it off, to see if it starts to compensate for this notch.

But for now, it's still there, and not really acceptable for a wheel of this standard.

PLazarou, When you update the firmware and go to the control panel, on your PC, check the settings. It defaults the angle to 48,9 degrees to the left so you can change that if you prefer. During gameplay, I noticed that the alignment is perfect though.

I'm not sure what you mean? You seem to be suggesting that all T500 wheels default to 48.9 degrees on startup? That can't be right. Perhaps you're talking about your own wheel, in which case you must have a notch off to the left too, because that's what mine was doing, but probably ended up nearer 49.5. But I'm having no problems with alignment since I set the centre position by eye using the Start+Select+Mode function and as I mentioned above, it's even starting to end up central after the initial calibration now. The notch is still there, but possibly reducing in strength.

 

[mrbasher]

PLazarou,

Since the wheel can rotate more than once around, you should rotate it from center all the way around and see if you can feel this notch again. If the belt has a warp in it you should feel it again.

I'm not really sure what you could do to fix... Leaving it in another position should hopefully help over time.

I agree on this not really being acceptable. People will disagree surely, but I feel that some day, we as consumers need to be of the following opinion: Consumers should not be required to open up and "repair" several hundred dollar pieces of electronics in order for them to function as intended or continue to function as intended. It doesn't matter if some percentage of people find this okay. It's not ok for just about any other product on the market, why is it somehow okay when it's a simulation related product? What if your brand new LCD TV had a line running down the middle of the screen? Would you be okay with digging into the thing fiddling with it? No, probably not, you'd return it to the store for a new one... Products out of warranty are another story.

I have one of these wheels arriving Wed. and I'm pretty excited about it actually.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox.

 

[PLazarou]

Just tried that, you're absolutely right. I can feel the notch when rotating it all the way around. It's in a slightly different position - one full rotation to the left has the notch slightly more left of centre, and one full rotation to the right has the notch almost exactly central. I guess this is due to the gearing or ratios or something too complicated for my brain to understand at the moment. But it's certainly further evidence for a warped belt.


[edit] I've just noticed that even leaving the wheel in another position for just a couple of hours, causes a new 'notch' in the rotation to appear at that point (apparent while switched on or off), but it disappears after a few minutes of use. So clearly the belt is very susceptible to warping, and this pretty much confirms the problem. My concern is that while a new notch is temporary, the original notch just off centre was likely created from being in this position since it left the factory, and may have gone beyond the point of no return, beyond the 'elastic limit' of the belt perhaps, and may never fully recover. I don't know what the production schedule was like, but seeing as mine is a V.2, I wouldn't be surprised if this wheel left the factory over a year ago!

 

[CLIFFO_83]

My Sam Maxwell Sparco P310 wheel plate has arrived.....

I went for a yellow,blue & red themed button layout, with a total of 7 buttons, 1 toggle switch & 2 encoder switches.

No USB cords to worry about as it is plug n play!!! plugs straight into T500 base like the GT wheel does....

I'm very happy with Sam's service and craftsmanship and recommend him to fellow T500 users & sim racers

 

[readyfe]

My Sam Maxwell Sparco P310 wheel plate has arrived.....

I'm very happy with Sam's service and craftsmanship and recommend him to fellow T500 users & sim racers
[/IMG]

Just my 2 cents - this is plug and play, there is no USB connector that needs to be used - it plugs into the T500 base using the same connector just like the standard wheel and all you do is map the buttons.

How good is that..!

 

[Mr Latte]

Cliffo, now that wheel plate and colour coded buttons looks good indeed, no USB as well is even better.
Damn I'm thinking it would look rather nice on my "Momo Trek R" I bought earlier in the year with the "Blue" and "yellow".

You gave me an idea for the future...

 

[CLIFFO_83]

Just my 2 cents - this is plug and play, there is no USB connector that needs to be used - it plugs into the T500 base using the same connector just like the standard wheel and all you do is map the buttons.

How good is that..!

I know mate, Sam is a genius!!!!

Cliffo, now that wheel plate and colour coded buttons looks good indeed, no USB as well is even better.
Damn I'm thinking it would look rather nice on my "Momo Trek R" I bought earlier in the year with the "Blue" and "yellow".

You gave me an idea for the future...

Glad I could help Latte 👍 That wheel plate with button colour scheme would look great on your wheel

 

[Mr Latte]

Is he for partnering with Derek to offer these?
Sorry if this is not the case...

Always wondered why Derek never had a T500 RS wheel plate with the growing sales/popularity of this wheel, even SRH do not offer one as yet.

 

[CLIFFO_83]

Is he for partnering with Derek to offer these?
Sorry if this is not the case...

Always wondered why Derek never had a T500 RS wheel plate with the growing sales/popularity of this wheel, even SRH do not offer one as yet.

Yes, It's a DSD wheel plate....not sure if they are in partnership, I know Sam sources the plates directly from Derek

 

[readyfe]

.

 

[oqvist]

Is the T500 RS wheel rim included in all F1 integral packages?

 

[readyfe]

Is the T500 RS wheel rim included in all F1 integral packages?

No.. It works out better to buy the T500RS package and the F1 wheel separately.

Or if you're adventurous buy the F1 package and get a Sam Maxwell Momo GT wheel with paddles

 

[oqvist]

Stock wheel seem very hard to find yes. Would like something more cost efficient than that. How is the F1 wheel with separate shifters? Any problem getting the hand in and out of the grip or do it work as well as with ordinary wheels?

 

[readyfe]

Stock wheel seem very hard to find yes. Would like something more cost efficient than that. How is the F1 wheel with separate shifters? Any problem getting the hand in and out of the grip or do it work as well as with ordinary wheels?

I've tried GT and Rally racing with my F1 wheel. I can tell you rally is impossible with it. GT racing not too bad.

You're better of using the GT wheel for F1 than the F1 wheel for GT racing..

 

[runfast1]

Just got my t500rs two days ago and the fan is making a lout grinding noise! Ive read about this problem w fans, i have v5. Its a great wheel but the fan is not! Ive contacted thrustmaster, they want a video of the problem! Im guessing they will send a new replacement fan and instructions to replace it. Ive also read about replacement fans doing the same thing after awhile! Ya think they would've fixed this problem w fans by v5!! Just my luck i guess.

 

[Mr. S]

Yes, It's a DSD wheel plate....not sure if they are in partnership, I know Sam sources the plates directly from Derek

When I asked Derek about some stuff he referred me to Sam, telling me that they're friends and I should tell Sam that he had sent me. So I guess they're more than just business partners.

 

[oqvist]

I've tried GT and Rally racing with my F1 wheel. I can tell you rally is impossible with it. GT racing not too bad.

You're better of using the GT wheel for F1 than the F1 wheel for GT racing..

I see. I plan to get an aftermarket wheel. If I can do without buttons it will not cost me more then the stock+ integral F1. However I suppose the paddles will get useless if I get a larger wheel then 300 mm but I recon if I want to use paddles I go for the F1 wheel.

As for that fan. Anybody experimentet with a large desk fan to aid cooling and possible prevent the small fan on the T500RS to spin up as much?