g25 overheating.... my fix

  • Thread starter l449kux
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l449kux

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l449kux
hey guys,
those with a g25 knoiw what im talking about, you set it up and for the first few races your feedback is pretty strong, but as your just getting into some decent racing the feedback becomes that bit weaker and you put your hand on the top of the wheel only to feel that its getting quite warm.

now i use on my g25 almost every time im on my ps3 (some pc sims too) and as time goes on my feeback has got weaker. so today i decided to open my wheel up and see what i could do about it. a bit of fiddling and the cover was ready to just lift off, as i removed the cover a bit of plastic dropped onto the floor, (OH CRAP!! ave broke it) i thought, so i opened the cover to find that the housing that holds the motor gearing had become so hot the plastic had gone brittle and started to break away around the big bearing that holds the wheel shaft in place. even worse the housing its self had got a huge crack in it.
now im not a heavy handed person, quite the opposite really, i treat my wheel with great care so the only way this could of broken is by the heat alone, the motors themselfs were covered in black suit from severe heat issuses.

so i had to do something about it. firstly i used some epoxy resin to glue the crack and the bearing in place and then set to work on finding a solution. i had a hunt around on the net and came across a team arc g25, where a company can get more feedback with some electrical wizzardry and two 1" computer fans cut into the top of the housing above the motors. now this got me thinking, computer fans!! so i had a look in the loft amongst all my bits and bobs and found a 3" computer fan, a bit bigger but should do the job.
so after a bit of measuring and careful marking, i got my mini drill out and cut a hole in the top cover of the wheel case, where the logitech logo is, and mounted the fan right above the main circut board. also while i was at it opened the two vents up at the front, why these vent are closed off in the first place i dont know.

for the wiring i had an old ps1 steering wheel and used the pedals plug and mounted that in the middle grill on the g25, so i didnt have to have a wire constantly dangling out of the front of the wheel. then i used a multi voltage power pack to give the fan a 12v power source.

put it all back together and gave it a try out. after about 5 hours on supercar challenge tonight, the feedback was still as fresh as the moment i first turned it on im simply amazed at how much difference just keeping the motors cool made

now obviously my g25 was out of warranty, but saying that other than the loss of strong feedback after a few races (which i got from day one) you couldnt tell there was anything broken inside.
definately worth doing in my eyes.

time for the pics....


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on hindsight i should of mounted the plug in a better place but i think it works where it is. and also im looking into making a filter type thing to stop dust from being sucked into the unit and clogging up the motors. in the next few months i will be moving into a bigger room and im already planning on building a racing rig.

cheers
marty.
 
I have the same problem, but not the same skills :)

You would think Logitech would incorporate such improvements into their current product.

Makes me think a new wheel may come soon, perhaps with GT5 release?

Or maybe Logitech could provide a 'fan kit', I know I would grab it up.
 
You could always buy a usb fan or you can easily convert a regular computer case fan into usb(video). It helps to make it more practical when you want to set up the wheel at a friends house.
 
thanks for the replys guys:)

im currently looking into a way of putting some king of air filter over the fan to stop the dust getting in, i dont want to reverse the fan so its blowing the hot air out because it will just draw air from the vents and not really cool the motors as effectivly. im trying to find a suitable material to filter the dust but keep good air flow, im thinking either car air filter material, or a pair of the missuses black tights (not the toe or cod peice) lol:yuck:
i think the tight material will both give good air flow and filtration. its just a case of making a suitable frame so it looks good and is removeable.

i have had my wheel for a few years now and used it on those really hot summers days/nights and it does get extremely hot after only a short period, which was one of the reasons that got me thinking of cooling.
 
I wouldn't say that overheating is the only cause as to why the FFB feels weaker after a few laps. For me, it's partly physiological- after my arms get used to the amount of force required to turn the wheel, it becomes less of an effort. But I do agree that overheating does affect the wheel and to me it usually results in the wheel feeling less rubbery or springy (especially if sim's ffb feels that way eg. iRacing or GT5 TT demo and GT5P) and instead feel somewhat rougher. Still, the fan thingy is a great idea although personally I'd opt for two fans- maybe one running in and the other out to help with airflow. Similar to ARC_Team G25 mod:

mod.jpg
 
I would get these fans if I were to own my own G25 since they are silent(close as you can be) but yet will push some impressive air. Not to mention they are powered by usb so you can just hook them up your computer or PS3 for power.

EDIT: You can also look at some filters here so less of that nasty dust will clog the wheel.
 
nick09
I would get these fans if I were to own my own G25 since they are silent(close as you can be) but yet will push some impressive air. Not to mention they are powered by usb so you can just hook them up your computer or PS3 for power.

EDIT: You can also look at some filters here so less of that nasty dust will clog the wheel.
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They most certainly aren't, not even close. There are better alternatives for about the same price. I also don't think you can fit a 12cm fan on the g25, can you?
 
eSZee
They most certainly aren't, not even close. There are better alternatives for about the same price. I also don't think you can fit a 12cm fan on the g25, can you?
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Seriously he's right... Get some yate loons from petras tech shop for $6. Spcr (Silent pc review) raves about them.
 
Just get a cheap 12 volt PC case fan and use an adjustable Power Supply, I have mine sitting at about 4.5 volts, can't hear it at all, and it still moves enough air to keep things cool.
 
I noticed my G25 getting realy hot yesterday.

@OP: You did a great job, was there no way to get the power supply to run on de G25's power?

@Jadran: do you know if the RC fan fits over de G25 motor?
I did not open it up yet so I have no idea what size the G25 motor is.

I think the RC fan would be the way to go bocouse it's right on the motor
I don't have PC bits and piecs laying around so I need to buy something anyway.
 
Wow that is a great job.👍

I got my hands on a 3 inch fan with it's own 12v powersuply which didn't cost mw a penny.
So that will be the one I'll be using.

Now I just need to try and get the housing open without breaking anything with my fat fingers :nervous:
 
placed the Fan yesterday and I'm very happy.

Ik does not look very good but it works very well.
Even after a few hours playing the housing was still cold... :dopey:
 
Hey just some info I can add, I have had to do a lot of work on my aging G25- it started to run hotter. I opened it and used it while open to find out what was getting hot, one of the motors was getting much hotter than the other (they both run off the exact same signal even though they have separate cables/connectors). What I have found is that one of my motors has a partially shorted winding (this will also make it feel weak). This is to be expected after a lot of use as the wires to make a winding have very thin insulation and vibration over time can cause the insulation to wear. You may want to measure your windings and see, they should all be ~31 ohms. You need to spin the motor slowly and keep measuring it until it has spun all the way around. My bad one will change between 31ohms and 25ohms as I spin it to different positions.
I ordered one from here
http://www.testco-inc.com/johnson-electric/HC685LG-35-8-057-001
I believe it is the correct one, I will let you know. Now I know why the G25 costs so much, these are fairly expensive.
Those motor heat sinks you found are a great idea for added longevity:tup:
 
Jadran
I have same problem but I reslove with RC Heat Sink & Fan 💡


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or this

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You can find on eBay:tup:
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What voltage are these fans please? I looked on E-bay but they never quote the electrical stuff. I was wondering if they are 12v then put 2 in series across the 24v power supply. Would have to check the power usage but i figure full force feedback would be more than a couple of fans so keeping FFB at 5 would give the current from the power supply.

Edit:found a picture. Its a bit blury but looks like 7v
 
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