The Thrustmaster T500RS Thread

  • Thread starter TomN
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Hey,
I got my T500RS a week ago.

Now i have one problem. If i move the wheel to one side and let it go (or move it to the center again) it starts to creak.
The sound of it makes me go crazy.. its pretty loud and it sounds like someone is sitting on a squeaky chair.

Is this normal or does my wheel have some kind of defect?

PS: Well i now noticed that the wheel also creaks if i move it slowly to the left or the right within the first maybe 10-15°
 
schwummelwumm
Hey,
I got my T500RS a week ago.

Now i have one problem. If i move the wheel to one side and let it go (or move it to the center again) it starts to creak.
The sound of it makes me go crazy.. its pretty loud and it sounds like someone is sitting on a squeaky chair.

Is this normal or does my wheel have some kind of defect?

PS: Well i now noticed that the wheel also creaks if i move it slowly to the left or the right within the first maybe 10-15°
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This is normal. I had the same thing when I got mine. I called TM and they explained it is the motor bedding in and the imperfections in the mechanisms wearing away. Mine stopped after about 3 weeks or so and never happened again.
 
I have a wear-related question for all T500RS owners:

If you rotate the wheel (while powered off) to the end stops, does it feel the same amount of resistance all the way round to the stops, or do you notice an increase in resistance during the last 10-15 degrees?
Does the amount of resistance change depending on the speed with which you rotate towards the stops?
Has the resistance changed with wear/time?
 
skazz
I have a wear-related question for all T500RS owners:

If you rotate the wheel (while powered off) to the end stops, does it feel the same amount of resistance all the way round to the stops, or do you notice an increase in resistance during the last 10-15 degrees?
Does the amount of resistance change depending on the speed with which you rotate towards the stops?
Has the resistance changed with wear/time?
Click to expand...

My T500 is fairly new, bought in December of 2013, but its not really had a ton of use since I prefer to use my TX. Mine has a bit more resistance at the last 15 degrees of rotation when its turned all the way to the left side, but strangely, not the right side. I'd say its probably normal. Considering no one ever turns the wheel that far in either direction during normal use, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
So I discovered this week that GT6 post-v1.09 has a very counter-intuitive FFB model for the T500RS, which behaves very differently as you change settings compared to GT5 and GT6 pre-v1.09...

Normally if you encounter heavy centering forces and oscillation on straights the logical thing to do is to reduce the FFB so that the centering forces don't overload everything else (by feel in absence of a clipping meter). So I, and probably many others, did this after v1.09 patch and got steadily less and less impressed by the "new" FFB.

However, if you increase the FFB up (for instance not FFB=2 or 3 but FFB=5+) then something very interesting happens. At slower speeds the center spring still feels too heavy, but at speed when driving cars at the limits the FFB actually frees up, and it's easy to flick the wheel around. Furthermore, increasing the FFB setting gives the T500RS a nice large dynamic range and forces which were effectively muted at lower FFB settings are coming through again.


So a tip for those struggling to find a way to enjoy GT6 at the moment: Try counter-intuitively increasing the FFB setting upwards, see how it is.
 
skazz
So I discovered this week that GT6 post-v1.09 has a very counter-intuitive FFB model for the T500RS, which behaves very differently as you change settings compared to GT5 and GT6 pre-v1.09...

Normally if you encounter heavy centering forces and oscillation on straights the logical thing to do is to reduce the FFB so that the centering forces don't overload everything else (by feel in absence of a clipping meter). So I, and probably many others, did this after v1.09 patch and got steadily less and less impressed by the "new" FFB.

However, if you increase the FFB up (for instance not FFB=2 or 3 but FFB=5+) then something very interesting happens. At slower speeds the center spring still feels too heavy, but at speed when driving cars at the limits the FFB actually frees up, and it's easy to flick the wheel around. Furthermore, increasing the FFB setting gives the T500RS a nice large dynamic range and forces which were effectively muted at lower FFB settings are coming through again.


So a tip for those struggling to find a way to enjoy GT6 at the moment: Try counter-intuitively increasing the FFB setting upwards, see how it is.
Click to expand...

I would agree, prior to 1.09, I ran FFB at 3 I think, after 1.09, I thought the FFB was very heavy but lowering it didn't really help any so I've been running it at 6 recently and I prefer it there. Curbs are still way too strong though.
 
Goruk
I´ve bought a used one for 230€ with 18 mounth warranty, but this was a sweat deal cus the seller was tight on money.
Usualy they sell arround 300€ in Portugal.
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Yikes, still expensive isn't it, need to start saving up soon, hopefully prices start to drop even more.
 
Blkout
I would agree, prior to 1.09, I ran FFB at 3 I think, after 1.09, I thought the FFB was very heavy but lowering it didn't really help any so I've been running it at 6 recently and I prefer it there. Curbs are still way too strong though.
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I used to run mine at FFB 5, after 1.09 I set it at 6. Not really ideal, but the best setting for now.
I mostly do Nürburg 24' races and there the feeling on the kerbs is OK, sometimes even too weak.
But I have to agree: on some circuits the kerbs FB is too high.
 
Did the Noctua mod and tightened the hub screws while at it on my V1 wheel, piece of cake. 👍

Wpqabrc.jpg
 
I posted this in the PCars thread should probably have asked in the place where the most users are.

Does anyone know if I can use the clutch on the T500 with the sequential paddle shifters when changing gear or do I need to get the h-pattern shifter to use the clutch?

I've had a response from one member saying they "think" I would need to get the shifter. Anyone else who has the wheel know for sure? Thanks.
 
JohnScoonsBeard
I posted this in the PCars thread should probably have asked in the place where the most users are.

Does anyone know if I can use the clutch on the T500 with the sequential paddle shifters when changing gear or do I need to get the h-pattern shifter to use the clutch?

I've had a response from one member saying they "think" I would need to get the shifter. Anyone else who has the wheel know for sure? Thanks.
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Clutch has no influence when using paddle shifters. I even removed my clutch.
It only works with the H pattern shifter.
 
Fry's Electronics is selling the T500RS brand new for $499.00 if interested. It looks like you can order it online or check if a local store has them. That's thee best price I've seen on it, outside of a Black Friday deal.


Jerome
 
Besides pre-GT6 when it was only $399 that IS the lowest I've seen them have it... besides my open box one I got there for $330... :)
 
I've had my wheel since '11 with no problems until today when the blue power light came on and nothing happened. All connections are made, the brick is getting power, but the wheel is dead. Warranty work is long gone so I was hoping other members might know how to deal with this. Tried "search" with no luck. Any help will be appreciated.
 
VetteZR1
I've had my wheel since '11 with no problems until today when the blue power light came on and nothing happened. All connections are made, the brick is getting power, but the wheel is dead. Warranty work is long gone so I was hoping other members might know how to deal with this. Tried "search" with no luck. Any help will be appreciated.
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It might help to hook the wheel to a computer, "search" for firmware update (no matter whether you already have the latest version) install (or not), unhook and reconnect to the PS3.
Happened to me once, and after this, it was OK again.

Edit: my wheel is the same as yours (early 2012)
 
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Fanapryde
It might help to hook the wheel to a computer, "search" for firmware update (no matter whether you already have the latest version) install (or not), unhook and reconnect to the PS3.
Happened to me once, and after this, it was OK again.

Edit: my wheel is the same as yours (early 2012)
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First of all, thanks for the interest Fanapryde . My PC won't recognize my wheel anymore. When I plug USB in, nothing. Was your wheel totally dead, (no mode light or any action of wheel) when you searched for update? I'm pretty sure wheel has to have power (AC 110v to 24v) to be recognized by PC. Page 5 of update procedure says quote:
IMPORTANT: DO NOT UNPLUG your wheel from the USB port, and DO NOT
DISCONNECT the wheel’s power supply during the firmware update procedure! I'm assuming by this that wheel has to be powered up (AC) to be recognized, even though procedure never mentions plugging wheel into 110v circuit before checking for update. I guess they assume you are plugged into wall outlet when you attempt update. Thrustmaster teck support has been no help. EDIT: Does anybody repair these units? Can wheel or power brick be bought as a stand alone unit?
 
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VetteZR1
First of all, thanks for the interest Fanapryde . My PC won't recognize my wheel anymore. When I plug USB in, nothing. Was your wheel totally dead, (no mode light or any action of wheel) when you searched for update? I'm pretty sure wheel has to have power (AC 110v to 24v) to be recognized by PC. Page 5 of update procedure says quote:
IMPORTANT: DO NOT UNPLUG your wheel from the USB port, and DO NOT
DISCONNECT the wheel’s power supply during the firmware update procedure! I'm assuming by this that wheel has to be powered up (AC) to be recognized, even though procedure never mentions plugging wheel into 110v circuit before checking for update. I guess they assume you are plugged into wall outlet when you attempt update. Thrustmaster teck support has been no help. EDIT: Does anybody repair these units? Can wheel or power brick be bought as a stand alone unit?
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You got me thinking there... Blue light ? I have red/green, but blue ?
I remember that I disconnected the pedal set (because the TM site said so), but I am on vacation right now and nowhere near my rigg and I a' not really sure the wheel was connected to the power or not :confused:
 
Update: Just put a voltmeter on the connector that plugs into wheel from brick and it shows power (52volts), so I'm assuming the problem is with the wheel since the mode light (pedal orientation) remains off.
 
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As there seems to be no search thread option...

Sold my t500 pedals as was iRacing, now to come back to GT6.
Is there a link with info on how to make my own cable to connect t500 to g27 pedals please?
The adapter isn't in stock and so long as its just connecting wires I should be okay with that.

Thanks!
 
megaspeed2
TM has replied to my email faster than i expected :embarrassed:, they've started the RMA process straight away :)

EDIT: 7 Days later the UPS tracking page says the wheel has been delivered to Thrustmaster in france, hopefully ill receive an email soon confirming that they will send a replacement item, I really don't trust something that spewed out smoke to repair and last 4 years after that...
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Hi. I also had my t500 smoking (literally) from the went right above the engine. (YOu were probably refering to my post when you said you've read about smoke in this thread) Although with me it was more of just a whiff of smoke, rather than a huge amount and than a strong metal smell. Also there was no noise.

As for a follow up on my smoking, TM has said that I should take my t500 apart to see if there was any visible burn marks. Since I did not really fancy disassembling the entire t500 I just decided I'd do the stupid thing of ignoring the incident. There has not been any issues since, and the fan is working normally, there is no bad FFB, and the wheel still spings with impressive speeds.

So all in all, I'll just chart it down as a sole bad incident, and be ignorant of it. Maybe it was a loose metal shaving that got burned or something. Hopefully it did not reduce the lifespan of my wheel, since I am hoping to use it for years to come....
 
Update #2: It turns out my wheel lost it's firmware and the only way to get the Thrustmaster bootloader method to work was to use the "REAR" USB port on my Dell PC. After many failed attempts using the USB ports on the front I used one in the rear and "BAM" instant recognition. Bootloaded V43 and I was back driving in minutes. Thrustmaster instructions say don't use a USB hub for this, so front ports must be configured that way. Just a heads-up to anybody updating or bootloading their firmware.
 

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