broken logitech red momo hub repaired and 3D printed

  • Thread starter ock1
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If you have a red Logitech momo force steering wheel with a broken hub, I came up with a method to repair it that can also reinforce unbroken hubs, and then designed a 3D printed part to apply it to a 3D printable replacement hub model I found.

Link to details here.

I love this wheel, I've used it since GT3, and even did the mod of replacing the USB controller with one from the cheaper plastic logitech wheel to keep it working in GT4. It broke after I decided to finally finish winning GT6 gold license awards for the free Audi R8. The Nurburgring holiday seasonal didn't help. I'm not thrilled with the G29's current price or that the sold separately shifter isn't recognized on the PS3.

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That is supremely cool! What's the metallic stuff on the 3D printed part and what does it do? Also is it printed as a completely solid part or is it partially hollow? I've seen surprisingly few 3D printed parts being used in controllers and sim racing peripherals - you'd think the desire for customisation and the high price of the latter would foster a market for DIY repairs like this, though admittedly it's not common for a mechanical part to fail - so there's not much info on their suitability for the task. I want to 3D print a G27 wheel mount adaptor (to mount the stock wheel on a different shaft) but I have no idea how to design it to tolerate torque.
 
The metallic stuff is metal tape to build up the bearing and force feedback gear contact surfaces a little because the fit was a little loose. My friend with the 3D printer went ahead and printed out someone else's hub design I found before I finished my own design. He printed the hub in ABS plastic which can have more shrinkage than the PLA plastic the hub designer used, but I decided to see if I could get the part working anyway instead of modifying the design or recalibrating his printer for another 6 hour print. It's partially hollow, but not as much as the original. I haven't hollowed out my own 3D model design yet, it's so solid it's more suitable for machining than 3D printing.
 
There are also some 3D printable parts for the G27 people have designed here, maybe one could be modified into your adaptor.
 
If you have a red Logitech momo force steering wheel with a broken hub, I came up with a method to repair it that can also reinforce unbroken hubs, and then designed a 3D printed part to apply it to a 3D printable replacement hub model I found.

Link to details here.

I love this wheel, I've used it since GT3, and even did the mod of replacing the USB controller with one from the cheaper plastic logitech wheel to keep it working in GT4. It broke after I decided to finally finish winning GT6 gold license awards for the free Audi R8. The Nurburgring holiday seasonal didn't help. I'm not thrilled with the G29's current price or that the sold separately shifter isn't recognized on the PS3.

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Hi OCK1,

I have an issue with the centre steering calibration on the red Momo and was wondering whether I could print this part with a off centre radius of -58° to the right that project cars is telling me is the centre steering calibration percentage?

Any input would be appreciated and also what is your username on the 3D printing forum where you have this project please Has the Logitech link you have in your first post he no longer working?
 
Hi OCK1,

I have an issue with the centre steering calibration on the red Momo and was wondering whether I could print this part with a off centre radius of -58° to the right that project cars is telling me is the centre steering calibration percentage?

Any input would be appreciated and also what is your username on the 3D printing forum where you have this project please Has the Logitech link you have in your first post he no longer working?

The 3D printed part is not my design, it is available here. The file could be modified before printing to offset the steering potentiometer interface. But the offset might not be necessary, the steering could be off because the steering potentiometer needs cleaning or replacement, or because the potentiometer interface end of the steering hub has broken, the potentiometer interface in my original momo hub was cracked and about to break. I tried fixing it with ABS plumbing pipe cement and metal tape. But I still haven't tested the repaired original hub because the 3d-printed part is still working after a year. I was playing the GT Sport beta with it using GIMX until update 1.07 changed the force feedback to make a really annoying wheel chatter effect when the front tires understeer.

Logitech seems to have deleted some old forum sections. I wrote a long article on how I tried to fix the momo hub with and without 3d printing here.
 
Many thanks ock1,
I take your point on the pot which I checked for damage, my interface end of the steering hub was okay, with this alternative pot re-alignment blog guide which suggest adding external pots for future re-alignment. The only problem with that method Is that he didn't specify which pots he used, specifically what wattage for unless anybody else mills I'm reluctant to order them, can anybody help?
I cant find a method to clean this Momo red tiny black pot as it looks to be sealed in this photo so I haven't even dismantled it on my own unit to see if it's possible so that's why I was thinking of printing the new housing or using the alternative realignment method above.
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If I can't sort the the Red Momo pot alignment issue I have a Driving Force GT which I need to attach the superior Red Momo pedals like these methods here or here if possible.
 
From that pot picture I can see his steering might have been off because the housing interface end of the pot is shaped like a split ball, and one half has broken off. That's why he used paste and glue to reform the missing half.

This guy's schematics says the pedal pots have 5V inputs, then this guy also has processor pinouts and names the processor to be an ST72632. The datasheet here says the processor runs at 5V with 5V analog inputs, so the steering pot input voltage is probably also 5V. I think the wheel gets 5V from USB because the wheel still works without the 24V/.75A power adaptor plugged in, just without force feedback. So with some rough math, if USB 2.0 5V maximum output is 500mA, the datasheet says the chip uses at most 20mA, the most current available to the three 5V pots would be 480mA, or 160mA per pot, 5V*.16A=0.8W. So my guess is 1W pots would be ok. Or you could stick a current meter between the pot and 5V input to measure the max current directly.
 
If you guys need a perfectly working Logitech Red Momo wheel and peddle set, PM me. I have one that I used to use way back on my PS2 days for GT-3. It has about 10 hours of total use on it. Picked up a G25 shortly thereafter.
 
.... So my guess is 1W pots would be ok. Or you could stick a current meter between the pot and 5V input to measure the max current directly.

Many thanks once again. As I have zero skills using a multimeter (something I'm currently rectifying) as such I don't know where to stick the probes exactly (Plus probe on the pot plus contact and minus probe on the 5V input minus?) and to embarrass myself even more I know I wouldn't have the power going through the pedals but would I be in danger of harming the wheel if the USB 5V going through the PC was connected?
 
You got me curious so I finally opened up my momo to measure the steering pot currents with a cheap multimeter.
The left and right wires you would add pots to ranged 0-5V over the steering range but both stayed at 0.463mA,
5V*0.000463A=0.0023W. So you could actually use cheaper 1/4W or less pots.
 
Thanks for taking the time to measure it, i was clueless where to measure. The author of the twin pot mod guide eventually got in touch to also confirm your results too.
So i'm down to order either .1w this one or this .250w to be on the safe side?
The pinouts on the .2 50W second one are a nightmare as I can't for the life of me remember the connectors name to order the right ones, they're the same as the multimedia headers on a motherboard PC aren't they?
 
Neither of those pots are 5k ohm, so this .25W pot would be better. That 0.1W pot also has a log taper, where the resistance doesn't change linearly.

There's no connector for those .25W pots because they're meant to be through-hole soldered to a circuit board, I would just solder directly to the pot, and you're only using 2 of the 3 pins. Make sure to insulate after soldering so they don't short.

I did have the momo plugged into a PC while taking measurements, because it needs to be getting 5V. I had the game controllers/steering wheel properties window open to make sure the wheel was reporting normal steering range output while taking measurements.

The twin pot mod guy removed the steering wheel as part of dissassembly, I've been able to access everything by removing all the bottom screws except for the 4 black screws that secure the clamp hinges. I've only had to remove the steering wheel to replace the hub or to retighten the force feedback motor mounting screws that vibrated loose. If your wheel's already apart, tighten those motor screws.
 
Neither of those pots are 5k ohm, so this .25W pot would be better. That 0.1W pot also has a log taper, where the resistance doesn't change linearly.

There's no connector for those .25W pots because they're meant to be through-hole soldered to a circuit board, I would just solder directly to the pot, and you're only using 2 of the 3 pins. Make sure to insulate after soldering so they don't short.

I did have the momo plugged into a PC while taking measurements, because it needs to be getting 5V. I had the game controllers/steering wheel properties window open to make sure the wheel was reporting normal steering range output while taking measurements.

The twin pot mod guy removed the steering wheel as part of dissassembly, I've been able to access everything by removing all the bottom screws except for the 4 black screws that secure the clamp hinges. I've only had to remove the steering wheel to replace the hub or to retighten the force feedback motor mounting screws that vibrated loose. If your wheel's already apart, tighten those motor screws.

I'm so glad I asked if I was ordering the right pots then, many thanks once again. I'll get these ordered now and thanks for the advice on tightening the motor screws while I've got everything disassembled.

I got the DFGT which is a totally lighter setup in the wheel and in the pedals especially (all plastic) though you do have the advantage of 24 buttons in game which means the keyboard is redundant.
I would really like to have the best of both worlds and both wheels working with the red Momo pedals (Which are in a different league) but I cannot find anybody who can help me with the wiring :confused:. The advantage of the DFGT is that it does 900° whilst the Momo only does 270° so for rallying and drifting games DFGT wins.
 
I've only had to remove the steering wheel to replace the hub or to retighten the force feedback motor mounting screws that vibrated loose. If your wheel's already apart, tighten those motor screws.

Nice tip on the motor screws tightening, mine was literally hanging on by a few threads of only one of the two screws. The red Momo's sealed housing superior construction (which the reviews at the time mentioned is a plus against other wheels) to the black Momo meant that you couldn't access the motor screws easily but is a nightmare now with total disassembly just to tighten two screws!

By the way did you use superglue Loctite as some of the other websites recommended to permanently fix this issue with the loose motor screws?

PS. I've just found this product "LOCTITE® THREADLOCKER BLUE 242", Just wondering if we should use this instead due to its recommendation, "Locks threads - Prevents loosening of metal fasteners caused by vibrations"
 
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