Fanatec Announcements: CSW V2 Reviews Out

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amf7
So it doesn't affect gameplay.. Yes or no?? Do you notice it when playing... Yes or no?

Just curious
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No......not at all.

You have to physically pull the wheel straight back and push forward to make it do it. Looking inside it would actually only require a thrust washer or a shim to alleviate it. The clunk comes from the machined shoulder on the steering shaft when it hits up against the race of the bearing. Some people have claimed its due to the bearings themselves being sloppy.......that's not the case at all. The front most bearing can move back and forth in it's locator hole that is machined into the front plate. A simple shim/thrust washer placed in the shoulder stop area of the bearing receptor in the front plate would fix it easily and that would likely be the easiest fix as its pretty straight forward to pull the front plate off to access it ( I had the front nose cover off to have a look )

The play is quite minimal.....maybe a millimetre and a bit at most on mine but it makes a significant clunking noise because it doesn't slide back and forth easily as the front bearing appears to basically be a spring lock/ interference fit in its locator hole on the front plate. The steering shaft is a solid piece of the thick wall machined steel do due to its heftiness and the fact the whole mechanism is metal the sound it makes when it clunks is significant.

As for the roughness Troy mentions mine has this a little as well.....quite sure it's due to the belts being so new and grippy. If you've ever looked at serpentine V groove belts for your car when they are brand new the surface is not very smooth.....there's actually some degree of texture there. That will go away as they break in.

Make no mistake though.....that roughness is nothing like the cogging roughness you feel in other belt drive wheels......the Elite is MUCH smoother than any wheel I've ever felt even with that "new belt" roughness there.
 
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So basically some people are making a fuss over nothing?

Sounds like the gameplay with this wheel is great! Can't wait to try it and review it over the next few weeks
 
amf7
So basically some people are making a fuss over nothing?
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No I don't think so......when one spends this kinda cash on a wheel there's an expectation of high quality......and make no mistake when one has this wheel in there hands the base itself screams high quality so when it clunks when you pull on the rim it doesn't quite sit right with the rest of the experience.

So I don't have issue with people complaining about it.......I don't like it and I'll rectify it one way or the other at some point.

But other than that the wheel is quite a joy to use.......it's a huge step up in feel compared to other Fanatec wheels.
 
I have logged about 30hrs on my Elite so far between GT5 and forza 4, the minor belt noise has diminished and is almost completely gone. I only notice this in extreme conditions now, only if i have to correct massive oversteer and really fight the feedback (GT5). Its gone in forza... I have also notice the wheel is getting even smoother with time, seems to be just a minor break in period. I dont have the slop or bearing issue. Words cant explain how much i love the this wheel, waiting patiently for the release of the BMW rim
 
thehawk05
No I don't think so......when one spends this kinda cash on a wheel there's an expectation of high quality......and make no mistake when one has this wheel in there hands the base itself screams high quality so when it clunks when you pull on the rim it doesn't quite sit right with the rest of the experience.

So I don't have issue with people complaining about it.......I don't like it and I'll rectify it one way or the other at some point.

But other than that the wheel is quite a joy to use.......it's a huge step up in feel compared to other Fanatec wheels.
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I don't mind complaints at all.. However I was curious to see if it was a big deal!!!
 
thehawk05
No......not at all.

You have to physically pull the wheel straight back and push forward to make it do it. Looking inside it would actually only require a thrust washer or a shim to alleviate it. The clunk comes from the machined shoulder on the steering shaft when it hits up against the race of the bearing. Some people have claimed its due to the bearings themselves being sloppy.......that's not the case at all. The front most bearing can move back and forth in it's locator hole that is machined into the front plate. A simple shim/thrust washer placed in the shoulder stop area of the bearing receptor in the front plate would fix it easily and that would likely be the easiest fix as its pretty straight forward to pull the front plate off to access it ( I had the front nose cover off to have a look )

The play is quite minimal.....maybe a millimetre and a bit at most on mine but it makes a significant clunking noise because it doesn't slide back and forth easily as the front bearing appears to basically be a spring lock/ interference fit in its locator hole on the front plate. The steering shaft is a solid piece of the thick wall machined steel do due to its heftiness and the fact the whole mechanism is metal the sound it makes when it clunks is significant.
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I find this all very interesting. I remember being curious about this when the other user posted that YouTube video. I took the rear cover and PCB off of my CSR Elite to investigate since mine works perfectly. I noticed some C-clamps around the steering column on either side of the bearing. Perhaps that was missed during assembly?
 
12thgear
I find this all very interesting. I remember being curious about this when the other user posted that YouTube video. I took the rear cover and PCB off of my CSR Elite to investigate since mine works perfectly. I noticed some C-clamps around the steering column on either side of the bearing. Perhaps that was missed during assembly?
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Any chance you could get a picture of those C-clamps? I would like to take a look at mine and it would be nice to know what I'm looking for.
 
thehawk05
No I don't think so......when one spends this kinda cash on a wheel there's an expectation of high quality......and make no mistake when one has this wheel in there hands the base itself screams high quality so when it clunks when you pull on the rim it doesn't quite sit right with the rest of the experience.

So I don't have issue with people complaining about it.......I don't like it and I'll rectify it one way or the other at some point.
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This comment is spot on, and I'm sure everyone who has one would agree.

Troysloth
Any chance you could get a picture of those C-clamps? I would like to take a look at mine and it would be nice to know what I'm looking for.
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Excellent idea
 
VWMasteR
My father is a "go to guy" for custom machining and fixing machines when others can't get it done. So all these type of things is what he deals with daily. He diagnosed a machine once by having a person run the machine then hold a phone to various parts of it during operation. He didn't have time to go in so explained to them over the phone on what to do after hearing the sounds... I was amazed. We'll see what's what when it arrives.
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I love people like that. It would be interesting to hear his comments on the wheel construction & design in general anyway.
 
12thgear
I find this all very interesting. I remember being curious about this when the other user posted that YouTube video. I took the rear cover and PCB off of my CSR Elite to investigate since mine works perfectly. I noticed some C-clamps around the steering column on either side of the bearing. Perhaps that was missed during assembly?
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The C-clamps are actually called Snap Rings.

snapring.jpg
 
redmalloc
I love people like that. It would be interesting to hear his comments on the wheel construction & design in general anyway.
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I'm for sure going to show him and get his feedback. If he sees anything it wouldn't hurt to let them know while the CSW is still in pre-release mode.

He often changes engineering specs for what they should have done. The arrogant statement "I've forgotten more than you will ever know" actually might apply to my father in machining / machine building and repair.
 
thehawk05
The C-clamps are actually called Snap Rings.
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Clamp was the wrong term. I meant clip. Snap ring is probably the term I should use from now on though.

Anyway, here's a photo from the back side. I just took a look inside from the top and there's a snap ring on the other side of the pictured bearing as well. I don't see any snap rings on the front bearing of my CSR Elite.

CSRE_steering_bearing.jpg
 
lemansfanatic
Does anyone have a remedy for the minor belt squeal? its not a huge deal and i could live with it but so far its the only thing keeping the elite from being perfect.
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If you fell like pulling it apart, borrow some of gf's hand cream or hand moisturizer and put a small amount on the edges of the belt. Works better than silicone spray:)
 
Actually i really have been playing with it lot more now and like everyone said the belts need time to break in. i dont hear any belt noises anymore
 
My belts are getting louder with use. I'm not concerned yet. I'm going to post a video of my issues, but one thing I can't video rec. is the smell of burning wires coming from my unit. It is a very nauseating smell that reminds me of my train set as a kid. Someone mentioned that it could just be some sort chemical burning off and not to worry. Well what chemical could be burning off? How is that not a worry, when I don't know the chemical. Does anyone else have this smell of burning electrical components coming from their wheel?
 
My CSR-E doesn't make any significant smells. The only thing I smell seems to be rubber from the belts. If the burning odor is enough to sting the nose I'd be concerned. Shine a flashlight in through the top window, looking near the motors on the right side. I imagine the motors can run hot, and maybe the insulation on the cable loom to the fan is melting? For that matter, is your fan even running?
 
I had a little bit of wiggle in the wheel, which I thought originally what the now-infamous wiggling driveshaft, but it turns out that the part of the shaft that attaches the wheel (the black part you bolt into when removing the rim or putting it back on) was loose, so I simply tightened all five little bolts inside with my handy allen wrench multitool and went on racing with no problems to be found. I just wanted to mention this in case anybody else had this problem.
 
VWMasteR
My belts are getting louder with use. I'm not concerned yet. I'm going to post a video of my issues, but one thing I can't video rec. is the smell of burning wires coming from my unit. It is a very nauseating smell that reminds me of my train set as a kid. Someone mentioned that it could just be some sort chemical burning off and not to worry. Well what chemical could be burning off? How is that not a worry, when I don't know the chemical. Does anyone else have this smell of burning electrical components coming from their wheel?
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I got that smell too. mine is minor and doesnt bother me, i wouldnt worry yet though
 
12thgear
My CSR-E doesn't make any significant smells. The only thing I smell seems to be rubber from the belts. If the burning odor is enough to sting the nose I'd be concerned. Shine a flashlight in through the top window, looking near the motors on the right side. I imagine the motors can run hot, and maybe the insulation on the cable loom to the fan is melting? For that matter, is your fan even running?
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There is a fan setting in the menu if i recall correctly. does anyone remember how to access that to check the fan setting on or off
 
A + B+ the two lower red buttons turns the fan on or off. Also verifies firmware version. The wheel can't be in a mode to do this....simply turn it on and when it has _ _ _ in the display you can do the bottom sequence I listed.

Fans off doesn't mean they never come on....they will turn on automatically at a preset temp. The CSR E runs quite cool so they don't come on much in my experience.
 
thehawk05
A + B+ the two lower red buttons turns the fan on or off. Also verifies firmware version. The wheel can't be in a mode to do this....simply turn it on and when it has _ _ _ in the display you can do the bottom sequence I listed.

Fans off doesn't mean they never come on....they will turn on automatically at a preset temp. The CSR E runs quite cool so they don't come on much in my experience.
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Be aware if you are planning to turn the fan off. With the 715 firmware even with the fans on, they were not turning very fast and I could barely hear them, so I left them on all the time.

When I installed firmware 721b, I noticed the fans were a lot louder so I turned them off so they would only come on when needed.

During an hour long race I noticed my wheel was starting to get very warm so much that it was warm to the touch even on the clear plastic cover on top and the fans still were not turning on.

Since then I have turned the fans back to on all the time. It is a little bit louder, but I don't notice it over the sound of the game while racing. Now the wheel never gets warm even after a 4 hour non-stop gaming session.
 
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Probably a straightforward question, but where can I find description of the warranty? Things like length/transferability, written on the official site. Tried to search in English, found nothing. I suspect it might be there in German, but I don't know it. So I'd appreciate a link, so I can at least google-translate it.

Thanks!

UPD: nevermind, found it. Should've searched "Guarantee" instead. Nothing on transferability though, I suspect it's gonna be in some German civil code...
 
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So picked up the rfactor 2 beta last night and the game and ffb in particular with this wheel is nothing short of phenomenal.
 
Has anyone ordered a CSR-E recently or know what current delivery times are? If they are available for immediate delivery I'm going to order one now and then sell it after I get the CSW.
 

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