G27 optical encoder replacement

[WJHMH]

I have a broken optical encoder on my Logitech G27, I think most of the members of this forum have experienced this issue. All I need is the simple part & this is the only company located Thailand that makes it. Not sure if a brass replacement with affect the load on the electric motor, but has anyone tried one of these yet? Sure would be cheaper than just going out & buying another wheel.

http://cmlaserservice.com/page_g25_g27_optical_encoder_wheel.html

 

[mrbasher]

I don't know what it would make a difference as far as the motor is concerned. However, I have to wonder why the encoder wheel would ever wear out to begin with. It doesn't contact anything, light shines through it and that's pretty much the extent of it. Are you sure your encoder wheel is shot?

 

[thechosenwonton]

Honestly, I'd contact Logitech before you go spending any money - I had an 2.5 year old DFGT that broke and they sent me a replacement, no questions asked.

 

[occasionalracer]

I had this issue with my G25 at one point, so I opened it up and sure enough the encoder wheel had three hairline cracks in it... I was exited I had found the problem, did a pristine job glueing it with plastic model glue and the wheel then fit nice and snug on the shaft.

Assembled it again, fired it up with GT5 and DiRT on PC.. two turns later... same problem... out of calibration/alignment. I believe the actual problem was the optical PCB unfortunately, so I resorted to buying the DFGT and wireing the G25 pedals to it. Now I'm rockin it with a T500RS... much better.

Good luck, I remember taking that brass wheel into consideration but after perfectly fixing the plastic wheel and a failed result I just grabbed the $99 DFGT. Might as well give it a shot though.

 

[WJHMH]

I just got off the phone with Logitech & I'm basically SOL, since I've had the wheel for over two years they will not honor the warranty plus I don't a have a recept because it was a gift from a friend. I told them this is a very common issue for the optical encoders failing & all I got is a canned response saying "we are working on the problem." Yeah right...

Only other option is to try to fix or replace with another wheel.

 

[mikeschmeee]

Hey I know this is an old thread and I'm sorry to bump it up but just incase anyone else encountered this issue I made a few YouTube videos on replacing the optical encoder disc with the brass replacement from CMLaserService.

You can view all of them on my YouTube page.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mikeschmeeedotcom

Hope this info helps out other members

Cheers
Mike

 

[LeGeNd-1]

My G25 has been off centre to the left (around 5 degree) for a about a month now. I opened it up and sure enough there is a hairline crack on the optical encoder. I wonder whether replacing it really makes a difference though? Even with the crack the disc is still pretty solid. I don't want to waste $30 for nothing. Anyone else get an improvement after they replaced theirs?

 

[occasionalracer]

My G25 has been off centre to the left (around 5 degree) for a about a month now. I opened it up and sure enough there is a hairline crack on the optical encoder. I wonder whether replacing it really makes a difference though? Even with the crack the disc is still pretty solid. I don't want to waste $30 for nothing. Anyone else get an improvement after they replaced theirs?

Oh this old issue, as you can see above I fixed my disc and did so perfectly. The problem isn't neccessarily that the hairline crack itself is letting the optical light shine through (in my case), but that the disc is then loose on the shaft and starts slipping.. which is why I opened my G25 for a second time and also put a couple dabs of glue to secure it on the shaft but the problem remained.

To me that said, don't bother with that brass wheel which I had also came across and considered back then.. so maybe try again and make sure the disc is secure on that shaft.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

Oh this old issue, as you can see above I fixed my disc and did so perfectly. The problem isn't neccessarily that the hairline crack itself is letting the optical light shine through (in my case), but that the disc is then loose on the shaft and starts slipping.. which is why I opened my G25 for a second time and also put a couple dabs of glue to secure it on the shaft but the problem remained.

To me that said, don't bother with that brass wheel which I had also came across and considered back then.. so maybe try again and make sure the disc is secure on that shaft.

Wait, so the disc isn't supposed to rotate? Or do you mean just fix it so it rotates but not loose? Because mine is definitely not loose (it took me quite an effort to turn it by hand).

 

[occasionalracer]

Wait, so the disc isn't supposed to rotate? Or do you mean just fix it so it rotates but not loose? Because mine is definitely not loose (it took me quite an effort to turn it by hand).

I mean the disc could slip on the shaft itself while spinning if it's got the hailine cracks, so it would throw off the center in the first couple turns (the wheel calibrates it's center at every start-up).. so if you say you have to firmly push to get it on then there's probably no way that 0.1g disc would ever slip and you may have the same problem as I did and something else in the electronics is not working.. I know it sucks when you know everything else is just fine..

 

[LeGeNd-1]

I mean the disc could slip on the shaft itself while spinning if it's got the hailine cracks, so it would throw off the center in the first couple turns (the wheel calibrates it's center at every start-up).. so if you say you have to firmly push to get it on then there's probably no way that 0.1g disc would ever slip and you may have the same problem as I did and something else in the electronics is not working.. I know it sucks when you know everything else is just fine..

Ok so mine is definitely not slipping then. It's out of alignment even when it's calibrating itself (instead of stopping dead centre after rotating left and right, it stops 5 degree to the left), and it stays like that for the whole duration of gameplay. Sucks to know it's electronics. Do you have any idea of repair costs if I return it to Logitech?

 

[occasionalracer]

Nope sorry I couldn't tell you, Logitech are very good with exchange/repairs from what I've read though..

 

[LeGeNd-1]

No worries mate. Cheers for your help 👍

 

[Rallywagon]

This is actually a fairly commin issue for the g27. Before blaming the optical wheel, tighten all of the screws for the sensor mount that attaches to the motor. I had the same issue twice. The second time I put a dab of loctite on the screws and haven't had an issues since, a year later. If your optic wheel is cracked, replace it with that brass one, as it will not crack like the plastic one. Otherwise its probably those screws.

 

[TakumiFuji01]

This is actually a fairly commin issue for the g27. Before blaming the optical wheel, tighten all of the screws for the sensor mount that attaches to the motor. I had the same issue twice. The second time I put a dab of loctite on the screws and haven't had an issues since, a year later. If your optic wheel is cracked, replace it with that brass one, as it will not crack like the plastic one. Otherwise its probably those screws.

When my older version G27 had the encoder problem, I just tighten the screws and put back the encoder. The cracks were somewhat a problem for me, since I do lots of drifting in rF; the alignment on my wheel started screwing up a bit and would have to re-calibrate again once and awhile. That's where the brass version came in. Worked well, until my older version killed itself after I plugged it in a defunct USB -_-. I decided to get another G27 like..last year?? I knew I should of just bought a second-hand G27 $30 motherboard off a sim forum instead of paying the actual wheel for about 200-300 bucks again..

 

[Rallywagon]

Think of all the spare parts you have now though! pedals to play with and shifters to modify, and a brand new stock version just in case...

 

[LeGeNd-1]

This is actually a fairly commin issue for the g27. Before blaming the optical wheel, tighten all of the screws for the sensor mount that attaches to the motor. I had the same issue twice. The second time I put a dab of loctite on the screws and haven't had an issues since, a year later. If your optic wheel is cracked, replace it with that brass one, as it will not crack like the plastic one. Otherwise its probably those screws.

Done that already. The screws are not loose at all on my wheel. It's just the hairline crack.

I've ordered the brass encoder anyways. If that works, great! If not then I might get a T300 and pedal adaptor (since my pedals are perfectly fine) for PS4.

I've also called Logitech Customer Service. Basically they agreed that it's a hardware issue and told me to look for a service centre on my own (there's no official Logitech repair centre in Australia)

 

[LeGeNd-1]

Well I just got my encoder today and installed it. No luck. It's still 5 degree off to the side. It turns out my old encoder has 3 cracks instead of only 1 as I saw previously (but it's still not loose on the motor, so I don't think it causes any difference). The rotation now feels more accurate, but it might just be placebo effect.

Oh well, I'll just deal with it for a few more months. Then I'll upgrade to T300 in preparation for PS4 and GT7.

 

[True-blue-8]

Hi, don't suppose I could ask a quick question.

I got my G27 at Christmas, a few weeks ago, the wneel would not calibrate properly. It is about 40 degrees of centre to go straight.
As far as i'm aware the cause is the gel has melted and the motor is loose. Also, if it is the case will my 1 year warranty cover this?