POLL: Thrustmaster T300RS/GTE Reliability Poll

[cjr3559]

Did you try it with other games?

Yes, it doesn’t run on any game.

Dakar 18 usually gives it (the wheel) the biggest workout of my current games, so I thought it was strange it was off.

Maybe the fan is burned out and needs replaced. I could probably fix this myself if needed.

 

[super_gt]

Maybe the fan is burned out and needs replaced. I could probably fix this myself if needed.

If you decide to fix it yourself you can use Noctua NF-A6x25 FLX.
These Noctua fans are awesome.



(Read the comments below the video in YouTube)

 

[Daz555]

Recently I discovered the fan no longer works in 'forced on' mode. I've repeatedly turned the forced mode on and off to test and the fan no longer turns on. This seems to have occurred after the v.29 update but I cannot confirm exactly when it stopped running. I know I'm eventually in for a world of hurt if the fan is dead, but anyone else have this occur after v.29? I also connected the wheel to my PC but there's no diagnostic or setting for the fan.

The fan is a $1 piece of crap so it may just be broken. TM will replace under warranty (if you still have one) but otherwise you could stick a better quality fan in there that shifts more air.

 

[asteroulis]

Indeed its not difficult to replace it with a better one, but you must do it asap and not use it even once more without proper cooling. 90% of T300's problems are due to heat.
First test the fan with 12V to see if it faulty and it's not the fan circuit...

 

[cjr3559]

Got a two year replacement plan from the retailer so that’s good. Don’t normally buy these kinds of plans, but with the failure history of this wheel I thought it was prudent. Interestingly the wheel is nearly a year old, like I’ve had it for 50 weeks.

Does opening the wheel and replacing the fan void the warranty? Assuming it does. The replacement fan is on the way today, so the decision is to attempt to replace it or just wait for the wheel to die is another question. Honestly who knows how long it could run without the fan. I keep my room pretty cool.

If it’s the fan circuit as @asteroulis says, then I’ve got bigger problems.

 

[Daz555]

Got a two year replacement plan from the retailer so that’s good. Don’t normally buy these kinds of plans, but with the failure history of this wheel I thought it was prudent. Interestingly the wheel is nearly a year old, like I’ve had it for 50 weeks.

Does opening the wheel and replacing the fan void the warranty? Assuming it does. The replacement fan is on the way today, so the decision is to attempt to replace it or just wait for the wheel to die is another question. Honestly who knows how long it could run without the fan. I keep my room pretty cool.

If it’s the fan circuit as @asteroulis says, then I’ve got bigger problems.

Thrustmaster cannot tell if you just open up the case but the fan does have anti-tamper paint (looks like red threadlock) on the screws for the fan (and other components) so TM would be able to argue that you had been messing about with it.

Oddly when I opened up my case it did have red stuff all over the place but not on the screws for the fan. So I went and replaced the fan anyway. If my wheel breaks in warranty it will be interesting to see what TM say about my fan having no paint on it at all.

 

[Napalm_LT]

Does your wheel loosing power with higher FFB after fan replacement?

 

[cjr3559]

Well, it was the fan. Got the new one installed today and it works. Probably another cheapie that will burn out after a year, but it’s quieter and it works.

👍

Does your wheel loosing power with higher FFB after fan replacement?

Doubt it will, but I will test tomorrow.

 

[cjr3559]

@Napalm_LT

No difference in FFB. Maybe you have to have a really strong fan that could draw too much power but maybe others can answer this.

What does irritate me about this wheel is the quick release screw that’s basically stripped. Thankfully I don’t switch out wheels otherwise I’d have to get a new screw. Probably will anyway. I’ve taken the wheel off three times.

 

[Napalm_LT]

I guess it is not enough only to change fan, aditioaddi vent holes must be drilled to ad cold air and extract hot air.

 

[Outspacer]

My T300 is coming up to 2 years old and the end of its warranty, so I'm probably going to replace the fan soon. The Noctua pushes a little more less air (about 80%), at lower RPM, much more quietly, and takes less power than the original.

I'm going to try to make a panel to fit vertically around the fan, so one side of the case is 'in' and the other 'out'. I think this could have more benefit than extra vent holes.

 

[Napalm_LT]

Sorry, my english is bad and I can't get what you mean @Outspacer.
I thing FFB fading problem is not due to pour fan, but more due to small vent holes - hot air can't get out from base. I bought my wheel with extended warranty (total 4 years warranty) and 2 years left. So I am a bit confused - do some cooling upgrade and loose warranty or not.
Actually I did some external upgrade and situation is better than earlier, but FFB is still fading on track with long fast corners (Spa as example), so I would like to do something more.

My current mod

 

[TomBrady]

I've been lucky enough to only have minor problems.

My pedals had a spring break within warranty so I just sent them pictures of it and they sent me a brand new pedal set so that was great. I do still need a spring for that pedal set but if my current pedals ever break i got the other set as a backup.

More recently, I've been having issues with GT Sport (I've only ever noticed this issue with GTS). For whatever reason, while driving the game will randomly pause. Sometimes it pauses and goes to the PS4's dashboard. Even worse, the wheel has once just stopped working, and I had to unplug the USB to get it working again.


Keep in mind, this is usually happening during the FIA races I do

THANK GOD for the fact when you pause the game in GT Sport the AI takes over because if not, it would be so much worse of a problem.

 

[cjr3559]

I’ve seen photos and videos of people drilling big holes and installing large fans, but I would be concerned the holes would just draw in lint, dust and all kinds of other electrical killing debris.

 

[Outspacer]

Sorry, my english is bad and I can't get what you mean @Outspacer.
I thing FFB fading problem is not due to pour fan, but more due to small vent holes - hot air can't get out from base.

Sure, some more holes might help, but the stock fan's cross-section isn't much bigger than the existing holes on each side. About 1700 mm squared vs 1400 (very roughly).

The thing is, the stock fan is just sittng there inside the case with no ducting at all - and nothing stopping the air from just circling back round to go through the fan again! My idea is to cut some cardboard to fit around the fan, making a wall and separating one side from the other - ought to help quite a bit. Then the air should come in on the left, go through the fan, and out on the right.

I run FFB quite low - I want to feel it and have it guide me, rather than fight it. So I don't get (or notice, anyway) fade. But I suspect the motor itself may not be good at getting the heat out to its heatsink, meaning that no matter how well we cool the heatsink, heat could still build up inside the motor.

I bought my wheel with extended warranty (total 4 years warranty) and 2 years left. So I am a bit confused - do some cooling upgrade and loose warranty or not.
Actually I did some external upgrade and situation is better than earlier, but FFB is still fading on track with long fast corners (Spa as example), so I would like to do something more.

It's a difficult choice, especially since we don't know for certain what causes failure, or any definitive method to prevent it. It may be that some motors are just going to fail at some point anyway, and extra cooling just delays that happening. In that case, letting it fail and getting a replacement would be the best option!

 

[asteroulis]

My T300 is coming up to 2 years old and the end of its warranty, so I'm probably going to replace the fan soon. The Noctua pushes a little more air, at lower RPM, much more quietly, and takes less power than the original.

I'm going to try to make a panel to fit vertically around the fan, so one side of the case is 'in' and the other 'out'. I think this could have more benefit than extra vent holes.

I have been fixing T300's and TX's this year, and also tried various fans. All of them had almost same specs at various price points, most expensive was the noctua. I was really surprised to see that the stock fan is the most powerful of them all. Yet I would still recommend the fan mod, because all of them were much more quiet and should be more durable on the long term if you plan on using the fan in the always on mode.

Sorry, my english is bad and I can't get what you mean @Outspacer.
I thing FFB fading problem is not due to pour fan, but more due to small vent holes - hot air can't get out from base. I bought my wheel with extended warranty (total 4 years warranty) and 2 years left. So I am a bit confused - do some cooling upgrade and loose warranty or not.
Actually I did some external upgrade and situation is better than earlier, but FFB is still fading on track with long fast corners (Spa as example), so I would like to do something more.

My current mod

View attachment 780402

I run 100%ffb for 3 hour sessions and fan always on and have no problem whatsoever with ambient room temp 20-22 celcius. So if you are having ffb fade quickly it's probably due to a faulty motor/pcb/psu. I have 3 servo bases with same problems that I have not found a solution yet..
One thing that drew my intention is the big long corner issue you mentioned, which could be parts were a motor asks for power that it either cannnot deliver itself or get it provided from the rest of the system's components..

 

[cjr3559]

The T300 servo base is currently $159 on Amazon. I may pick one up for backup purposes at that price. Normally $259.

Too bad I can’t find the T-GT base for sale anywhere. I would rather buy just the T-GT base than spend $700 for pedals and rim I don’t need.

 

[Outspacer]

I was really surprised to see that the stock fan is the most powerful of them all.

Ah, seems I've been misled by the graph in the datasheet for the CC6015S12M. Doesn't 21.39 CFM actually convert to 0.6 metres cubed per minute, not 0.41 as they show?! That would be 36.34 m3/h for the Chiefly, vs 29.2 for the Noctua, about 25% more.

'Always on' for sure, I think, since TM put it in.

Have you ever tried anything like my divider panel idea?

 

[asteroulis]

Have you ever tried anything like my divider panel idea?

No I haven't . I don't find it wrong , but I don't think it's needed either.. Because with full FFB I have never ever experienced thermal throttling of the motor. So stock setup seems to be enough for decent cooling.

 

[Jeka_djonik]

The T300 servo base is currently $159 on Amazon. I may pick one up for backup purposes at that price. Normally $259.

Too bad I can’t find the T-GT base for sale anywhere. I would rather buy just the T-GT base than spend $700 for pedals and rim I don’t need.

welcome I am from Belarus. Do not buy you tGT it is worse than fanatec csl. it costs even more. Thrustmaster does nothing good anymore. the company is standing still! if you steering wheel for PC tgt is not your choice. better wait if there is no money and buy a fanatek

 

[Jeka_djonik]

+ - the price is the same! But you get the best product. in your place I would not buy TM for 600 € or $

 

[Jeka_djonik]

today finished his repair of the steering wheel TM T300 was doing the replacement of bearings. my old ones have already begun to produce a bad rattle. but there was no backlash as such. 3 years will be the helm in February.

 

[EmArA]

Have it since release and this thing is still alive even with the cable completely worn out (blame me for that)...

Derek Speare Designs (DSD Black Max II by M-Bimmer, on Flickr

 

[F1Aussie]

Three years ago I considered the t300 until I saw all the forums posting about failure rates in these wheels, I went with the t500 instead and it has been bullet proof. Am about to join team fanatec though,Have a dd1 on preorder and the new limited F1: rim.

 

[Faria]

So i have being following this thread for the past 4 weeks now.

I bought a used (bought new in 2015 by the previous owner) t300 RS Ferrari Alcântara and t3pa pro.

First thing when got the wheel i bought 1x80mm fan and 2x40mm and did the cooling mod (fan mode always on). For now the FF is strong whitout any feel of fading.

Last week bought 2 used t300 servos with some problems. 1 was not calibrating properly and the other simply went dead.

The plastic that holds the "H.E.A.R.T" PCB in place was broken. Got one new and the wheel start calibrating. I run the TM calibrating tool successfully, manually center the wheel and updated the firmware, made the cooling mode and now its feels like brand new. Its even better than the first wheel i bought.

The other that was dead, well the psu was dead. Replaced the original PSU with a laptop 19v and 4amp, connected the USB 5v to the mainboard 4 pin power plug and the wheel turned back to life, starts calibrating but its not showing in the Windows Control painel and after a while start to disconnect, it even show on the TM autocalibrating tool.

I think 19v its a very low voltage to the t300. Allready bought a 24v 2.5a to see if the problem goes way. Hoping to get this servo base working properly to.

 

[Napalm_LT]

First thing when got the wheel i bought 1x80mm fan and 2x40mm and did the cooling mod (fan mode always on). For now the FF is strong whitout any feel of fading.

How did you power them?

 

[PaulDiRoosta]

@Faria you should never use a lower voltage than the recommended supply voltage as this may damage your base due to the increased current flow to supply the power required. I use a logitech g27 power supply on my T300 and it is a 24vdc 1.75 Amp supply so any 24vdc supply capable of 1.75 Amps or more should work fine

 

[Faria]

@Faria you should never use a lower voltage than the recommended supply voltage as this may damage your base due to the increased current flow to supply the power required. I use a logitech g27 power supply on my T300 and it is a 24vdc 1.75 Amp supply so any 24vdc supply capable of 1.75 Amps or more should work fine

I know but searching the internet i saw videos of some guys doing this mod on the t150, they used a 19v laptop Power supply and it looked fine. They even leave the 5v wire from the USB disconnected, my t300 doesnt worked without those wires connected to the mainboard.

I think the motor in the t300 is stronger or more "power hungry" so 19v its not enough. Thanks for the advice.

How did you power them?

I uploaded some pics of the cable and the 80mm fan, note that i bent the metal bracket to acomodate the 80mm fan, only that way i can close the top cover, so it may look like the fan is to low but the blowing air is toutching the motor.

Must be a 12v fan, any PC fan should be fine.

Bought some multiple fan connector wire (i dont know the English name lol, but you get the point from the pic). Cut the original fan wire near the fan, cut the female connector from the multi fan wire, solder the 2 cables toghether and connected the original fan cable to the PCB and the rest to the fans.

Today (i hope) going to cut that "fake" plastic mesh on the top cover and hot gluing some speaker metal mesh.

Should improve the intake of cold air and flow, because it sits directly above the 80mm fan.

 

[Napalm_LT]

So, all three fans are connected from one original socket? It isn't dangerous for base? how log do you use this mod?
BTW, I think cold air intake and hot air extract is more important than big fan inside (80 mm you use).

 

[Faria]

So, all three fans are connected from one original socket? It isn't dangerous for base? how log do you use this mod?
BTW, I think cold air intake and hot air extract is more important than big fan inside (80 mm you use).

Well i got the wheel some weeks ago. Being playing gtsport about 2/3h every day. The Weather os cold, its winter here in Portugal.

I put a big fan because its makes less noise thanks the original and its flows more air.

The fan is always on and you cant ear it with the plastic cover on. I think some people say the original its not much reliable.

The 80mm fan sucks cold air from the hole im going to cut and the 2 40mm are sucking the hot air inside the T300. The airflow should be good.


I dont think its dangerous, the 80mm fan and the others 40mm need less amperage than the stock one. The three combined should not make a big diference, i think.