Madcatz TE Rnd. 1 Turbo Panel ribbon cables - Any idea where I can get replacements?

Junsuina Chikara

Hi all. Over the last week, I've run into various problems with the turbo panel on my TE fightstick. Basically, the LEDs for some of the buttons don't light up and last night, the Guide/Home button stopped working, as well as the turbo button (although I don't use it but anyway). After opening the stick up, took out the two screws holding the panel into the case and moving the panel around, I determined that the issue is loose connections between the ribbon cable plugs and the ribbon cables. I am a little surprised to be honest since the cables weren't kinked or anything, they were left pretty much as they were before but this is the situation now so I want to replace those cables.

I checked on Gdlk controls, Toodles doesn't seem to sell those cables and for some odd reason, my thread about this on SRK has been removed/blocked/whatever . I didn't know asking about ribbon cables was a big no no at SRK :pac:.

So is there any place where I can get these ribbon cables? Google and eBay failed me.

K.O.Kiki

Did you ask in SRK Tech Talk? http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?forums/tech-talk.6/9

Second, the button LEDs only light up ON Turbo usage, so IDK what you mean about not using it?

Third, the ribbon cable plugs would not die how you think.
Sounds more like your PCB has finally died, sorry.

Junsuina Chikara

Which PCB? The turbo panel or the main PCB? What I meant about the button LEDs is because I have a TE Kitty installed so the LEDs light up when you press the buttons, regardless of turbo being used or not.

Junsuina Chikara

Well, I have two options now if it is cable related and I figure they're worth a try. The first option is to buy 3 new ribbon cables and the second option, which I'd prefer avoiding, is disconnect the ribbon cables, snip off the ribbon connector at the end and solder the cables directly onto the turbo/guide PCB. Like I said though, I'd prefer avoiding that option. So would you know where I can get a set of 3 ribbon cables? They seem like pretty standard cables to me.

I don't think it would be PCB related because like I mentioned in my OP, when I had the ribbon cables taught, the button LEDs lighted up fine, the turbo button worked, the guide button worked. Its just when the wire is slightly bent after screwing the guide/turbo panel into the case seems to cause the connections to become loose.

K.O.Kiki

Junsuina Chikara wrote: »

Well, I have two options now if it is cable related and I figure they're worth a try. The first option is to buy 3 new ribbon cables and the second option, which I'd prefer avoiding, is disconnect the ribbon cables, snip off the ribbon connector at the end and solder the cables directly onto the turbo/guide PCB. Like I said though, I'd prefer avoiding that option. So would you know where I can get a set of 3 ribbon cables? They seem like pretty standard cables to me.

I don't think it would be PCB related because like I mentioned in my OP, when I had the ribbon cables taught, the button LEDs lighted up fine, the turbo button worked, the guide button worked. Its just when the wire is slightly bent after screwing the guide/turbo panel into the case seems to cause the connections to become loose.

Those connectors aren't easy to find.

Just solder

Junsuina Chikara

Well, I just thought I'd offer some knowledge into the research I've made about the connectors and cables used for these. Thanks to jdm714 on SRK, the connectors used for the ribbon cables are JST PH connectors. Model numbers vary since some connectors are 5 conductor (or pin) and 6 conductor but you're basically looking for JST PHR-5 or JST PHR-6 connectors for a fightstick. The connector used for the Sanwa JLF cable is a JST XH connector. After looking around on the net for a while, I found all the required materials to make a set of new ribbon cables for my Fightstick. I've provided links below to the correct connectors, crimp tool and wire, although, with the cable, there are two ways to go about it, either go with a 2.54mm pitch cable where you'll have to bend the wires to fit into the JST PH 2mm pitch or get the 1.27mm ribbon cable and just spread out the wires at the tip to fit into the JST PH connector. I've contacted Farnell and the engineer there recommended the 1.27mm cable.

JST PH 5 conductor (PHR-5)

JST PH 6 conductor (PHR-6)

JST XH 5 conductor (XHP-5)

3M 1.27mm pitch spacing 6 way ribbon cable

Pro Power 2.54 pitch spacing 6 way ribbon cable

Engineer PA-09 Crimp Tool

I just thought I should mention, Farnell have an annoying thing about their payments with credit card. You have to make an order that equates to a minimum of €20 (Goods Subtotal, not final total) so I ended up buying 15m of 1 ribbon cable and 5 of the other and got the minimum order of 10x JST PHR-6 connectors.

Also, I know the crimp tool is a bit pricey (works out at around €58) but its the only other realistic option for crimping JST PH connectors. The alternative is the official JST crimp tool which costs €360!!! I have read that the Engineer PA-09 crimp tool is fine for the job.

K.O.Kiki

Maybe eBay or DealExtreme have cheap Chinese knockoff crimpers...

PPC

Could send a message to MarkMan and ask could he give you or could you buy one.

Junsuina Chikara

By the way, I found out when I got the PHR housing that they didn't have any metal contacts in them. You need to buy those separately. Currently, I'm not really sure which is the better crimp socket to get, the SPH-002T-P0.5S or SPH-004T-P0.5S. Because I have a shortage of SPH-004 crimp sockets, I'll be trying with the SPH-002 sockets. I already tested the current of a wire through a multimeter with the SPH-002 sockets in the PH housing and it's working.

Though the reason why I'm more interested in a SPH-004 socket is because it matches the correct wire width (0.032mm - 0.08, 3M Ribbon cable is 0.035) to crimp the wire using a 1mm and 1.4mm dies. You can still crimp the SPH-002 using the 1mm and 1.4mm dies but I'm not sure if it'll do the job ok.

JST SPH-002T-P0.5S

JST SPH-004T-0.5S

JST Technical Data Sheet

Junsuina Chikara

Ok, final update. I can confirm that the JST SPH-002T crimps work perfectly fine. I tested all the connections with a multimeter and the pins are connected to the ribbon cables and in actual use, my fightstick turbo/guide panel is working perfectly, with all LEDs lighting up, as well as the Guide/Home, Turbo, LS/DP/RS switch and lock switch so if anyone has any trouble with their Turbo/Guide panel not working properly, I strongly recommend replacing the ribbon cables.

The only issue perhaps using an SPH-002T crimp is that you just have to use a larger die on the crimp tool (in my case, I used the 1.4mm for crimping the wire and 1.6mm for crimping the insulation). With a SPH-004T, you can use the 1.00mm die for the wire and 1.4mm for the insulation. The smaller dies just don't fit the SPH-002T so you have to use at least 1.4mm.