Cobalt Flux: A Long Overdue Maintenance

[k4t4strof-E]

Hey,

Well, heres the story. Over the summer, my dad and I decided we were going to give buying a home pad another shot, after we bought a Blueshark that never worked. I've decided to go with the Cobalt Flux, but I wanted it to be even more arcade-like than regular. So I drew up an idea for an arcade-simulation of my own.

My Cobalt Flux is encased in a wooden frame, which elevates the pad, keeps it stable, and gives the outside border of the panels a recession. Even more importantly, I have a thick metal bar, in the same dimensions as found on the ITG Dedicated Cabinets according to their manuals. Now, this is basically the dream setup. And it was the dream setup.

I eventually stopped playing ITG at home for a long while, and all this time, I never cleaned out my setup once. I played a little bit today, and I was pleasantly surprised that it still worked somewhat. However, its not even close to being in enough working condition to give me accurate scores.

So, I ask of you all to help me and answer some questions, to walk me through the process.

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Problems:

- Left and Right Arrows do not respond consistently, it usually requires stepping in the direct middle, and it eliminates the possibility of bracketing.

- Generally, the sensitivity of the arrows is not very responsive. I am getting greats when I should be getting excellents, and I'm getting excellents when I should be getting fantastics.

- During faster runs, it seems as though I always get a pad 'Decent' or miss on the left of right arrows, even after I'm positive I hit it.

- The panels just don't feel right. They are curved ever-so-slightly. How do I go about debowing them?

- - - -

How Do I Clean It?

From what I know, cleaning is generally a necessity with the CF. I never did it before, but I want to know the exact process before I do anything stupid.

Modifications.

Well, I don't go much further externally as I already have. I'm more curious about internal modifications. What can I do to give the CF a more arcade-like feel?

One thing I've heard quite a bit about is the "coin-mod", where you'd put pennies or quarters under the panel to give it a more solid step. Does this alter sensitivity positively or negatively? How do I got about doing this? What coins are the best to use, and how many are required?

Any other modifications that can increase reliability and feel are gladly appreciated.

- - - -

Thank you for your time and reading, and thanks even more to those who reply. If anyone would like some pictures of the project, I'll gladly take a few. I'd put up a video of some scores after I do some maintenance work on the setup.

~K4
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k4t4strofiK

[ddrpros]

My CF used to be like that too. All you have to do is clean it.

1. Just unscrew the screws and remove the lexan panels.
2. Carefully lift up the metal sheet thats under the lexan panels. It's stuck on with velcro so dont worry if you hear noises.
3. Make sure you dont rip the wiring that is attached to the metal sheet, otherwise you will ruin that sensor.
4. Get a damp cloth and rub it until it becomes clean again!
5. Putting the metal sheets on will be a little hard but it just takes a little bit of time and precision.
6. Make sure to realign the metal sheets just like they were before so you can put the screws back on.

Hope this helps. Once I did this to my pad, it started working flawlessy again. Feel free to ask any questions. I love Cobalt Flux!!
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[ChilliumBromide]

Make sure you dry them thoroughly if you use something damp to clean them. You don't want mildew in between your panels.

I find that a very fine sandpaper works best for cleaning CF's, although the CF's I've cleaned had never been cleaned in 5 years of use, so they were in need of some tougher stuff. (in fairness though, the ones that hadn't been cleaned in two years were just as bad)
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I used to be active here lol