CSL DD Disconnect but joint IS tight!
Hi,
I know this topic is a 'known' thing with a 'fix', but mine is NOT fixed.
I have also been given the drawing of the joint by the support team, and I also have a torque wrench to tighten to 15Nm. I have carried out this 'fix' according to the drawing and my joint is still tight and with NO GAP!
However, my wheel still totally disconnects :-(
I've tried taking off the wheel and refitting it many times, I have to turn the whole wheel base off and turn it back on. Obviously my whole game is then totally lost and having the wheel becomes a waste of time.
Does anybody else still have the disconnect problem even after the 'fix'?
Comments
do contact support. will have to send it back to Fanatec for them to have a look.
Unfortunately, you are not alone. I sent my CSL DD back twice for this problem. First time I sent it in was mid January, and i got it back 3 weeks later. They assured me it had been tested and that it was a problem with my McLaren wheel. So I got the same base back and a new McLaren wheel. Less than two days later, I started getting the same issue: unresponsive buttons, F logo shows up on the wheel's display, it intermittently tells me to upgrade firmware when there's no update available, etc. I followed all the known procedures, nothing fixed it.
So... back it went for RMA #2 in mid February. Got it back earlier this week (March 7), and within 10 minutes the wheel had frozen at 100% right steering lock, with the throttle pinned wide open. Obviously, I crashed and my session was destroyed. All I could do was reboot the base and my computer, which restored things to normal. However, after approximately another 10 hours or so of use, the same thing happened again but with a different game (AC this time, first time was DR2.0).
Honestly, I'm tired of troubleshooting. I just want to play. I'm seriously shocked by the lack of quality and reliability on display by the Fanatec products I've used lately. Which is shocking because I had originally purchased a Fanatec Porsche 911 GT2 wheel back in 2011, and put thousands of hours of use into it before one of the paddles started feeling sloppy just last year. Same with my Clubsport v1 pedals, which have been absolutely rock solid and which I'm still using to this day, some 11 years later. That durability and dependability were forefront in my mind when choosing to go with the CSL DD, which makes the shock of what's happened recently all the more frustrating.
The only explanation I can come up with that makes sense is cost-cutting and a subsequent lack of robustness and quality control. The CSL DD is great... when it works. But to offer a base that up until recently would have cost 2-3 times as much, obviously corners had to be cut somewhere. Similarly with the McLaren wheel. It's got 2-way toggle switches, rotary encoders, analog paddles, etc... to get a similar level of functionality, you would need something like the Clubsport Formula v2.5x wheel, with the advanced paddle module, which winds up being more than twice the cost of the McLaren. But again... costs had to be cut somewhere.
Maybe my issues are the wheel's fault, maybe they're the fault of the CSL DD. Maybe the combination of the two. Maybe some odd device/ software conflict specific to my setup. I don't know, but it would certainly seem from checking these forums, reddit, etc. that we are not the only ones experiencing recurring issues with our recent Fanatec purchases. (FWIW, I hooked up a friend's wheel to my machine over the weekend, a Thrustmaster TX, and used it for about 10-12 hours with absolutely zero issues. So that would seem to rule out there being an inherent problem with my system itself.)
All I know is that I'm tired of troubleshooting. Troubleshooting, waiting, and more troubleshooting is all I've done for over 2 months now. I just want to be able to race and forget about it. I'll give it some time while things are still under warranty, but if I'm still having issues after another couple of months or so, or if things worsen, everything's going back in its box, and Fanatec can keep it all this time, for good.
My DD started cutting out from day 1, and the support gave me that drawing. I upgraded to this CSL DD from a 4 year old CSL Elite that went bad and had to go back twice!!
I hear Thrustmaster is also unreliable, but at this point I'm starting to think Thrusmaster maybe a better bet? How bad can they be? both my Fanatec products have gone bad anyway.
Can I even get my money back form Fanatec? I've had this wheel about 3 months.
I would think that's what warranties are for. If the product has been returned or repaired multiple times and is still not behaving as it should, as long as everything is still within the warranty period, I don't see how Fanatec could deny a request for a refund. And if they do, I'd consider contacting your bank/credit agency, the Better Business Bureau, and/or the possibility of legal action.
I can't vouch for all Thrustmaster products obviously, but like I said, I used a friend's TX wheel for about 10-12 hours over the weekend with my computer. It costs about half as much as the CSL DD and McLaren wheel, and sure the feedback isn't quite as powerful or as nuanced, but in my experience...it just worked. I installed the drivers, firmware update was a simple matter of clicking one button. Adjusted the DOR in the control panel, adjusted button mapping in whatever game I was playing, and that was it. The wheel just worked, reliably and flawlessly in all 4 games I tested it with (AC, DR2.0, FM7 and FH5).
I've just gone to use the wheel again this evening and now the FFB has stopped working on ACC, just out the blue! Works on Pcars1 and 2 just stopped working all of a sudden on ACC! Could be the game, could be the wheel. But after 2 years of fighting with Fanatec gear I'm DONE WITH IT!
I'll sell ALL my sim gear and move on.
When something makes you sad EVERY time you use it, it's time to give up. This equipment is made to a budget and is not fit for purpose!
So I'm out!
I think i found the problem, my housekeeper moved the 8Nm power brick and it was touching my rig, guess it might been that which caused some kind of electric interference that made my wheel lose FFB for a moment... I noticed that because when attaching the steering wheel with PC turned OFF my mouse RGB lights turned ON immediately. So in doubt KEEP YOUR POWER BRICK OFF YOUR RIG!
That really sucks man, but perfectly understandable given the circumstances. Hopefully you change your mind about giving up on sim racing altogether, and can find some non-Fanatec products that won't bring you nearly as much frustration, and will actually enhance your enjoyment of the hobby instead of hindering it.
I have also experienced a total lock of the wheel. While do the different exercises in GT7 the wheel will all of a sudden lock, spin and of course no control. Only remedy is to reboot.
Is that what others have experienced.?
Sounds pretty similar to what I've experienced.
Both the last two times it's happened to me, I've been going through a right hand turn. I'll turn the wheel and as I'm straightening up to come out of the corner, the wheel continues to transmit 100% right steering lock, while the throttle freezes at what seems to be whatever input I was giving it at the time. I'm unable to straighten the wheel or slow down, and a crash is inevitable.
Only thing I can then do is reboot both the wheel base and my computer. This might fix it for 10 minutes or 10 hours before it does it again, there doesn't seem to be any discernible rhyme or reason for why it happens, and when it does it's always without warning.
I'm using a CSL DD and McLaren v2 wheel on Win10. This has happened in both AC and DR2.0.
I had this happen on my original CSL DD that I received last August, it did it for a few months and I tried all kinds of things to troubleshoot it: making sure Windows wasn't putting USB ports to sleep, changing to a different port, making sure no other devices were plugged in, etc but I never was able to figure out what the root cause was. Eventually after a couple of months, it just stopped doing it.
A few more months went by, and then suddenly in January, I started getting the infamous issue of the wheel disconnecting from the base. Two RMA's later and now I've got a new base. No disconnection issues (yet)... but the wheel lockup and crashing into a wall issue has returned. 🙄
Does anybody know if the Thrustmaster T300 is more reliable than the CSL DD?
T300 is the PS-compatible version of the (Xbox compatible) TX, if I'm not mistaken. FWIW, I had a good experience when hooking up my friend's TX to my rig for 10-12 hours over last weekend. YMMV, of course.
I'm on Xbox, so what Thrustmaster would I need?
Thanks.
From what i gathered looking into their lineup recently, there's the TX, which is Xbox/PC compatible and is their mid-range offering, I guess you'd say. Then above that is the TS-XW, which is their top of the line (also Xbox/PC compatible.) All their current offerings are belt- driven, though they're supposedly going to be releasing a DD option sometime later this year.
I have a similar problem recently. My CSL DD worked fine for 2 months but last 1 month I started having sudden quick disconnects (ffb turns of) for a splitsecond. Less than 0.5s I would say. Luckily it continues working so I can continue racing.
I mainly race on iracing btw, ffb is as high as it goes. The sudden ffb loss is quiet surprising and random. I remember it always being in the middle of the corner when ffb is loaded up, because it always surprised me.
Also the plastic qr is just crap. Sorry fanatec but I don't have a better word to describe it. It creeks and is noisy and has so much flex and I feel like the flex gets bigger every day. It's only about time it breaks.
I'm starting considering selling it since I might get most of my money back right now and get a simucube instead. Pay once, cry once. At least I then would have a relia le product. I was so happy in the beginning and recommended it to all my friends but now I have to warn them to not get into fanatec. Already had to rma a wheel before because of issues.
Shaft is all the way I btw, can't push it further. And it is tightened as per manual. Maybe fanatec could solve this issue but telling the base not turn turn off ffb for some time after wheel is disconnected. Just give it a few seconds before it turns off ffb. The disconnects because if a loose shafts could be solved this way.