CSL brake load cell failure lost signal voltage regulator
George Galea
Member
Within 4 months of light use my FANATEC McLaren wheel cracked at the shifter pivot point and where it mounted to the QR. I was accused of over tightening although I used a torque wrench set at 3nm.
FANATEC eventually replaced the wheel chassis admitting in writing it was a weakness in the wheel.
Very soon after my CSL load cell brake pedal failed. I sent a video before sending the pedal set back as requested.
I was required to make a follow up email after not hearing back.
FANATEC said they can not fault the pedals asking if I want then sent back which I found a strange thing to ask.
Eventually they were returned however within minutes I experienced the same issue which was consistent with magnetic interference from the CSL DD wheel base before the load cell pedal would completely shut down.
I was beyond my limits at this point and driven to warn as many potential customers as I could while demanding a replacement.
Following the usual delayed response, FANATEC then offered a replacement only if a show proof that the faulty load cell was again on its way back to them.
Keep in mind I have owned this new product under irregular for 6 months when 2 major failures occurred.
An electric technician overheard my experience and offered assistance.
I was able to demonstrate the issue and within minutes the technician diagnosed a defective voltage regulator attached to the load cell circuit board.
The voltage regulator is designed to reduce 5 volts coming from the wheel base or USB down to the required 3.3volts. There was no signal out of the regulator which he replaced.
I am now enjoying my sim racing again while I hold my breath for the next FANATEC failure.
And no I’ve never fitted the USB and wheelbase connectors at the same time.
I understand electrical components can fail at any time. What I don’t accept is why FANATEC were unable to test and diagnose a failure that I could replicate and another technician could rectify in minutes.
Comments
Hello. I had a similar issue with my CSL LC pedal and just reported it to Fanatec support yesterday. Since the problem seems to be a defective hardware, probably the support will result in RMA, but i my case i bought the product in USA during a vacation trip and i live in Brazil, which probably would make things harder and longer...
Im electronic engineer, so i decided to take a look into it. Opened the little black box and started to analyze the circuit. Found a PIC18F microcontroller. Checked the 3V3 power supply and got no voltage. Then followed the power supply path starting from the 5V on the USB port and found this 3V3 regulator, which is apparently the LR6219 from Leshan Radio Company. The component is receiving 5V properly, but the output is dead.
For me it will be easier to fix it by myself instead of doing the RMA process. But this definitely a quality issue. Honestly, this Leshan Radio Company does not seems to be a good quality manufacturer.
Just replaced the regulator and it is working again! My preference was the part from Microchip MCP1702T-3302E, which is probably the one used on the original design before BOM cost reduce process with chineese exclusive parts. If you have same issue, you can try to find on your local electrnic store other alternative parts from global manufacturers:
AZ1117CR2-3.3
AP2127R-3.3
AP7215-33YG
AP7365-33YRG
HT7833
RT9161-33GX
RT9161A-33GX
RT9162-33GXL
RT9166-33GXL
RT9166A-33GXL
UM1550Y-33
Hello,
it's one year later and this post saved my day. My pedals started reconnecting via USB over and over, sometimes worked for some minutes. No answer from Fanatac by now and I'm over my warranty time anyway. So I just i removed the PCB and checked it. When plugged into USB it made some high frequency noise while the reconnecting appeared and I figured it was the voltage regulator. After seeing this post I just ordered some new ones (0,80€), replaced it (luckily I have a hot air soldering station) and voila, they work perfectly now. When I measured the damaged one it seemed that output voltage was the same as the input voltage, so it had a short circuit. This seemed to have overstressed the USB controller of my PC. Played some hours with my repaired PCB now and no issues anymore.
As nobody knows what will happen with Fanatec in the future and if you are above warranty, check the voltage regulator (either yourself if you have the electronic skills or ask somebody who has). I couldn't stand the thought having 400€ of metal scrap lying around because of some cheap electronics failing.
Hope this helps some people with the damaged pedals, as is the issue seems to be very common in many posts here and on Reddit.
Hi friends,
I found this tread because I might have the same issue.
bought a second hand LC pedal (which was told to have intermittent disconnects)
i connected all up, but after some time I thought it was related to an defective USB cable (since with another one all worked fine)
had some gameplay with it, all OK.
now 2days later, wanted to race a little, no pedal response.. but when I connect it without the LC, the accelerator worked (so cables were OK also)
when I read this tread about the voltage regulator, i took my multimeter and the input was around 4.85V - output 1.5V. I suppose this one is defective??
shouldn’t be a big deal to get this done with the right tool, instead of sending this back to fanatec?