Yoke Advice please

[Bridon Bear]

Well....thanks for all the valued input....seems to be a 2 horse race with these yokes....virtually neck to neck too....I think both may have pros and cons but I value the feedback and will try to see if I can try one or both in a store before making a final decision.

Thanks once more.

Bridon Bear

[Kevin Farnell]

I have used both the CH Pro Yoke, and the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke system. I have to say that I've never been truly happy with either. Both systems seem to be over sensitive in the elevator control.
I ran the CH Pro Yoke for several years, along with the Pro Pedals. The initial yoke had to be returned after 3 days, due to loss of aileron control. The aircraft went into a continuous steep right hand bank. CH were very prompt in replacing the faulty unit. The shaft of the CH yoke requires frequent lubrication, to avoid sticky/juddery responses.
After several years using the CH yoke, I chose to change to the Saitek Pro flight yoke system, along with the Saitek pedals. One of the deciding factors, was Saitek’s boast of ‘Precision Bearings’.
Having found the movement of the yoke, very sticky, I browsed the Saitek forum and found that several people had cut sections out of these ‘Precision Bearings’ and were quoting improved performance. I wasn’t happy to do this, but did take the covers off the yoke, to find that the ‘Precision Bearings’ are nothing more than a poorly fitting plastic ring. On my yoke, there is +/- 1.5mm of movement in all planes on the yoke shaft and there is a significant amount of judder/stickiness in all planes.
One other problem reported on the forum, which I’ve also experienced, is uncommanded changes i.e. undercarriage extension/retraction or change of view (cockpit/tower/external etc). This is due to buttons 9,10 and 11 being used to change the mode setting of the yoke (i.e. personal settings for prop, jet etc). Unfortunately, FS9 and FSX give these buttons assignments such as gear and views. It’s a simple matter of going through the Flightsim settings and re-assigning and settings for buttons 9,10 and 11, but in reality, this should not be necessary.
All in all, its just a case of personal choice between the Ch and Saitek yokes. In my experience, neither are as good as I’d hoped. As for the pedal and throttle units from each manufacturer, I’ve had no problems.

Hope this is of help.

Kevin

[tonymadge]

I have had CH yoke and pedals for years, in fact they are the old joystick port type. I love them after all this time and plenty of sudden movement just before I pile in! They work a treat. The only snag I have is that the forward and back movement on the yoke is a bit sticky not as smooth as it was when new, not a major problem and I guess easy to fix, but I am a coward and fear that opening it up I will have springs going in all directions....

[emfrat]

Hi Tony -
On my CH yoke I use powdered graphite, which is a dry lubricant.
Comes in a sort of squirty/puffer plastic bottle. It looked expensive when I bought it
but that was last century and it is pretty much a full bottle still.
Any of the hardware chains should have it.

Cheers
MikeW

[tonymadge]

Cheers Mike, I guess you just rub it on the yoke shaft..I had to choose my words carefully1 Or do you need to take it apart?

[DaveB]

Yes.. always been a wonder to me too mate. I remember one of our few gal's (Kimber) once recommended trombone lubricant as her No.1 choice but the few times I've been into a music shop over the last few years.. I've never remembered to pick some up Not heard of powdered graphite before and can't recall ever seeing any. That said.. I've not really been looking either. Another one to the list and no mistakin'

ATB

DaveB

[Garry Russell]

There are dry bicycle lubricants...would that do??

Garry

[DaveB]

Maybe..

There are 'dry' motorbike lubricants too.. my chainlube is one such product.. but I've never thought of using it on the yoke

ATB

DaveB

[emfrat]

I was going to take a pic of the bottle, then I noticed on the label they have a website. The stuff comes from Germany.
http://www.pressol.com/portal/page/port ... 09&cat=114

(Wording this very carefully) I move the yoke to the full nose-down positon and puff some into the groove on the top of the shaft , as close to the yoke body as I can get.Then move the yoke to the full nose-up position, and again put some on the top of the shaft where it enters the yoke body. There is no groove on this side.

I didn't want to use any sort of grease, because the underlying problem here is dust; also some petroleum based products will react with some plastics. Then I remembered this stuff, originally bought to fix the very stiff steering on a grandchild's pedal go-kart.

Cheers
MikeW

[nigelb]

Not heard of powdered graphite before and can't recall ever seeing any. That said.. I've not really been looking either. Another one to the list and no mistakin'

ATB

DaveB

I had a tube of powdered graphite - used to lubricate car door locks. You might try an auto parts store and see if they have it.

Nigel²