Fixing your own pad?

[glacialfury]

I got a RedOctane 3.0 off eBay for about $30 - it has never been used, but was a BestBuy store return. I found out why when it finally arrived.

The pads inserted to help you feel where the buttons are had migrated all over the pad. Maybe it had been too hot where it was stored, and the glue became more viscous. Three of those pads were overlapping on the center square! I was disheartened at first, but then I cut open the stitching, reached inside (got covered in glue in the process), and managed to reposition all the inserts and stitch it closed again.

All right! Good as new, right? I found upon hooking it up to my PC that the sensors weren't working well either. From what I understood, these were top-rate pads, yet the sensors seem malaligned. The left button triggers even on the left edge of the center pad, and sometimes they don't seem to trigger at all, even when I step firmly on them.

Has anyone had success fixing the sensors? I know I can't have shifted them during my earlier efforts, as the sensor sheet is sewn to the edges. Or am I simply out of luck with this item?

The company I ordered it from is sending me a free replacement and letting me keep this one, although I don't know how good the replacement will be or whether this one is truly useable. I suppose if I just want it for the exercise, I could turn off the failure option and just ignore the boos.

After all, it's the movement that burns the calories, not the high score, right?

[abrannan]

The pad is probably a write-off. I had a similar situation happen with one of my Ignition-style pads (not a RO, a knock-off brand). Those pads just weren't made to be opened. Although the sensor layers weren't opened by you during your repositioning, you may have creased the layer at some point, or even inadvertently torn the thin "swiss cheese" foam standoff layer. It's all very delicate in there, and really not made to be opened and closed.

My suggestion is to cannibalize the pad. Cut the trapezoid box off the top and use the circuit board in your own homemade metal mat, and tape a $20 soft mat on top of the old ignition.

[glacialfury]

That's a good suggestion, thank you. The soft mats taped down work just as well as the original foam ones then?

I don't think I'm quite ready for a homebuilt metal pad yet - this is my very first setup - but it's good to know so I can keep the parts around for later tinkering.

[abrannan]

glacialfury said:

The soft mats taped down work just as well as the original foam ones then?

Pretty much. You don't even really need to tape it down. The combination of non-slip bottom on the soft pad and non-slip top on the Ignition keep it in place extremely well. I recommend the RedOctane soft pads that came with In the Groove (the orange/gray ones). They're the best soft mats I've found.

[xstatic]

Stick it on with rug tape. It's fantastic! And that puppy won't move. I did this for a really long time and it worked great.

[glacialfury]

Funny thing is, I took this over to my friend's house and plugged it into a PS2, and it works fine. Maybe off just a little here in there, but overall it had no problems.

When hooked up to my computer at home, it was sort of haywire; it wasn't too much better on the XBox on some random game I had in. I'm wondering if maybe the car travel and stomping around on it shifted the sensors back to where they're supposed to be.

I'll be getting a PS2 in a couple weeks and setting something up of my own, so I should be able to test more thoroughly if it is truly me or the pad that is causing the weird sensor stuff.

[bingoman303]

Are you using an adapter to hook it up to the pc and xbox?

[abrannan]

Nope, it's a 3.0 Ingition, which come with PS2, Xbox and USB connectors.