Ahhhh! Broke the x button on my cobalt flux

Nicknicholas · Trick Member Joined: 04 Mar 2008

I was recently playing on my cobalt flux, and after a song the x button just stopped working. I opened up the panel and saw that the wire had became loose during the song and slipped out. I slipped in the wire, reapplied the lexan panels, and proceeded to play another song. During the song the wire came out again and wedge itself between the UP and X buttons. On one jump the sharp panels cut into the wire and the top fell out, so now my X button doesn't work. The wire itself isn't cut, but at the very top of all the wires it is the hard part that got caught off. The part that is always curled up in a shape got cut off and now I can't get my X button to work.
Normally, this wouldn't be a bad problem, but I play In The Groove. I need the X button to select the mods, because it won't accept O or the start button. I really want to avoid paying 70$ for shipping their to get this fixed. Please tell me how I can get my X button back into shape.

Excuse the copy paste. I just sent that email to cobalt flux support.

Those jumps in Tell are such bullshit. Managed to actually break a wire! Something like this already happened before, with paranoia hades (EXPERT, not even challenge) with my right arrow but I got it back in and it has worked fine for the last 3+ months. I thought I would try to ask about the pad at ddr freak because somebody here probably knows better than customer service on CobaltFlux because I have found out their response to almost every problem is to send it in for repairs, and the problem is you have to pay 70$ shipping. If I can find a way to select mods in ITG without the X button I would be ok with it not working. Any ideas on how to fix it? I lost that hard top piece of wire, but I don't play PIU and I could cut off the top of the wire for the middle panel if needed. Although im not too sure if that would work

DAVE101 · Trick Member Joined: 05 Nov 2007 Location: Indiana

By "hard part" you mean metal, right? Someone else had an issue similar to this and all he did was strip some of the "soft part" (wire coating) so that more "hard part" (metal) is exposed.

A utility knife (box cutter) would work but an actual wire stripper would be the best. Make it look like this again: http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c318/Sboarder1964/wires.jpg
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poop

Nicknicholas · Trick Member Joined: 04 Mar 2008

It still doesn't work

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I stripped a good portion of the wire coating out. On that picture, the wire is hard looking at the end, and that is the part that got cut off. The rest of the wire is kinda loose and not bound together like that. I just can't get the X button to trigger and I have no idea what is wrong. I will try to send some pictures tomorrow.

richard2o9 · Trick Member Joined: 31 Jan 2006 Location: Stockton, CA

Have you touched the x wire to the grounded sheet metal to see if its working?

Syncopation · Trick Member Joined: 03 Feb 2003

The exposed part of the wire in the picture might appear to be harder if it was somehow tinned with solder. Otherwise, the strands will be loose, but they can be twisted together at the minimum and then re-tinned with solder if skilled enough with the soldering iron.

To determine the extent of the problem, first swap control boxes and make sure the control box didn't somehow get affected by the wire issue. If the control box is the issue then stop there and look into getting a new control box. If another control box has the same issue then it's not likely to be a control box issue.

So if it's not a control box issue, then also try this: disconnect the control box from the pad first, then get a digital multimeter and set it to the continuity mode (musical note and arrow). Using the multimeter, clip the exposed part of the wire to one multimeter probe, then touch the other multimeter probe to the pad metal. If the tone doesn't sound, then it's likely an internal wiring issue and not just a simple case of a disconnected wire.

Nicknicholas · Trick Member Joined: 04 Mar 2008

I tried putting the wire on the metal ground sheet, and it doesn't work. So maybe it is a control box problem? How can I check? I don't have a second control box. The x button has been fine for the last 3 or 4 months so I don't think it could be a wiring problem. If it is the control box I am really pissed because I just ordered a brand new control box!

Nicknicholas · Trick Member Joined: 04 Mar 2008

Ok I am pretty sure it is the control box :/. Now the entire pad is unresponsive. I unplugged the control box and it turns out that the little pin connectors have became loose. Not the pins themselves, but the small platform they are on has come out and it went into the control box. I managed to turn the control box and get it back into the center and then lift it up with a tooth pick and pull it back out and connect it with the wire and it still doesn't work.
Cobalt Flux offers warranty on the control boxes?