TQS Dent Placement and Friction Brake Adjustments
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DETENT ADJUSTMENT:
Alignment of the throttle detents to where you like them to be is a personal choice thing. Normally, when new they are properly aligned such that they click near either ends of the throw travel. Depending upon who set them up at Thrustmaster, or who had them before you if bought used, or if they came loose over the years; they will be in any number of positions (or worn off or filed off in some cases). For me, I like them pretty much as they came from TM with the detents near both ends of travel with just a little travel yet to go for the idle and AB regions.
Recently, I acquired a “new” TQS that had both of the detents in the center of the throttle’is travel and the friction brake was not strong enough for my tastes. In the picture below you can see the detent ridges and that the two rings are both centered giving one center detent click area. Curious coming a “New TQS”, but it is what it is. I’ll make it better.
What I do is rotate each ring such that the ridge is centered when the throttle lever and its dust shield aligned with the opened base case as shown. (Before tightening them, both rings must be snug together, no space between).
Mil/AB detents alignment
Idle detent alignment
The separation between the two ring’s detent ridges determines the throttle throw between idle and mil/Ab detents. The amount of throttle throw beyond these two detents corresponds to the amount of throw area for the idle and AB areas, which doesn’t have to be much. When the throttle lever is pointing straight up at the ceiling, that’s pretty much the 50% throttle position. This is how I like my throttle to be set up.
FRICTION BRAKE
When new, normally the brake works such that the center of the adjustment thumb wheel range is half way between a loose throttle lever that doesn’t stay put and the other extreme where it stays put along with some resistance to movements.
Over time it takes more thumb wheel adjustment to compensate for the brake pad wear (or if grease gets in there). Eventually, there isn’t enough brake pad to provide enough friction to hold the throttle lever in place. One can either get a replacement brake pad from TM Customer Support or devise a workaround. If a brand new TQS doesn’t have enough friction, then it’s usually grease on the pad and throttle barrel.
In my case with a new TQS, I first cleaned off the grease. It still didn’t give the amount of friction I wanted so I employ a means to effectively thicken the brake pad. What I do is to place some paper between the brake pad and lever arm.
When put back together, it gives the friction amount I want as the center thumb wheel position. I can add or remove paper thickness to fine tune it. This also negates the need for a new brake pad as it repurposes the existing one.
These two procedures deal with the throttle detents positions and braking friction. There are other things that can be done to mod the throttle to Hall effect sensors and recondition switches and knob pots, but that’s for another time perhaps.
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Everything you need here : http://cougar.flyfoxy.com/mods.php
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the flyfoxy site was where I learnt these arcane arts… made me feel a LOT more confident about pulling my Cougar apart.
I have been meaning to fix the friction pad on my TQS for about 18 months now… really should do something about that.
the position of the 'click’s was one of the first things I adjusted. Tried to get it as close to the end of the travel as possible, so that any movement towards the center caused it to move over the detent.
Works pretty well now!
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Everything you need here : http://cougar.flyfoxy.com/mods.php
Kind of, I’ve seen this in the past and it didn’t cover exactly what I’ve posted.
I wasnt satisfied with the detent alignment method shown and its generic application, so I shared how I do and prefer it. It’s also not stated, but often these DETENT rings aren’t properly installed onto the throttle barrel, and twisting them won’t turn enough to get the proper detent ring separation. They have ring slots that limit their travel, and sometimes they have to be removed and then put back on so that the slots are in a different orientation. Then the proper detent separation adjustments can be made by turning the rings on the barrel.
There’s nothing there about friction brake restoration and adjustments. I believe as of this posting Cougar TQS brake pads are still available at TM Cust Support, but this is a simple way to restore proper friction using the original pad or to get more out of even a new one.