Injustice Battle Edition Stick Writeup by Kaihong from SRK

[9.95]

All info and credit belongs to Kaihong over on SRK for this AMAZING writeup with pictures.

You can view the original thread here: (all his info is on page 4)

http://forums.shoryuken.com/discussion/174669/injustice-gods-among-us-battle-edition

Injustice Fight Stick

The build quality is amazing. The case itself is on par with Madcatz if not better. The side bezel is rubberized and feels like the surface of the first generation Deathadder mouse from Razer. The plexi is durable however any scratches or differences in the surface will glow from the LED lighting therefor dried sweat, scratches and bumps will glow on the surface including the edges of the plexi and the screw holes will glow. The overall weight of the stick very very light. It is half the weight of the Madcatz SE. You have a detachable cable. The bottom is rubberized.

I changed the bat top to a spare ball top and washer. Both fit on the stock stick.

The buttons feel like Sanwa but they squeak sometimes when the side of plunger rubs against the rim of the button.

You cannot access the stick from the bottom panel, only the buttons can be accessed. The top panel requires a hex key for the screws.

The bottom panel has walls to keep cables organized and perhaps to keep dust out.

The stick is square gate and has is similar to that of the JLF in respect to its design, however, it is VERY loose. The throw and engage distance is almost twice that of the Sanwa JLF.

Buttons are individually lit and has a cable going to each one.

So I took apart the stick.

The one that is green is stock from the Injustice fight stick. It looks just like one from my Sanwa JLF? Even says Omron on it. Same size and pin and everything... it's just green.

The mounts are nearly identical as well...
Below is Sanwa

Below is what's in the Injustice fight stick

So I got curious...
Sanwa switches and gate were swapped into it. I booted up the game and it worked FLAWLESSLY.

Also, the injustice gate fit perfectly into the sanwa stick

 

[9.95]

HOWEVER, something didn't feel quite right after I did that... So I took a pen and drew circles to confirm something

Qanba(Injustice) on left, Sanwa on right

Good job on disecting the injustice stick. I always wondered what was inside. Does the case have metal panels or is it entirely plastic? Im guessing it doesnt seeing as its soo light weight. I must admit, I never expected them to install leds in the buttons like that. Any chance you can open one of the buttons so we can see what they are using? Looks like a KN insert type board.
Also, the restrictor gate on the injustice is smaller than sanwa so shouldnt that give a shorter throw? This injustice stick has me very curious.

Edit: just realised the injustice restrictor gate has Qanba written on it. Lol

The entire case is plastic. In fact it is basically all rubberized outside. The sides/surroundings of case can be removed much like the TE stick. Perhaps those that wish to have wooden sides can mod it like so. To do so, I believe the screws are inside the case if accessed from the bottom and they would be along the side walls. The stock stick is very poor after playing all night. The spring is too loose and that gives the impression of a large distance (throw/engage). It felt less large when I dropped the battop for a ball top. When you press the stick downwards into the body of the case and then move the stick slowly, it makes a squeaking noise as it grinds itself away. My guess is that there is no lubrication at all as it feels exactly like a ball joint from Lego/K'nex. The buttons do a bit better in terms of quality. However, for quality, they are no better than those of Madcatz SE stock buttons as they stick to the bottom sometimes, stick to the sides sometimes. In general they press down well (somewhere between sanwa and seimitsu buttons in terms of feeling) but the problem lies in how the button comes back up.

Confirming that the art is printed under the plexi.

Pressing.

Plunger.

The LED boards are held down by two clips on bottom of the button. You can see the clear ticks/taps are north and south of the button rim just beside the holes on the wall. The portion of PCB that exist under these clips is very minimal therefore taking out these LED boards would be a delicate process. My attempts almost rendered this button broken. Also, in order to remove the microswitch you must remove the LED boards first. Since I couldn't get the boards out by hand (no tools on me other than a screw driver) I was able to compare the microswitches to Sanwa ones. However I do suspect that the microswitches are interchangeable.

Awesome. Thanks for all the pics kaihong. Is there a compartment for the detachable cord? Is the artwork glued on? On top, under the art, are there screws for the JLF mount? What's the pulse setting for the lights do?

No compartments for storage at all. Detachable cord is the USB to USB mini B.
USB mini B goes into the stick.

The art is paper under the plexi. Removing the snap in buttons has resulted in accidentally damaging the art where the clips existed. I will open the top panel after I find a hex key of proper size. It is too small from my standard set of tools I will have to buy a micro set of hex keys probably used for RC car parts.

Pulse is not working for me at all. It functions the same as OFF at the moment.

 

[9.95]

I'm back. I have some bad news and some good news. Bad news is, someone almost broke into my car to steal my fight stick while I was out buying some tools. The good news is, I still have it.
So I went out and bought this.

And it was the third smallest one in that set. (5/64 size?)

The plexi glass screws. I would love to replace these so I could use a flat head instead.

Plexi is out. Artwork is matte high grade poster card-like.

The stick mounting plate. Sorry guys I can't get my LS-32-01 in there.

Inside of the case. No buttons/No stick

So from here on I begin an experiment. My goal is to investigate the stock stick and mod it so it feels better.
Stock stick:

The stick LEDs

The clip is significantly smaller than what is on the Sanwa JLF. You can't fit anything into the hole to pry it out. I had to use pliers and yank it but that bent the C-clip and damaged it. Material is weaker than the C-clip on the JLF

There is lubrication. Yet it still feels like a lego ball joint.

 

[9.95]

Comparison

Out of curiousity. Original Sanwa JLF plate DOES NOT fit.

It doesn't really fit... Notice the holes do not line up.
The microswitches from stock injustice stick do not fit into sanwa stick. PCB is not right shape and gets in the way.

I'm going to make a frankenstein. Everything is Sawna... everything. Only thing that isn't is the mounting plate and the black plastic directly under the plate (for the LEDs)

Done!

 

[9.95]

so basically, this production was outsourced to qanba?

How odd. If that was the case, why use PDP as a middleman?
Kaihong, as far as the frankenstick is concerned, how does it feel/control? Would you recommend such a mod or are the results not worth the price of the parts? I hope they are cause it seems like it may be the only easy solution due to the need to preserve the LEDs' PCB.
Also, any ideas on replacing those buttons or are those going to need the Frankentreatment as well? Hopefully they'll be much better with just sanwa switches placed inside (if that's as easy a switch as I hope it is).
Lastly, sorry some jerk tried to break into your car. Some people really really suck.

It is worth it. It feels exactly like my Sanwa stick and yet it keeps the fancy LEDs. If possible, I would recommend people buy the JLF without the metal mounting plate to save money.
I am trying to replace the button microswitches but for now my conclusion holds that there is no way to swap between sanwa and these qanba buttons. However, it may be possible to keep the button rim + LED inserts. Therefore the plunger and microswitch MUST be matching so I'll try to swap sanwa's into it (assuming I can somehow get the LED inserts removed without damaging)

I'm anxious to see how hard it will be to replace the buttons with OBSC-30's. It would be a somewhat simple task to take a dremel to the bottom of an OBSC, but how would you get the LED PCB out of the stock button without damaging it?
Fishing it out with a toothpick maybe?

Problem lies in the lack of flexibility the tabs have. They are keeping the inserts anchored in there. I'm taking a pair of pliers trying to bend them but I risk slipping and scratching the board.
UPDATE:

I'm still struggling to remove the inserts.
UPDATE 2:
It is finally out. There is a trick to it. You need two set of hands and several pliers. One plier for each of the tabs keeping the inserts anchored.

However... This does not work

But the original plunger does work

Proof:

 

[9.95]

Glad the Frankenbutton was a success. How's it feel compared to an all-sanwa button? Does the better switch help with the stickiness you mentioned in the other thread?

Also, thanks for the helpful information. I'm getting the stick this Tuesday and am hoping to order parts so that I can get them by the end of next week. Having to pay for switches and a JLF isn't too bad (i'm rationalizing) as long as the end result is something I can be happy with.

It's too bad that this stick isn't great stock, but it certainly looks uniquely cool enough to be worth a small mod.

The difference is night and day. I'm going to use this as my main stick since now it feels like warm butter. The buttons feel just like Sanwa tho the added plunger weight (since it's two parts) makes them feel only slightly heavier and chunkier on press. That being said it is more Sanwa now than seimitsu in terms of feeling. Even the sensitivity is on par with Sanwa, where the slightest press will activate it. The stick is amazing, something to do with the previous lube added to how smooth is is now. I would argue that I prefer this over stock Sawna JLF. Note that in the end, I opted out the Sanwa square gate for the qanba square gate just because the circle I drew with it was smaller and I like it tighter. I also have the LS 33 + JLF dual spring mod going on too, so even more tighter.

Complaints about the stick.
Weight: Too light. for traveling this will be amazing but since it's half the weight of a Madcatz SE but the size of the TE it only throws me off. Something I'll get use to.
Lap play only?: The bottom rubber/foam padding keeps this featherweight on my lap. Thought it doesn't stick to wooden surfaces as well. This rubber/foam bottom padding clearly made for lap play.
Construction: Does not feel cheap at all. That being said, however, the stick sounds and feels hallow and empty. It is partly due to all synthetic materials. Think of it as, "the best plastic can do". It is nothing like wood or all heavy acrylic.

BIGGEST PROBLEM: Excuse my language but the worst thing ever was the damn vertical walls they added onto the back panel. After I have taken out the cables and zipped tied them back into a bunch they STILL get in the way when placing this panel back on. It bulges upwards and it feels like I'm trying to shut a suitcase full of clothing for a vacation. If i can get a plexi replacement I would do it in a heartbeat. Hell even cutting these walls away would make the stick so much easier to mod... it simply restricts space.

 

[9.95]

Thanks for all your work.

Quick question to confirm what I'm understanding. To get this stick to feel like "warm butter" we simple just need to drop in a "SANWA JLF-TP-8Y-SK JOYSTICK" without a plate and were good to go? The buttons are decent enough?

Basically.
Lose the plate, and lose the plastic that is mounted directly under the plate.
You want to keep these parts (minus the shaft and the dome piece that pivots on it)

Lose the shaft and the dome shaped piece that does the pivoting and is lubricated. That single dome piece is the cause of all problems. The material of that dome nut just sticks to the material it sits in no matter how much lube is used.

The buttons are satisfactory. They lack sensitivity and the when I'm playing I find myself not feeling the buttons coming back up after being pressed. The springs in the micro switches are perhaps really soft.

 

[9.95]

@kaihong
Have you tried sticking a JLF shaft into the Qanba stick to see if it fixes the feel of the thing?

Yes I have. The Qanba shaft is slightly thinner than the JLF. The parts from the Qanba stick cannot all fit onto the JLF shaft; only some. However, all the Sanwa parts can fit on the Qanba shaft. Shaft lengths also vary oh so slightly. I'll get that measured tomorrow if I have time.
I spent all day mixing and matching parts in a process of elimination. I singled out basically one piece that made the only difference. It was the plastic dome piece that sits in the stick and provides pivoting. The material of the Qanba stick has too much friction even with all the lubrication.
Basically the pivot nut dome plastic thing (someone give the proper name please LOL)
the washer
and the third piece that is on the shaft in this picture

In addition, adding another spring will make the stick feel tighter. The Qanba stick has a huge dead zone, simply too much play when it is suppose to stand still.

 

[9.95]

Ok, HOLY CRAP!

Lots of info here on the stick itself and how to properly mod it!

Looks to be an OEM Qanba stick so far. Thanks Kaihong!

 

[1man3letters]

my levels of salt that these are not coming to ireland is off the charts

 

[Phoenix90]

Was reading this earlier today, for the price it definitely looks like a solid stick. Not a fan of bat top sticks but clearly you can easily detach and attach a ball top. Pretty happy I preordered this

 

[John Grizzly]

Well, now I'm sad that I cancelled my Battle Edition pre-order to just the game. =(

Without a proper review of the stick prior to release, I just couldn't justify the extra cost considering I already have a MadCatz TE. Oh well. =/

 

[Komatose]

Looks like they've done a good job. But I can't help to think that the buttons would feel cheep. Like some Hori shit.

 

[DirtyLary]

I'm excited about this. Been checking that thread every hour for the last week. Seems like a simple mod too. got my parts and stick on the way!

 

[ninjay]

$90 for a LED stick is not a bad deal. I like that the case is made from rubberized plastic. It sucks that the stick and buttons are not Sanwa or Seimitsu, but it is nice to know that with some work, they can fit.

 

[Briggs8417]

Sooooo what he was saying was...it was totally worth spending meh moniez on. :')

 

[CCVengeance]

Excellent.Looking forward to it tomorrow!

 

[GGA MOE30W]

Can't wait to pick mine up tomorrow!

 

[JTB123]

Hopefully mine won't take too long to arrive, that is a truly gorgeous stick.

 

[Exar0s]

Yup, can't wait to pick mine up at midnight!!

 

[Reptile Orion]

After reading this thread I do feel better about purchasing the Battle Edition. I'd like this fighting stick to last a long time but I may purchase another brand as a backup on Amazon or Ebay.

 

[STK]

so ur saying i messed up by canceling my order for the stick

 

[HGTV Soapboxfan]

Woah that looks so cool!

 

[Tim Static]

I really don't like the Hori style layout, probably be selling mine asap. Still gonna use this:

 

[UsedForGlue]

I won an injustice fight stick at he uk regionals, il get to pick it up in London at the top 8 uk event.

My question is, can I remove the injustice artwork and replace it with a black plate?