Internal wiring with TrackclipPro

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Kessler
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 3:12 am

Internal wiring with TrackclipPro

Post by Kessler »

Dear Naturalpoint

It's with real sadness that I write to you. I purchased a Trackclip Pro at the start of august this year from flightstore.co.uk. It arrived around 12th August. For a student on limited means, these clips are not cheap, and I've taken good care of them. They really enhanced my sessions in FSX and IL2 1946. I've owned a trackIR device since 2006, and immediately I noticed the tracking had substantial improvements over the previous hat clip. If nothing else, I don't have to wear a hat under my already heavy headset!

However, 5 days ago the Infrared lights stopped working. I should also add at this point that the arm (on which the LED's are positioned) keeps falling off inexplicably. It's held on, as others have pointed out, by two flimsy clips. These are not broken but they don't seem to have much grip to the main limb. When the LED's stopped, I tried everything, thinking it was a driver/software problem. Then, by chance, the arm fell off again and I was shocked to discover that, of the two thin wires connecting the LED's to the main clip housing, the black had been severed. As you will know, being the manufacturers, there is no room to rejoin those wires. There is no spare wiring.

As I was due to fly in squadron training that evening, I set about trying to fix it. Taking apart a small radio, I used a piece of wire to bridge the gap, stripping a small piece of wire at either end of the severed original to enable me to solder the new piece on. This worked and lasted for three days before the LED's failed again. This time I carefully opened the arm again to find that the wire had been severed in exactly the same place. I've also noticed that the edge of the small clips, one in particular, is particularly sharp. Almost, in fact, like a razor blade. I suspect that, during rotations of the LED arm against the main ClipPro limb, the clip sliced away at the wire until it was severed.

Unfortunately, I don't have a digital camera or camera phone at the moment so I can't provide detailed pictures. If it's neccessary I shall try to borrow one from a friend.

So here I am, at a complete loss. I don't know how I can definitively fix it. Do you have any suggestions? Is there a manufacturer's warranty on this? As I hope you can understand, I can't really afford to buy and replace it every two months. I've noticed other people on this forum have had swift and courteous responses and I hoped I could emulate their success.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Kess
Seth Steiling
Posts: 1365
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:29 am
Location: Corvallis, Oregon

Re: Internal wiring with TrackclipPro

Post by Seth Steiling »

Hi Kessler,

If at all possible, a picture would be really helpful. We're exploring a TrackClip PRO redesign, and any feedback like this is useful for us to incorporate. But, it's difficult to pin down the exact issue without a pic.

Because the unit is within its one year warranty, you should be able to have it replaced for free. You will need to coordinate the replacement through flightstore.co.uk, since that's who you purchased from.
Marketing Manager
TrackIR | OptiTrack
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