New user of Fanatec CSP pedals - Calibration advice?

Warren Dawes · Jan 20, 2011

I have just "upgraded" my G25 wheel by adding a Fanatec CSP Pedal set.
They look very good, nice and solid, and I'm interested to see how the load cell brake pedal compares to my old G25 brake.
My first impressions are mixed. I'm sure the pedals are working correctly, but I'm not sure I have them calibrated correctly. Or maybe I just have to learn to drive differently with them.

The biggest difference seems to be the much longer throw of all of the pedals. I'm sure it is only a matter of getting used to the Gas pedal, but the Brake is the worry. I was under the impression that you calibrate the brake normally using the software, and you adjust the braking limit by how far the pedal is pushed, ie. you can have it stop quickly with lower pressure, or higher pressure. I am finding that I need to stand almost fully pressured on the brake pedal to get cars to stop in the game. Combined with the long travel to get to the heavy pressure point, my braking is much worse and will get quite tiring in a long race.
I have tried adjusting the little potentiometer knob on the pedals, but I seem to have run out of adjustment (fully to the right) just getting it to 100% in the calibration software. If I ease it off, the braking is too weak.

Is this normal? Do I just have to get used to stamping very hard fully on the brake to get full brakes? Is there a simple way to get the brake pedal to stop the cars with less pedal throw and /or lighter pressure?
Do I have to re-set all my in-game settings for the Brake?

The games I have tried them with so far are GTL and Richard Burns Rally.

I'd appreciate any advice from those who have converted from G25 pedals to CSP pedals.

Mike Simian · Jan 22, 2011

Firmware update for CSPs (no wheel):

http://www.911wheel.de/?q=node/2037&page=1

The new firmware has these improvements:

Select the amount of brake dead zone (down to 0)
Broader range of adjustment possibility on the brake with the potentiometer

Lets not try to convince Warren his pedals are fine, hes not happy with them, mine are not as limited as that...therefore there must be some issue.

Warren Dawes · Jan 22, 2011

Mike Simian said:
Firmware update for CSPs (no wheel):

The new firmware has these improvements:

Broader range of adjustment possibility on the brake with the potentiometer

Thanks Mike, if it does this, I should be much happier.

Just to be very clear, I am not criticizing Fanatec or suggesting any fault with the pedals (at this stage). I've simply never used a load cell brake before and was surprised to find that I needed such excessive pressure to get full braking. My aim here has been to help me judge what is normal.

I was reluctant to start disassembling the pedals to adjust throw etc for fear of voiding any warranty (if mine aren't normal). The Firmware update looks fairly straight forward, so I guess I can't void any warranty by trying it.

Surprisingly though, the updated firmware files are dated about June 2009, and my Pedals were purchased January 2011. You would expect that my pedals would already have the new Firmware.

Appreciate the feedback so far.

EDIT: I've applied the firmware update, (needed to use the No.3 one to get nil deadzone), and it does seem better. I don't think I'll need the gym sessions to strengthen my legs now.

Now I just need to practice until I get the feel for the new braking method, or see if I prefer the shorter throw options.

Mike Simian · Jan 23, 2011

Nice one m8, glad its working for you.

Brian Clancy · Jan 23, 2011

Warren Dawes said:
The load cell does seem to have a little movement in it's location in the black housing, I can move it forward and back about 2-3 mm, but in use it obviously sits against the back position.

Warren mate, thats not right, it should be solidly attached and could well explain the undue force needed! (nice one ReDi ) The L/C is held in place with a grub screw, tighten it up and just check that the 'dimple' where the brake bar touches the L/C is central again after

Let me know (and ReDi) if this helps

ReDi · Jan 23, 2011

Brian Clancy said:
Warren mate, thats not right, it should be solidly attached and could well explain the undue force needed! (nice one ReDi ) The L/C is held in place with a grub screw, tighten it up and just check that the 'dimple' where the brake bar touches the L/C is central again after

Let me know (and ReDi) if this helps

Indeed, try to fasten it by tightening the Allen screws, and please double-check whether the load cell isn't broken.

Nigel Atkins · Jan 23, 2011

Mike Simian said:
Firmware update for CSPs (no wheel):

http://www.911wheel.de/?q=node/2037&page=1

The new firmware has these improvements:

Select the amount of brake dead zone (down to 0)

Broader range of adjustment possibility on the brake with the potentiometer

Lets not try to convince Warren his pedals are fine, hes not happy with them, mine are not as limited as that...therefore there must be some issue.

thanks Mike, i never knew there was a firmware for the pedals. mine are working just like Warrens so i guess i also need to update mine.

Warren Dawes · Jan 23, 2011

ReDi said:
Indeed, try to fasten it by tightening the Allen screws, and please double-check whether the load cell isn't broken.

The grub screw was pretty loose, so tightened it up, but it didn't seem to make much difference. I can't see any obvious damage to the load cell.

I'll stick with what I have for now, and maybe play with the throw adjustment later if needed.

Aaron DeMarre · Jan 24, 2011

I got a set of CSPs a few weeks ago as well, but I did not try them out before applying the new firmware as I was having a deadzone issue. I have never used a load cell system, so figured the pressure it takes to get to 100% brake was normal.

At first I thought the throw was too long, or better stated took to long to get to the point pressure controlled brake force instead of travel. I set the brakes to the next setting up on the pedal, this was way, way too firm and zero travel. I also had to set the pot way up so it made the pedal really really hard to reach 100%. honestly I think a few 10mm OD spacers in between the "plunger" and the urethane would reduce the throw in smaller increments. Moving the axis pin was too much change.

I set it back to normal, and run the pot all the way to the softest setting and these settings work for me, but they took awhile to get used to.

I think one thing that helped is the ABS setting on the wheel, with road racing I have it set to 98%, rally 95%, so it gives me instant feedback on how much I am pressing the pedal. On the rFactor mod I am running now I can get all the way to 100% without locking up the wheels, so I find that using the ABS setting gives me more feedback than in game.

Dietmar · Jan 26, 2011

I have the issue with mine, that the calibration changes. Usually I am running the brakes with the potentiometer completely to the right. Mostly works fine, but tonight I had again the issue, that out of a sudden, the brake was applied a little it, without me touching the thing.

Saw this even even in the calibration app, but when I started playing around, that whole thing disappeared. So cannot really reproduce the behavior but had it already before. Anybody else with this?

Aaron DeMarre · Jan 26, 2011

I had this issue before applying the 2 firmware updates.

ReDi · Jan 27, 2011

Dietmar Auferkorte said:
I have the issue with mine, that the calibration changes. Usually I am running the brakes with the potentiometer completely to the right. Mostly works fine, but tonight I had again the issue, that out of a sudden, the brake was applied a little it, without me touching the thing.

Saw this even even in the calibration app, but when I started playing around, that whole thing disappeared. So cannot really reproduce the behavior but had it already before. Anybody else with this?

It seems that with zero deadzone, the signal of the brake pedal doesn't always drop to zero. This can be solved or worked around in a couple op ways:

- lubricate the brake pedal
- turn the potmeter anti-clockwise a bit, but that makes the braking heavier
- increase the brake deadzone in the games you play (if possible)
- update to the latest firmware that allows to adjust the brake pedal deadzone

Dietmar · Jan 27, 2011

ReDi said:
It seems that with zero deadzone, the signal of the brake pedal doesn't always drop to zero. This can be solved or worked around in a couple op ways:

- lubricate the brake pedal
- turn the potmeter anti-clockwise a bit, but that makes the braking heavier
- increase the brake deadzone in the games you play (if possible)
- update to the latest firmware that allows to adjust the brake pedal deadzone

Lubricate was the bicycle chain oil, wasnt it? (Was already thinking about it anyway, my CSP once fall appart, because the screws got lose and I think I touched the throttle pedal to much, makes noise sometimes and not 100% smooth anymore)

Will definitivelly look into those hints, thanks!

ReDi · Jan 27, 2011

Dietmar Auferkorte said:
Lubricate was the bicycle chain oil, wasnt it? (Was already thinking about it anyway, my CSP once fall appart, because the screws got lose and I think I touched the throttle pedal to much, makes noise sometimes and not 100% smooth anymore)

Will definitivelly look into those hints, thanks!

Yes, thick bicycle chain oil is good, but you can also use white lithium grease which should have a longer lasting effect (especially with the foam pad in the brake pedal which is slightly porous).

Dietmar · Jan 30, 2011

Currently trying to update the firmware but it fails. I am trying this on a Vista 32 Home edition Laptop. Downloaded the pack unziped it and start the PW_update.exe after i shutdown all my symantec services.

I straight away get an Windows error message sayng that PSoC Config does not work anymore (sorry, it is a German Windows version, not sure how this would look like on an English version).

Tried to put the app into Windows XP mode, tried in Safe mode, with the CSP driver installed and without, same results. Any idea? (my main PC is a 64bit one, guess this is still not supported)

ReDi · Jan 30, 2011

Dietmar Auferkorte said:
Currently trying to update the firmware but it fails. I am trying this on a Vista 32 Home edition Laptop. Downloaded the pack unziped it and start the PW_update.exe after i shutdown all my symantec services.

I straight away get an Windows error message sayng that PSoC Config does not work anymore (sorry, it is a German Windows version, not sure how this would look like on an English version).

Tried to put the app into Windows XP mode, tried in Safe mode, with the CSP driver installed and without, same results. Any idea? (my main PC is a 64bit one, guess this is still not supported)

I did several wheel firmware updates without any problems on my Vista x64 PC. On my XP 32-bit machine I had all kinds of USB driver issues. I think it's worth a try to do it on the 64-bit PC. However, after it installs the USB driver (either automatically or manually), you have to close and run the updater again from the start, and it should work.

Alex Ball · Jan 30, 2011

My CSPs act just like Warren's. I will try the update and see if that changes anything. I too thought it was normal behaviour.

Dietmar · Jan 30, 2011

ReDi said:
I did several wheel firmware updates without any problems on my Vista x64 PC. On my XP 32-bit machine I had all kinds of USB driver issues. I think it's worth a try to do it on the 64-bit PC. However, after it installs the USB driver (either automatically or manually), you have to close and run the updater again from the start, and it should work.

Tried it on my Win 7 64bit, the appliation at least started but kept saying 'No device detected'.

There is an error in the eventlog:
Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: CLR20r3
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: pw_update.exe
P2: 1.2006.45.2
P3: 497470dc
P4: PW_Update
P5: 1.2006.45.2
P6: 497470dc
P7: 13
P8: 13
P9: System.IO.FileNotFoundException
P10:

Warren Dawes · Jan 30, 2011

Dietmar Auferkorte said:
Tried it on my Win 7 64bit, the appliation at least started but kept saying 'No device detected'.

Dietmar, did you follow the instructions as per the included readme ?
"If the PW UPDATE UTILITY shows "no device detected" then the firmware patch was succesful"

Dietmar · Jan 31, 2011

Warren Dawes said:
Dietmar, did you follow the instructions as per the included readme ?
"If the PW UPDATE UTILITY shows "no device detected" then the firmware patch was succesful"

At least I am trying... the utlitiy shows that right from the beginning. Tried pressing the Load Boadloader button, but nothing is happening. When I press the update firmware button it is saying that the bootloader has not been found (or simillar).

Am currently installing a clean XP version, let's see whether that helps.

Update: System installed with SP3 and .Net 3.5. Application starts but same behavior, pressing the start Bootloader button does not have any effect, pressing the update Firmware says. No bootloadable device detected.

System is not completely patched to lastest level, but I honestly doubt that makes a difference.