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Paddle Repair

robert_sissco

robert_sissco

Experienced Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
342
Location
Midwest U.S.A.
I have a pair of Commodore paddles, and they work ok-ish. I know that the potentiometers can go bad over time (we are talking 30+ years here more likely), does anyone know a good replacement for these? Ultimately I would like to just remove the old ones, drop in the news ones and re-solder the two wires as needed for a quick fix. Bonus points if the know is keys so the paddle wheels can just be slid on.
 
If you open up the paddle you can read the spec of the pot and measure the shaft. If the spec is not written on, you can measure its resistance. Also measure it at 50pct to see if its lin or log.

Having those specs, try and find the same on the big electronic component stores (farnell, mouser, digikey, conrad...).

It can also be a broken wire in the cable, of course. Continuity measurement can tell you that.
 
It isn't the wire, I tested that, both pairs have all wires securely soldered to the potentiometers and when I measure for connectivity from there to the respective pin on the plug, it goes *BEEP*.

They "work" to a dress, either jittery or requiring extreme ends to see movement.
And these are Commodore branded paddles. I know that there are some issues with Atari paddles on the C64, but both I got are from Commodore so I don't think that is the issue.
 
You'll have to read or measure the pot specs if you want to replace them as they are different for different iterations of the C= paddle (VIC and later). Should be linear in any case.
 

Paddle Battle – breadbox64.com

www.breadbox64.com www.breadbox64.com

Here is an article that had commodore paddles and their pot specs do these look like the one you have?

Also what is wrong with using Atari paddles? Different resistance values make them more sensitive? Is it still safe to use atari paddles on commodore machines?
 
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