SC2 pro possibly overheating and losing FFB

#1

It started 3 days ago, lapping on Okayama in iracing with a Ferrari GT3. After 3 hours of laps I get my time within .3 of the VRS lap time. On the following laps I am really pushing to lose some tenths and I rotate the wheel 20 degrees and then all FFB feeling is lost. Wheel is totally numb until it is returned to center.

Thinking that’s really strange I go back to pits and power cycle the SC2, I reach around to hit the switch and I can already feel an extreme amount of heat coming from the motor casing. I place my hands on every part of the metal casing an it’s really hot to the touch. The back plate of the device is the hottest part.

I turned off and let it cool and tried again the next day. Same car same track same results after a period of 2-3 hours. Last night I tried the M8 GTE on Suzuka and got the same results after about 2 hours. The motor housing got extremely hot and I lost all FFB.

My TD settings haven’t drastically changed over the 3 months of use. The unit did get warm during use but never to this intensity. The SC2 has been used for at least 4 hours every weekday and pretty much from when I wake up till I go to bed on the weekends with zero issues for nearly 3 months.

I have emailed my reseller but am still awaiting a reply, the thought of not being able to race this weekend is killing me so perhaps someone else has had this issue or knows of a possible cause and solution I could try out. As it stands though it seems something isn’t right somewhere.

#2

This is definitely not normal. My engine is cold and I have never experienced any increased heat.

#3

wow. not good at all. i experienced something like this on my OSW, it used to overheat but never had ffb related problems…

#4

It’s the only connection that comes to mind, there may be something i am not aware of but the excessive heat is present when I lose FFB. Which is quite noticeable as I run the motor at high strength.

#5

make sure both psu are connected correctly.

#6

Sounds like the damage control mechanisms work. The servo is getting turned off if it’s overheating. Do you live in a hot climate?

#7

I have checked the plug tops, IEC plugs and connections into the motor unit. All appeared ok but I have not checked the individual pins closely on the motor unit. Perhaps a fuse has blown on the plug top of one power brick ? Would the motor still function ?

#8

What kind of FFB levels are you running with? Seeing all the settings would be fantastic in order to analyze what is happening.

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#9

I live in Wales, UK. It’s pretty wet xD lol. I do have a triple screen setup that does kick out some heat but overall the room where my rig is doesn’t get warm.

#10

Not at my PC atm but in Ferrari iracing settings are 40nm max strength and 25mn wheel strength. TD wheel strength 25nm. 900 degrees rotation, 940 bumpstop. No5 filter. Dampening 2. Friction 16. Inertia 4-5. Slew rate 2.6ish. Everything else at 0. Metallic sound reduction unchecked. Not too sure on the exact bumpstop effect settings.

#11

OK, thanks, It is likely that you are not hitting the bumbstops anyway while driving, but those are quite high force values and you are likely clipping a little bit as well.

We will investigate further.

#12

Does the True Drive show you a fault ID number when the FFB cuts out?

#13

No fault code appeared unfortunately. Roughly 2 weeks ago a fault code appeared on two occasions . 422 something I think. I checked on the GD wiki and it said it was a communication fault. Both times I was able to remove the fault code easily by pressing and resetting the EM stop.

#14

I have the audible clipping notification turned on and clipping meter in view while on track. Made sure to set my wheel just so as not to clip. I read on iracing forums that the Ferrari outputs upto 40nm In telemetry and it seems to be working for me.

#15

TD settings for Ferrari GT3 and BMW M8. Iracing Nm settings are 40/25 and 50-55/25.

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#16

I’ve also noticed lately that the back side of the Simucube pro is very hot during my sessions of radical racing, I was astonished because I didn’t think it would heat up. however no problem up to now

#17

If you watch the SRG review you will see there is a heat sink that is basically conducting all of the heat out through the back plate. That plate will definitely become hot to the touch. I don’t think that is a bad thing though as most of the electronics in your system (CPU, GPU, MB) all build up heat that you wouldn’t want to touch, but are in very safe operating temp ranges. Having said that, anything can overheat in the right conditions, so it doesn’t hurt to monitor your individual system.

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#18

That’s how mine is under normal operation, but the past few nights after 2-3 hours of use the whole body has been nearly as hot as the back plate. Even the front face of my mounting bracket was hot too the touch.

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#19

I would imagine that over 2-3 hours without being able to cycle/cool that the heat would eventually “migrate” towards the front of the housing from the back plate as well as heat building in the motor itself. The whole case is a heat sink of sorts. It would be interesting to see if you introduced mechanical cooling (ie. A fan pointed at the back of the motor unit) if that delays or totally alleviates your issues. That way you might better understand the relationship of heat to your issue versus some other cause.

#20

There is a fan behind the monitors and rig that runs most times to keep me cool from the heat from my screens. Some air flow would pass over the motor unit but I doubt it would make a significant difference unless it was positioned directly behind it.

As for 2-3 hours use, that isn’t constant. 20 laps here, 10 laps there. Time in the pits, talking in disco then back on track for more laps. Then maybe a race 15m to 45m. All that is broken up with a smoke break every hour or so. The unit is powered on throughout that whole time, with the EM stop pressed when out for a smoke.

I should be able to use the unit for an evening of lapping/racing without it overheating as I have done for nearly 3 months. It gets even more use on a weekend and never had issues until this week.

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