What does this mean? I'm getting ready to buy these pedals. I just read about this happening to someone in this SimHQ article. Is this a bad problem with these pedals?

no, but happens (maybe more then it should, I don't know)... and if under warranty they will replace it, if not the load cell is 15 bucks ans takes 5 minutes to replace... I've had my clubsport for over a year now w/o incident... knock on wood.

Loadcells are great but by their nature are not a long lasting item due to how they measure the force squeezing the sensor pad, I had the Andy Pastore loadcel mod on my G27 pedals and it worked great for a year and a half and then started spiking and eventually quit working...

Unfortunately Andy's loadcel mod is not so easy to swap out a cheap $15 replacement loadcell sensor as the Fanatec Clubsport pedal's loadcell (replacements are $40 and not sold by him) so I went back to the original Logitech potentiometer which is much less realistic feeling but lasts.

I would not hesitate on buying the Clubsports due to the loadcel wearing out eventually, in fact I plan to buy a set myself as they are well regarded for hardcore sim racing, but I will just order a spare loadcel or two at the same time.

As with all hardware that takes a hard pouding, sooner or later there will be wear.
If you have pots or loadcells they are submitted by a physical wear. Only hall sensors are free from this wear.
I have had my csp for over two years when it failed. But the loadcell is quickly replaced and not expensive.
The throttle and clutch on the CSP are hall sensors, so they won't wear.
I don't think any of the other pedals with loadcells will be any better and the ones with pots
will most probably fail even sooner.

When ordering the pedals, I would order a spare loadcell, just in case.
That way you can quickly get back on track within minutes.
Fanatec shipped my new loadcell the same day I ordered it.

Thanks fellas. Thats odd, seeing how they advertise this:
"Contactless magnetic high-precision sensor on accelerator and clutch with unlimited lifetime".

It would make sense to use that on the brake pedal too I would think.

The brake needs the force, the gas and clutch use friction and a spring for it's force while the brake uses the load cell to get that correct feeling.

Had my Clubsport Pedals since Dec 2009 and they are fantastic. Very sturdy build quality and measuring hardware. The thing to be aware of is that Fanatec is a small company, and thus minimally staffed (or so it seems). They've received some heavy and well-deserved criticism for customer support in the past, but they seem to have taken it on board and are improving.

Fanatec makes some very capable sim racing hardware. They are highly recommended here. The Clubsports are worth every penny, IMO.

Ummm, to be precise: the clutch and brake use a sensor to note pedal position (not a potentiometer, but more of a HALL-effect type sensor). The brake uses a load cell to measure force applied and translates that into a brake force signal (load cell). The brake 'feel' is slight movement of the pedal arm against a urethane bumper, while the throttle and brake pivot against the force of a spring. This makes the brake feel more like a real car's brake system. The throttle feels correct as well, but the clutch isn't quite as good a replication (then again, no sim racing clutch really is).

Got my loadcell today, it took me 30 sek to replace it.
If I only had one availabe last saturday, as well as the tools, I could have made a IRL pitstop and still be in the race.

Well, now I have one in backup which I hopefully won't need to replace in another 2 years or more.

Watch out! I'm back in the game.....

you'll crash out in the next one.