Hello All,

Recently, I've been experiencing a problem with my Cougar throttle. The unit no longer returns to idle (it settles in at about 10 to 20 percent throttle). To fix the problem I have to restart the unit after about every 20 to 30 minutes. I suspect the problem is related to the throttle pot (my throttle is about 5+ yrs old). So, I am wondering if someone has a spare throttle potentiometer or can point me in the right direction for a replacement. I heard somewhere that TM no longer has spare parts (or something of the sort). I'm also willing to explore getting one of the Hall sensor upgrades if it is cost effective. I am also entertaining any other solutions that can fix the problem.

My system specs are as follows:

Intel E6850, w/ 4GB RAM, Win7 32bit -- As stated previously the issues recently started, so that info may be irelevant. Any help is appreciated.

--T

Go for the hall sencor kit from cubpilot
I dont remember the price now but i think it is about 100$
And you get a precice trottle, every little movment it is just so precice(spelling?)

http://cubpilotshangar.net/index.html

Thanks for the input Petherf. I'm familiar with the cubpilot kits. The truth is I am saving for a Warthog, but I still want to keep my cougar around. So cheap is the operative term for me. I just may still end up making the investment if things don't pan out and I've heard that the cubpilot kits last indefinitely.

Anyway, thanks again.

--T

Those hall sensors from Cubby are awesome. I bought one to replace my perfectly fine throttle pot and it was a night and day difference. I don't use the Kitty much more these days but it was worth the investment.

Ok people,

Thanks for twisting my arm to the breaking point. :-)

I plan on keeping my Cougar for the long haul, so I've decided to esplore the Cubby option.Sent him an email last night and I'll make a final decision once I reassess resources and see how much the upgrade will set me back.


@Panther, You wouldn't by chance have that old pot lying around would you? or even better yet, since you don't use your Cougar much, perhaps you would be willing to part with it. Can't blame a guy for trying. :-)

Thanks again for all the imput.
--T

The pots are literally pennies each. I've got a bag of 'em around here somewhere I bought 3 years ago for Cougar stick replacement. I say bag, because I had to buy like 20 of them to make the $5 minimum order. I think I paid another $5 for shipping. Frugal at one point was selling them for something like $10 or $15 a set, pre-soldered to the little white plug for drop-in replacement.

I replaced them once, and the stick worked great for a while... then started spiking again. The light then dawned on me that it was having issues in late spring as the temp changed and the humidity went through the roof (DFW, TX), so instead of replacing them again I simply cleaned them. Viola, perfect function, and it's easier to do since you don't have to de-solder the leads if you're careful. There's an incredibly detailed, step by step tutorial on cleaning the pots on Cougarworld.

I just boxed mine up. If you haven't done a U2Nxt mod on your stick, then the Warthog will be like going from a 25 year old Atari joystick to the Cougar. It's not a subtle improvement.

Just a little heads up. He makes these kits to order, so the turn around may be a little slow but damn worth it. He also doesn't charge you until it's ready to ship. I believe my turn around was roughly 6 weeks.


As much as I would love to help you, both my OTOB and Modded Cougars are here to stay. I have no idea where the throttle pot went but I would suspect it is probably no good now.

Hey Panther,

Cubby got back to me and I've decided to go ahead and order the part. Interestingly, I have the older pcb in my Cougar which will require some soldering so I'm going to get more info from him on how that's done. His email was very informative and straight forward and he appears like the kind of person one can do business with. 6weeks seems like a long time, but I guess patience is a virtue, especially if the end result is going to be worth it.

Thanks again for everything.

--T

If you're going to have to wait for a bit to get the Hall sensor mod, you might as well clean the pot in the meantime to get back to stock functionality while you're waiting. Complete instructions can be found here.

Congratulations! That is a great choice. I found the pictorial instructions on Cubpilot's website very informative. The link is:

Cougar Throttle Hall Sensor Installation Instruction

There is a link on the 4th page to the soldering instructions.