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Steel Battalion Foot Controller Repair Tutorial

Please note that this tutorial is given without warranty.
Neither the site owners or the author may be held accountable for any damages or injury which may result from attempting this procedure.

After a period of time, the Steel Battalion foot controller will suffer some sort of mechanical failure, the most common being the breakage of the torsion springs which supply the tension in the foot pedals. This tutorial is meant to show the disassembly of the foot controller and its internal structure.

At this time (10.07.2005), Sammy USA is not offering replacement springs for Steel Battalion controllers, only complete replacement blocks for $50 USD + shipping costs via UPS (approximately $8 USD). Contact them at 1-888-877-2669 (North America) for replacement information.


Step 1 The first step is to remove the rubber "feet" from the bottom of the foot controller. They are held on with some light adhesive and can be prised off with fingers or a flat headed screwdriver. Note that the center rear pad does not need to be removed.	Step 2 Remove the screws with a small Phillips head screwdriver. Keep in a safe location, they are small and can be misplaced easily.	Step 3 With the bottom panel now off, remove the three weight blocks (being careful as they will stain clothing and carpet) and locate the pedal assembly you wish to remove. The pedal axle assemblies are held into the controller with two plastic arches. These are removed by unscrewing the two Phillips head screws on each arch. Be careful not to strip the hold threading.

Step 4 Make note of the position of the control potentiometer, it will need to positioned in the same manner on reassembly.	Step 5 Maelstrom Cat supervision is suggested, but not required.	Step 6 Remove each axle arch assembly and set aside with the screws.

Step 7 At this point, the axle is free from the main body of the foot controller assembly and can be loosened. The two spring extensions may need gentle coaxing to be removed from their slot seatings.	Step 8 Work the axle assembly away from the mounting groove and turn the pedal so the spring "feet" are pointed inward towards the body of the foot controller.	Step 9 If one or both springs are intact they may need to be "depressed" slightly to clear the internal housing obstructions. Be careful as the springs are very powerful and can cause injury.

Step 10 Once turned 90° "into" the body of the controller, the axle assembly can be removed by carefully angling each axle barrel end out of the main housing aperture.	Step 11 The pedal and axle are now free of the controller body.	Step 12 To remove the springs from the axle body, the central axle pin needs to be removed. The steel axle pin is keyed to fit into the plastic axle body in only one direction. The tension from the springs can make the axle pin difficult to remove (and replace). I suggest using a small headed screwdriver to push the axle pin out. For replacement, I find that light pressure from a pair of pliars helps counter the tension of the springs to allow the axle pin to be reinserted. This is probably the trickiest part of the whole tutorial. Patience is required!

Step 13 I recommend the application of replacement white lithium grease to the spring assemblies to help prevent future mechanical failure.	Step 14 Success! What? That's not a look of approval...

Reassembly is the reverse of the above. If necessary, use silicon sealer to reattach the rubber feet. Do not use superglue or any other "really permanent" adhesive in case there is a need to perform maintenance at another point in the future.

The above example primarily focuses on the accelerator pedal, the one most likely to need repair attention. Note that springs from the brake pedal assembly can be "borrowed" if necessary as the brake tends to be used much less than the accelerator or slidestep pedals.

It is worth noting that my accelerator foot pedal axle housing actually cracked and was almost beyond repair. The plastic "barrel" surrounding the axle pin was completely broken through and the spring "lips" (the bit that actually makes contact with the base of the pedal/axle housing) had also broken through to the honeycombed support neck. I had to rebuild the both the pedal barrel and neck support using many built up layers of hard epoxy (a time consuming process). Persons encountering a similar problem are advised to be careful of the keyed axle pin mounting hole, the tolerances for the axle pin are very tight. Any excess material will result in the axle pin being impossible to reassemble. I had to re-sculpt mine with an Exacto knife...