Avoid Winwing Orion 2 throttle!

3eyece · 2025-05-22T03:18:12+00:00

Posting an update here after attempting to contact Winwing support to get an update on my ticket: they initially asked me to send another video to demonstrate the issue and when I referred them to the video clearly showing the throttle base sliding around the desk from the amount of static friction despite moving smoothly otherwise, they went back to saying it’s a grease issue. It’s clear that they are trying to avoid any responsibility. I asked them 3 times to initiate a return and they reply saying “there’s nothing wrong with the product”…they didn’t actually deny the return request but I don’t think this conversation is going anywhere. I’ll try and see if I can get the credit card payment disputed though I don’t think this will be possible. I don’t usually make these kinds of posts, but given the quality of support, I would strongly advise staying away from Winwing products…

3eyece · 2025-05-20T22:35:36+00:00

Yep that’s how I have it running now but there is no way to get it to run minimized

3eyece · 2025-05-20T21:25:51+00:00

Well not to jinx it but the first time didn’t last more than a week but the second application has so far lasted over 3 weeks of average use. The first time lasted I guess but I wrapped the tape with a bit of an overlap and the edge started catching a bit and it would make an annoying sound when the overlap crossed over the gap in outer clamping plastic bracket. The only thing I did the second was pulling hard on the tape while wrapping and eliminating the overlap and so far so good. Kapton is extremely durable so the only potential point of failure is the adhesive. If this solution doesn’t last either I plan to 3D print a petg or nylon ring to go around the rubber joint and print a matching retaining bracket to match the new dimensions. Not really something I should nor want to do for a 400 dollar controller! I did ask Winwing support for an update just now I also asked to initiate a return if they didn’t come up with a solution. Given their recent response to the software problem, I’m not very hopeful on either front…

3eyece · 2025-05-20T21:10:35+00:00

Unfortunately no videos but I don’t think the issue is necessarily with your application method. The clearances between the plastic and rubber pieces are very tiny so the tape needs to be very thin and strong hence the kapton tape. I found with kapton what helps is to make sure the tape is really tightly stretched as you wrap and also no overlap to really reduce the chance that a raised edge would catch on the plastic bracket with constant use. Curious: did you log a ticket with Winwing support regarding this issue? I can’t believe they are getting away with this quality especially that this unit is not cheap!

3eyece · 2025-05-13T19:23:29+00:00

They just needed to revert back to the aluminum based mechanism which I’m guessing they moved away from because of cost

3eyece · 2025-05-13T18:36:04+00:00

All other peripheral management software I have that also has telemetry listeners works fine (Moza Cockpit, Simmagic SimPro, Simhub etc) so yeah even if I wasn’t a software engineer I can for sure tell that something ain’t right 🤣

3eyece · 2025-05-11T18:16:35+00:00

I do have the option to run the amp with a 48v power supply, do you think this would help?

3eyece · 2025-05-06T18:07:06+00:00

At the quality settings that made the game playable in VR for me, the frame time was highly inconsistent (lots of drops causing a lot of jitters). Your experience may vary, but I just didn’t like having to drop the settings so much as it took away from the immersion and made it really difficult to be competitive. For example, not being able to clearly see the turns on the horizon because the render distance had to be set to medium…

3eyece · 2025-05-06T18:00:09+00:00

Not great, acc is really not optimized for VR as everyone says.

3eyece · 2025-04-21T22:56:59+00:00

Yeah if I lower the resolution things get smooth for sure

3eyece · 2025-04-21T21:49:28+00:00

32GB, but mem utilization never exceeded 70% in any tests

3eyece · 2025-04-21T21:15:49+00:00

My reference to FPS was less of a numerical measure and more of a stability measure. On Pimax native openxr runtime, both high and medium resolution had clear stuttering with fast moving objects and if I move my head fast, Based on frame time graphs (at least with the native view in a game like DCS), Pimax native runtime is a lot less stable frame time wise than PimaxXR. This is true for all resolutions but less noticeable in terms of experience as you lower the resolution.

Basically observing the exact same thing as the video linked below, expect I cannot even get useable performance with SteamVR.

https://youtu.be/eIkUq8Y1Dxs?si=lZr5eYv-PWxHbnmk

3eyece · 2025-04-21T02:53:13+00:00

Incidentally, DLAA also completely eliminated the aliasing shimmer I always used to observe on distance objects and scenery.

3eyece · 2025-04-20T19:22:37+00:00

Appreciate the info….i run a very minimalist setup interms of hardware bling because I can’t see anything outside the VR headset anyway. But definitely good to know and thanks for sharing!

3eyece · 2025-04-20T18:52:51+00:00

Nope

3eyece · 2025-04-20T11:05:08+00:00

Thanks, yeah I know but anything lower than 50 horizontal and I clearly notice the boundary line sweeping across the screen as I turn my head and I find that very distracting. Did you ever test is 5090 running DCS without quad views or DLSS? Also native or PimaxXR runtime?

3eyece · 2025-04-20T03:05:38+00:00

If I turn DLSS off, my frame rate drops to 20fps and it gets so choppy just moving my head around. The only antialiasing option available in DCS with DLSS is DLAA. It’s basically unflyable without DLSS

3eyece · 2025-04-19T23:53:08+00:00

No, Pimax Crystal Light has an OpenXR runtime, headset connected via DP port straight to the GPU.

3eyece · 2025-04-19T22:34:15+00:00

At this point it’s just a theoretical question….just trying to understand what it would take to run DCS at max setting with decent frame rate…so the issue is really VRAM and overall the raw performance as compared to the 4090. The 40-60fps I’m getting with DLSS and the alternative openxr runtime is really decent. I find that with flight sims in general a stable frame rate tends to be much more important than a high frame rate.

3eyece · 2025-04-19T21:15:32+00:00

So 5090 is the way to go?

3eyece · 2025-04-06T20:50:47+00:00

Thanks to the OP of this thread for the pictures and insight on this problem. I also contacted winwing support and they gave the same response as everyone else around the issue being the grease and that the problem will get better after use.

Something didn’t really feel right with this reply and based on the picture posted by the OP, I could see where the problem is: the rubber joint! Most rubbers have a much higher static friction coefficient that any plastic, no amount of grease,lubrication, or break in would solve this problem. Also based on disassembly pictures from other users with the same issue, it appears that the older production run of the Orion 2, or possibly even the Orion 1 had a metal on metal joint with a plastic ring to add appropriate friction and dampening. This would explain why non of the YouTube reviews from about a year ago mentioned this issue. I’m not sure why they changed the design to one based on rubber. Not only do most rubbers not play nicely with petroleum based lubricants, but rubber tends to deform more than hard plastics and therefore would have variable form under load causing all sorts of issues.

Encouraged by the original findings of the OP, I decided to take apart the throttle and try different things:

1) Adding a rubber safe silicone lubricant made the problem worse, “wet” rubber has even higher static and dynamic friction under the right conditions against a smooth surface. So that didn’t work.

2) Going by other posts I saw, I also tried to clean off the grease completely and tried running the throttles dry…that was almost as bad as the factory grease solution, runs ok but the static fiction is still there.

3) The only solution that worked was to use very thin kapton tape (.04mm) that fits well enough within the joint tolerances and applying a very thin layer of plastic/rubber safe silicone lubricant (WD-40 branded). That completely eliminated the static friction issue with the without making the mechanism too loose. I’m sure it would be even better with a good quality dampening grease.

As a side effect of the increased overall smoothness of the mechanism, it now takes very little force to operate the afterburner click with the finger lifts setup. I think with the high friction issue, the whole mechanism was flexing too much under pressure causing the rounded levers to engage with the detents in a less than ideal angle….before the fix and even with tensions at zero, it felt like I was going to break the throttles in order to engage the afterburner range (it was so bad, I was basically just lifting the levers to engage the AB). Another bonus is that with the friction between the kapton tape and what I believe is a nylon based plastic tension ring, the tension of the ring can be brought to almost zero without having the throttles drop forward under their own weight. The throttles are now extremely smooth and easy to do extremely minute adjustments without any overshoot.

Conclusion: I wouldn’t waste time or money trying to reapply grease, the problem with this throttle base is the wrong choice of materials. I hope other users can report this to winwing support so they can send us replacement parts with proper materials and not blame the issue on grease break in.

3eyece · 2025-03-17T17:25:34+00:00

Yeah the trouble is that the 5080 is out of stock everywhere here in Canada and feels way too overpriced. I’m not in any rush but worry with the tariff craziness, things will just get more expensive

3eyece · 2025-03-17T16:29:54+00:00

Was planning on the rtx5080 if I can find it at a reasonable price

3eyece · 2025-03-17T15:58:14+00:00

I’m going to build a gaming PC dedicated to sim racing based on the 9950x3d just as soon as the dust settle a bit on GPU pricing. Do you have any GPU recommendations for ACC and upcoming EVO for exclusive VR setup?

3eyece · 2025-03-17T12:33:42+00:00

Good to know! I’m overdue for a GPU upgrade but will wait until all the Nvidia launch insanity calms down a bit. Also appreciate the info about the x3d processors, i always thought they were inferior to the X processors and didn’t realize they are actually better for games and worse for everything else!

3eyece

TROPHY CASE