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Golden Tee Trackball Durability

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paigeoliver:

You will never wear out a new trackball in home use. The one I installed about 8 or 9 years ago still has yet to make a visible wear marks on the rollers. Over time the ball wears down the steel rollers, however this is over lots of time and tens of thousands of games.

mamenewb100:


--- Quote from: paigeoliver on August 24, 2012, 10:36:17 pm ---You will never wear out a new trackball in home use. The one I installed about 8 or 9 years ago still has yet to make a visible wear marks on the rollers. Over time the ball wears down the steel rollers, however this is over lots of time and tens of thousands of games.

--- End quote ---
I guess "home use" means not abusing your trackball like allot of idiots on Golden Tee arcade games. Over half of the people in the arcades I've seen use it, SLAM the hell out of the trackball. They don't understand that you can only roll it so fast and hitting it with all your might is not going to hit the ball any further.

I've seen allot of trackballs that were heavily worn and unusable, even on New Golden Tee machines, due to this.

lilshawn:

3 areas of wear (in order of most likely to least) I've found on all trackballs is:

#1 bearings- the bearings lose their lubrication and start running dry after a while. they then start to get a little play in them as they wear out. I'd estimate 80-90% of the trackballs (both happ and imperial) I rebuild need ALL the bearings replaced.

#2 The ball - chips/dings/dents from peoples rings is the biggest culprit. Dirt is next. Sometimes the chips and dents can be smoothed out. Dirt is easily cleaned. I'll sometimes run the ball through the billiard ball buffer machine (very short cycle - the plastic is soft.) smooth and shiny means it will glide easily. a little wipe with a cloth with some silicone spray lube helps too.

#3 the rollers - The rollers come in a few different varieties. Some work better than others. the best ive found are the smooth flat rollers. others ive seen have a matt section sandblasted where the ball touches to help with traction...all i've seen this do is grind the ball down and leave it with a scratched/flat finish. imperial especially has an actual grove ground into the roller. blegh. Ive seen similar in happs trackball but only really old ones. If the rollers have the sandblasted sections on them the steel seems to wear off to the point where the ball grips the rollers and doesn't roll. I can't tell if it's the rollers or the ball loosing diameter. I usually toss these rollers and replace them with new ones.


 :blah:

pro tip for extending ball life....don't slam it. place your hands on either side of the ball towards the front of the ball with your thumbs on the bottom of the ball - push against the ball then using the tension flick your thumbs up over the ball to the front. the ball will spin as fast or faster than you power slamming your hand into the ball.




ed12:

hi
dido

Posted by: lilshawn
« on: Today at 03:13:02 pm » Insert Quote

3 areas of wear (in order of most likely to least) I've found on all trackballs is:

#1 bearings- the bearings lose their lubrication and start running dry after a while. they then start to get a little play in them as they wear out. I'd estimate 80-90% of the trackballs (both happ and imperial) I rebuild need ALL the bearings replaced.

#2 The ball - chips/dings/dents from peoples rings is the biggest culprit. Dirt is next. Sometimes the chips and dents can be smoothed out. Dirt is easily cleaned. I'll sometimes run the ball through the billiard ball buffer machine (very short cycle - the plastic is soft.) smooth and shiny means it will glide easily. a little wipe with a cloth with some silicone spray lube helps too.

#3 the rollers - The rollers come in a few different varieties. Some work better than others. the best ive found are the smooth flat rollers. others ive seen have a matt section sandblasted where the ball touches to help with traction...all i've seen this do is grind the ball down and leave it with a scratched/flat finish. imperial especially has an actual grove ground into the roller. blegh. Ive seen similar in happs trackball but only really old ones. If the rollers have the sandblasted sections on them the steel seems to wear off to the point where the ball grips the rollers and doesn't roll. I can't tell if it's the rollers or the ball loosing diameter. I usually toss these rollers and replace them with new ones.


 

pro tip for extending ball life....don't slam it. place your hands on either side of the ball towards the front of the ball with your thumbs on the bottom of the ball - push against the ball then using the tension flick your thumbs up over the ball to the front. the ball will spin as fast or faster than you power slamming your hand into the ball.

most roller's and bearing's suck

ed

mamenewb100:


--- Quote --- No.  It means that in a busy arcade, the game will might be played almost non-stop for up to 12hrs at a time.  Then you multiply that by 7 days a week,
and several year spans...  and you get an Hourly figure that no Home user could ever match.

--- End quote ---
I agree with you on the ball being used allot more at the arcades. However even with the high use and abuse, it should last at LEAST a year or two. I've witnessed almost brand new Golden Tees ruined from people acting like the trackball was used to measure your punching power. The issue is I've seen many people actually slam DOWN on the ball, as opposed to just grasing the top of it. Hitting straight down on the ball is actually going to if anything, weaken your shot because your energy is just being absorbed by the ball and not being used to roll forward.

--- Quote --- You cant really abuse a trackball with hand spin force.   The rollers are high-carbon steel !  And the bearings...  just think about the fact that people rollerblade on similar bearings.   

--- End quote ---
I agree on the rolling but hitting straight down on the ball can actually damage the housing around the ball.

--- Quote --- If you are not putting in your maximum effort into the controller... you may just not be using it as it was intended.   Especially in Trackball games, and most especially in a game like Golden Tee.

--- End quote ---
We'll have to agree to disagree on this. Trackballs have a limit on how far it can travel. Anything excessive is unnecessary. I'm not saying you have to baby it but you don't need to kill it.

--- Quote --- Another prime example, is Spy Hunter.  The wheel has huge 1" diameter rubber bumpers on the assembly.  Its made to be Slammed hard, and not do any damages at all.   In order to knock the other cars off the road... you need to slam into them.   If your bump is not fast / strong enough... it will not be enough to move them much... and possibly, their bump will overpower yours... making you fly off instead.    The best way is to slam the wheel as fast and hard as possible, which guarantees success.  That was its intended, and designed use.

--- End quote ---
This is a game that is designed for the trackball to be used roughly. As you even stated that it has rubber bumpers to prevent damage. Golden Tee trackball is only made for a casual sweep of the hand.

I apologize for calling people idiots for slamming trackballs. It just pissed me off when there were local bars that had Golden Tee and by a year of use, I couldn't use the machine. I'm sure the owners of the place, probably wouldn't be too happy about it either. It's expected that not everyone is going to daisy it but no need to be wreckless.

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