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Anything special about trackball bearings?
Xiaou2:
--- Quote from: BadMouth on March 29, 2023, 06:03:30 pm ---Thank you to everyone that responded. Seems open cage ones in that size are fairly expensive. For now I'm just gonna order some cheap ones and hopefully pop the covers off.
Even if the cheap ones turn out to be crap, I need them to verify the encoders work.
A pack of 100 seems to only cost a few more bucks than 10 or 20. :-\ Seems I have to find more uses for this size.
--- End quote ---
You shouldnt need to pop off the covers. In fact, you would might even end up damaging the bearing, while trying to do so.
(smaller bearings are more likely to suffer from stress related damages, due to thinner metal wall-thickness)
Electronics cleaner will easily flow past the typical bearing coverings, because they are rarely ever sealed "fluid-tight".
3-in-one oil, will also easily work its way past the bearing covers, in a very short amount of time (no need to soak overnight).
You also really do not want to run your bearings "open-air", because dust and crud will eventually get inside of them.. and will start
to cause uneven friction and potential damages to the inner Races... and the bearing holders.
If you put most of these sealed bearings into water... the water would easily flood into them, and start rusting them up internally.
Now... They probably make bearings that are completely fluid sealed.. but Im certain that they would be MUCH more expensive,
and it would Note it on their description. They would likely need to have a special sealant, maybe similar to silicone, applied to the
Side-Caps.. and if you broke these seals, you would permanently damage their effective seal.. unless re-sealed with the same sealant.
Xiaou2:
As for the Bevel comment...
Trackball Rollers can and DO suffer metal wear damages. Once they get worn past a certain degree... they no longer function properly, and the rollers
will need to be replaced.
The thing about a trackball... is that it operates at a set vertical height, and in specific distances. When the trackball rollers start to wear down.. that
height changes... and so does the spacing between each of the rollers, and the single 3rd bearing.
This alters the way the ball sits, and rolls... as well as introduces "Play".. where the ball can come up off of the rollers... temporarily losing tracking.
To help prevent Premature roller damages... clean the Ball and Rollers on a regular basis. Stuff that gets onto the ball and rollers can end up causing
uneven friction, and helping to cause much faster wear.
The bearings themselves, should also be free-spinning... and if and when they start to wear down.. should also be swapped out.. as bad bearings
will also speed up ball and roller wear.
Ive had a few used trackball assemblies that had badly worn bearings, as well as severely worn rollers. There is no repairing them... outside of replacing the
rollers and bearings.
BadMouth:
Finally got around to messing with this.
WD40 and Contact Cleaner did not loosen them up very well, even with days of soaking because I forgot about them.
I popped the dust cover off one and saw it was still packed with thick blue grease, so moved on to a degreaser.
Dropped them in a container with some Simple Green and shook them for about a minute.
Half of them spun freely after that. The other half needed a couple more rounds with clean Simple Green.
So....Simple Green is the definitely the way to go for de-greasing bearings.
Followed the simple green with contact cleaner (which I'm pretty sure was mostly acetone), then a drop of 3-in1 oil.
lilshawn:
i should have probably mentioned when I soak in wd40, i do so in a sealed container. i use a small glass jar. aerosol wd40 has a solvent that evaporates fairly quickly. if left open, all you end up with is a thin oil. it's the solvent that does the work.
but you can use your own choice of solvents... paint thinner, varsol, acetone, etc.
Xiaou2:
Those must be some very heavy duty bearings. Things like Rollerblade bearings, tend to use much less / thinner grease... thus
they are much easier to strip / remove.