Purple Translucent track ball?

[Farmboy90]

When you order the USB Translucent Trackball from Happ, does it come with a light already?  Or is the ball already shaded in the color you chose and then you light it with a normal clear light?

Would it be possible to add say a red light on the blue translucent ball and make it purple?

[jopenner]

I ordered the 3" Blue Illuminated Trackball from Happ and it came with a 12 volt light bulb (not LED).  I hooked the bulb into  a pigtail (yellow and black) on the power supply cable for my hard drive.  On a side note, the red and black cable on the same pigtail is a 5 volt power supply.
Mine works fine.

John

[jopenner]

Would it be possible to add say a red light on the blue translucent ball and make it purple?

I suppose if you found someone that sold the red bulb that matches the 12 volt one you could swap it out. Alternatively you could hook any 5 or 12 volt light under the Happ ball.  There is just a small hole drilled through the base of the trackball for the bulb to shine through.  The bulb bracket is screwed into the plastic base with a sheet metal screw.  Modifying it would be very simple.  A christmas light or even Super bright LEDs could be used.  I am sure that coloured 12 volt automotive lights would work too.
Be careful with the heat though as it may cause expansion of the plastic trackball, which could cause binding.  I learned the hard way when I thought I'd enclose my bulb with a reflective shield to get more light up through the ball.  My trackball started to stick due to expansion.  I have since pulled the enclosure off.

John

[Farmboy90]

Whoa, I just saw that Glowire now sells purple LEDs!    So maybe I should just buy the clear tanslucent ball and light it with a purple led??

http://www.glowire.com/Lazer%20LEDs.htm

[fiscap]

Check these out

[Farmboy90]

Do you think those will work?  I mean are the weights and materials similar enough?

[Kremmit]

I'm pretty sure other members have succesfully used them.  I dunno how much they weigh, but I'm also not sure it would matter much.  Maybe for Golden Tee ball slammers it would change the spin time, but for regular games, I doubt a weight change would make much difference, unless it was to the extremely heavy side.

[jcoleman]

Would it be possible to add say a red light on the blue translucent ball and make it purple?

No.  What makes the blue ball blue is that it only allows blue light to pass through it.  It will not pass red light.  Also, red light + blue light = magenta light...which is essentially purple, I suppose, but technically you need more green to make what you'd consider "purple."  A clear ball with a purple LED is probably your best bet.

[jopenner]

I don't know if the acrylic balls would work or not.  I'd be concerned that they would not grip the X and Y axis rollers properly.
Has anyone here used them before?

As for the lazer LED's, I'd go for the cluster set as they may be able to fit over the hole in the bottom of the trackball.  The rectangular ones are 1 1/2" wide, which would only allow partial light to enter the hole.  Make sure you get a resistor to bring the voltage down.

John

[Kremmit]

I'm pretty sure other members have succesfully used them.

Ok, fine, make me search.  Here's just a few threads where members report that they work well.  You can search for "Juggling Ball", and you'll find a bunch more.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=6582.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=16977.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=7544.0

[rdagger]

Whoa, I just saw that Glowire now sells purple LEDs!