Happ trackball no good

[jlfreund]

I got the standard 3" Happ trackball  http://happcontrols.com/trackballs/560100xx.htm and just finished my cabinet, and it seems like the trackball is really poor quality.

The problem is that if you roll just off the vertical or horizontal, only one wheel engages.  Pretty much any 8 reflections of the 0-10 degree range come out as a pure vertical or horizontal, and the 8 reflections of 10-20 degrees are difficult to engage and don't feel right.

It's really annoying for Marble where you need fine control over the angle.   Does anyone know what's up with that?  Is this a known problem, should it get better with age, or is there a way to service it?  Are there better trackballs?

Jason

[_) (V) (-)]

I am no trackball expert but have been playing around with them after picking up a box of used ones. I've noticed the ball tends to rise up off the roller when moving it away from that rollers direction. I thought the problem was in the amount of gap between the ball and the top housing cover.

There is a thread with some discussion about me shimming the bearings in order to reduce the amount of gap. It seems like it'll work but I an STILL waiting to get my mounting plates so I can put this puppy into use and find out how much effect it's had.

[ahofle]

I had a similar problem with a 3" Happ trackball, except mine was even worse (sometimes wouldn't engage at all).  Happ sent me another one and that one was perfect. 

[subcriminal]

I've noticed the ball tends to rise up off the roller when moving it away from that rollers direction. I thought the problem was in the amount of gap between the ball and the top housing cover.

I had that problem with the Ultimarc 2 1/4in trackball, I cleaned the bearings out and oiled them and shimmed the bearings higher and it works fine now.

[Chris]

Sounds like the bearings just need to be broken in.  http://homearcade.org/BBBB/moretb.html might be a worthwhile read.

--Chris

[Dervacumen]

I've noticed the ball tends to rise up off the roller when moving it away from that rollers direction. I thought the problem was in the amount of gap between the ball and the top housing cover.

There is a thread with some discussion about me shimming the bearings in order to reduce the amount of gap.

Sounds like the bearings just need to be broken in.  http://homearcade.org/BBBB/moretb.html might be a worthwhile read.

--Chris

Same problem here but not to the same extent.
Nice link!  I guess I have to play a lot of games and attribute it to "getting it to work right before you can play Centipede"