Trackball Problem I am having please help!!!

[rdowdy95]

Hey guys,

I finished my Arcade last April 07.  So I hadn't played the trackball games like golden tee or world class bowling in a couple of weeks.  I try last night and the trackball was acting a little weird.  I will describe the problem and see if you guys can help me.  Anyways...The track ball is a Happ 3" Trackball USB/PS2 unit.  I bought it new from ponyboy (great salesman of Arcade stuff). 

What it does is this.  Say I move the ball forward really soft it will move the mouse cursor up on the screen.  So if I move it soft all is good.  Now when I move the ball like fling it forward really fast like for World Class bowling or Golden Tee or even in Windows Desktop the balls spins fast forward like it should, but the cursor will go just a little bit forward then the cursor stays in place a couple of seconds while the ball is spinning forward then when the ball slows down from the forward spin the cursor will move forward.  I hope you undserstand what I am trying to say.

What do you think this problem could be???  Maybe a cleaning is in order??? Or do you think it would be something else.  I looked at how to take it apart.  I saw on the schematic it had 6 screws that kept the top on.  So remove those 6 screws take the top off, pull the ball out and I guess clean the rollers???  Also what do I clean these rollers with.  It looks from the pic there are three rollers?  What about these bearings I am hearing about what are those?
Are the bearings just another word for rollers??

Thanks guys,

Robert

[AndyWarne]

You could check whether the problem is mechanical or electronic by manually spinning the rollers without spinning the ball itself, either by removing the ball, or maybe using a screwdriver to spin the spoked wheel. The wheels are usually secured with a cross-head screw. If the cursor moves OK when it is manually turned, there maybe slippage between the ball and the roller, or binding of the roller.
If the cursor still will not move fast when the roller is spun, then one of the optical sensors is on the way out and the PCB will need to be replaced.
Andy

[rdowdy95]

Thanks for the reply Andy.  I will take it apart tonight and give the wheels a spin without the ball on there.  I did turn the wheel a little last night while the ball was in there and it moved, but I didn't spin the wheel very fast.  Plus I only turned the wheel that was the left and right axis.  Also that will let me check the rollers.  Hey should I grease the rollers after I clean them? Also where would I put the grease.  I read use something called 3in1, but don't use WD40? I don't know I will check it tonight if I have time.  No doubt I will respond to this thread with my updates.  This can also help future folks that have this problem.

Thanks again,

Robert

[rdowdy95]

Andy another quick thing.

What is slippage between the ball and the roller, or binding of the roller?  What are those two things?  I know where the rollers are from the schematic, but just not sure what that means, and is those problems fixable maybe with some cleaning solution? Maybe it means just some gunk on the roller or dirt buildup perhaps?

[milhouse]

I'm not sure if this was the smartest thing, but I had the same problem and fixed it.  I checked the bearings and they were loaded down with an orange grease which definitely inhibited their movement.  I soaked them in WD-40 and cleaned them to get rid of the grease.  Then I added a few drops of 3-in-1 oil and that made a huge difference.  Now it doesn't die as soon as I release the ball and it is much more consistent in its play.

(This was with the 2 1/2" from Ultimarc)

[AndyWarne]

Andy another quick thing.

What is slippage between the ball and the roller, or binding of the roller?  What are those two things?  I know where the rollers are from the schematic, but just not sure what that means, and is those problems fixable maybe with some cleaning solution? Maybe it means just some gunk on the roller or dirt buildup perhaps?

The roller does the sensing as it has the spoked optical wheel attached, but the ball carries the users movement, so the two must move together. Slippage can be caused by grease or dirt build-up on the roller or binding on the roller. One cause of binding is grease in the bearings. I would suspect the cause of your problem is not mechanical though, but electronic, a failing sensor, but you could check using the test I mentioned.
Andy

[rdowdy95]

Hey guys!

Andy thanks for the info and you to milhouse (love the name by the way).

Anyways here is my findings.  I took the ball out and the rollers and the bearings look spotless.  I moved the little wheel on the left bottom side (if you were looking at it the way it should face in the arcade.  When that green pcb board was set center and all and the roller spinned it would move left and right just fine.  Now the top right wheel and PCB sensor whenever I took the trackball out and spun the spoke wheel that sensor didn't hardly read anything.  Sometimes it would pop the cursor up and down other times it just would read any spinning of the spoke wheel.  I did my best to keep the little wheel centered in the middle and try to get it to register some kind of movement, but it didn't do jack.

Guys I have the following trackball:

http://www.happcontrols.com/trackballs/565600xx2.htm

I tried to look for the mouting view to find out what part I need.  All I found were directions to hook the buttons up on that page.  Now see I don't know if this little green card is the same that is the regular 3" trackball or not.  Remember I have three things that will plug into this card.  One will the the USB/PS2 interface, one will be the mouse buttons, and the other will be the connector to the other little green board that controls the left and right spoke wheel thingie.

My little board that I had said rev. D on it with a happcontrols 2001 date on it.  I heard those kind of go out for no dang reason. 

Anyways do you guys know if ponyboy and divemaster are still around?  I ordered from ponyboy for most of my stuff, but divemaster hooked me up with black carriage bolts.  Anyways also if you got the happ part # to that lil green pcb card that would be great.  Remember it is for the URL listed above the USB/PS2 one.

Thanks,

Robert

[Avrus]

Those green pcb boards had a really high failure rate.

[rdowdy95]

Those green pcb boards had a really high failure rate.

Yeah I heard the same thing.  It was like the rev. d boards from 2001 or something.  I need a new one.  Hopefully one that will work in the same setup I have without the crappy failure rate.  Anyone know what to ask for in a replacement? I guess I will need to look for ponyboy!

[divemaster127]

I have 2 sets of replacements in stock, send a pm if you need
dm