Main > Main Forum
How can I clean and/or replace the bearings (?) on my 3" Happs Trackball?
<< < (4/4)
EwJ:
Sorry, don't know about the spinners - I never owned either one - I just remember the vibrational chatter from Tempest back in the day - then recently seeing the bushings on the Arcade Shop website.  What exactly is it that your spinner is doing?  Are there bearings involved or just these plastic bushings?  Does it affect gameplay?

Couple drops of 3-in1 should do for TB bearings.
Clean the rollers and ball with alcohol or something (dish soap?)  - you definitely don't want them greasy.

Interesting read?  tb_bearings
TelcoLou:
Sorry for the hijack, but just had to comment here.

We used to refer to the Tempest spinner "chatter" as "the victory spin"; after clearing a particularly hard board, one would gleefully spin the knob as hard as possible, whilst pumping one's fist in the air in celebration. It was an integral part of the Tempest experience as far as I'm concerned. Why would anyone want to get rid of it?!?  :laugh2:
sofakng:

--- Quote from: EwJ on April 01, 2008, 08:29:10 pm ---Sorry, don't know about the spinners - I never owned either one - I just remember the vibrational chatter from Tempest back in the day - then recently seeing the bushings on the Arcade Shop website.  What exactly is it that your spinner is doing?  Are there bearings involved or just these plastic bushings?  Does it affect gameplay?

Couple drops of 3-in1 should do for TB bearings.
Clean the rollers and ball with alcohol or something (dish soap?)  - you definitely don't want them greasy.

Interesting read?  tb_bearings

--- End quote ---

I've basically completely fixed the spinner (it's not silent while spinning but it's pretty close and it doesn't stick or chatter at all now), but I'm still having trouble with my trackball.

I've taken the trackball apart and washed the plastic housing and ball with warm water and soap and I also SOAKED the bearings in 3-in-1.  I tend to really overdue things and I think I really over-did this because the bearings were swimming in 3-in-1.

After re-assembling the unit the ball wasn't responding very well in MAME so I took it apart and cleaned off the rollers except for applying some 3-in-1 on the ends where it goes into the bearings.

This helped but the ball still didn't roll 100% smoothly so I took it apart again, applied more 3-in-1 to the bearings, cleaned off the rollers and tried it again.

It's now working the same way it was when I started.

Also, the trackball has a slightly more difficult time rolling to the right than any other direction.  Is this normal?

Did my initial WD-40 soaking of the bearings/rollers do something?

My rollers have a slight line in the middle of them (from wear and tear?) but you can't feel it on the rollers themselves so I don't think it's that bad.

What am I doing wrong here? :(
Xiaou2:

 I tried the same crap with my Rollerblade bearings.  (Soaking then in wd40)   Worst thing
I could do.   The dirt inside didnt get removed:

 Wd40 does not really eat the dirt and crud inside the bearings.   That dust, dirt, etc... are still rockin
around inside the bearings housing.  Lubrication isnt going to help that much.

 I highly recommend getting a bottle of  Electronics Cleaner from Radio Shack.  Its a little
expensive, but you dont need much... and it works miracles.

 Search my other post about bearings for further instructions.

 The special cleaner will actually eat the crud alive... and then vanish without a trace.


 Now... if the bearings are too worn on the inside... theres little you can do besides
change the bearings out.

EwJ:

--- Quote from: TelcoLou on April 01, 2008, 08:35:52 pm ---We used to refer to the Tempest spinner "chatter" as "the victory spin"; after clearing a particularly hard board, one would gleefully spin the knob as hard as possible, whilst pumping one's fist in the air in celebration. It was an integral part of the Tempest experience as far as I'm concerned. Why would anyone want to get rid of it?!?  :laugh2:

--- End quote ---
Agree with you there - as long as the spinner is otherwise functioning well, i would consider this a bonus feature.


As for cleaning the bearings - usually a good overnight soak in varsol does a good job.
Then thoroughly clean and dry them out.
Then a couple drops 3-in-1.
Degrease the rollers and ball and check that the encoder wheels are secured well to the rollers.
Spin it around without the cover on and make sure the the rollers and encoder wheels  are moving smoothly when you spin the ball.
Ensure encoder wheels are lined up properly in the optics.
Don't worry about a slight line on the rollers - excessive wear would be obvious (as seen in a previous post).

Navigation
Message Index
Previous page

Go to full version