How can I clean and/or replace the bearings (?) on my 3" Happs Trackball?

[sofakng]

I'm still in the process of figuring out why my Oscar Control's Vortex spinner has "chatter", but while I'm back to working on my arcade I thought I'd ask about my trackball as well.

Anyways, my Happs 3" Golden Tee Trackball works pretty good but it feels "grainy".  What I mean is that when I roll the trackball every three inches or so I can feel something.  In other words, it doesn't feel completely smooth.

I've noticed some extra saw dust inside some of my controls (eg. the spinner) so I'm guessing that this might be the same case with my trackball.

What can I do to clean it?

Does it have bearings (?) or anything else that I can replace for cheap to get it rolling like new again?

Thanks for any help!

[shardian]

You can replace the bearings and rollers. The cost is around $25 for the kit.
http://homearcade.org/BBBB/parts.html#tbs

[sofakng]

How can I tell if mine are worn out and actually need replacing or if this is the normal feeling?

Even though I've had my cabinet for six years, it probably hasn't been used more than fifty or so times...

[grantspain]

maybe there is a little corrosion but for $25 what the hell get a new set

[sofakng]

Thanks for the help, but I don't want to just throw out $25 if the current ones are just fine.

However, I'm sure it's difficult to explain what "good" ones look like, etc.  (espicially when I don't know what the trackball is really supposed to feel like either)

[shardian]

Did you buy new or used? There is no way a new one would need a kit. It might just need a cleaning either way.

[ids]

There have been some good explanations of cleaning bearings not long ago - do a search.  All i recall is using 3-in-1 oil, and spinning them really good (ie. attached to some pwr tool).  Maybe the wiki has some info too?  I've tried the 3-in-1, but mine still have that grainy feel    Other have expressed better results.

[Level42]

It's not always the bearings.
My son had his birthday a couple of weeks ago, and of course the kids he asked for his party wanted to play the Centipede. After that day, the ball didn't roll very smoothly anymore (I had installed new rollers and bearings and a new GGG Electric Ice ball some weeks before the party).

Opened the housing, and sure enough the rollers were simply dirty. Wiped them with a cloth, wiped the ball and everything is silky smooth again.

I've tried cleaning bearings of my in-line skates, but either I do something wrong, or you simply never get the "new" feeling again....

This pic shows when your rollers are really worn out:

[Avrus]

Hose the crap out of it with WD-40 (and I do mean hose the crap out of it), wipe it down and then a few drops of sewing machine oil.

Did that with all 3 of my trackballs and they're fantastically smooth now.

[miles2912]

Yea... about every 6-8 months I pull the assembly apart and just wd-40 the bearings and posts.  Clean the trackball with hot soapy water - rinse and dry.  Trackball will act like new again.

[sofakng]

This pic shows when your rollers are really worn out:

Are you referring to the ones on the left that have the centers worn away?

Also... this is a really stupid question, but do you wipe off WD-40 after you apply it?

For example, I'm going to spray my spinner's nylon bearings with it, but I'll have no way to wipe it off afterwards so do I just let it dry for a couple of hours?

However, I can wipe it off the trackball rollers if needed...

[Level42]

This pic shows when your rollers are really worn out:

Are you referring to the ones on the left that have the centers worn away?

Yep. I figured that those were probably still the one's that were installed in the factory (this is from my Centipede) and that if the rollers were that bad, it would be more sense to order new bearings along with new rollers anyway...

[sofakng]

Ok, I've picked up a bottle of WD-40 and sprayed the heck out of the rollers and bearings and they are sitting right now in small pools of WD-40

Should I wipe it off or just let it evaporate, etc?  The bottle says that for best rust protection to NOT wipe it off.

Also, can I safely wash the entire trackball plastic mounting kit?  I've removed the two electronic pieces but the plastic mounting kit has two copper grounding (?) areas and don't want to ruin it or whatever.

Sorry for the stupid questions but I just don't want to break anything!

[EwJ]

I'm still in the process of figuring out why my Oscar Control's Vortex spinner has "chatter"

If it's the same as the original tempest spinner, this is 'normal' behaviour.
Don't know if this'll help but:
Check out Arcade Shop for 'Replacement Tempest Spinner Bushing Set'   - plastic bushings that 'Eliminates the 'BbbuuurrrRRRrr' sound'.  arcadeshop
bushingspic

Should I wipe it off or just let it evaporate, etc?

Clean all the wd-40 off.  Use it only for cleaning the bearings-not lubricating.  Use 3-in1 oil to lube.  Some people have used lithium grease and other things but most posts here recommend 3-in-1.

[sofakng]

Check out Arcade Shop for 'Replacement Tempest Spinner Bushing Set'   - plastic bushings that 'Eliminates the 'BbbuuurrrRRRrr' sound'.  arcadeshop
bushingspic

I think Oscar's Vortex spinner already uses them. 

Here is a picture of what I have: 

Do I still need to order replacements or can I grease these up with 3-in-1 or something?

Clean all the wd-40 off.  Use it only for cleaning the bearings-not lubricating.  Use 3-in1 oil to lube.  Some people have used lithium grease and other things but most posts here recommend 3-in-1.

Ok, I've cleaned them off the best I could but they still feel a little greasy (eg. I couldn't remove ALL the WD-40).

When I get 3-in-1, do I just squirt it onto the bearings and rub it in for five minutes?

Should I do anything with the rollers?  (I don't want to get the ball greasy though!)

[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?!? 

[sofakng]

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

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]

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?!? 

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).