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One time I bought some AC fans from a Surplus place.  They were like 1.5" thick, with 3 large blades.  I believe they came out of
those ancient + massive  HP Laserjet printers.   They were loud AF...  but they also moved about 30 times as much air as any PC
fan that Id ever owned.  I shoved a carrot into the blades to see how bad it might be to run them without the Grills... and it had
the power to actually chop the carrot clean, like a food processor.

 If you want a quieter fan.. you would probably better to use a DC based PC fan.  You can use one of the larger diameter fans,
for even less noise + greater overall air movement.


 Most arcades were noisy enough, especially when you are playing at a decent volume.. that you would never hear
the cooling fans that were inside of them.

Many bearings come with a heavier grease that makes too much resistance to the Trackball movement.

 Get a spray bottle of  "Electronics Cleaner"  from an Automotive store.

 Place a bearing on a clean surface, and spray at close range, using the small Extension-Tube that comes with the spray can.

 Now pick up the bearing between your fingers, and Free-Spin it for 60 seconds.

 Flip the bearing over, and repeat the process.

 If needed, repeat this once more, on the same side that you just did.


 Electronics cleaner easily flows into the Bearings (even bearings with covers on them)... eats the Grease,
and then Evaporates without any Residue left behind.

 If you want, once the Bearings are fully dried internally (wait a day, or use a heat gun / oven)  You can apply some
3-in-One oil  (a very light and fluid oil).   That will help protect the bearings from rust / corrosion, and give it enough protection
for typical gameplay usage.


 I personally do Not recommend using WD40.  I tried soaking some dirty rollerblade bearings... and it just ended up making things
even worse.


 As for the Bearings themselves...

 Ive noticed a huge difference in Rollerblade bearings.  The lower tier bearings have a LOT more friction... and require a lot more work
to get going + keep momentum.   The differences are in the accuracy and tolerance specs... and it really does make a huge difference.
Meaning... its well worth the extra money for higher quality bearings.

 As such... we have no way of telling what quality / rating of bearings you might intend to be using... and to what degree that may
impact the trackballs sustained free-rolling spin.

Bobby, just read through your entire thread for a second time! Starting to make more sense now (kinda!  ).

I'm feeling inspired. So, looks like I'll have to make room for my own vector project, as soon as I can make room in my shed and life, while people like you are focused on it and able to help. Wish I could work on such things as fast as you do.

I messaged Barry, a long time ago, asking to be put on his list for the vector kits. Looks like I'd better dust-off my FB account and try him again.

Though I do understand the reasons, still finding it bizarre that you need 2 x 24v PSUs for both positive and negative voltages. Ah well, whatever works

Love your work, neat n tidy, and my only vaguely helpful suggestion for today is that I think you could put the USB_DVG thing on the other side - that way you won't have to run that VGA cable across the back, and it won't get in your way when you are fiddling around inside.

BTW, just a little more info about what's going on.
I've had this Area 51 Site 4 cab for years now I bought it from a Laundramat owner after seeing it sitting in the back of the place for over six months.
I went to ask about it when I first saw it but he refused to sell it, like 6 months later in the middle of December when it had been sitting out in the weather and now covered in snow I went back and told him I'll get you $100 take it or leave it!
I went back with a buddy and took it about an hour later.
I got the game back up and running but the cab is obviously waterlogged and beyond help.
Although I got the game up and running the picture was far from good so I messed with the monitor. (HUGE mistake)
I later realized that the main issue with the picture was corrosion built up in the signal connector to the monitor, once disconnected and reconnected the picture improved 100% but by that time I F'd with so much on the monitor the picture was not like I should be!
Anyway, I believe I am correct that it is a Wells Gardner K7400 original to the dedicated cab.
And as I said I have been messing with this for some time but never really got anywhere so just forgot about it for years at a time!
Then recently I got an email from ebay telling me that there was a USB2GUN JAMMA board on auction, I bought it for $160 because why not it's only the second time I have ever seen one on ebay, I bought the first NON-JAMMA one too! (Don't hate me!)

I also own a Sharpshooter cab it's actually a Dynamo cab that is in great shape but has an older monitor, still a great looking (probably looks better than this one) but the plan is to use the WG K4700 after a cap kit and a bit of love. The Sharpshooter cab has some weird guns that I never heard of but I only paid $300 for it so whatever.
I have 4 Happ guns two on the Area51 and two I bought for parts.

So obviously this is about making a MAME cab that uses real Arcade guns.
I kept putting it on pause because I could never get to this point, but now I am here!

Currently, I am running a Lenovo M83 Tower maxed out the only thing was they supposedly had a white list for video cards so I wasn't sure if the one I got (AMD Radeon R7 350X) would even work but it did with no problem so I'm not sure if the whole Lenovo white list video card thing is BS or if I just got lucky? After that I have my VGA connected to the USB2GUN and then to an Ultimarc Video amplifier and up until tonight I wasn't sure if I was just chasing a dream but when I launched the game from command prompt the picture came up and it's only a few tweaks from PERFECT!!!! Like OMG!
It honestly looks better than if I disconnect it from the PC and put it back on the Area 51 board!!!

Anyway, I apologize for going on and on.
I'm on a Euphoric and a tad bit drunk HIGH, I have been wanting to get this far for literally years!
Now I honestly feel like I can actually take the next step to connect the guns to the USB2GUN board and give them a go.
BTW, Both USB2GUN board work fine they are recognized by windows and show up as a game controllers.
I have never played with them other than now also having them as a VGA pass through, I am surprised that the USB2GUN doesn't do the video amp Like The Ultimarc amp does but obviously it doesn't because I measured it before doing the required mod to the Ultimarc.
I actually have some test programs that were used for the Optigun so those should work since it's the same beast!
Anyway enough from me for tonight, if anyone knows what is causing the switchres issue in windows let me know!!!
Also, I am NOT Hoarding USB2GUN boards, I figured buy another since you don't know if the one you have works, I will NOT buy another and I may just sell one for around the same price I bought it.

Ok, Tonight's update.

I went through and did everything again, ran the CRT Emudriver setup to uninstall the driver, deleted the CRT Emudriver and GroovyMAME folders.
Then extracted the folders again, ran the CRT Emudriver setup and followed Calamity's 5450 guide.
Everything goes as it should then this is where the issue happens.
If I try to launch GroovyMAME in Windows I get a Switchres error about filling the screen for a second then after a few more seconds the MAME menu does appear but if I try to launch a game it crashes.
Then after looking at the guide I figured I would follow it exactly so I opened a command prompt and tried launching a game that way and BOOM It's freaking working!!!!!
So what is the issue trying to run it in windows?
The youtube link I was going off of seems to be able to do it from Windows.
Again thanks so much and if anyone has any thought about the launching from windows that would complete my Quest.

i bought new bearings with no shields to replace some extremely crusty and frozen bearings on a 3" arcade ball from ebay
they were all rusted and frozen up.
the roller was pretty rough also.
there were mud daubers in the screw holes on the bottom.
it was filthy.
but really cheap.

I got the new bearings, read here to soak in wd-40 then use a drill bit with duck tape on the tip to spin the bearings like crazy with a drill motor to loosen them up, then 3 in 1 them.
so i did that.

i also put the roller in the drill like a bit and wet sanded it smooth by spinning it while holding sand paper wrapped around it.
i started with a more aggressive grit and worked it smaller.
the shafts still had the bevel worn in from the ball but it seemed to spin smoothly and for a bit like it's supposed to once put back together.
never actually used it though to play anything.

Trying again.

Had a chance to get back to the machine and turn it on after rearranging things finally.
I pulled most of the parts out first to have a good uncluttered think on it.
The result is...



Wound up leaving the power supplies, DVG, and the Pi in the same places and swapped the HV unit and deflection board positions.

Makes for a better cooling layout, keeps those parts as far away from each other and the tube as possible and the parts still remain on the shelf I made for the stuff.

It also allowed me to turn the deflection board on its side and possibly gain a little in velocity as regards the heat being evacuated through the cooling fins.

The 120VAC fan I got is kind of noisy (and may get replaced if it is distracting once I have the bezel area built and in) but it certainly does what I wanted it to.
I drilled a hole in the shelf to allow the fan to draw from wherever it likes and gave it a good angle to shoot into but still across the heatsink.
The other bonus is I got to add a block of ply underneath the heatsink to carry the weight of it on its own.

Prior to component rearrangement and install of the fan I was seeing 185 F on the heat sink next to one of the transistors.

In that same spot the temp is now down to 95 F.
I expected a good drop in temp, but wasn't expecting one that dramatic.

Certainly worth the effort!
I'm stoked.

Audio amp should be here by the weekend I think and after that is done then it's time to start on the bezel extravaganza.

Still haven't decided if I care enough to bother sanding the cabinet again and getting a more proper coat of flatter finish paint on the outside.

Fresh

Well, for the record, i don't build them to sell as there wouldn't be any profit in it. I did make one or two spares though, so PM me and we can work something out

EDIT: Gambaman, did you PM me?

PM sent

i soak the bearings in WD40 then work them a bit, the soak them some more in some clean WD40. blow them out with compressed air, then let them dry. a drop of light machine oil on the hub part to get it behind the shield, and they spin good as new.

a few drops of the silicone spray on a paper towel rubbed over a cleaned trackball and put all back together again... works like brand new again.