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Trackball problems - any tips for me?

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markronz:

--- Quote from: bpark42 on December 07, 2010, 10:26:32 am ---
--- Quote from: markronz on December 07, 2010, 10:15:05 am ---About the "regular lubricating oil"...  I'm not normally a very mechanical person, so all I have is WD40.  I can get other stuff at the store, but could you clarify a little more as to what "regular lubricating oil" is exactly?  Or what I would be looking for when I went to the store?

--- End quote ---

Get some 3 in 1 oil.  Just ask for it at home depot/lowes/your hardware store.

--- End quote ---

Thanks!  I will ask for this.  Is it like a spray that I just spray onto the bearings?  Or is it a thicker stuff that I need to rub onto it?  If thicker, I assume I would just rub this onto the sides of the bearings and that's all I'd need to do right?



--- Quote from: BobA on December 07, 2010, 10:33:11 am ---New trackballs most times have thick grease in the bearings and this has to be worked out for the trackball to function properly.

--- End quote ---

When you say worked out, what do you mean by this?  Should I just spend some time spinning my trackball to get this worked out then?

bpark42:

--- Quote from: markronz on December 07, 2010, 11:36:49 am ---Thanks!  I will ask for this.  Is it like a spray that I just spray onto the bearings?  Or is it a thicker stuff that I need to rub onto it?  If thicker, I assume I would just rub this onto the sides of the bearings and that's all I'd need to do right?

--- End quote ---

You just drip it on.  The spout is made for precise direct application.  Afterward give the rollers a good spin, either by hand or in a drill.  Make sure the rollers and the ball are clean before you put everything back together.

nancyd589:


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markronz:
Ok, so I am finally revisiting this issue as it is still not resolved.    I bought new bearings for my trackball from GGG, and its a little better, but still not quite right.    I did a little testing.  If I pick up a roller, and give the bearings a good spin with my finger, 4 of the 6 of them will continue to spin for 6 - 8 seconds.    The remaining two bearings will only spin for maybe 2 seconds.   So I'm gonna have a crazy guess here, and guess that my trackball problems are directly related to the poorly spinning bearings.

Tomorrow I am going to go get some 3-in-1 oil from the hardware store to put on all of them.   I've read in this thread and in others that applying a drop to one side, then spinning for a while on a drill works best.  Then flipping and repeating.    Can someone give me more details about this process?  

What's the best way to spin them with a drill without them flying off?
Is there a limit as to how fast I should spin the drill?  Can I just give 'er?
Is there a length of time I should spin them for?  Is a minute enough?  Is there such a thing as too much spinning in this fashion?
Oh, and is the one drop of 3-in-1 accurate?  Or should I soak them in it?  Or is less oil better?

Thanks!

markronz:
Alright, I purchased some "electronics cleaner" from Radio Shack, and used this to clean out the bearings.  This was what someone suggested on a different thread.   After using this on them, they all seemed to spin much better than ever before.    I then used some 3-in-1 oil in each bearing.   This slowed them down a bit, from when there was nothing in them, but they still spinned pretty well.   And in the long run, I am sure having oil in there is best.    I spun them on a drill for a few minutes each as well.   Basically I just put a pencil and tightened it in my drill.  Then I put the bearing on the tip of the pencil.    I held onto the bearing, and turned the drill on.   So anyway, I did this for a few minutes each.        I put my newly cleaned, newly oiled, freshly spun bearings back into my trackball.   It still does not spin correctly.  When I give it a good push upwards, the cursor still goes up straight for a moment, and then drifts to the upper left.    If I spin it downward, it drifts to the lower right.   As shown in my picture that I originally attached.  However the drift is much much much more severe than what I've portrayed in my picture.

I feel like throwing this trackball out the window...   :angry:

So, I now have two entire trackballs, complete with bearings and encoder wheels and everything.    I also have two more additional encoder wheels, and 6 extra bearings.   With all of these items, I cannot get one single working trackball.   No matter what combination of bearings, wheels etc, I use, I can't get it to roll right.   The drift ruins everything.  It makes games like Golden Tee and any bowling game virtually unplayable.   I rarely, if ever, can get a straight drive/roll.   I've tried using both trackball cases (with their included optical sensor things).   Both do the same thing, so I know it's not the sensors that are the problem.

What am I doing wrong here guys?   Do your trackballs go completely straight up and stay straight when you give them a good push?   Should I just give up here?    I am at a complete loss. 

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