Trackball repair

[jeffshead]

I have a Happ 3" High-Ball/High-Lip Trackball in a MAME arcade that really hasn't seen much use. The ball "slips" at high-speed and sometimes at slow speed. When it does this at slow speed, I have to push down on the ball to make it move the cursor. I don't feel any tight spots or jumping. It just feels like the ball is slipping on the steel rollers rather than turning them.

I've taken this thing apart many times but I can't seem to correct the issue. Everything is really clean. I replaced the bearings which made it worse. I flushed the grease out of the new bearings with PB B'LASTER PENETRANT, blew them out with air and put one drop of 3-in-one oil on each. That helped a lot but it still slips. The steel rollers looked really good with a very minor wear ring on the rollers. I could barely feel it with my fingernail. I wouldn't even call it a groove. More or less just a smooth area. I even put the rollers on a lathe and used 400-600 grit sandpaper to remove the rings. It didn't take much. I have cleaned the rollers and ball with alcohol.

I don't know what else to try.

Should I try to roughen up the ball and rollers? Who's encountered this and knows how to fix it?

[pbj]

Is the housing tight?  This things all have a little slop at best.  How’s the game performance?

[Titchgamer]

When you say its slipping do you mean physically or the cursor is acting intermittently?

If its physically slipping you will need to increase the friction between the ball and rollers.
You can also check the optical sensors and cogs to make sure they are not damaged or gunked up.

If its the cursor on the PC acting up we will need much more info.

[jeffshead]

The housing is screwed together as it should be. Game performance suffers because of the slipping. This machine has seen little use and it is clean. It's definitely the ball slipping on the steel spindles. I have removed the whole trackball assembly and watched it slip.

I thought for sure removing all of the grease and adding only a drop of oil would remove enough resistance. All of the bearing spin several revs when removed and finger flicked, individually.

I already rubbed the steel spindles with 400 grit sandpaper. I did not do anything to the ball. What is common practice to increase friction?

[Titchgamer]

The housing is screwed together as it should be. Game performance suffers because of the slipping. This machine has seen little use and it is clean. It's definitely the ball slipping on the steel spindles. I have removed the whole trackball assembly and watched it slip.

I thought for sure removing all of the grease and adding only a drop of oil would remove enough resistance. All of the bearing spin several revs when removed and finger flicked, individually.

I already rubbed the steel spindles with 400 grit sandpaper. I did not do anything to the ball. What is common practice to increase friction?

Well if its physically slipping you dont want to put oil on it lol

Only oil the bearings not the actual rollers.

In regards to improving friction you could try roughing up the rollers a little?

[jeffshead]

Only oil the bearings not the actual rollers.

In regards to improving friction you could try roughing up the rollers a little?

Yes. Oil is in the bearings, only. Everything has been wiped with alcohol. I already used 400 grit sandpaper on the rollers. I guess I'll try courser sandpaper but they were not rough to begin with.

I don't have anything to compare to... Are trackballs smooth and shiny or should they also have a texture?

[Titchgamer]

No the ball should be smooth and shiny.

[jeffshead]

I roughed up the rollers with a 300 grit Scotch-Brite pad and used a 2500 grit pad on the ball. That seems to have helped. Only once did it slip but not nearly as bad as it did before I roughed everything up. I'm hoping that was just a hair on the ball.

I did notice a couple of small hair-line cracks in the ball. They are very hard to see and you can barely feel them with your fingernail. Do these balls develop cracks? This thing has seen very little use over the years.

[jeffshead]

I give up! I have taken this POS out dozens of times. The last thing I tried was to blast all oil out of the bearings and put a couple of drops of Tri-Flow in each bearing to reduce as much resistance as possible. The ball still slips on the rollers.

Is there any difference in the bearings sold by SuzoHapp and these:

https://pgnbearings.com/products/r4-zz-ball-bearing-1-4x5-8x0-196?_pos=1&_sid=9e105a536&_ss=r

The bearings from SuzoHapp come lubricated with the same thick grease that needs to be replaced with oil, correct?