Sticky trackball GT complete

[grosenberry]

Hey all, new to the forums, bought a GT complete off a guy that had a busted monitor.. I'll probably be posting in here pretty often as I run across these things I don't know.

First up is a trackerball issue.  The game turns on and the trackerball worked slightly.  I took it out, ordered some new bearings since the old ones were rusted.  Got the new bearing today, put them in closed everything up, re-installed into the machine.  Was working I believe for the most part but didn't feel natural like I've experienced in most GT's.  It seemed as if the right side wasn't spinning as freely at the left which was leaving some weird feedback in the game.  Took it apart and sure enough (while still in the case) the right side didn't seem to be spinning as freely.  When I open it up it seems to be super smooth no problems, when I close everything back up and install the ball doesnt seem to be completely enclosed and you can push it slightly to the right and hear a click as the ball leaves contact with the bearings..

I bought the bearings from the Game Room Guys and they seem pretty solid.. not sure if I'm tightening the case too much or installing it too tightly to the control panel.. Thought this would be the easy fix but seems to be super finicky.  This is for a 3" Happ Trackball.

And suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
G

[lilshawn]

no idea what trackball you have as there is a few different ones that it could have....i'll assume it's the better happ one.

typically crappy performance is caused by stuff rubbing...in particular the grounding foil or you have bad rollers. you sandwich things down and it's rubbing somewhere or it's not rubbing, it just rolls stupid.

make sure everything is clean take those halves to the sink and scrub them up with a toothbrush and soap.

make sure the foil is tucked out of the way press the rollers and bearings down...make sure they are bottomed out. the foil can cause them to sit weird.

check your rollers. it's okay to have a tiny area where it rubs, but if the chrome finish is wore off and you see copper plate or even raw steel, it's toast and need to be replaced.

give them a test spin before you put the ball in and make sure they are free to spin.... if they aren't...make sure they are straight and pressed all the way down. you may have to tweak the top of the bearing left and right to wiggle it down into place. drop your ball in and close the halves together. the screws should be tight enough that there is no space between the halves.

i also take a paper towel and spray a bit silicone lube on it and polish the ball with it. this will also help it glide over the rollers.

[grosenberry]

Thanks for the reply.  I noticed that I forgot the type of trackball I had and tried to edit my post.  I have a Happ 3" trackball.  I bought new bearings from Game Room Guys and replaced those.. Pulled it apart again keeping in mind some of the things you said.  The ball and control all put back together seems to be rolling really flawlessly..  I noticed last night however the game seems to start losing track of the ball.  It's almost like the ball works really well on the game and then all of a sudden pulling the ball backwards stops working. 

I played a round last night and i noticed that when the trackerball starts getting funky hitting the start button to bring up the menu sometimes seems to reset it.. maybe this sounds weird.. maybe it's a board issue.. Now I'm thinking that either it's the pcb or maybe the boards on the trackerball need replaced as well..  Not sure if any of this really makes sense or not..

[lilshawn]

it's possible there is a broken or bad solder joint on one of the boards..which can happen due to vibrations... it's also likely one of the infrared LED emitters it uses to sense is getting weak/flaky and is going to need to be replaced.

but if it's having problems tracking and the ball is rolling okay i'd suspect the sensors. you can verify this by just rolling the roller and watching what the game sees. if you are moving steadily and it's herking and jerking it's a sensor problem... or, not out of the realm of possibility, an input issue with the IO port on the mainboard itself... but usually it would just go completely dead and it's super obvious..

[grosenberry]

I think I might be solid.. I don't wanna get to pumped here, but I ordered a flashcard and it came today.. popped that sucker in and it seems to have fixed the weirdness that was happening.. I was also experiencing weird freezing every once and a while.. hopefully replacing the hard drive fixed all of that.

$130 bucks for a working GT complete... i'll take it!

Thanks for the help on the trackball.