Cleaning a Trackball

[The G-Man]

Howdy!

I have a 3" Happ track ball and have noticed that having it sit in the wood shop it doesn't roll well any more. I plan on disassembling it and relubing the rollers. Has anybody done this? What did you use for lubrication?

Thanks.

[bkenobi]

Typically you don't want to use any lubrication! In arcades, lubricant was/is often added to increase the life of steering wheels when the bearings are worn out (for example). The result is that the steering wheel sorta works correctly but it's still sloppy and crap starts to build up in the lubricant. This will destroy the bearings even more, compounding the problem.

If you insist on adding lubricant (DON'T), use a lithium based product. This is the product I was recommended by an arcade tech after he gave me the same speach about NOT using them.

[The G-Man]

Interesting. I'll try just cleaning it out first and see how it works then.

[bkenobi]

An arcade track ball is nearly the same thing as a standard computer mouse (or track ball). The only difference is the size of the ball and the orientation of where the rollers are. A mouse NEVER has any kind of lubrication...

[Brian Hoffman]

An arcade track ball is nearly the same thing as a standard computer mouse (or track ball). The only difference is the size of the ball and the orientation of where the rollers are. A mouse NEVER has any kind of lubrication...

I bet this one does

[jthompson]

I bet this one does

At first blush I didn't think that was a mouse but I stand erected... I mean corrected.

Jay T

[mightypeniz]

if your trackball happens to be a Betson Imperial, you might want to consider the metal encoder wheel that GroovyGameGear is selling. It prevents "backspin" (when you let it rip, the encoder wheel spins so fast, the mouse cursor can actually go in the wrong direction. spo0ky). Makes it infinitely more accurate than the as-shipped model.

To confirm what Obiwan said, the only lubricant I've seen recommended for a trackball, has been a silicon based one.

Check out the BYOAC (arcadecontrols.org) forums. Its the ducks nuts for classic gaming hardware banter.

[Lord Zog]

I bet this one does

Oh.. My.. Jeez.. nice...