Centipede Track Ball

pinballdirec

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Can any one recommend a rebuilt kit or a replacement track ball for a upright Centipede? Also does a rebuilt track ball work as good as a new one?

Thanks KEvin
 
I rebuilt mine, and it still sucked. I think the casing was warped, causing the ball to drag quite abit. I got a replacement and swapped in the old (Superior) optic boards and it is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
 
That is rare to happen.

Ive installed Bob Roberts' rollers and bearings in quite a few Centis and they were like new.
Bob breaks in the bearings and greases them properly so you dont habe to worry about that. Also the rollers he sells are of stainless rather then regular steel. Higly recommended.

Also, always replace the ball when you replace the rest. An uneven ball will wear out the rollers much quicker and simply doesnt play comfatrably.

So far I had to replace only one opto-board.
 
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I had someone that wanted me to refurb their Centipede. I figured I would drop in a Happ replacement trackball as it was about the same as ordering all the parts and rebuilding the original. I plugged in the Happ and it just wasn't responsive at all. Not sure what the deal is. So i just rebuilt the original and touched up the solder joints on the optic boards and it worked great. For now on I will just go that route.
 
Trackballs, and more precisely the bearings need to be "broken in" when they are brand new. Its normal that they will only roll smoothly untill they have been rolling for some time. So normally using it is the way to go.However , Bob Roberts sells the bearings correctly greased AND broken in by letting them run on a drill for a while.

Do not make the mistake that a friend made when he installed the new bearings and thought he needed to clean the bearings of the applied grease !!!!!
 
I found a Happs track ball on ebay and bought that, I have a 2nd Centipede and will try a Bob Roberts rebuild kit on that one... Thanks for all the feedback
 
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