Lubricating Ice Cold Beer

tstone

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Greetings...

I have been doing some reading about lubricating Ice Cold Beer games and was wondering if I could get some of you experts to weigh in.


I'm planning to clean the vertical bars with WD-40 and then grease them.

I was planning to use white lithium grease. I see people use spray silicone, bike chain grease, and other stuff. Comments?


Also, the telescoping bar. I was planning to lubricate it the same way: Clean out the inside part with WD-40, then use white lithium grease on the inner and possibly outer parts of the telescoping assembly.

I am worried that the ball may pick up little amounts of the grease from the bar and stain the playfield when it rolls around. Comments?

thanks guys
 
I've wondered about this myself.

I'm not sure greasing the vertical bars is a good idea. The bushings
are made out of plastic. Grease between metal and plastic is generally not
a good idea. I cleaned all the old grease off and they slide much better without
lubrication.

The addendum to the manual says to use a heavy bearing grease. Tried it, and the
bushings didn't move well.

Same thing with the horizontal rods. I removed all the old grease and wiped it
down with some 3-in-1 oil on a rag. The game plays perfectly.

If I were to grease the vertical rods I would use something more lightweight
like Lubriplate (http://na.suzohapp.com/cleaning_maintenance/29102300.htm).

JD
 
I second the 3-in-1 oil for the horizontal vertical rods. Also, clean the vertical horizontal "ball bar" but do not lubricate it with any kind of grease. Your ball will pick up any lubricant and then spread it all over the play field. It should have plastic bushings (as mentioned by pcjohn).
 
Last edited:
I've wondered about this myself.
The addendum to the manual says to use a heavy bearing grease. Tried it, and the
bushings didn't move well.
JD

Hm, interesting. The addendum is what made me think I should grease them. Right now, they hardly slide at all, probably because of the old grease. I'll just clean it off and see how it slides.


I've wondered about this myself.
Same thing with the horizontal rods. I removed all the old grease and wiped it
down with some 3-in-1 oil on a rag. The game plays perfectly.
JD

I assume you oiled the inside and outside of the bar? You haven't run into any problems with the ball carrying the oil around the playfield (of course, there is only a tiny biut of oil left on the bar, but still...)


I second the 3-in-1 oil for the horizontal rods. Also, clean the vertical "ball bar" but do not lubricate it with any kind of grease. Your ball will pick up any lubricant and then spread it all over the play field. It should have plastic bushings (as mentioned by pcjohn).

I'm a little confused by this comment, could you elaborate?

The vertical bars I think pcjohn was talking about are in the back of the machine and do not come in contact with the ball.

Only the horizontal bar comes in contact with the ball, pcjohn is recommending lightly oiling it with 3-in-1 oil.


thanks guys, you are really helpful!
 
Hm, interesting. The addendum is what made me think I should grease them. Right now, they hardly slide at all, probably because of the old grease. I'll just clean it off and see how it slides.

I assume you oiled the inside and outside of the bar? You haven't run into any problems with the ball carrying the oil around the playfield (of course, there is only a tiny biut of oil left on the bar, but still...)

I'm a little confused by this comment, could you elaborate?

The vertical bars I think pcjohn was talking about are in the back of the machine and do not come in contact with the ball.

Only the horizontal bar comes in contact with the ball, pcjohn is recommending lightly oiling it with 3-in-1 oil.

thanks guys, you are really helpful!

The old grease collects dirt and turns into a sticky sludge.

I just wiped the old grease off the bar. Put a thin bead of oil across the bar
and wiped it all over the bar with a clean rag then wiped the remaining oil off.

You need to remove the vertical bars and wipe them clean. A little simple
green will get all the old sludge off. Same thing with the bushings - get all that
old grease and sludge out.

Put a light bead of oil on the rods, and wipe it around the rods. Wipe off the oil.
You are basically just polishing the rods with oil.

The bushings appear to be plastic or nylon. It's just not a good idea
to mix grease, a metal rod and nylon bearing.

JD
 
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