WTB: blue Atari trackball for Marble Madness, or the blue ball itself

CossackWarrior

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WTB: blue Atari trackball for Marble Madness, or the blue ball itself

Need an Atari blue trackball. The blue ball itself, or the complete trackball unit.
 
Arcadeshop has new Imperial complete assemblies, and just the balls:

http://www.arcadeshop.com/i/63/3-trackball-unit-trans.-blue-imperial.htm

http://www.arcadeshop.com/i/56/3-translucent-ball-blue.htm


That's the 3"/medium size ball, right? Do you care what type/brand of trakball housing it is? (Are you trying to match the other one in the CP?)

This is my alternate route. I have an original red trackball for MM, so would like to pair it up with an orig blue IF at all possible.
 
The ones in the Marble Madness are closer to the Happ ones - Twisted Quarter sells an opaque blue one both as an assembly or the ball alone that looks like it matches the original ball.

I've not tried the opaque one but the translucent ones work surprisingly well.

The red translucent one is super awesome but the blue translucent one is washed out with the supplied bulb - if you replace the bulb with a 12v wedge blue LED then it looks almost as good as the red translucent one.
 
The ones in the Marble Madness are closer to the Happ ones - Twisted Quarter sells an opaque blue one both as an assembly or the ball alone that looks like it matches the original ball.

I've not tried the opaque one but the translucent ones work surprisingly well.

The red translucent one is super awesome but the blue translucent one is washed out with the supplied bulb - if you replace the bulb with a 12v wedge blue LED then it looks almost as good as the red translucent one.

Do you have a link to the Twisted Quarter one that you say looks like it matches the original?

Same with the red please :)
 
http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=113_118

You should also buy a rebuild kit for any used assemblies that you have (3 rollers and 6 sealed bearings) - it makes a huge difference to how the trackballs run. I also followed a guide on how to bed in the bearings.

1. Clean off thick storage oil from bearing with carb cleaner
2. Apply 3-in-1 thin oil
3. Rotate the inner part of the bearings for a minute with a drill at high speed (I wrapped a drill bit in electrical tape to protect the bearing and put the bearing in a vise to keep it steady).
4. Clean bearing again with carb cleaner (you will have created very fine metallic dust that you want to clean out)
5. Reapply 3-in-1 thin oil

The original bearings that they used in the Atari trackballs were higher quality but bearings are unbelievably expensive in small batches, so this is really the only practical way to go in my opinion.
 
Cossack, you're married. You already have a blue ball to spare. Lol

Oh thanks eh. You reminded me of how blue they actually are. Bloody hell!

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