Note: I cross posted this over on the new Arcade Game Collector Community. If you haven’t been there yet, go check it out.

I’m sure this info has been posted elsewhere, but I couldn’t find it so here’s a tutorial on the subject. This tutorial is for rebuilding a 3″ “midi” style trackball but should work fine for a 2 1/4 “mini” trackball as well.

The trackball (Trak-Ball ^tm) in my Crystal Castles was pretty worn out. The ball barely moved, and it was dull and loaded with scratches. At first I figured maybe I would replace the whole unit, but that was going to cost me around $75 + shipping. A trackball rebuild kit and a new ball is about half the price and will make it work like new.

Parts & Tools needed

• Old crappy trackball
• Trackball repair kit ($25 at TheRealBobRoberts.net)
  

• Shiny new trackball ($15 at TheRealBobRoberts.net)
  The price will vary on this based on the color and size. The old one is on the left, and the new one is on the right.
  
• Philips head screwdriver (not actual size)
  
• 3/32″ allen wrench
  
• 3/8″ wrench or ratchet and 3/8″ socket
  
• Your wife’s tooth brush
  
• Pine-Sol (don’t drink this YET)
  

Instructions

1. Reach into your coin door and unlatch your control panel, exposing the crappy goodness that is your worn out trackball:
   
2. Remove the wiring harness connectors, paying attention to how they are currently connected
3. Remove the 4 nuts holding the trackball to the control panel
   
4. Remove the track ball
   
5. Remove the (6) phillips head screws holding the top part of the housing to the bottom, and remove the top.
   
6. Remove the ball and throw it in a dumpster somewhere.
7. Remove all the innards of the trackball, paying close attention to how they were installed.
8. If your trackball is illuminated you’ll have a lamp on the bottom housing:
   

   remove it.

   Steps 9 through 12 are optional, but recommended. I think it’s a good idea to clean the housings so you aren’t using new parts in a dirty case. That sludge may get on your new parts which certainly wouldn’t be cool. If you are a lazy bastard and don’t care if you have old crud inside your trackball, skip to step 14.

9. Fill your sink with hot water, and add some Pine-Sol
10. Throw the top and bottom housing pieces into the sink, and let them sit for a few hours
11. Pull them out. The grime and sludge and dried up Dr. Pepper should now be loose. If you see any still stuck to the housing, scrub it off using your wife’s toothbrush.
12. Rinse off the toothbrush and quickly put it back where you found it.
13. Dry off the housing pieces with something that isn’t as wet as they are now.
14. Put 2 new bearings from the kit onto the shortest roller in the kit, and pop the roller/bearing assembly into it’s spot in the bottom housing.
15. With the allen wrench, remove the bolt holding the encoder wheel onto the other 2 old rollers.
    
16. Put the remaining new bearings on the new rollers, and attach the encoding wheels.
17. Pop both of those rollers back in the casing. Make sure they are seated well.
    
18. Put the new ball on top of the rollers and make sure it spins OK.
19. Put the 2 coupler PCBs back the way they came out. Seat them into the bottom slots on the bottom part of the housing, making sure the encoder wheels fit between the opening in the black emitter/detector thingy on the PCBs.
20. Put the top housing on, making sure the PCBs fit into the corresponding slots.
21. Put (2) screws back in
22. Roll the ball in both directions, and watch the encoder wheels carefully. Make sure they spin freely and aren’t hung up on anything. One of mine was touching the black emitter/detector and wouldn’t spin when the ball was moved slowly. I fixed it by moving the large washer from one side of the encoder wheel:
    
    I moved it to the opposite side of the wheel, making it stick out just a hair more than it was previously:
    
23. If everything spins freely, put the rest of the screws in, hook it back up, and start rolling.

Here’s a pic of mine all lit up and shiny:

That nasty control panel overlay is next on my list of things to replace on this game. Here’s a boring video of me trying to play it with one hand watching the screen on my digital camera instead of the monitor:

You can see in the video that Bentley the Bear is moving normally now. Before, he was staggering around like someone shot him with a tranquilizer dart.