The leaf or microswitch actuator can be mal-adjusted with too much resistance. The rod going through the field can be installed backward allowing the loop to drag on the playfield hole. The bracket can be bent or twisted creating drag. Wear on the wire and bracket holes can cause drag. Apply 1/8 drop of oil to metal contact points.

[Edit] also the wires coming out of the side of the spinner can be bent up or down. Even a *slight* bend here can cause a huge reduction in momentum.

Just a TINY drop of oil each side...it will spin!

I use just a *small* amount of silicone grease.

What type of oil? Are we talking 3 in 1 type stuff? WD40?

I use Motorkote spray. It's about $10 a can. One quick hit on each side of the spinner and it makes a world of difference.

I used a drop of clock oil. Very thin, supposedly won't attract dust, seems to work very well so far.

I use Slick50 in an eyedropper bottle.

I use vegetable oil - just a drop on the end of a toothpick.

I use bike chain lubricant

I use pizza grease.

Here is what I use. It was purchased for my by a friend who used to repair pinball machines for a living. He picked mine up at Grainger. I EASILY get between 50 and 60 spins on my 1978 Space Odyssey EM and close to that on my 1980 Stern Flight 2000 with a good, firm shot.

I NEVER spray this directly onto my spinner parts. I usually just spray a decent amount onto a clean dry Q Tip and then work it all over the points where the spinner wires pass through the bracket. It lasts for a month or 2 and then I just spend another 5 minutes or less laying on some more.

My family and friends absolutely LOVE playing Space Odyssey because of that spinner shot and the ringing of the chimes when they hit it!

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http://www.grainger.com/product/3EED2?gclid=Cj0KEQjw5MGxBRDiuZm2icXX2-sBEiQA619bq8IKtlpkvNHWzT8b5oAo4tCAvklGi9qsvoSRvmoX4W8aAtLC8P8HAQ&cm_mmc=PPC:GOOGLEPLAA-_-Lubrication-_-Lubricants-_-3EED2&ef_id=UbL0vQAABK2ViyH7:20151028204344:s

For metal to metal contact, Zoom oil is super lightweight and spins like a sonobitch.

You want a REALLY lightweight oil. No grease or anything heavy for the most spins possible.

zoom-spout_79704.jpg

Vid, Thanks! I am gonna grab some of that and try it against my silicone spray. Loving all these different suggestions!

Edited to add: Just ordered some. When I saw what the specific gravity of that stuff is and what its specific applications are, I was sold. Specific gravity of 0.88? It's lighter than water. Can't wait to try this stuff. Abundant positive reviews regarding usage on small motors, appliances, fans, etc. Great tip!

The old Bally oil was super light weight stuff.

I wish somebody still had a bottle to have the viscosity measured.

The Zoom stuff is SAE 15 - non detergent.

If you could come up with it I have a viscometer at work. I believe there are a few different API standards for vis test so i would need to know which one. Basically its just a matter of what temp the product needs to be for the test.

I still have the little Bally needle bottle, but long ago I refilled it with Zoom. So we would need someone to find an unadulterated bottle somewhere.

YES!!! That is exactly what I use to Vid. Used it on jukebox resto....cars...pinball...etc. Its the cats meow!

Zoom Spout Oil is what I use. Makes that spinner fly!

Thats ironic. You guys mentioned zoom spout and a switch went off in my head. I walked over and looked on the shelf above my lathe and there sits a bottle of zoom spout oil....empty bottle. Not even sure where it came from.

I buy Zoom Spout Oiler locally at my Ace Hardware store.

Tacoma Screw Products also sells it here.

I steal it from work, but I see from the boxes that they buy it from Grainger.

I picked up some Zoom spout this weekend. I had to pull the glass after a few games because even though I applied as little as possible and tried to soak up any excess, I still had some tiny drops on the playfield.

Holy crap!

That spinner is going to fly off if it goes any faster. I was laughing as I watched the points pile up.

Home Despot sells Zoom Spout oil.

I have original Bally MBI Instrument Grease which is what I use on spinners. The heavier Hydrotex grease was used on EM and E-Series Bally slot reel mechs and handles.

When people say 1/10th of a drop from a needle oilier, they mean it!

One other thing I have found that makes a world of difference- the wires on the side of the spinner need to be very carefully adjusted so that as it spins their ends are not wobbling. Very carefully hold a flash light and hit the wire ends sticking out from the mounting bracket with the light (the spot you will hit with a drop of lube) and spin it- you should not see a blurring of the wire ends as they wobble up and down. That wobble can sap huge amounts of the energy of the spin and drastically reduce how many spins a solid hit will yield.

I will add this as a warning. Be very carefull adjusting these- its basically piano wire which can take a few bends but any back and forth bending and it becomes brittle as hell and snaps off cleanly at your bend point. Dont ask how I know this- you can presume I have experimental evidence....

I would also add that if you have two spinners on a machine- adjust the switch blade and everything else so they are basically identical and then see if one spins markedly better than the other. It is at this point That I would suggest you inspect both as I suggested and if you see one side wobbling- if you do pull them both and make the poor performing one look like the good one and see how it works.

I had a spinner that was never quite as good as its mate on a symmetrical playfield- then I finally got around to actually looking at the wire ends and noted one wobbling and the other stable. I pulled them out and bent the poor one to match the good one and from then on- they both function beautifully.

Just FYI. Because spinners are asymmetric and the wires are not perfectly centered with the mass of the spinner- the optimal wire bending is not at right angles from the spinner- its bent a little bit - apparently to offset the flex induced by the offset in the mass on the spinner itself- on mine, they work exceedingly well if the wire bends a little bit further than 90 degrees so its pointing slightly away from the heavy side of the spinner- if that makes sense. It makes sense that this slight adjustment would keep it straight as the mass of the spinner blade would act to pull the wire straight as it spins. This also makes sense in that if at its highest rotational velocity you have the wire bent so that it can spin with the least friction it would work better... I cannot speak to weather this is a built in design as all my spinners are 40 +yrs old and I have made them to work well- maybe new spinners come with perfect 90's on the wire coming out of the spinner... Maybe they are different... I dont know. I do know that on an 1976 EM this was the trick.

Leave it to Vid1900 to recommend something I have never even heard of - named "Zoom Spout", to boot! This guy never ceases to amaze me! Order placed! $4.88 on Amazon....let's see how crazy that monkey howls when we hit him on Grand Lizard now!

Zoom Spot oilers were mandatory to oil the motor and clutches on Seeburg Juke box mechanisms. That's where I first learned of them, from the local Seeburg distributor; Martin & Snyder in Detroit.
RIP Jim Rainier, a top notch service & parts guy who befriended me when I was like 11 years young.

So I got on Amazon and bought this stuff. Was surprised that an oz bottle was 25 bucks, but realized after I bought it, it was for a pack of 12. Haha. Anyway, how much of this do I apply, and where do I apply it for best results? Preferred applicator?

I use a needle applicator (an old Bally one).

About 1/10 of a needle drop on the spinner arms, or the metal on metal joint of the slingshots

Spin, and wipe off any excess.

That should last you about 25 lifetimes

Haha. Well then. If anyone else wants a bottle, shoot me a PM and I'll send it your way.

This stuff works great and is long lasting! Played about 30 or so games and it's still spinning fast!

I know someone emailed me to mail them a bottle. I'll get to it soon.

A little drop will go a long way and a long time. Have fun!

in a pinch...

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I would like to thanks chuckwurt for the free bottle of oil,he even paid shipping and and I wanted to pay but he suggested I donate the shipping to pinside.