Couldn't you just buy carbon steel pinballs? The ones that can be used in games with magnets?

I think carbon can become magnetized though too. We would need non magnetic stainless steel (N.M.S.S) to be used for pinballs to prevent magnetizing. I do not think anyone makes them from that material?

But wait. What if a game has magnets.

Then your game won't work right because the magnets can't grab the ball.

LTG : )

great point lloyd.

new pinballs are a buck a piece. less thought involved to me.

-jon

good answer ltg.... lmao

LTG. If the game has magnets then you want carbon (low or high) steel I believe. That is the only way the magnet will function and attract the ball. What you do not desire is the ball retaining some magnetic (residual) properties afterwards I do not think it can be avoided. Only solution is NMSS (mentioned above) or degaus (mentioned above too for demagnetizing). I am not an expert but think that is it. I remember in high school we wrapped a wire around a screwdriver shaft and the leads to a 6 or 9 volt battery. We magnetized the screwdriver. Do it enough times and some residual remains. Degaus it and everything is back to normal

Your previous post "We would need non magnetic stainless steel (N.M.S.S)", I was referring to stainless steel. I didn't know of any stainless steel that a magnet works with.

LTG : )

Magnetic balls can be a big problem.

I usually use Pinball Life balls and have never had an issue but I got some from a vendor in Australia and they got magnetised quick.

I had a Godzilla which had this weird trough problem and I couldn't figure it out. The balls would roll down the trough sometimes, sometimes they wouldn't. So the ball wouldn't end when you drained .. It'd just sit there waiting. I thought a switch must be jamming up, so swapped some switches out, then I thought it must have been the slight divots. .... Sanded them out ... Still hanging up sometimes. Eventually I noticed that two of the six balls were sticking together in the trough! The other 4 were fine. Only the two were magnetic.

Only took two hours to work that one out ....

Dave.

Certain games more so than others. Magnetized balls in JM leads to a handful of balls. I think we can all agree, no one wants a handful of balls. In your game, or otherwise.

Okay, then I've got a question. On my Ripley's machine..... sometimes, the ball after being magnitized under the shrunken head as expected, the ball will hang there on the 'core' after it's supposed to be released. Is this the ball retaining a magnetic charge or the core? Or both?
This is with newer 'shiney' balls from Pinball life too.

I've never left a pinball in a game long enough for it to get magnetized that strongly!

Someone needs to figure out how to mount that degausser under the trough, to automatically degauss balls as they come in. Win!

The balls in the Godzilla I spoke about above were only in the machine for 2-3 weeks.

Dave.

Ding Ding Ding.

We have a winner.

LTG : )

The ball. Take out all your balls and see if they'll pick up a paperclip. If yes, I would replace them.

Have the same TOTAN issues, just ordered one of those, figured, what the hell was only $8 shipped.

I should have said carbon core pinballs.

might be crazy but... why not install a demagnetizer in machines that have magnets?

so when the balls go in (something... whatever) the balls get demagnetized...

sounds crazy but if it's possible....

Martin Reynolds made this for Williams/Bally games with an upkicker style trough.
http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=51&products_id=449

Works fantastic and has the added benefits of preventing divots inthe trough and eliminating the clanking sound when balls hit the outhole.

Pinball life's - Premium Ultra Gloss Balls - are in all my games and I have lots of games with magnets, once I switched to these I have had no problems. These are carbon-core and recommended for games with magnets.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1325

Keep me up to date. That would be awesome if you could actually make it work.

Got one of these in my totan, and mostly works well, but think the trough itself is getting magnetized, so will give it a pass or two with the degauser and see what happens.

Where do balls stick on your TOTAN?

Every so often, I get a ball stuck on the circular base that the lamp rotates on and I have to give the machine a good shake to dislodge it.

My JP had that issue, and I talked to thepostmaster and he had that issues as well in GE. I bought new balls, but why should I buy new balls multiple times a year when they are fine, just need to be demagnetized.

I'm so immature! I'm giggling like a little girl over here.

I have a set of balls that were accidentally magnetised by putting them in a game with a magnet. Thought I'd be throwing them out until I found this thread. Bought myself a degaussing wand and ready to make them usable again.

Do I hold the degaussing wand above the balls and pick it up for 15 seconds and then turn off the wand while the ball is still being held? Or do I power on the wand until the ball ends up dropping from the wand automatically?

Cheers!
Adam.

You need to activate the degaussing wand and hold above the balls about 2" away then (holding the wand ON) slowly move it in a circular motion and at the same time pull the wand away from the balls until you are about a metre away then turn the wand off.

You may need to repeat this a couple of times but it should neutralise the magnetism in the balls - or any other metal object such as CRT screens, which is pretty well what the wands were made for in the first place.

You DO NOT want to be "picking the balls up" with the wand at all.

Thanks Mike. I never noticed this post when it was originally started. I am keen to give it a go on so pinball balls. Is there anything to be carefully of if using a degaussing wand to de-magnetise a ball trough? I wouldn't want to damage any components on the machine!

I can't think of anything under the playfield that is likely to be damaged by using a degaussing wand?? Just remember that the magnetic field created by the wand collapses and will magnetise things when you switch it off so you want the wand to be at arms length BEFORE you release the switch.

Ah good info

I have that degausser from when I cared about arcade games (thanks a lot, pinball).
It works OK, but is the epitome of a cheap Chinese POS. I left it plugged in and walked away, with the power button not pressed, and it was so freaking hot! I'm surprised it didn't melt through the housing. Be careful!

I just use low magnetic balls and they work fine. Others tend to get magnetized in a few days!

I wonder if a small degaussing loop like the ones around a CRT could be installed where ball 1 sits in the tough. Each ball would get a decent amount of time getting degaussed when the machine it on.

You've got to keep the degaussing coil moving or it strongly magnetizes everything around it.

Even turning the coil off too close to the item, will cause a pulse that magnetizes everything.

You've got to bring the coil in slow, keep it moving around the item, and then slowly move it away before turning it off.

Degaussing/demagnitizing the balls will work for a little while, but then you will end up with the same problem after x number of games.
It's just the composition of the material of the ball that is wrong.

'Low magnetic' balls is the only solution..

EVERY ball will eventually magnetise.

Also... keep your wallet away from it, so it doesn't deactivate your credit cards!

Seriously though, I just searched for this, after seeing an ad on Ebay for "pinball reed switches".. That implies that some games REQUIRE that the pinballs are magnetized, right?? Otherwise, how would a reed switch be useful?

Also, I'd be curious (and guess I should test) whether the "Magnasave" on my BK has a side effect of magnetizing or demagnetizing the pinballs.. I wonder if a mod could be made to ramp down the current in the coil instead of a quick shutdown if that's what would make it demagnetize..

I've dealt with magnetized balls in games several times. Had problems with A13 reliably letting balls out of the trough. Had a CV that wouldn't reliably release the locked balls for multiball. A friend had a Getaway that the supercharger wouldn't work correctly. Pretty sure I had another game with issues, can't remember which one.

The soldering guns as shown by Starwriter should work for degaussing. I've used it for CRT monitors before. You point the end opposite the soldering tip towards the monitor, turn it on, move it towards the CRT and back away.