Where do you keep the game?

How often do you replace them? You’re supposed to replace the balls every year or so depending on plays. I always keep a microfiber cloth around and wipe them down and try to avoid ever touching them so the oils on your hands don’t rust them. It helps to wax them.

I think it might have to do with constantly flushing them down the toilet.

Sorry - couldn’t resist.

Rusty trough?

Yeah, seems like there must be rust somewhere that those balls touch.

Also, oxidized balls makes a much less effective punch line than rusty balls.

This identical thing happens to the balls in my LOTR. It's been going on since I purchased it nib.

If you take the balls out and clean them with windex they look like new again. There is no rust. First ball has been wiped with windex.

I have a theory that the black posts are leaving a waxy substance on the balls then they pick up the dirt from the playfield. I have purchased some red silicon posts and will to change out the black.

20230703_013731 (resized).jpg

I’m not an expert and have not worked on pinball machines too much. But cars I have a bunch. Could this be galvanic corrosion? If there is a small grounding out issue in the ball trough with dissimilar metals you might see some evidence in the ball trough or another spot the balls sit. Normally there is a presence of liquid for galvanic reactions but the results are more destruction and fast. Really though this is just a theory.

Following... I've never seen or heard of your situtation.

CUJO,
Yes it was just that, a theory. Yes there would need to be dissimilar metal contact and electricity. Could just be grounding out though. I don’t think pinballs are stainless, I just bought some and they come coated in oil and are chromed. The ones for magnets are carbon steel. In any case stainless steel is just that, it stains less, it’s not stain proof. You could try keeping the machine unplugged.

Vinegar rusts up metal quick as well as finger oils. But chrome is resistant to the latter. Salts possibly from sweat, though unlikely. You could buy a humidity gauge cheap enough, they also have them for wood. Maybe you could try a desiccant pack or several to suck up moisture.

I cruised through this thread pretty fast, but don't recall anyone asking about the source of the balls? Where are you buying them? Could it be an issue with the quality of the balls themselves? Have you tried sourcing them from another supplier to see if the same thing happens?

You mentioned that yours were "stainless steel". However, according to PBR website, they only sell "chrome steel" and "carbon steel". If your supplier is calling them stainless steel, I'd be suspicious.

To be considered stainless steel, it needs to contain a certain percentage of chromium and/or nickel. Regular carbon steel pinballs do not. The Ninja balls are chrome steel, but I don't know if the alloy they use contains enough chromium to be considered "stainless".

Pinballs are either chrome steel (magnetic) or carbon steel (non-magnetic). Maybe determine which you have and try the other type in the game.

Also, what happens if you take balls from one of your games where this doesn't occur and put them in this game? Maybe you just have a bad new batch of balls.

Have you ever cleaned anything in or near this machine using chemicals such as HCL (muriatic acid), bleach, ammonia, etc? Are there any leaking batteries inside the cabinet? Are there any chemicals stored nearby, such as drain cleaners, acids, hydroxides, etc?

If by "magnetic" you mean that they are attracted to magnets, then of course carbon steel is also very magnetic.

Maybe chefs chocolate salty balls are contagious.

Very interested in how those pan out for you. I bought some of those (from bctrade) and they rusted rather quickly. I chalked it up to the high humidity in the summer (my pinball room does not have AC), but I don't know. So I put DampRid containers in all my pins. That's still an experiment in progress... not sure if it helps.

Buy some balls from Marco. Suck it up and just pay for shipping as it's an experiment. None of these eBay balls

Pardon my lack of specificity. Chrome balls have a tendency to become slightly magnetically charged when used in games with magnets. In these games you must use carbon steel balls which do not take on a magnetic charge. Not saying your game with issues has magnets in it or not, but curious if the different metallic properties of the ball types would make a difference or not.

Actually, Schweddy Balls might be the best.

I bought my last set from PBR for a 1980's Gottlieb a while ago and due for new ones again. I keep my machine in the garage (I know, I know), and never had one spot of corrosion or discoloration on the balls, even before I fixed the machine and it sat idle for years. Chrome itself does not "rust" but it's not bullet-proof to corrosion. Also, when steel is highly polished, rusting is less likely to a small extent due to the microscopic surface properties. Maybe there was a manufacturing issue with that batch of Ninja balls?

I was wondering something like that. Since it only happens in one pin. Are the balls being electrically plated or something ?

For a start. I'd plug an outlet checker into the service outlet, see if power is correct.

LTG : )

Plugging your tester into the games service outlet lets you know if that game is wired right.

Something is going on. Just keep eliminating possibilities.

LTG : )

Are the balls rusting while the game is 100% idle? As others said maybe the trough or something is causing it. Take the glass off and leave it off. Keep one ball in the trough, scatter the other balls in various spots to see if it's any specific area/scoop etc. Maybe something with the flipper rubbers having some kind of material on it from someone who cleaned them or something. Clean the playfield anyway, maybe some cleaning product is still present. If they are getting bad after playing around only, then some deep investigation might be needed.

Sanity check: trade one ball from your other games with one in the south park to see if your sources are all just for some reason not good. Steel is steel though. If they come relatively shiny and you wipe them with a cloth before install, then its just a steel ball hanging out in a machine. If you think its a post, just tape a ball tightly to a post and see if one side rusts.

Check this--make sure you don't have a open ground, open neutral or swapped line-neutral connections. Since it's easy to do, you can change out the power cord for good measure. I had a brand new (chinese) power cord that had a ground defect manufactured into it. Got a not entirely unpleasant minor shock from the lockdown bar on a WPC game every time it was played.

You're going to have me going to check my SP now.

Did they go through the SP toilet?

Clean all your metal items that the ball contacts really well. This is the type of corrosion you get from something like pledge residue on metal parts.

If your service outlet checks good for game being wired right. As an experiment I'd try grounding the ball trough. That would end any stray current there.

LTG : )

Someone mentioned chemicals like ammonia, how often do you clean the glass? Use windex that has ammonia? Possibly the lockdown bar seal is bad and ammonia getting in there from windex? Just a thought

I meant clean all the metal parts in the machine.
The balls are hosed.

Couldnt hurt to switch to ammonia free just to be safe