A NOS powerball would indeed be rare at this point. That being said, I can't imagine it would be worth a ton, since the repros look and play the exact same.

I can confirm that the replacement powerball I order some years ago to replace my original did indeed play different. I'm still sad to this very day that I lost my original.

Lost it? Yeash, it was *probably* thrown into the trashcan by my friend's two-year old, who has a knack for tossing stuff in the bin. The trash was emptied before we found out the ball was missing (No, the kid is not the world's youngest pinball technician, this event happened during a tech troubleshooting week when the balls were laying on the table and he probably got hold of the nice shiny white one).

Anyways, back on topic. I'm not sure all after market replacements are equal, but the one I got (which was quite expensive as I recall) did play different - my feeling is that it plays "lighter". Snif.

I can confirm what robin wrote; it plays different or. lighter. When I had TZ I bought new ceramic powerball and not for small amount of money. I had the old powerball and a scale...so here are my results....just look at the pictures; the new powerball is exactly 3 grams lighter than the original!

Oh and when I sold my TZ the new powerball went with it and I kept the old powerball for myself.

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Good work, that explains it, mine bounces around a fair bit and is so quick, it can be scary.

Consider me enlightened. I don't understand why they would make a repro that weighs so much less. On a side note, isn't it possible to put an old powerball in a tumbler and get it looking new again?

Yes .....you can make them look new again. I have two and just overnight makes them sparkle.

Agree @ Leigh, sometimes the power ball is frickin out - of - control!!

How do you make the old one look new again?

"How do you make the old one look new again?"

You need to use a vibratory tumbler. Something like this would do the job nicely:

http://www.marcospecialties.com/product.asp?ic=BT400

Tumbler.jpg

I think that they don't know exactly how to make a repro powerball with same weight.

Probably not the same manufacturer and the compound is not exactly the same.

I just weighed my powerball - it was 61 grams. I assume the extra 1.7 grams is the plastic bag? Looks like I have an original powerball

I clean mine with chrome cleaner (used for cleaning motorbikes/cars) and rub it all over with a scouring pad that is normally used to clean up sinks. Make sure that you wear gloves if you do clean it this way, as it will take the skin off your fingers otherwise. It soon gets dirty again after a few games though...

You can use any metal polish (I have used Blue Magic but it stinks) and an old sock and go to it. You will get it as clean as new, but it takes effort.

Dan

A stationary buffing wheel with compound, will restore a powerball in minutes.

Never even wondered if I had an original...until now that is

I do have the original for mine somewhere? It looked much like that grey dirty one pictured above. If I find it, I will try giving it a good polish and then see if it plays better (not that the one I have plays bad).

Doesn't the owners manual tell you NOT to clean the powerball? I don't have it in front of me, I just thought I remembered reading it and finding it odd.

Good catch!

"It is normal for the powerball to change color from white to pearlecent color as it ages. This in no way effects the playability or the ability of the game to detect it's presence in the playfield! Cleaning of the Powerball IS NOT recomended. "

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even better, if you have the buffing wheel.

Dan

Who could resist the chance to weigh and measure their balls?

Based on the look and weight (61.5g), I'm guessing mine is an original. Looks like it is a little less than 1-1/16 inch as that would be 1.0625 in decimal form.

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Ooo "pearlescent" sounds so much better than "dirty" or "grey"

Mine are originals aswell one came in my Avatar LE and it came with a spare from the factory both factory originals

haha yep. I would also accept "antiqued" or "patina"

Oh man, now I have to know what mine weighs. Now where did I stash those triple beams

Now that you know the difference I guess this will create a new market of items to over inflate the prices on.

Probably with the ziplock bags and the four quarters you are about to front.

Dan

Anybody have an "extra" original one they'd be willing to part with? The TZ I just bought has a new one and it's pretty dang light. It loves to zip around the playfield like it's filled with helium.

I guess I should weight it first to make sure it is indeed that much lighter......

Ditto! I can't believe I never made the connection! My new one bounces around like crazy. I still have the old one, and only swapped it out because I could. Never thought to tumble the old one. I may do that tonight and give it a whirl.

Now I feel like an even bigger idiot for losing my original. I went looking for it recently, and couldn't find it. I was going to give it away to another Pinsider. I completely forgot about this thread.

Just had to weigh in myself here mine is 63 grams (rounded my scale doesn't do decimals) and I'm sure it's original and came out of a sample game!

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The three TZ Powerballs I have weigh between 60-64 grams, a little less than 20 grams (25% lighter) than a regular pinball at 80 grams.
My original Powerball from my TZ from the factory weighs 62 grams.
I do not know what the new ceramic balls weigh, but keep in mind these are still manufactured as ball bearings for industrial purposes.
They are not exclusively "pinball devices".
It is hard for me to believe that "new" Powerballs are much different in variance.
I guess you could ask the part suppliers for the weight, if the details are not listed, for quality control of construction.

I'm a bit concerned, I want to try and find another two balls for my Party Zone cause I really like how they play. The heavier the better I would think, but 59 grams is way too light. I've had an original glow ball from a Night Viper and it was 60 grams and compared to this one at 63 grams they both played dramatically different on my old Paragon. With the open pf on the widebody it was apparent to me. So I'd rather not invest another $100 on two, when I may find 2 dirty originals cheaper and would play better?

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I was thinking about putting a powerball in an Atari game that has a 'captive ball'... do you think it's a bad idea to have a powerball hitting a captive steel ball?

Thanks,
Jody

I think it would be ok because the ceramic ball still nails steel rails, slides and everything else in a pf anyway?

makes sense.. thank you!

Does anybody know what the cool glow balls are made of, I know they have a steel core so they work with magnets?

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Hi from Italy,
I am finally picking up a Twilight Zone tomorow . Powerball is missing. I have seen that many china seller sell ceramic bearing balls. From what I see the right material, given the weight of the ball, is Zirconium dioxide ZrO2. The volume of a 1"1/16 ball is 10.29 cm3, zirconium dioxide is 6 g/cm3 so the weight of a ball of that material is 61.74g. Seems to be the same of a NOS powerball. There are also white balls made of alumina but they wheigt much less at around 30g. I'm curios to try one of these china balls because they are half the price of an official powerball. Has anyone bought one?

Remember though, it's not just weight and size, but hardness as well. Not hard enough, and it'll shatter.

Depending on cost, grab one and try it.

I received my Chinese Powerball yesterday. It's beautiful and super shiny. Material is ZrO2 and exactly 1-1/16" in size. Weight is 62 grams (62.2682g manufacturer specs). I tried a game in my road show (TZ in restoration) and it plays really well. Will see how it holds up in time but for now it looks good

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Ebay
Link?
Is this it? Wow, expensive!
ebay.com link: 29mm Loose Ceramic ZrO2 Ball G40 Bearing Ball

No, AliExpress. Search for ZrO2 26.988 ball. Can't raccomend it for now cause I still haven't tested it fully yet

It's been 4 months, what do you think?

If anyone has 2 power balls put both in the game actually can handle 1 extra ball in gumball machine so i put another powerball in , missus hated it at first but not now

The software only expects one powerball in the game. You can get unusual and unexpected results having more than one.

I certainly havnt and to clarify you can put just a standard ball in if you wish