(Topic ID: 147244)

who has the best balls?

By Wyopinball

8 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 79 posts
  • 28 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 8 years ago by Wyopinball
  • Topic is favorited by 14 Pinsiders

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    There are 79 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.
    #51 8 years ago

    What type of oil do you recommend?

    #52 8 years ago
    Quoted from Wyopinball:

    What type of oil do you recommend?

    Whatever you have around: 3 in 1, car oil, etc. The idea is just to get a coating so the don't rust.

    #53 8 years ago

    Mineral oil won't dull the glossy finish. Any pharmacy should have it. If you can't find it go to Walmart and buy baby oil. Same thing, just scented ...and more expensive.

    #54 8 years ago

    I thought it's just the moisture that makes them rust, sitting with no action drys out balls?

    #55 8 years ago

    Steve

    Quoted from Yipykya:

    There are less than 50 ball bearing manufacturers in the united states. Probably less than that who make bearings to the specifications used in the pinball industry. Once the bearing manufacturer meets the specifications for a bearing to be used in the pin industry one is really no different than another. Just my opinion but sheesh, it's not rocket science. I use carbon steel balls because my game has magnets. You can easily buy in lots of 50 or 100 or 1000 or whatever. Pinballs don't have to be expensive, and they really shouldn't be.

    #56 8 years ago

    There is always value when it come to a good set of balls.

    #57 8 years ago
    Quoted from Wyopinball:

    I thought it's just the moisture that makes them rust, sitting with no action drys out balls?

    Moisture in the air.

    #58 8 years ago

    ??? Steve?

    #59 8 years ago

    That guy on the learning channel with the 132 pound scrotum?

    #60 8 years ago

    Trust me, in Wyoming there is no moisture in the air.

    #61 8 years ago

    I just have one thing I'd like to see, the specifications for a pinball bearing. I know that in most cases it has to be made of metal, roughly 1 1/16” diameter and round enough to roll around on a playfield but other than that, it doesn't even have any exacting standards that I've ever seen. Most ball bearings will work and can be polished to look beautiful, even the cheapest of sphere tolerance (I believe it's 52100 chrome alloy, which is what's used in pinball machines). I like using stainless steel bearings in my games, they're less porous than carbon steel bearings but they won't work in games that use magnets to move the bearing around the playfield. I get them from Motion Industries, I get a discount.

    Steve

    #62 8 years ago

    Thank,you terryb,i did read the post and came to the same conclusion! I have 3 pins with magnets and i thought plain carbon steel balls were the thing so i didn't give it any more thought,till i saw this post and saw others were asking the same question!!

    #63 8 years ago
    Quoted from centerflank:

    Do you have more info?

    This is the same type of playfield issues that affected some Metallica machines. A friend of mine on the inside said there was contamination on the base coat and it cause the art to come up in chunks. . A local bar had a met pro that had this very same issue. Stern promptly shipped a wired replacement...

    #64 8 years ago
    Quoted from blownfuse:

    I just have one thing I'd like to see, the specifications for a pinball bearing. I know that in most cases it has to be made of metal, roughly 1 1/16” diameter and round enough to roll around on a playfield but other than that, it doesn't even have any exacting standards that I've ever seen. Most ball bearings will work and can be polished to look beautiful, even the cheapest of sphere tolerance (I believe it's 52100 chrome alloy, which is what's used in pinball machines). I like using stainless steel bearings in my games, they're less porous than carbon steel bearings but they won't work in games that use magnets to move the bearing around the playfield. I get them from Motion Industries, I get a discount.
    Steve

    That's what I meant by specifications. Once you get the size and alloy there's not much more to it.

    There's only so many manufacturers to get them from ...one is just as good as another. Not much to it.

    #65 8 years ago

    Is there an actual answer in this thread? PL shiny pinballs are the ones I use and think are the best for the money. There you go.

    #66 8 years ago

    i never did get a straight answer,lol, but that was half the fun. Like i said, i bought the silver jet but I also ordered a batch of shiny. I will use both,one set one week,and the next the other, then I will examine my balls and give a full review, of my balls.

    #67 8 years ago
    Quoted from Lethal_Inc:

    Is there an actual answer in this thread? PL shiny pinballs are the ones I use and think are the best for the money. There you go.

    Quoted from Wyopinball:

    i never did get a straight answer,lol, but that was half the fun. Like i said, i bought the silver jet but I also ordered a batch of shiny. I will use both,one set one week,and the next the other, then I will examine my balls and give a full review, of my balls.

    Firstly, don't waste your time with the "review" unless you have access to high quality inspection equipment since it will be of no value to anyone. More specifically, Calico's qualitative study has already answered the question about silverjet vs PBL.

    I'm sorry, but what am I missing here? Are people too lazy to click on the link to Calico's study or do they not understand the results?

    Here's the summary based on Calico's analysis.

    There is no best pinball, although it is clear you want to spend the money on premium pinballs.

    The biggest issue is if your game has magnets or not since the PBL pinballs are the only ones recommended for games with magnets.

    The pinballs that ship with Stern games (and other cheap pinballs) are crap. Pinbits has the best looking premium ball out of the box. The Marco balls were close, but at twice the cost. The PBL balls were not quite as good as the others (again out of the box) and seemed to have some variation in quality. The NiftyLED balls were not included in the study.

    All of the premium pinballs looked about the same after 100 games.

    #68 8 years ago
    Quoted from terryb:

    The pinballs that ship with Stern games (and other cheap pinballs) are crap.

    You would think Stern would use better balls. As a matter of fact shouldn't the worlds leading maker of quality pinball machines just make their own quality pinballs? I know it's cost cutting using whatever balls they use, but cmon this is a pretty important part and should be taken as serious as other items on their playfield.

    #69 8 years ago

    I for one would love to see your ball pics posted to the family friendly Pinside.

    #70 8 years ago

    Just wanted to follow up and vouch for pinball life ultra gloss pinballs. I am new to owning machines, and really appreciative of the great folks on this site who have been really helpful.

    I received my batch of replacement pinballs from pinball life yesterday, I got the ultra glosses, $1.50 each. The best part was they all came in big ziplock bag, and when I opened the big ziplock, I was pleasantly surprised to see that each individual pinball came in it's own mini ziploc.

    This is really good to protect them from moisture, and keep the fine coat of oil on them. For the ones I used, I just wiped them with a terry cloth rag for a bit, and got them in play.

    #71 8 years ago

    Ken Iman is your go-to resource for ball bearings...er, pinballs.

    #72 8 years ago

    LOL, thanks Cody, I couldn't remember his name.

    Steve

    Quoted from cody_chunn:

    Ken Iman is your go-to resource for ball bearings...er, pinballs.

    1 month later
    #73 8 years ago

    I just got some of these and you are right, they are super nice and roll so smoothly--love it!

    #74 8 years ago
    Quoted from Lethal_Inc:

    You would think Stern would use better balls. As a matter of fact shouldn't the worlds leading maker of quality pinball machines just make their own quality pinballs? I know it's cost cutting using whatever balls they use, but cmon this is a pretty important part and should be taken as serious as other items on their playfield.

    So, what exactly is the problem with the pinballs in Stern machines? I have asked this before and never got an answer.

    #75 8 years ago

    I bought ooh shiny balls before my GOT arrived after reading so many postings about Stern balls. Honestly, I see no difference between the Stern balls and the ooh shiny from pinball life. Maybe some stern balls were bad, but mine are no different than I can tell to PBL. That is to say, none of them are absolutely perfect, but they are all very nice looking.

    #76 8 years ago
    Quoted from Lethal_Inc:

    You would think Stern would use better balls.

    Stern, as a co., have taken more out of pinball machines then they have put in.Its no surprise they use the cheapest balls they can grab.

    #77 8 years ago

    does anyone wax their balls? no pun intended!

    #78 8 years ago

    I clean them with rubbing alcohol and than wax them

    #79 8 years ago

    I usually let someone wax them for me

    There are 79 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 2.

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