Ball Lifter Cleaning

[TNTahan]

Does anyone know how to properly clean a ball lifter? (orange one) other than windex... cleaning/oil the motor, rewire the motor and the sensor at the top, etc...

[TilionMtl]

If you don't feel safe to unscrew everything and rebuild it after that, or unsolder and solder stuff, I recommend to let it as is and try to clean to maximum with vacuum, paper towel and windex. don't attempt electric stuff if you're unsure.

I unscrewed everything, every pieces, remember where each screw and pieces go. Don't soak electric part in windex or anything. you clean then gently.

You have to gently remove the "lock" of shat over the orange gear. wipe it gently with paper towel cloth only, to not remove too much grease.. do the same for the little pin under the gear that pass throw the motor shaft.

I cleaned the motor with just a bit of windex, just the body part, not near the rotor to not have any windex entering there and create rust.

I cleaned the long square shape tube with windex, it use lot of windex.. I use some paper towel rolled, pushed in the tube, then spray windex on it, and used a flat screw driver to move the rolled paper towel inside the tube up to the other extremity, I repeated this step until paper towel stay white.

I scrubbed the orange part with a dishes brush and Comet. I didn't used CLR on this part to not damage the paint.

All other metal piece and rubber pad has been soak in CLR and water, and I used a toothbrush to brush them in the solution.

Once cleaned, I placed the metal part in front of a little heater to be sure that all humidity is out.

The bottom solenoid with the trap has been removed and replaced with metal or wood part so the balls can travel all the way to the orange gear without falling on the ground. You can actionate this trap using the vertical metal band on the side of the balls lifter. The solenoid can be seen under, the trap go in and out in it. there's three electric wires attached to it, red, white and yellow. This trap seem to be actionate to empty the balls lifter, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to actionate it using 120v if you live in north america. You can also simple clean it with windex, after unscrewing it, and use it in closed position so the ball goas all the way to the gear.

I bought an other plug with cable, and an electric wire, and I changed the wiring. wiring goes like this:

For electric connection, use proper equipment (don't know the word for these things) to isolate the junctions between two wire. don't use just electric tape.

I unsolder the wire from the top switch, and replace it with a brand new electrical wire. I reused the little black cover to isolate the connection on the switch.

From the electric plug, one wire is connected to one of the blue wire of the motor. The other wire from the plug is connected to the wire that goes to the upper switch. the other wire connected to this switch goes to the green wire of the bottom switch, this switch have a fuse socket with red wire, this red wire is connected to the other motor wire.

The electric wire do a circular path, from outlet plug to upper switch to bottom switch to fuse to motor to outlet plug.

[TilionMtl]

this is the wiring, but the fuse is probably not placed at the best location.

wiring.jpg

[birdbrain]

you need to put the fuse before the switches, as they are the most likely to short out

[luckydog]

if you have a rifle cleaning kit, you could use the rod with the brush and then cleaning patches to clean the long tube.

[birdbrain]

the nice thing is the up tube is open on one side.

[TNTahan]

From the electric plug, one wire is connected to one of the blue wire of the motor. The other wire from the plug is connected to the wire that goes to the upper switch. the other wire connected to this switch goes to the green wire of the bottom switch, this switch have a fuse socket with red wire, this red wire is connected to the other motor wire.

The electric wire do a circular path, from outlet plug to upper switch to bottom switch to fuse to motor to outlet plug.

What gauge wire did you use?

[birdbrain]

14-16 will work fine

[daverob]

this is the wiring, but the fuse is probably not placed at the best location.

The fuse location is fine, in a circuit like this where everything is effectively daisy chained it doesn't really matter where the fuse is located in the circuit.

With this type of circuit, unless the fuse is located right on the outlet plug, the fuse will only be effective in protecting against overloads or if the motor itself burns out/short circuits. If there is a short circuit in the switch wiring, then all that will happen is that the motor will run continuously, and this is unlikely to cause the fuse to blow (at least until the motor burns out!).

The only thing that the fuse doesn't protect is if there is a short circuit in the line cord leading to the wall outlet (or the wiring before the motor/switches). This shouldn't be a problem as this kind of fault should trip the breaker/fuse for that outlet on the main circuit panel in the house.

[rubberratt]

As I was saying in one of the posts... these things need a LOT of cleaning and prep

Especially if they were in use at all.

I have always completely disassembled them down to the last screw, used Oxalic Acid on the rusty parts, and hand polished all parts. The square tubes are stainless, so a good small diameter round brush makes short work of those

My first re-build took 6 days, and by the time I purchased my 6th one, I could do it in two.

I did get some in REALLY good condition tho, and on one or two occasions... just wiped them down, and was G2G.

Take your time and take pictures, you can't really do too much wrong while cleaning them. The spring loaded section near the gear, is tricky to take apart/put together, but not hard at all.

Use rubbing compound on the orange parts, and then polishing compound, and then a few coats of carnuba wax to seal it.

good luck
RR

[Eddie]

I dont have one so here is my question
How hard would it be to copy one?
Are the components that intricate and complex?

[new in town]

Ask Pat about his Quest to build a better "Ball Lifter"

[Moparformances]

I have always completely disassembled them down to the last screw, used Oxalic Acid on the rusty parts, and hand polished all parts. The square tubes are stainless, so a good small diameter round brush makes short work of those

rubberratt,

what does the Oxalic acid do for u?? how do u mix it?? and y not use anther acid??

my reason for asking is i have a few quarts of dry and dont know what its for

[birdbrain]

Oxalic acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Other uses

• In household chemical products such as Bar Keeper's Friend, Zud, some bleaches, and rustproofing treatments.
• In wood restorers where the acid dissolves away a layer of dry surface wood to expose fresh material underneath.
• As an additive to automotive wheel cleaners.
• As a mordant in dyeing processes.
• Used in platinotype, the early photographic Platinum/Palladium printing process.
• Vaporized oxalic acid, or a 6% solution of oxalic acid in sugar syrup, is used by some beekeepers as an insecticide against the parasitic Varroa mite.
• As a rust remover in such applications as automotive shops and for the restoration of antiques.
• As a recommended surface pretreatment for stainless steels (surface etch) before application of solid metal or polymer self-lubricating coatings.
• For polishing stones and marble.
• Used in the acid treatment for destroying warts.[citation needed]

[rubberratt]

DISCLAIMER:!!!

When using dangerous chemicals - ALWAYS read the Material Safety Data Sheet first, and wear protection (gloves, goggles) and use adequate ventilation.

I use OA specifically for dissolving rust/oxidation easily. As BB 's post says... it is commonly called wood bleach.

The concentration that you should mix depends on the application, but start with 2oz. per gallon, and make sure you check the parts frequently as first to make sure you don't over do it. Aluminum and cadmium do not react very well to soaking in OA, so don't use it on that. It is great for steel and chrome, and doesn't seem to hurt painted surfaces.

Here is the MSDS
MSDS :: Oxalic Acid

[TilionMtl]

Daverob, when installing a fuse and a transformer in a pachinko, would you recommend to put it between the plug and the transformer, or between the transformer and the machine, and also, which fuse would you recommend (125v 5A) ?

[Moparformances]

and y not use something like hydrochloric or muriatic??? cause it is usualy easy to find... pool supply houses

i knew about aluminum as i have heard of dissolving it before but did not know about cadmium.. very good information

thank you for the disclaimer as well.. all good information

[rubberratt]

and y not use something like hydrochloric or muriatic??? cause it is usualy easy to find... pool supply houses

i knew about aluminum as i have heard of dissolving it before but did not know about cadmium.. very good information

thank you for the disclaimer as well.. all good information

Oxalic Acid works on oxidation in a mild "low reaction" manner. I'm afraid the others would work on the metal more readily, and ingore the rust

[owennewton]

the fun we had with muriatic and nitric acid when I worked at the pawn shop. we used it to test gold but it was fun to "drop acid" on coins and watch it eat holes in them.

[Moparformances]

thanks for the information