Pachinko Ball Cleaner

[slotsoffun]

What type of unit is better or preferred for cleaning Pachinko balls - ultrasonic or vibratory bowl? I realize Cabella's has the vibrating, Harbor Frieght carries a 2.5 litre, 160 watt ultrasonic for the same price. Thanks for any input.

[luckydog]

if your balls are just dirty and not real rusty CLR works just as good.

put real hot water and some CLR in a large bowl or pot, dump in a batch of balls and swirl then around a little, then put in real hot water to rinse.

put them in a towel and roll them around to dry.

then lay them out to dry further.

[Microbus99]

For the heavily rusted balls I've had mixed results. There isnt much you can do about heavy rust.

I have the Harbor Freight Vibratory Bowl Tumbler you mentioned and will tumble them overnight with ground Walnut Shells from Petsmart. This works really well to smooth out the balls with surface rust and pitting but of course will not eliminate the pitting.

I've also used a product called Evapo Rust for heavily rusted parts and it works awesome. The only draw back is that the rusted area will turn a black or dark gray color. You wont renew a chrome finish because the damage is already done.

Tumbling balls after rust treatment comes up with a unique smooth dark gray ball. I havent decided what to do with these balls yet. I'm not sure I want them with my shiny ones.

Happy tumbling!

[Moparformances]

I have used the cabella's tumbler... and get great results... but like said befor the heavy rusted balls are just not going to be shiny..

Tumbling balls after rust treatment comes up with a unique smooth dark gray ball. I havent decided what to do with these balls yet. I'm not sure I want them with my shiny ones.

i would just mix them in... a little color contrast would be neat...

[JACKSJE4]

I throw out the heavily rusted or pitted balls. Any that are cleaned up but not shiney are used in my workshop for testing/playing machines on my bench, particularly the machines that have not been cleaned or restored yet. All of my cleaned and restored machines get loaded with new balls only.

I use the vibrating bowl tumbler with crushed walnut shells to clean the dirty ones. I let it run for 2+ days.

[slotsoffun]

Thanks to all for the quick responses. Since almost 98% of the balls are in great shape with no rust, the CLR cleaner is my best and cheapest cleaning process for now. Investing in a tumbler can come later - saving up for that BOND 007 cell!!
Best to all-
slotsoffun

[mudfud]

For the heavily rusted balls I've had mixed results. There isnt much you can do about heavy rust.

I have the Harbor Freight Vibratory Bowl Tumbler you mentioned and will tumble them overnight with ground Walnut Shells from Petsmart. This works really well to smooth out the balls with surface rust and pitting but of course will not eliminate the pitting.

I've also used a product called Evapo Rust for heavily rusted parts and it works awesome. The only draw back is that the rusted area will turn a black or dark gray color. You wont renew a chrome finish because the damage is already done.

Tumbling balls after rust treatment comes up with a unique smooth dark gray ball. I havent decided what to do with these balls yet. I'm not sure I want them with my shiny ones.

Happy tumbling!

doc crane's daughter can use them for her sling shot!