Your game's ball bearing size - listed

[toibs]

It says here : http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=2011

Ball composition: Unknown, but one ball is described as copper, for double scoring.

[JC]

An interesting topic, which in my experience doesn't appear to be an exact science. 1/2" balls for Bryans and BMCo allwins seem to be a fairly safe bet - it's generally considered that 9/16" is the correct size for most other makes. However, I have found a good number of exceptions over the years. For instance, I once had a Hat Trick which came with half a dozen balls (all different sizes) when I acquired it. I discarded them all and popped in a new 9/16" ball............could I get it to work? Not a chance. In the end, I had to use a 13mm ball. I also have a Parkers allwin (an original with Saxony type ball release), again, it won't work with a 9/16" ball.
I wonder whether the 14mm stated above for R&W column-fill allwins is correct, as it does seem unlikely that a British machine of 50+ years would have been designed to use metric sized balls. Can anyone confirm? The ball size is of course quite critical in these machines, because if the balls are too small, the final ball in a column won't drop back and trigger the payout.

[arrgee]

What was the size of the monster ball in Steer-a-Ball?

[badpenny]

What about The Policeman's Ball?

[ilovemyjukebox]

I have a "What's My Line" and changed the ball bearings 14mm when I bought her. She came with a mish mash of different sized balls some got stuck in the channels.
Unfortunately I have the problem whereby the balls don't allign correctly all the time and I sometimes have to resort to giving the glass a tap to trigger the payout.
Especially when there a six balls lined up. I'd be very interested in knowing the correct size.

Dave

[JC]

Dave, I suspect the correct size is 9/16". As I stated above, this is generally the correct size for most allwins............er, except it doesn't always work.

[pennymad]

Hi,
Does anyone know the correct size for the balls please on the Fill 'Em Up, Many Happy Returns or What's My Line? Thanks in advance for any help given.

[treefrog]

Shame,

Started a thread on this topic 5 years ago now and was trying to get everyone to fill over time as a useful resource, it only lasted a few posts. Anyway a Multi Ball answer was there, option B 14mm

Ball bearings

[pennymad]

Thanks a lot. I wonder what the actual old size was? But modern day size is good for me!

[13rebel]

Topic merged - Site Admin.

My 'Many Happy Returns' came without any balls, so I used 9/16 inch in the belief that the size was most likely to be imperial and it works perfectly.

[raj]

I've had a few of these and I have had to change from imperial to metric size to take account of wear. I'm sure 9/16th would have been the original spec, but I have found 14mm to be more reliable. As long as they are all the same size, all should be well - just fill one line with balls and see if they tip over the top on a win. If 9/16th don't work, try 14mm. Shop around, because prices vary greatly. You need the hardened versions, because poor quality balls will quickly pit and tear the backflash and track to pieces.

[pennymachines]

Re-reading your comment Raj, I'm confused.
9/16" = 14.2875 mm, i.e. these imperial balls are slightly larger than their nearest metric equivalents (14mm). If there was wear, surely 14mm balls would make the problem worse?

[coppinpr]

poor quality balls will quickly pit and tear

That really sounds painful.

[raj]

PM, it's not the size that causes the damage, it is the poor quality of hardening that becomes rough after successive hits from the ball hammer. If you try striking a ball with a pin hammer to test the hardness, you can judge how it will wear. If the hammer leaves an indentation, then the ball will soon wear when in the machine.

[pennymachines]

Hi Raj,
Yes I take your point about the importance of using hard chrome steel balls. The part I was questioning was:

I have had to change from imperial to metric size to take account of wear.

[raj]

Yes, I see your point. Can't answer the reason that the 14mm balls worked when the 9/16ths didn't, but that was the fix for that particular machine. The current owner may disagree!!

[panda999]

Topic merged - Site Admin.

Hi, please could someone out there advise me how many balls a R & W ice hockey game should have, the size and what material they are made of, as the one I have has ball bearings which look too heavy for the game and do not release properly. Any help would be appreciated, many thanks in advance! !

[gameswat]

The balls should be plastic and even then they take a toll on the inner playfield. Nylon works well for long lastingfullness! Metal would kill the thing! I guess operators could set them up with more or less balls depending on how stingy or not they were. I've had only one Ruffler made version and we had it running on either 7 or 9 from memory. But an even amount might have promoted more play due to draws. Don't have the size written down but just look around the machine for wear marks, measure and then double to find diameter size.

[moonriver]

I bought Teflon balls for my roulette table, they are hard wearing and have some decent weight to them, for example roulette wheel balls get a lot of hammer and need to remain unscathed. They make lots of different sizes, not sure what size they go up to.

[panda999]

Thanks to the two replying members. Will have a measure up and follow your advice. I take that from the lack of replies that not many people have these machines or, really don't know themselves. Thanks again you two, appreciated.