Topic: Stickiness on rods of brand new Tornado T3000

[foosball_fanatic]

after plunking down nearly $1800 for this table, the last thing i expected was "stickiness" on the rods. we initially used the lube that came with the table but it seemed we needed to apply it nearly every day to even come close to what we were used to w/ our old table (a table w/ bearings). we went on to try a silicone spray and when we got desperate, we tried Pledge but nothing seems to get the rods sliding without our hearing a "rubbing" noise.

have u experienced this and if so, did u find a way around it? we're going bonkers here with it, grrr!!

[Buckshot]

Scroll on down to page 3 on this General Chat and you'll find the thread "Sticky Rods" at the date February 15, 2012. I started this thread because I had the same problem with sticky rods on my new Fireball and several people responded with some good ideas on how to fix the problem, maybe you'll find some answers there.

[FOOZUL]

if it's the hissing sound, it'll get less and less and go away...make sure you lube the rods also, specially in the first month.no worries

[crazy8]

I've seen bad results from substituting automotive spray silicone for the liquid foos-grade stuff.  The spray seems to dry and attatch to the rods.  The Pledge is a bad idea as it will get thick and sticky as well.  It's time to thoroughly clean the rods (finishing with 90% or greater alchohol)  then start again with only the foos-lube.

Paul 

[foozkillah]

I agree.. that auto store spray crap gunks up, much like furniture polish or any other lacquer-based spray.
;
I discovered those little SuperLube pen-style tubes and they work great, and last a long time.. even better than foos-lube. They act more like those new synthetic lubricants one can get a the hobby shops.  I actually first tried them for a Dollar General store that just happened to have a box of them.  I finally got rid or used up most of the friggin huge foos lube bottle a while back, and I'm glad I was able to try different lubes out. I bring a SuperLube pen with me nowadays to any foos venue.. its applicator is far superior to that idiot built-in dropper in a vial that always somehow gets all slick on the outside of the bottle with fooslube no matter how careful you are when applying it.  There's also a slightly heavier weight silicone grade than fooslube at most hobby stores, where the fooslube equivalent is just another of the dozen or so different grades you can select.  Lot cheaper too.. and if you think Valley or anyone has some unique magic crap in their quintuple-over-priced Foos lube, you should forget all about owning and caring for a table (or 2 dozen for my uncle's or other arcades where I maintained them) and stick to playing at your local foos venue like other hallucinatory numbskulls.
;
I'd break down the bearings in half, lay some rods on a table, cover with very very high number sandpaper as described on other threads, and hand sand the insides of the halves. Better to take the burrs and dings out of those plastic bearings BEFORE EXTENDED USE, instead of letting the plating on your rods do it, which would be another dumbass way not to care for your rods.  And once you've done that.. (properly and never when you're drunk or under some influence) and the rods still stick.. then you know it's the rods, or the plating, and you should immediately replace those under warranty.  If it's the machining and center-trueing of the bearing holes.. then YES.. YOU ARE ROYALLY SCREWED.. Craigs List and get another table.

[alaskan thunder]

after plunking down nearly $1800 for this table, the last thing i expected was "stickiness" on the rods. we initially used the lube that came with the table but it seemed we needed to apply it nearly every day to even come close to what we were used to w/ our old table (a table w/ bearings). we went on to try a silicone spray and when we got desperate, we tried Pledge but nothing seems to get the rods sliding without our hearing a "rubbing" noise.

have u experienced this and if so, did u find a way around it? we're going bonkers here with it, grrr!!

Damn $1800? Give it a little time as it is probably just not broken in yet.

[foosball_fanatic]

as it turned out, once we put enuf hours on the table, some of the stickiness started to let up - my bad for not being patient enuf

[FOOZUL]

Told you, I know this since I've been through the same issue with same table....

[bbtuna]

you paid $1800 they should have given you real foosball silicone...if not, buy some, nothing else will do anything good for your table...once you have some, clean your current rods with wash cloth, very hot water, a drop or two of dish soap wash the rods, have a second cloth moist from hot water just to clean any soap residue and then dry them off real good...then apply silicone - a little goes a long way, start with a small amout per rod near bearings on either side...slide and turn rod around to spead the silicone evenly over the rod...then tell me you have stickie rods

http://foosdirect-store.stores.yahoo.net/silicones.html

make sure your bearings are not over-thightened-should not be lose but if you tighten them real hard they will grab the rod a little

[akoudrin]

Is there any equivalent to SuperLube or foos silicone that I can get in a general hardware or mechanics store. If anyone knows any good brand names, please let me know.

[jkhFoos]

Silicone for Tornado & Superlube for Bonzini. Tyler Foos ,who knows his stuff, posted never mix the two or you'll get quite a messy solution.  I did that in a small bowl.  He's right.

[foozkillah]

you paid $1800 they should have given you real foosball silicone...if not, buy some, nothing else will do anything good for your table...once you have some, clean your current rods with wash cloth, very hot water, a drop or two of dish soap wash the rods, have a second cloth moist from hot water just to clean any soap residue and then dry them off real good...then apply silicone - a little goes a long way, start with a small amout per rod near bearings on either side...slide and turn rod around to spead the silicone evenly over the rod...then tell me you have stickie rods

http://foosdirect-store.stores.yahoo.net/silicones.html

make sure your bearings are not over-thightened-should not be lose but if you tighten them real hard they will grab the rod a little

Fooslube or "real," gen-yoo-whine foosball silicone is a standard grade of silicone lubes you can get in just about any hobby/game store.  Someone figured out its "weight" quite a while back, but I can't remember if that was here, on Netfoos, on Foosworld, or Foo sball board.  It was a shock to find out how much you can get (definitely one hell of a lot more than 2 oz) for $5.00 from a hobby supply store.  Anybody remember which "weight" silicone matches Fooslube?

And tuna's right... for $1800 bucks you should get 2 bottles of le Fooslube..  Something's wrong here... how the heck did it come?

[Tyler Foos]

JkhFoos,

The way I learned about the chemical reaction that occurs when teflon lube meets silicone was just before a match at one of the Florida State events I hosted on the Bonzini USA tour. Someone put silicone lube on one of the 3 bars and soon after a grey, grimey, sticky mixture coated the rods (inner and outer because of the telescoping rods found on Bonzini). It was not an easy fix because you have to get the rods completely cleaned from the unwanted mixture and much of the Bonzini rod setup can't be reached without removing the rod from the table. Alan C. new instantly what had happened as he had dealt with it before.

The beauty of a well broken in Bonzini table is when you get that very light coating of teflon on both the inner and outer rods, making the two teflon surfaces glide over each other. Because of the way teflon sticks to metal, it is a better choice for Bonzini. For Tornado, I don't think it matters which to use, just don't mix them!

Take care....................................Tyler

[akoudrin]

Could someone please post the weight of silicone equivalent to foos silicone?

[akoudrin]

Hey foozkillah,

Following your post on lubes:

http://foosball.com/forum/index.php?topic=4854.msg21824#msg21824

I'm in New Zealand and we don't appear to have those hobby/game stores here (yet). I've tried automotive and hardware stores but most just have the spray silicone. The automotive shops did seem to have a dry stick solution, but it wasn't Super Lube and I don't know if it will do the right thing.

Could you (or anyone else?) perhaps post me some of the better lubes, like the heavy weight non-spray silicone and some of the Super Lube like sticks that I could find and order online to ship to NZ? I guess eBay is a good option and often ships free for small packages like that (often from China/Asia).

I *can* order Super Lube from here:

http://foosdirect-store.stores.yahoo.net/fts-110-360.html

But the shipping is about $15 making it almost $20 for quite a small tube. I could get two or three I suppose.

Also is this the #51010 (Super LubeŽ Oil with PTFE (High Viscosity)) from the SuperLube catalogue (there are several, so I'd like to make sure it's the correct one!).

http://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.super-lube.com%2Fenglish-catalog-ezp-165.html&ei=4JODT_qQK6nBiQfO69XiBw&usg=AFQjCNEAu5FJJyJh958QPUpuUOp1gzNUxQ&sig2=0ViLadSn34fGtkNw19JLlg