If your wheels have become slippery and can no longer grip the tennis balls properly, causing ball jams, we recommend you follow this help article.
If using hot water to clean your throwing wheels, you may need to first remove the wheels from the throwing wheel motors. This would not be necessary if using sandpaper to clean the wheels.
Please watch the following videos for instructions on removing the throwing wheels.
Please watch the following video for instructions on cleaning the throwing wheels of your Spinfire ball machine. You may need to do this if your wheels have become slippery due to foreign material transferring onto them via the balls. When they are too slippery, you may get ball jams, slower ball speeds or general poor performance.
The following videos give instructions on installing the throwing wheels.
Some additional information to consider before you start cleaning your wheels is:
- We have found P80 grit sandpaper to work well in removing build up from the wheels. Sandpaper of a similar grit will be suitable.
- The tool to scrub the wheels can be simply made by stapling the sandpaper to a wood board, with one side slightly rounded. Alternatively your Spinfire distributor may be able to supply one for you.
- The throwing wheels can be removed from the axle of the throwing motor with a 3mm Allen key. On the inside of the wheel there is a hex grub screw that can be loosened by rotating it anti-clockwise. When loosened the wheel should slide off. Please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdWIgJ_ZqSA for more detailed instructions.
- We recommend you wear safety gloves and goggles when you perform this task. A face mask may also be useful if cleaning the wheels produces dust in the air. You may also like to use a vacuum cleaner turned on and with the nozzle close to where the sand paper is being applied (if using the grinding method).
- If you use the hot water method, the aim is to simply soften the material on the wheels, so boiling water isn’t necessary. Warm water at about 60°C (the temperature of hot tap water) should be sufficient. Soak the wheels for about 5 minutes (even longer is better, up to 30 minutes).