You are treading on very dangerous ground.

Do not rely on the memory of a couple of old farts.

This is the time to follow the manual that you have admitted you have.

I can tell you that the VB on my bench has 18 or 19 balls- I am not sure which is correct. There is a very definite way of removing the screws, flipping it over and splitting it, but I don't remember exactly. I made the mistake it appears you are about to make. The manual has this info. It pays to take pictures and do this inside a box, naturally.

EDIT: Sorry, rereading this I see you just want to remove the VB from the case. That's going to be OK- the balls will not fall out unless/until you decide to split the VB. Still, the caution remains- read the manual. I don't remember exactly the drill

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