Valley coin op table problem?

icemanfred

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was playing on a valley coin op table yesterday, 7', I guess.
I notice my bank shots were off.

after a few games of this, I shot the cue ball from within the jaws of the packet to the mid diamond, being very careful not to apply any spin. I did this along all rails.
the shot consistently came back too wide.

this was a newly installed table at an arcade style place I took my son to, to shot a few games.

I had been previously been playing on a 9 foot table. but if the width and length are at the proper ratio (which I would expect from a valley table) I would expect the diamond marks to have worked on the banks.

I was wondering what might cause this?
 
I have no idea but don't be alarmed. I own a valley 7ft and it banks like crap. I bank fine on 7ft diamonds and the GCs at the local pool hall. Don't sweat it!
 
I believe that every Valley has it's own personality. If you build a Diamond, or have it the
right way by a Diamond person and it is level there is very little variance, if any from one
diamond to the next. Valleys on the other hand.....

It's like they're a living entity. They're constantly moving, adjusting from one day to the
next. The temperature, humidity, amount if natural light, number of people in the room,
how many drinks the bartender served vs. the amount of food served, the amount of heat
coming off the waitress...... it seems like every little thing might effect how a Valley will
play on a particular evening.

In a hotel ball room I go into hit some balls and I notice the balls slightly rolling to the
west rail, this is around 9:00 am, I come back to the same table about 11:00 pm, mind
you it's been played on all day, but now the balls are all rolling to the east rail. Curve of the earth?
magnetic pull of the moon?? so I move over a couple of tables and the roll is in the opposite direction.
They all check as level. They're Valleys, I think no two are alike
 
Valleys have a very fragile rail system ...Ridge-backs alleviate that problem, somewhat.
...but a magnetic cue ball means you're usually rolling the dice.
 
I was playing on a valley coin op table yesterday, 7', I guess.
I notice my bank shots were off.

after a few games of this, I shot the cue ball from within the jaws of the packet to the mid diamond, being very careful not to apply any spin. I did this along all rails.
the shot consistently came back too wide.

this was a newly installed table at an arcade style place I took my son to, to shot a few games.

I had been previously been playing on a 9 foot table. but if the width and length are at the proper ratio (which I would expect from a valley table) I would expect the diamond marks to have worked on the banks.

I was wondering what might cause this?

The rail blocks/cushions are loose, which causes the bank to deaden and bank long. They need to take the rail trim off and tighten the rail block bolts.
 
So I just had a Valley with Ridgebacks installed this weekend. I only played a few racks (as the light isn't yet installed) but the table played well.

One odd thing, though. When trying the three rail corner to corner kick shot with running English I found I had to hit basically the first diamond past the side pocket. Worked the same from both corners I tried. Is this normal? Now I see from Dr Dave's video that this is actually "on system", but I've never found a table that does this. Is it because of the new cloth or is this how Ridgebacks play?
 
So I just had a Valley with Ridgebacks installed this weekend. I only played a few racks (as the light isn't yet installed) but the table played well.

One odd thing, though. When trying the three rail corner to corner kick shot with running English I found I had to hit basically the first diamond past the side pocket. Worked the same from both corners I tried. Is this normal? Now I see from Dr Dave's video that this is actually "on system", but I've never found a table that does this. Is it because of the new cloth or is this how Ridgebacks play?

New cloth always plays long.
I've seen three-raiders missed by good snooker players on new cloth,,,by two feet...
...on a snooker table they knew well.
 
The rail blocks/cushions are loose, which causes the bank to deaden and bank long. They need to take the rail trim off and tighten the rail block bolts.

I do this sometimes on the dynamo table we play league on. The amusement company that services the table essentially has no idea how to do anything related to a pool table lol.

My question is: how tight? It seems the bolts are compressing against wood and it seems you could really smush the wood if you tried. Is there a ft/lbs amount, or just "snug"?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

KMRUNOUT
 
I do this sometimes on the dynamo table we play league on. The amusement company that services the table essentially has no idea how to do anything related to a pool table lol.

My question is: how tight? It seems the bolts are compressing against wood and it seems you could really smush the wood if you tried. Is there a ft/lbs amount, or just "snug"?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

KMRUNOUT

Snug, as in not loose, or over tightened, because yes, over tightening will suck the rail bolt in the wood deeper than its intended to be.
 
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