The place i play at has a mix of Centennials(new in '96-'97) and IPT('05) Aramith balls. In a commercial room what is generally considered the lifetime of quality balls? I'm pretty sure ours are past due but i'm just wondering HOW far. They aren't nick'd-up and still seem to play ok but i'm sure they've gotta be out-of-spec. Thanks.
For a poolroom that sets of balls get a lot of play, obviously cue balls need to be replaced much more frequently than do the ball sets. If taken care of and cleaned / polished regularly, top quality sets of balls may maintain looking good for 10 to even 20+ years. The biggest issue that we've discovered continuing to use older sets is how much harder if not virtually impossible it becomes to get a tight rack using any kind of a wood rack or template such as a Magic rack or Turtle rack, since even the quality sets of balls will start to vary in size, weight and in roundness. We now use new sets of Centennial balls for our tournaments only, but still use our older Super Aramith sets for the weekly recreational players. For our more serious regulars, they can request at any time to use a set of the new balls, but they rarely do.