Ali Express Billiard Ball Cleaner? Anyone seen or used one?

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mrpiper

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While I haven't really been in the market for a motorized ball cleaner, I became curious after looking at the forums here regarding the Ballstar, and Diamond machines. This Chinese machine came up on a search engine and I saw it at Ali Express for about $280 shipped to my home. There is also an importer who sells them in the US for $400. I am guessing he buys a dozen or more at a time and gets a deeper discount for resale.

Anyone here seen or used one, or have any additional information?
 
Ali Express is not five star company, bring diplomatic both step daughter, and wife order item off this outfit.

What was shown was not what was received, 4 month credit card fight was big pain in behind.
 
I've seen them but I was really leery on buying one. I've bought cheap things from Aliexpress before, but sometimes those took 6 months to arrive. If I were in the market I would try to get a used diamond. Cleangleam also makes a polisher, not seen any reviews yet, but they did do a giveaway on the forums here about a year ago. They seem solidly built and an 8 ball model is $349. I think if I wanted a compact unit and a Diamond wasn't in the budget this would be my purchase. I took the bucket polisher route myself, and while not perfect, it does a damn good job.
 
Have not heard of it. I recently bought a BallStar and am happy with it for my home table. Much more substantial than pictures in ads show. Also very quiet with less of a footprint than some other machines. Would have liked the Diamond eight ball cleaner but the wait time and shipping charges were too long and too much.
 
This is a version I considered, but I went the DIY route instead:

Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com www.alibaba.com

It probably comes out to $400 and 6-12 month wait if you actually purchased the item. The Cleangleam seems like a much better buy (and a local guy that supports pool) if not the Diamond.

I have the standard DIY bucket polisher which I think does a crummy job as the balls clack together and there isn't enough force to really polish anything.
 
Well if you buy from Al Express, where is warranty work?

Sometime stuff breakers, and if part are not available in USA your shafted.

Shipping back to China is on your dime, pricy.
 
mrpiper said:
While I haven't really been in the market for a motorized ball cleaner, I became curious after looking at the forums here regarding the Ballstar, and Diamond machines. This Chinese machine came up on a search engine and I saw it at Ali Express for about $280 shipped to my home. There is also an importer who sells them in the US for $400. I am guessing he buys a dozen or more at a time and gets a deeper discount for resale.

Anyone here seen or used one, or have any additional information?
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The difference in price is basically support for stuff when it breaks, as long as the reseller is a good one also. Any of the direct buy Chinese sites are pretty much impossible to deal with if there is an issue, but the products on there are often the exact same thing you can buy from stores in US or elsewhere, just with the risk of dealing with returns to China at your own cost which can be way more than the actual purchase cost.
 
hang-the-9 said:
The difference in price is basically support for stuff when it breaks, as long as the reseller is a good one also. Any of the direct buy Chinese sites are pretty much impossible to deal with if there is an issue, but the products on there are often the exact same thing you can buy from stores in US or elsewhere, just with the risk of dealing with returns to China at your own cost which can be way more than the actual purchase cost.
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By a small Diamond. Built like a tank and easy to fix/get parts if ever needed. Good luck with anything you get off Alibaba.
 
Here is what I see:

Clean Gleam - 8 ball machine $349.00 and currently out of stock. I watched the video by the company and it seems to only clean in a straight line. The balls don't seem to move much off of the center line and I wonder about the quality of the cleaning. In their video, you can see a striped ball on the rack and it's just rotating on the stripe. Never getting to the white part of the ball.

Diamond - 8 ball machine $500 + shipping which is quite high

Ballstar - 8 ball machine $525 + shipping which is also very high.

This is why the "Chinese" machine seemed like a fair risk for less than $300 shipped.

I actually own a small set that is about 12 to 15 years old that cleans three at a time using my power drill with a wool pad on top. It works ok, and I can certainly live with it, but just was looking to see if a full sized machine was a possibility. Looking dim.
 
I took the plunge on the Diamond dual platter and haven't looked back. Works wonders, quiet and looks more like a piece of furniture than anything. After owning it it's the only one I'd buy. Or the single platter if $$$ is a concern.
 
kling&allen said:
This is a version I considered, but I went the DIY route instead:

Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com www.alibaba.com

It probably comes out to $400 and 6-12 month wait if you actually purchased the item. The Cleangleam seems like a much better buy (and a local guy that supports pool) if not the Diamond.

I have the standard DIY bucket polisher which I think does a crummy job as the balls clack together and there isn't enough force to really polish anything.
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I think the key on a DIY is to use 9 balls at a time, I usually throw in an extra cue ball. It seems to avoid the clanking and sometimes it helps to elevate one side of the bucket 1/4" or so.
 
Comparison: https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/bludworth-vs-diamond-vs-ballstar-ball-cleaners.266852/ What i don't like about the Ballstar is: too much plastic for me,too many things that will eventually have to be replaced(pads,nozzles,etc). On Diamond all there is is the main pad and the one in the ball holder insert. These last a LONG time. In a home environment they will last for years. Plus, its made in the US which is a big plus for me. BTW, the Ballstar is made in Korea. Not knocking Korean stuff just stating where its made.
 
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I bought the single platter Diamond, I didnt need to clean ball sets quickly for home use. Its 7 years old right now and I have not had to replace any cleaning pads or anything else yet, I cant see this polisher not lasting the life of my Gold Crown.
 
mrpiper said:
Here is the link on AliBaba: https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...ml?spm=a27ai.12350312.valid-supplier.3.iaOsjY
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I think its worth a shot if you can get it for less than 300USD delivered. That product was designed by engineers and had expensive injection molds made. Probably about 50,000USD of molds. I'm an engineer and designing stuff like this is my dayjob. I only mention this as it probably went through several prototype iterations before that much money and effort was spent on tooling to mass produce it. So I think there is a good chance the quality will be pretty good.

I do personally own the 16 ball diamond. The thing is a huge. I think I got it for 700USD 7 or 8 years ago from the DCC in person. Probably much higher now, especially if you have to ship. $300 for the aliexpress/alibaba one seems worth a shot, especially if you want to save on space.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I think its worth a shot if you can get it for less than 300USD delivered. That product was designed by engineers and had expensive injection molds made. Probably about 50,000USD of molds. I'm an engineer and designing stuff like this is my dayjob. I only mention this as it probably went through several prototype iterations before that much money and effort was spent on tooling to mass produce it. So I think there is a good chance the quality will be pretty good.

I do personally own the 16 ball diamond. The thing is a huge. I think I got it for 700USD 7 or 8 years ago from the DCC in person. Probably much higher now, especially if you have to ship. $300 for the aliexpress/alibaba one seems worth a shot, especially if you want to save on space.
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Still $700 at Mannings. $500 for the smaller one. Three month backlog too.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Here are two videos of the cleaner I found:


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My worry would still be parts/service. Suppose it dies 6mos in? Sending it back or finding a part would be a major pia. My buddie's home-made bucket polisher works fine for home use. $40bux total investment. Beyond that i'd go Diamond all the way. Hell, if you have friends that have tables you could do a co-op/share buy.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I think its worth a shot if you can get it for less than 300USD delivered. That product was designed by engineers and had expensive injection molds made. Probably about 50,000USD of molds. I'm an engineer and designing stuff like this is my dayjob. I only mention this as it probably went through several prototype iterations before that much money and effort was spent on tooling to mass produce it. So I think there is a good chance the quality will be pretty good.

I do personally own the 16 ball diamond. The thing is a huge. I think I got it for 700USD 7 or 8 years ago from the DCC in person. Probably much higher now, especially if you have to ship. $300 for the aliexpress/alibaba one seems worth a shot, especially if you want to save on space.
Click to expand...

My worry would be the QA on the electronics--poor soldering, wiring, etc. The units finding their way to the US might be the ones rejected by local markets. That being said I regularly buy electronic and tooling stuff from these sites and never have had a problem with anything beyond replacing power supplies, but I've never gambled $300 on their service.
 
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