Can cheap balls ruin your felt?

M

MSmithAZ

Member
Hey folks,

Just got my first table. I played a lot back when I was a teenager but very little since (40's now). So I can beat many, but I'm still considered a beginner by anyone with talent. My table came with $99 balls (Spencer Marston Hot Shot) and I put Championship Tour 30/30 felt on the table (mainly because I wanted it to stay good looking for longer). The installers recommended I replace the balls with Super Aramith Pro. The reason mentioned was that they said the cheaper balls will ruin the felt. I didn't get into details, but I'm assuming they meant maybe burn marks? They said it's not an emergency situation, but don't wait 3 months either. While perusing a local billiards store I casually mentioned this to the worker and he scoffed saying "Never heard of such a thing". The installers would have nothing to gain by telling me this, but also, the worker at the pool store wouldn't either of telling me the opposite. So I think both were being honest for what they knew. So....is it true? Could the cheaper balls ruin the felt? I have no doubt better balls will play better, but budget-wise, I wouldn't mind putting off spending $350 if I don't have to.

Thanks!
 
MSmithAZ said:
Hey folks,

Just got my first table. I played a lot back when I was a teenager but very little since (40's now). So I can beat many, but I'm still considered a beginner by anyone with talent. My table came with $99 balls (Spencer Marston Hot Shot) and I put Championship Tour 30/30 felt on the table (mainly because I wanted it to stay good looking for longer). The installers recommended I replace the balls with Super Aramith Pro. The reason mentioned was that they said the cheaper balls will ruin the felt. I didn't get into details, but I'm assuming they meant maybe burn marks? They said it's not an emergency situation, but don't wait 3 months either. While perusing a local billiards store I casually mentioned this to the worker and he scoffed saying "Never heard of such a thing". The installers would have nothing to gain by telling me this, but also, the worker at the pool store wouldn't either of telling me the opposite. So I think both were being honest for what they knew. So....is it true? Could the cheaper balls ruin the felt? I have no doubt better balls will play better, but budget-wise, I wouldn't mind putting off spending $350 if I don't have to.

Thanks!
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I doubt you'd ever have a problem. Those guys are trying to upsell. There are plenty of great ball sets for less. There was a recent thread on balls that had a lot of great information.
 
Absolutely yes. Nylon balls are the worst offenders. Either buy a set of dynasphere bronze or some higher tier aramith.

Dynasphere are around $100 and the same quality as more expensive aramith, but either will do good. It is all about burn marks, even some of the aramith literature talks about this. Pool ball salesman was either ignorant or trying to con you. Probably just ignorant.
 
boogieman said:
Absolutely yes. Nylon balls are the worst offenders. Either buy a set of dynasphere bronze or some higher tier aramith.

Dynasphere are around $100 and the same quality as more expensive aramith, but either will do good. It is all about burn marks, even some of the aramith literature talks about this. Pool ball salesman was either ignorant or trying to con you. Probably just ignorant.
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His balls are not nylon. They are phenolic.
 
DeeDeeCues said:
His balls are not nylon. They are phenolic.
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Is epoxy resin the same thing as phenolic? I honestly don't know.

I burnt the piss out of a table at a bar breaking once in my usual manner. On league night they have aramith balls and it's never happened, yet the cheap set burned it badly.
 
Thanks. Yes, says phenolic on the box. That means no risk of felt damage? Are these at all comparable to the dynasphere bronze?
 
boogieman said:
Is epoxy resin the same thing as phenolic? I honestly don't know.

I burnt the piss out of a table at a bar breaking once in my usual manner. On league night they have aramith balls and it's never happened, yet the cheap set burned it badly.
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The website for the balls lists it as epoxy resin but the box says phenolic
www.pooltables.com

Spencer Marston Hot Shot Ball Set

The Hot Shot Epoxy Resin Ball Set is the top-of-the-line set from Spencer Marston. Excellent durability is built in along with a no-questions-asked lifetime warranty. If any Hotshot ball becomes damaged or doesn't perform the way it should, give us a call and we'll replace it free of charge.
www.pooltables.com www.pooltables.com
 

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MSmithAZ said:
Thanks. Yes, says phenolic on the box. That means no risk of felt damage? Are these at all comparable to the dynasphere bronze?
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They look to be copies of the Aramith designs, which likely means the company went to Alibaba or some other Chinese reseller and branded some copy sets with their logo. That brand name is totally new to me, but any good player should be able to tell how the quality is, invite a few over to play and they'll be able to tell you. If you see a bunch of burn marks on the table, you can swap them out then, a few here and there won't do anything.

You don't need to spend much over $100 for a known good set, Dynasphere, and the cheaper Aramith Premium sets are more than good enough for 95% of players.
 
Ok thanks. I think my takeaway is that these balls, because they are phenolic and not nylon, are made of the same material as the dynasphere bronze and some aramith as well. They should not burn the felt, so I should be good to keep them without risking damage to the felt. They may or may not be as good as the other balls, but probably decent enough (80% as good?) and enough to hold me over for a while, so no rush to go out and buy new ones.

If anyone disagrees, I'm all ears, but otherwise, thanks everyone! Appreciate the help
 
MSmithAZ said:
Ok thanks. I think my takeaway is that these balls, because they are phenolic and not nylon, are made of the same material as the dynasphere bronze and some aramith as well. They should not burn the felt, so I should be good to keep them without risking damage to the felt. They may or may not be as good as the other balls, but probably decent enough (80% as good?) and enough to hold me over for a while, so no rush to go out and buy new ones.

If anyone disagrees, I'm all ears, but otherwise, thanks everyone! Appreciate the help
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If they are phenolic they are probably just fine. Now "better" balls usually have an outer layer that stays cleaner longer and might reduce burns, but if it's phenolic you should be just fine. They look good and shiny, you should be good.
 
Keep the balls clean and polished to reduce marking. I recommend Aramith ball cleaner (about $15?). They should be fine.

If you start to see marks, consider replacing the cue ball with an Aramith cue ball, but check the weight of the object balls first. They should be 168 grams to match the cue ball.
 
I don't know about nylon balls but it was my understanding that the cheap Chinese balls were some sort of polyester. Whatever they are it for sure laid down burn marks on my first furniture grade table. That had I suspect, cheap Chinese underwear grade cloth. Gave up on the cheap shit Chinese crap and bought a mint condition GC IV with new 860 and high end Belgium balls. Twelve years later still rolling nice.
 
The better balls have a higher phenolic content thus they are harder and leave fewer burn marks.
 
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Get a set of Dynasphere bronze for $110, you wont regret it . Just as good as any $300+ set out there
 
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