GC 3 suspected black smudge marks on balls from the ball returns.

redwolf88

Registered
I am getting these black smudge marks on my billiard balls . i suspect that they are caused by the ball return system. The black plastic coating might be breaking down. I cleaned the wire tracks and did remove a lot of black crap and thought I had corrected the problem. I did another further cleaning and there were some black residue removed but I still see some really small smudge marks. I was thinking of removing the the tracks and doing another thorough cleaning and possibly coating the tracks with some sort of protectant but have had no experience with this problem.


So any advice out there ?

The table is going on 40 years old so maybe I will need to replace the tracks if they are available.
 

wblake

Registered
Redwolf, did you ever find any remedy for your situation? I am having the same issue and am suspecting either the ball return rails or the pocket liners. It is a 25 year old table that I purchased last year, so I was having the same thoughts about the breakdown of the plastic/rubberized surfaces. Also like you though, I don't know how best to address it. Replacing the pocket liners is easy, but what to do about the rubberized coating on the ball return rails????
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Couldn't you strip then re-coat the returns? All kinds of spray coatings/dips these days.
 

redwolf88

Registered
Couldn't you strip then re-coat the returns? All kinds of spray coatings/dips these days.

Couldn't you strip then re-coat the returns? All kinds of spray coatings/dips these days.
I am completely convinced that the transfer is not from the wire return runs. I would do a thorough cleaning of the rails as there is probably a build up of dirt and grime . So I tried a few hacks on the pockets.All the below attempts were done with the pockets removed !

1. cleaning with 409 and then alcohol wipe down. hard hits into pocket still get smudged marks.

2.cleaning with 409 and then alcohol wipe down. spray clear plastic UV coating seems to work but now you can see the hits from the balls on the pockets as smudges on the plastic. I am not sure how long before you get transference of black plastic to balls ?

3.cleaning with 409 and then alcohol wipe down. Using gorrilla duct tape strips applied laterly from bottom of pocket to top. It seems to work but looks like crap.

I basically gave up on the project and just use my practice set of balls most of the time . Not playing much with others as you are aware of these days. Learned to live with the problem as there are other things in my life to fix .
 

fastone371

Certifiable
Silver Member
Why are they black?? My GCI has grey pocket liners.

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Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Hope this helps....

Try this, put rags down into each pocket deep enough to not effect pocketing. Play awhile and look at the ball set. Many of thee older pockets would cause marks. If you ever watched Strickland run the ten pack against Mannio for a million at CJ's. He wiped the balls off after EACH rack. The particular pockets used at that time at CJ's were like black erasers, leaving rubber marks/not black tho, on too each ball as they were pocketed.

PS I know Earl ran 11.
 
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