Humidity test... anyone try seeing exactly how it affects things?

CreeDo

CreeDo

Fargo Rating 597
Silver Member
I noticed on the stream the other night, Dennis vs. Ko Pin Yi.

The commentators were going on like "now that everyone's left the room the humidity has improved and the table's playing much better... before, they made it so humid your cue ball couldn't touch a rail on the way in or it'd rattle in the pocket... now the balls are falling. And now they're making balls on the break."

I know when it's really humid the balls just feel gross and sticky and breaks feel like they don't spread. But "feel" and "think" is not the same as "know".

Anyone ever test the effect of humidity? Will it really cause e.g. a wing ball to not travel in the right direction, or make a ball rattle that would otherwise drop?

I thought maybe the players just settled in and figured out the speed of the break. It'd be interesting if someone with a humidifier (and a dehumidifier) could do something a little more scientific, but scientific break tests are kind of tough, especially the 10b break.
 
Here's a paper on "Effects of temperature, wind speed and air humidity on ammonia volatilization from surface applied cattle slurry". It's pretty straightforward to extrapolate the results to pool. ;)

Seriously, though, I don't doubt that humidity affects collisions; I have played in small bars with no AC in the summer and it takes a sledge hammer to get a good spread on the break. But I really wonder if the presence of people affects the room's humidity *that* much. Especially if there is any HVAC system running.
 
I've had my table out in the screened room for about 10 years. I have 5 sets of balls and a ball cleaner, so I'm always playing with clean and polished balls. I have Pro-Cut Ridgeback rails. At 30 to 45 dewpoint the table plays almost like it's in the house. 45 to 55 it gets a little tougher and slower. At over 55 to 70 it won't take any ball that touches a rail or mouth of the pocket that's over pocket speed and most of the time it won't take them. Over 70% dewpoint...forget about it.

Take a damp rag and rub it on the rails and inside the pockets. Now play two or three racks of 9 or 10 ball. You will see what too much humidity/dewpoint does. Johnnyt
 
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Testing would be interesting. I haven't done testing, but in my pool playing experience, high humidity:

- increases throw, both contact and spin
- slows down the table.
- increases the effect of English off the rail, especially at extremes
- it reduces object ball action on the break (they don't spread as well)
- it causes rails to be less slippery, thus leaving more hangers on tight pockets

It also possibly increases the amount of cue ball action on draw shots, but I'm not too sure about this.

A tight table and humid conditions can really get into your head. Ko and Orcullo have their work cut out for them.
 
Johnnyt said:
I've had my table out in the screened room for about 10 years. I have 5 sets of balls and a ball cleaner, so I'm always playing with clean and polished balls. I have Pro-Cut Ridgeback rails. At 30 to 45% dewpoint the table plays almost like it's in the house. 45 to 55% it gets a little tougher and slower. At over 55 to 70% it won't take any ball that touches a rail or mouth of the pocket that's over pocket speed and most of the time it won't take them. Over 70% dewpoint...forget about it.
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The units for dewpoint are degrees (either °C, °F, °K). Percentages are used for Relative humidity, which is a completely different thing. I presume you are talking about RH, since that is what most instrument and devices measure / read out.

Nitpicking over. Only respond if you want the whole story (you've been warned).

Thank you kindly
 
CreeDo said:
"now that everyone's left the room the humidity has improved and the table's playing much better...
Click to expand...

I would be astonished if they have a ventilation system capable of lowering the humidity noticeably in (what sounds like) a short time. Could be though.

Humans do put out quite a lot of heat (100 watts or so), and moisture (about 1/2 gallon per day). How many people are we talking about?

Thank you kindly.
 
Corwyn_8 said:
I would be astonished if they have a ventilation system capable of lowering the humidity noticeably in (what sounds like) a short time. Could be though.

Humans do put out quite a lot of heat (100 watts or so), and moisture (about 1/2 gallon per day). How many people are we talking about?

Thank you kindly.
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Dunno...from the camera shots I saw of the match it didn't look like standing room only or anything. Steinway has 25 tables and is reasonably spacious.
Maybe 100-150 people if they got a full house?
Humidity in the area is 80-85% all week.

btw hi from a former midcoast mainer too.
 
Corwyn_8 said:
The units for dewpoint are degrees (either °C, °F, °K). Percentages are used for Relative humidity, which is a completely different thing. I presume you are talking about RH, since that is what most instrument and devices measure / read out.

Nitpicking over. Only respond if you want the whole story (you've been warned).

Thank you kindly
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Thank you for the correction, but I was still talking about dewpoint.
 
Johnnyt said:
Thank you for the correction, but I was still talking about dewpoint.
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You're welcome. In the future I suggest when talking about how air moisture affects cloth, wood, people, etc. you use relative humidity rather than dewpoint, as that is more strongly correlated. A 50°F dewpoint could be a 70% relative humidity at 60°F air temp, or a 35% relative humidity at 80°F air temp. The former will seem humid to you and table materials, while the latter will seem dry.

Thank you kindly.
 
CreeDo said:
Dunno...from the camera shots I saw of the match it didn't look like standing room only or anything. Steinway has 25 tables and is reasonably spacious.
Maybe 100-150 people if they got a full house?
Humidity in the area is 80-85% all week.

btw hi from a former midcoast mainer too.
Click to expand...

Last spring, i think it was, the bar was packed as they had a small band crammed in there. The windows were fogged up real good. The tables were playing slow and the pockets tighter.

Tried to play a few racks at some place around midcoast a while back. It had a deck above the shore and the windows were open iirc. Banks would pick up so much spin from the rails that they reversed off the second rail more than i even thought possible. Going back in a couple months. Hopefully ill get a chance to hit some, maybe on the way to Bah Hahbah. Ayuh. :thumbup:
 
Please try a heated Carom table. It's a whole different world combined with the slightly larger balls. Hits are just instanteneous and "springy" and are dead on ghost ball accurate.
Also using Royal Pro cloth would help - no wool, far less reaction to humidity.
 
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Banks said:
Tried to play a few racks at some place around midcoast a while back. It had a deck above the shore and the windows were open iirc. Banks would pick up so much spin from the rails that they reversed off the second rail more than i even thought possible. Going back in a couple months. Hopefully ill get a chance to hit some, maybe on the way to Bah Hahbah. Ayuh. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Salt water fog must great for the tables... :eek:

Thank you kindly.
 
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