no heated table

S

seven

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
the pool hall that I go to has 2 billiard tables..but they are NOT heated :( some shots are almost impossible..angles are diffrent...bigger billiard balls dont draw.. spin doesnt hold.. and just to get 4 or 5 rails after hitting the first ball, I have to hit it really hard. I also like straight rail billiards..balls skid tremendously off of the tangent line when appyling draw.. making playing straight rail nearly impossible.. is there any way to make a non heated table play similar to a heated table. I heard somewhere that wiping down the balls with wd40 helps..but I dont know if that is true.
 
seven said:
... I heard somewhere that wiping down the balls with wd40 helps..but I dont know if that is true.
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If you apply wax to the balls (paste wax or silicone spray) the action will be more like it is on new cloth. The wax or silicone will wear off, so the balls will be in a constant state of flux. One alternative is to spray the cloth with silicone. I wouldn't. See if you can get the owner to change the cloth. It will help a lot to have polished (but not waxed) balls. Get some ball polish at the billiard supply store and do it yourself. Warning: some owners take it as an insult when the customers start doing equipment maintenance.
 
Yes there is always trade offs in almost everything. Using silicone has the downfall retaining dirt. Spray furnature polish on the cloth has the same issue. I've played on tables that have been sprayed with Rain X. This gives you the slide you want but don't know the down side. Just seems wierd.

There's nothing better than new cloth but at $200+ it's tough to justify changing every month. But get yours changed then be anal keeping it clean. Vacuum or damp cloth or both. Clean every couple of hours of play to prolong the newness. The room owner will enjoy at least twice the life out of his cloth. I like the damp cloth method then i spray that cloth when done for about 4 or 5 seconds with "light duty" silicone then squeeze it into the cloth then lightly wipe down the table. The rail nose will be taken care of after the balls pick up the silicone and transfer it to the rail. Do not apply the silicone unless needed. In other words not every time you clean the cloth. Maybe once a week or two weeks

My favorite method of cleaning the balls is with a slow speed bench grinder with cotton wheels and rouge for plastic. If this is not possible use polishing compound on a terri cloth and follow the can directions.
 
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thanks for the replies. :)
I dont think the owner would take too kindly to me spraying anything on the table :( maybe I'll just buy my own set of balls and just keep those polished...something is better than nothing :)
 
I got a Q for those posts above

Say for instance, you already have a carom table. But, you want to insert a heating system for that table of yours. My questions are: Where do you buy something like that? Where do you put them on a table? What are the pros/cons of manually puting a heating system by one's self? How the heck can those professionals actually create something like that?
 
I just talked to a guy the other day who's going to use heated ceiling tiles and fit then in the quadrants between the support beams. You can also contact SAM Steel and buy their system Jerry Karsh did this with his home table. As I understand it you'll have to cut small channels for the heat wire to pass through the different sections of the table. I've heard of folks using the heat pads similar to water bed heaters only 5x10. This is probably very expensive and I'd worry about the slates settling plus possibly shorting out. I tried light bulbs and building an enclosure with moderat success. Lots of bulbs kept adding more then gave up after installing a bathroom exhaust fan to circulate the hot air. Too noisy and lots of electric. My table is now room temp. Someday I'll buck up and get a Euro table.
 
3kushn said:
... I tried light bulbs and building an enclosure with moderat success. Lots of bulbs kept adding more then gave up ...
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The power rating I've seen on the European tables is about 600 watts. I'd guess that much is only used at start-up, but it gives you an idea of roughly what you will need to do.
 
SlickRick_PCS said:
Say for instance, you already have a carom table. But, you want to insert a heating system for that table of yours. My questions are: Where do you buy something like that? Where do you put them on a table? What are the pros/cons of manually puting a heating system by one's self? How the heck can those professionals actually create something like that?
Click to expand...

Roger Ballenger, a California musician, used to have an article on his web site describing how he did this. The article is now gone, but you might try contacting him to see if he's willing to share any info. His web site is http://www.ballengermusic.com/.

Cue and guitar maker Ron Kilby has an article on his site about converting Brunswick rails to use European rubber. While this is rather different from adding heat, if I wanted to add heat I'd contact him to find out whether he's seen it done and has any knowledgeable opinions on the considerations involved. His site is http://www.caromcues.com/. Actually, if you're going to go to the effort to add heat, converting the rails is something you might want to do, also. And Ron makes great cues :)

The heated ceiling tile idea mentioned by somebody else sounds like it has good possibilities, though there might be eveness-of-heating issues from one tile to another. Enclosing the area under the slate would seem to be essential to any sort of efficiency, and perhaps a very small whisper fan would be useful for circulating air to try to make sure the temperature is even.

I don't know how the thermostats on commercial tables work, but I'd guess that what you want is a differential thermostat that will keep the slate four or five degrees warmer than the ambient air temperature. That should be enough to keep the cloth's moisture content fairly low.
 
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