Why can't they remove the dust from new balls?

[Gtsnake]

So I get that when they manufacture the balls they need the dust or chalk for die release when the balls are formed. Why would it be so hard to add a process to the end of the line to brush off that dust before it ships? It would be a very simple machine with huge roller brushes that cleans up the balls and maybe a vacuum to suck it up. They could even reuse some of that dust and save some money.

I know it's not a big deal to wipe off the balls when they're new but it would just be less annoying to have to do that every time. For the manufacturer it would be a small added cost and easily repay it over time. Are the companies that cheap or lazy to not clean it up before it ships? I would certainly choose to buy a ball that I didn't have to clean over one that has dust all over it.

 

[Jim]

I believe it is there for a reason. Could be that the powder has some use as a conservative.

 

[pingpongpaddy]

So I get that when they manufacture the balls they need the dust or chalk for die release when the balls are formed. Why would it be so hard to add a process to the end of the line to brush off that dust before it ships? It would be a very simple machine with huge roller brushes that cleans up the balls and maybe a vacuum to suck it up. They could even reuse some of that dust and save some money.

I know it's not a big deal to wipe off the balls when they're new but it would just be less annoying to have to do that every time. For the manufacturer it would be a small added cost and easily repay it over time. Are the companies that cheap or lazy to not clean it up before it ships? I would certainly choose to buy a ball that I didn't have to clean over one that has dust all over it.

literally millions of balls are made, so even if the process for cleaning one ball would not cost much the overall cost would be huge, and therefore bad business

 

[PaddyPolar]

The dust is to absorb humidity while shipping.

 

[Short_Pimple]

The dust is to absorb humidity while shipping.

And then the moist dust sticks to the balls until they are played? I don't think that this is the right answer 😅

 

[lodro]

they leave the talcum powder on the balls as a gift for all those of us who roll a handful of balls over brand new H3 rubbers to break the prime-stickiness away. 😁

 

[Gtsnake]

literally millions of balls are made, so even if the process for cleaning one ball would not cost much the overall cost would be huge, and therefore bad business

They can make machines that can brush hundreds of balls at a time on a continuous basis. So the cost per ball would be negligible.

 

[Gtsnake]

The dust is to absorb humidity while shipping.

Is humidity bad for plastic balls? I doubt it. I'm pretty sure the dust is for die release.

 

[lodro]

I'm pretty sure the dust is for die release.

maybe, maybe not. The process is a hot one and powder might get stuck to hot plastic not help releasing it. Maybe balls that come out of the machine might get dusted to prevent sticking to one-another. And that is of course a solid ""maybe""
Whenever i got a packet of 100, I washed them in a bucket of water then poured them in a colander to let them dry.

 

[Gtsnake]

maybe, maybe not. The process is a hot one and powder might get stuck to hot plastic not help releasing it. Maybe balls that come out of the machine might get dusted to prevent sticking to one-another. And that is of course a solid ""maybe""
Whenever i got a packet of 100, I washed them in a bucket of water then poured them in a colander to let them dry.

we need a molding engineer to chime in. But as far as I know the dust is like corn starch on candies. They help the part release from the mold.

If they brush off the dust you wouldn't need to wash the balls. It's just annoying to me and wouldn't take too much effort for the manufacturer to do it during processing.

 

[Gozo Aruna]

be a pro! Suck your balls!

 

[brokenball]

It isn't dust as in the dust in your house.

I have automated injection and blow molding machines before but making TT balls requires roto molding where the plastic powder is poured into a mold that is heated. The mold is the rotated around in 3D so the molten plastic evenly covers the inside of the mold. There is always a small seam where the two halves of the mold come together. My suspicion is that the powder you see on the ball is what is left of any buffing of the seam, so it is smooth.

My company makes controllers that are used in roto molding, but I haven't seen where we control any TT ball roto molding. I have videos for the roto molding of kayaks. There is usually some "flash" that needs to be trimmed or buffed.

I have bought boxes of 144 training balls from the Paddle Palace. Sometimes I have simply put them in the washing machine. It doesn't hurt the balls. This keeps the balls from making those "dust" spots on the paddle when they are new.

 

[lodro]

be a pro! Suck your balls!

Suck you own balls i rather piss on mine 😁

 

[Dominikk85]

literally millions of balls are made, so even if the process for cleaning one ball would not cost much the overall cost would be huge, and therefore bad business

Would it be that expensive? You could roll all the balls over a grid and use an airstream to blow the powder off the balls, couldn't you?

 

[turbozed]

Are the Nittaku Premium Clean balls dust free? They apparently are coated with some sort of anti-bacteria and anti-viral material, so it wouldn't make sense to apply that to a dusty ball.

 

[Attitude]

Are the Nittaku Premium Clean balls dust free? They apparently are coated with some sort of anti-bacteria and anti-viral material, so it wouldn't make sense to apply that to a dusty ball.

They have coating but that is rather weak compared to other balls like the garbage andro 3s.
Imo some shittier balls need this dust to classify as a "ball". If you play with andro 3s out of the box, it is dusty as hell but at least works a little bit as a ball. It takes spin and speed in way better than it does some weeks in use and without the dust.

Nobody used older balls (months old)? They lose the dusty layer and get oily/greasy and cant seem to take in the wanted rotations. Several characteristics of good balls are getting lost, if they completely lose this dust.

 

[Zwill]

They have coating but that is rather weak compared to other balls like the garbage andro 3s.
Imo some shittier balls need this dust to classify as a "ball". If you play with andro 3s out of the box, it is dusty as hell but at least works a little bit as a ball. It takes spin and speed in way better than it does some weeks in use and without the dust.

Nobody used older balls (months old)? They lose the dusty layer and get oily/greasy and cant seem to take in the wanted rotations. Several characteristics of good balls are getting lost, if they completely lose this dust.

I have some old Joola Flash balls that almost have the blue Joola logo worn off. Barely visible. It's shiny and smooth AF.
I used to have so many issues with lost grip on such shiny balls with Rozena and Tenergy too before, but recently the newly developed rubbers seem to deal with these used smooth balls better. I don't have any grip issues for a while now.

Never seen an Andro 3S ball, is it seamless?

 

[Attitude]

I have some old Joola Flash balls that almost have the blue Joola logo worn off. Barely visible. It's shiny and smooth AF.
I used to have so many issues with lost grip on such shiny balls with Rozena and Tenergy too before, but recently the newly developed rubbers seem to deal with these used smooth balls better. I don't have any grip issues for a while now.

Never seen an Andro 3S ball, is it seamless?

It's not.
Be glad to not have to deal with that sad excuse for a ball. Sadly in our region it is highly used.

Yeah newer rubber grip even those balls better and they can somewhat use them, but if you would test and compare it propperly, you would notice quite fast, that those balls cant seem to grip enough to generate spin.

We train with Nittaku premium balls and are used to have high spin and great arcing balls. The moment we play with andro, our gameplay goes to shit. Right on the spot we play 100-300 TTR points lower. It just hurts the game.
It goes so far, that we are even capable now to see from the opponents gameplay if they are used to train with andro 3s or not.
Usually players that use these balls, cant really loop attack, and use long, no spin serves. Attacking those is a pain in the ass becase you cant arc them enough due to the lack of spin... And if they attack, they simply smash the shit out of the ball. The moment you would still have a decent amount of spin in these balls, these shots wouldnt be possible at all.
I can put up a full blown essay of a rant about this garbage ball of andro at this point. But i will stop here, before i fall into that rage^^

 

[igorponger]

yes, the dusty balls is a vexed problem if you have many balls to play with alternately (thrown by umpire onto the court). Yes, the fine scurf can ruin your game dramatically. Wiping with a clouth would be the only solution.

 

[Zwill]

It's not.
Be glad to not have to deal with that sad excuse for a ball. Sadly in our region it is highly used.

Yeah newer rubber grip even those balls better and they can somewhat use them, but if you would test and compare it propperly, you would notice quite fast, that those balls cant seem to grip enough to generate spin.

We train with Nittaku premium balls and are used to have high spin and great arcing balls. The moment we play with andro, our gameplay goes to shit. Right on the spot we play 100-300 TTR points lower. It just hurts the game.
It goes so far, that we are even capable now to see from the opponents gameplay if they are used to train with andro 3s or not.
Usually players that use these balls, cant really loop attack, and use long, no spin serves. Attacking those is a pain in the ass becase you cant arc them enough due to the lack of spin... And if they attack, they simply smash the shit out of the ball. The moment you would still have a decent amount of spin in these balls, these shots wouldnt be possible at all.
I can put up a full blown essay of a rant about this garbage ball of andro at this point. But i will stop here, before i fall into that rage^^

Awwww, yeah I feel you totally. Changing the ball makes a huge difference. I wonder tho why everyone is using it. I suppose it's not a bad idea if most teams use the same ball, like for us it's the Flash, but why pick the shittiest ball...
Unless there are many pip users, for them this must be a godlike ball.

I used to think the Flash is pretty shitty since in the past I had grip issue but nowdays I like it. But the biggest problem with those is the roundness.

Actually I have to say that players and clubs are rather arrogant and dumb. If it were up to me I would use DHS and Nittaku balls, but the 3 star ones only for matchplay strictly. And I would buy the 1 or 2 star DHS or whatever off brand ball that is the same just less round or the Neottec training ball in case of Nittaku. It's totally a waste of money to train with match balls, but it's also stupid to buy the cheapest shitty training balls for multiball that are not even similar to the match ball that is used.
When covid started I bought myself a box of 2 star DHS ball for cheap and they are great, I think better than the Flash but when I wanted to train with them even against lower level players they just complained that these balls are not good and they can't play with them at all. Oh well maybe I am wrong...