Powerball build quality issues

[shinjaro]

Whats the longest you've had a ball working 100% ?
I've had 3 balls now and all of them seem to go rubbish after a couple of weeks or so.
By rubbish I mean their is a slight vibration and it's eating like 2-3k of the scores.
My most recent ball a neon, developed this vibration after only a couple of days correct use. When I first got the ball I was spinning 12.800rpm consistently. Now i'm lucky if I can get over 11000.
If you look at how the balls are constructed it's obvious that metal on plastic and plastic on plastic is going to wear the joints down fairly quick so why has no better method been developed ?
Surly people having to buys new balls all the time is great for NSD but horrible for us

[LTLFTC]

5 or 6 months with the original rotor. Over 10 months (and still going) with replacement rotors(completely covered under warranty). I've had issues with neon balls in the past but I don't use them much

[LTLFTC]

And besides how can you expect them not to wear the shaft has to be of a harder material than the track or it will wear and affect the speed properties. If you start stepping up into harder materials like Titanium the cost would be prohibitive. Obviously if something is breaking in 2 weeks thats not good, but if you bought it here it is covered by warranty for free ie. it won't cost you anything to get it fixed. My first signature went through three rotors in two weeks yet I haven't had to spend a cent extra on the ball getting it fixed. Even if I was to buy a new ball every three month it would still be the most cost effective sport I have ever done on a $/hr basis.
Sure there not perfect and they wear but pro tennis players change rackets every couple of matches, my wife goes through running shoes every three months, they use a new football for every match, none of those things come with a lifetime warranty yet all cost more than a powerball.
When you consider what we put the things through I think they are a brilliant product and they are backed by a life time warranty. What more do you want????

[Tstering]

Generaly a ball lasts me 4 months. During that 4 months they probably get used for 8hrs+ a week at speeds in excess of 14,000rpm. So i don't think that's too bad, plus the fact they replace broken parts for free anyway.

[shinjaro]

I'd just like to see perhaps some bearings where the shaft joins the case and things like that to help prolong the life span and perhaps would also help us get quicker spins.
It just seems the hole thing could be improved at little cost and the reason it isn't is because people will happily pay out for a new ball.

[LTLFTC]

I'd just like to see perhaps some bearings where the shaft joins the case and things like that to help prolong the life span and perhaps would also help us get quicker spins.
It just seems the hole thing could be improved at little cost and the reason it isn't is because people will happily pay out for a new ball.

The problem is for the thing to work it needs friction. Which implies things rubbing against each other and wearing. Smooth your track down to a highly polished surface or lubricate the ball with oil and see how well it works. It won't it will go to shite and not function because things have to be rubbing together or the thing won't work. Put in bearings and smooth surfaces and it won't spin roughen them up for friction and they will wear out and your back to square one with even more parts to go wrong

[Tilnoom]

Got mine in May this year, still going strong with about 4-6 hours a week put into it. Its inevitable that at some point I am going to need replacement parts for it though, just because of how it works.

You don't say where you got your balls from. If you had got them from here, you could get a free replacement.. which isn't quite so horrible for us

Tils.

[petemayhew]

Around April this year a ball used to last me around a week or two! But now I think I've sorted my technique out to be more friendly to the ball and they don't seem to die on me anymore.

[ESL]

The 250Hz i've got has been perfect for 3 months
Though the neon green broke down a fter one week use

[shinjaro]

The problem is for the thing to work it needs friction. Which implies things rubbing against each other and wearing. Smooth your track down to a highly polished surface or lubricate the ball with oil and see how well it works. It won't it will go to shite and not function because things have to be rubbing together or the thing won't work. Put in bearings and smooth surfaces and it won't spin roughen them up for friction and they will wear out and your back to square one with even more parts to go wrong

I understand what you say but i'm talking about putting bearings into the case where the shaft ends meet. This I think is where some vibrations come from and defiantly is where the most rotations happen.