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Author Topic: revisitting of plasticizers.. do we want it in or out??  (Read 1630 times)

J_w73

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revisitting of plasticizers.. do we want it in or out??
« on: July 15, 2009, 02:39:32 AM »
When we do a hot water bath or hook again treatment do we want to take everything out of the ball.  Plasticizers are liquid additives used during the manufacturing of the coverstock. These plasticizers create the porous structure of the cover that helps the ball hook and absorb oil.  Question is, is left over plasticizer a good or bad thing. According to ebonite, no. This is pretty much the basis of their hook again system.  Their theory is that it isn't oil absorbtion so much that creates "ball death".  It is the fact that when the oil is absorbed (or over time) the left over plasticizers from manufacturing go to the surface of the ball and diminish the hooking potential of the ball.  I have worked with plasticizers and they are slicker than snot.. maybe slicker than some oils. I tried an experiment on a brand new rotogrip odyssey I bought.. put a heat gun to it..(made sure it didn't get too hot) and something(plasticizer?) started coming out of the ball.. this ball had never seen the lanes so it isn't oil..
do we want this stuff out of the ball too?.. I could never get a straight answer from Rotogrip..they would never tell me that it is ok to take it out of the ball. They said that the ball hooks fine with it in it so to not mess with it.  They did bring up an issue that it may keep the ball from becoming brittle and it may also help the ball hold its cell structure. I have no idea if either of these would be valid.. especially the latter after the ball has cured.
If we do want this "plasticizer" out of the ball I think it might be a decent marketing gimmick for a company to put a step in their manufacturing process to remove the left over plasticizer.  It may give a ball prolonged life or increased hooking potential.
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Edited on 7/15/2009 10:39 AM
350 RPM, 17 MPH

 

Juggernaut

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Re: revisitting of plasticizers.. do we want it in or out??
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2009, 11:10:47 AM »
As far as plasticizers go, I was always told that they kept the coverstock "supple" and prevented it from becoming too brittle.

  And as for the ball "death", I think they die from several different reasons related to oil absorption.

  Small, microscopic particles of dirt are picked up right along with the oil, and clog the pores. This can also cause a cover to "die" prematurely if not cleaned promptly and properly. Couple this with the fact that coverstocks have become chemically sensitive ( meaning the pores themselves can be effected by the chemicals in some cleaning solutions, causing them to either shrink signifcantly or close all together, losing their absorption properties ) and you have the recipe for dying balls.

 I think that the presence of residual plasticizers in coverstocks MAY be beneficial to the coverstocks lifespan and, with regular proper cleaning, detract little from a balls performance.
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six pack

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Re: revisitting of plasticizers.. do we want it in or out??
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2009, 11:37:05 AM »
I had a No Mercy that I did several hot water baths to keep it performing,if I didn't the ball would not perform as well as after a soak.needless to say that ball cracked after 8 months.did I soak the plasticizer out of the ball? do they need the plasticizer be some kind of mold release agent? I've also noticed that Brunswick covers don't change much after several years of use as some others,different chemical compositions?
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