How To Pressurize / Revive Old Tennis Balls...

V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Dags said:
Mine lasted longer, but suffered the same fate.
Click to expand...
One trick Barry Mulder of Pressureball shows me to help fix the leaky tube is to leave the clamp on the tube as is and deflate it and pour hot boiling water over the clamp area for about a minute on each end. I tried it and it seems to help a little bit but eventually it starts leaking again. But it's not a rapid leak. So if you use it to maintain the pressure of your balls until the next use in a few days, then the slow leak is not too big of a problem. It's mainly a problem when you try to revive flatter balls with it and expect it to not leak too much when you just leave it inflated for a few weeks. You'll need to add more inflation to it within a few days to a week to restore the pressure back to 20psi.
Dags said:
I've just checked the site. In case you didn't spot it, there's a 'Bundle deals' option where you can get two for a further discount. I suspect it would be worth contacting them if you wanted even more. Again, looking forward to any review... particularly if you buy the version without the pressure gauge and whether there are any regrets.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I notice that buying a bundle of 2 ZT-1 will knock it down to $29.95 for 2, which is not too bad. I've emailed them about further discount if I want to buy 3 bundles but haven't heard back from them. At least the shipping cost seems to be $3 flat no matter how many you order, so they're not trying to rip you off on shipping.

The version with the pressure gauge is convenient if you only want one. But if you want multiple of these, it's probably cheaper to buy multiple plain ones (ZT-1) with no pressure gauge and buy your own single detached pressure gauge separately. I'm not keen on the idea of adding a pressure gauge permanently to the device. It would just be another potential point of failure for leak to occur eventually. It'd just be a matter of time. I'd rather have the simple single valve to minimize the point of failure. It'd only take a second to apply an external pressure gauge on it for a pressure readout anyway.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
I emailed Zombie Tube about possible further discount if I bought more than a few bundled pack of 2 on 12/22 and never heard back from them. I went ahead and ordered 3 bundled pack of 2 (for 6 ZT-1 total) on 12/26 anyway at their advertised price. Never got any email confirmation from them acknowledging my order yet to-date. On 12/31 I sent them an email asking for a tracking number for my order shipment and still haven't heard back as of today. So far it's a black hole as far as communication from them and I'm not impressed. But I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt about my order happening around the holidays so maybe they're on vacation or something. Let's see when/if my order will show up... I think the previous poster said it took 2 weeks for his order to arrive.
 
mhd

mhd

New User
I modified a used 6.0 quart pressure cooker for this job. I uninstall the original air pressure release valve and tapped a 1/8 NTP thread on the hole. With a 1/8NPT tee, I could install both a pressure gauge and a air tank valve through this hole. The best part was that the safty features was intact. The parts that I used were
  1. an air tank valve
  2. a 1/8 NPT tee
  3. 1/8 male to male adapter
  4. a used car tire pressure gauge
It can hold about 18 balls. Good for a small batch. The same technique can be applied to a pressure cooker with large capacity.
20160104_182829.jpg
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
I received my ZT-1 Zombie Tube order a couple of days (for three 2-pack bundle totaling 6) and starting using them. I put 25 psi on them and they seem to hold up fine.

Today I tried to put 30 psi into one that has fairly newer balls according to their online instruction. It seemed fine but a few minutes later I heard a loud pop and found a crack across the middle of the top half.

Their website claims that the unit can handle up to 45 psi. Apparently not so based on what happened to my unit. This makes me disappointed.

I've sent Zombie Tube an email asking for a replacement part. Hope to hear from them soon. Will keep you posted.

uYKiN84.jpg
 
Booger

Booger

Hall of Fame
volusiano said:
I received my ZT-1 Zombie Tube order a couple of days (for three 2-pack bundle totaling 6) and starting using them. I put 25 psi on them and they seem to hold up fine.

Today I tried to put 30 psi into one that has fairly newer balls according to their online instruction. It seemed fine but a few minutes later I heard a loud pop and found a crack across the middle of the top half.

Their website claims that the unit can handle up to 45 psi. Apparently not so based on what happened to my unit. This makes me disappointed.

I've sent Zombie Tube an email asking for a replacement part. Hope to hear from them soon. Will keep you posted.
Click to expand...


Bummer. I've had 30-35 psi in mine pretty much since I got the thing. I do worry about cracking the acrylic by over-tightening the wing nuts, but didn't think it would crack under normal use. Hope you get it sorted.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Booger said:
Bummer. I've had 30-35 psi in mine pretty much since I got the thing. I do worry about cracking the acrylic by over-tightening the wing nuts, but didn't think it would crack under normal use. Hope you get it sorted.
Click to expand...
One thing I really don't like about the design is that their wing nuts don't use any washer. So there's definitely a risk of over-tightening them and cause cracking like you said. Or over time the wing nuts will wear down the acrylic top for sure and will cause complication that will eventually lead to failure. It would have been a smarter choice to use a metal top instead of a flimsy acrylic top like this. I may go to Home Depot and buy a bunch of washers to put on them to correct this deficiency.

At least based on where the crack occurred, it's not due to my over tightening the wing nuts because the crack line didn't run through a wing nut location. It just goes to show that the acrylic choice of material is too brittle. Metal would have give a little and not crack like that.

I also wished they had provided the longer 4 ball can instead of the shorter 3 ball can. I can't imagine that it would have cost them much more to go from a 3 ball can to a 4 ball can. I know you can go buy your own 4 ball can to replace it but it's another hassle to do. It's kind of misleading to post 4 ball can pictures all over their website, but for the 2 pack bundle they cut corners and only give 3 ball cans for this bundle.

Now let's see how their customer service will be in handling my replacement request. When I called them on Monday to inquire about my tracking number (after no response to my email inquire the week earlier), they said they'd ship my order out that night and I'd be receiving a tracking number via email when they create the shipping label for my order. Well, I never got any email, although the order did show up 2 days later.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
I didn't hear back from the Zombie Tube people today yet about my replacement request for my cracked tube. Their website says 24 hour response and I emailed them last night (almost 24 hours ago). I also called a few times this morning during business hours but nobody picked up. Left a message but no call back so far. I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of a prompt response. Maybe by now I will lower my expectation and just hope for any response at all. I never got any response back from my email inquiries last week about my order status either.

PressureBall's Barry Mulder gave me very prompt and great customer service. Too bad his plastic tube design doesn't last long and has slow leak over time.

Rebounces' Bill Dirst is also very responsive to my email inquiries on the Mini Green Tennis Machine.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Booger said:
Bummer. I've had 30-35 psi in mine pretty much since I got the thing. I do worry about cracking the acrylic by over-tightening the wing nuts, but didn't think it would crack under normal use. Hope you get it sorted.
Click to expand...
Does your ZT hold pressure well? I pumped one up to 25 psi yesterday and today it came down to 15 psi. I only have the ZT-1 so I have to measure mine with an external gauge. But I have a pretty high quality accurate gauge so that's why I opted for the cheaper ZT-1.

I notice that you have the ZT-2 with the built-in gauge. I assume that it's a bit more handy to monitor any pressure drop with it at a quick glance.

Not all my ZT-1 seem to leak quickly, though. Most of the other ones I have at about 20 psi seem to hold pressure better. Maybe I didn't tighten the other one (the one that dropped pressure quickly) tight enough. It's kind of a balancing act trying to tighten the nuts well enough but not too hard as to crack the acrylic top half

Also, the one that dropped pressure more quickly is a 4-ball can that I just switched in to replace the 3-ball can that came with it. Don't know if that made any difference, though. Don't see anything obvious that would.
 
Booger

Booger

Hall of Fame
volusiano said:
Does your ZT hold pressure well? I pumped one up to 25 psi yesterday and today it came down to 15 psi. I only have the ZT-1 so I have to measure mine with an external gauge. But I have a pretty high quality accurate gauge so that's why I opted for the cheaper ZT-1.

I notice that you have the ZT-2 with the built-in gauge. I assume that it's a bit more handy to monitor any pressure drop with it at a quick glance.

Not all my ZT-1 seem to leak quickly, though. Most of the other ones I have at about 20 psi seem to hold pressure better. Maybe I didn't tighten the other one (the one that dropped pressure quickly) tight enough. It's kind of a balancing act trying to tighten the nuts well enough but not too hard as to crack the acrylic top half

Also, the one that dropped pressure more quickly is a 4-ball can that I just switched in to replace the 3-ball can that came with it. Don't know if that made any difference, though. Don't see anything obvious that would.
Click to expand...


Mine does leak a little, but very slowly (maybe 1 lb/day) so it's not such a big deal when starting at 35psi. I wonder if it's the seal, but I suspect it's the thin plastic ball can.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Booger said:
Mine does leak a little, but very slowly (maybe 1 lb/day) so it's not such a big deal when starting at 35psi. I wonder if it's the seal, but I suspect it's the thin plastic ball can.
Click to expand...
I think it's the area where the valve meets the acrylic. I just can't see the plastic can being porous. It may also be at the lip of the plastic can where the metal ring wraps around that lip. They probably design the metal ring at the lip to withstand 15 psi but anything higher than that will leak.
 
D

Dags

Hall of Fame
Thanks for the updates. As an international buyer, I think I'll pass on this one: at least until there's an updated design.

It's a shame that shipping things from the UK to the US isn't cheaper. It's all four-ball cans over here, and I have empties in abundance!
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Dags said:
Thanks for the updates. As an international buyer, I think I'll pass on this one: at least until there's an updated design.

It's a shame that shipping things from the UK to the US isn't cheaper. It's all four-ball cans over here, and I have empties in abundance!
Click to expand...
Just FYI, I was able to get a hold of somebody at Zombie Tube this morning after a couple of tries (somebody named Lee). He told me that my case was the first one that cracked at the top out of the last batch of 300 that they sent out. He said that there were a couple of cases he heard back from that cracked at the bottom piece, which is less surprising to him because the bottom is just an outer ring with a big hole in the middle so it's more vulnerable, while the top is a whole solid round piece so it should be less vulnerable. He said that maybe there's a chip somewhere on the top that resulted in the crack when under pressure.

He also told me that the material used in their next batch that will be coming in a couple of weeks will be of a 40% stronger material. He said he'll send me a replacement now and will also send me another replacement when this new batch come in.

I asked him about the lack of washer on the wing nuts and whether that should be a concern. He said no, they've played around a lot with it and haven't seen any issue with the wingnut not having a washer.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
I spoke with Aldric Lee of Zombie Tube some more this morning and he said that they're now shipping their redesigned version. He said that the bottom is the same, but the top has been made thicker to avoid cracking. He told me that since I reported my issue to him of my cracked top, he's also had a few other cases of the top cracking up like mine. He believes that the new batch should solve this issue because the top has been made much thicker. He said they had sold out all their old units so all new units being shipped now are of the new design.

Also, he said that they've redesigned the top to be "slotted" so that you wouldn't have to remove the wing nuts completed anymore to remove the top. You'd just have to twist the top to get the open slots under the wing nuts and the top can be removed with the wing nuts still screwed on. I think this is a major improvement that will save a lot of time and add convenience. Hopefully between this change and the thicker top, they now have a greatly improved product.

I also asked him about if they can ship with the 4 ball cans instead of the 3 ball cans. He said that they got their recycled cans from the USTA and they're mostly 3-ball cans so that's what they have to ship with. It's no big deal anyway since you can just buy your own 4-ball cans and swap them.

I order a few more units of the new design to try them out. I'll report back on how I like them.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
I received my ZT-1 top replacement today. Below is a pic of it side by side with the old top. As you can see, the new top (on the right) is much thicker. It's also carved around the edge to allow the top to be put in place without having to remove the wingnuts. I thought that was a very clever solution. I cranked the can with the new top up to >30 psi and so far it's holding up OK without cracking.

The second image below is yet another top that cracked (the old design) as I tried to go above 30 psi on one of the cans again. I was trying to see if the first crack I had was just a fluke or not. So it's confirmed now that it's repeatable and you shouldn't be putting too much pressure into your can if you have the old top, or else you WILL crack the top. That's the reason they redesign the top to be much thicker now.

I asked Aldric if I bought more ZT-1 from him, will he send me new top replacements for the old ones and he said OK. So I bought 4 more ZT-1 from him (2 bundles) and he said he'll send me 5 new top replacements along with this order for my 5 remaining old tops.

I guess technically I didn't have to buy more ZT-1 from him. I could have just cracked all the old tops and call in to ask for replacement (with the new top design) for all of them, because they're still all under warranty. But I'm sold on this new top design so I wouldn't mind getting a few more new ones anyway as long as he sends me the 5 replacements at the same time.

CDu1FaI.jpg

kyNcMjY.jpg
 
Last edited:
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Booger said:
The new design does look like a major improvement. I wish I had that one.
Click to expand...
If yours is still under warranty and it cracks under normal use (then you should be able to call in to ask for a replacement.
marco forehand said:
My "little piggy"

https://picasaweb.google.com/108180972523750417910/Desktop#slideshow/6243422033404972066

after 15+ years of constant use, just refurbished and working great.

sold as Tennis Ball Charger.

It is an investment that worked out for me (three kids playing junior tournament tennis, 2 college scholarships)

Now I use it for practicing serves and for ball machine balls.
Click to expand...
What pressure do you normally set your Tennis Ball Charger at? One thing I notice is that the flatter balls will collapse at higher pressure. So if you have a mix of balls and you put all of them inside a big container like this, you either try to keep the pressure lower so no balls would collapse, or you use higher pressure and not be able to charge the collapsed balls. But you can't really tell how many balls collapse in the mix to find the optimum pressure because you can't see inside. You can use lower pressure, but then the lower pressure would take longer to recharge the balls. That's why Rebounces use CO2 on their container to address this issue. It allows you to use lower pressure to avoid collapsing balls, but the CO2 will penetrate the balls faster.

But the disadvantage of the CO2 system is that every time you open it up you waste all that CO2, even if all you need is a few balls and not the whole basket for that session. For coaching or serving, needing to use a whole basket of freshly inflated balls, it makes sense to use a big container. But for individual rec players, the smaller container like the ZT-1 or the yellow Tennis Ball Saver makes more sense.

The advantage of the Zombie tube is that you can pump it to higher pressure if you want to recharge faster. And the clear tube lets you know if any of the balls collapse so you can adjust accordingly for optimum pressure. You also don't need to open up all 75 balls at once if you only need a small handful each time you play.

I think in the use case of many balls at once (coaching or serving or ball machine), the Mini Green Tennis Machine using CO2 is the best option.

In the use case for rec players needing only a handful of balls each time, the Zombie Tube is the best option.

If you have many flat balls you want to charge but need to access just a few at a time , multiple Zombie Tubes of 4-ball cans is also the best option.

The soft plastic Pressure Ball is also good for the rec players with up to 8 balls per tube. BUT you shouldn't pump it more than 20 psi (according to its label). So in that respect, the ZT is better because you can pump it a high as just shy of collapsing the ball to faster recharge (although I'd still limit it to 35 psi to avoid cracking the lid).
 
Last edited:
D

Dags

Hall of Fame
@Booger @volusiano

How are your Zombie Tubes performing? The new design looks like a major improvement, and so if you guys are having good results then I'll order some. My main objective is to keep new balls pressurised for a bit longer: a mixture of four-ball cans and playing on carpet means that the felt on my balls doesn't wear very quickly, but playing with some big hitters means that they can have the stuffing knocked out of them!
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
My new Zombie tubes (the thicker top) are working out great. I wouldn't recommend the old top, but the new thicker top seems to hold up pretty well under higher pressure now. Their website is still showing the old pics of the top. Aldric Lee said they were going to update their site with the new pics soon but that was a few weeks ago and still no change. But he told me that they're only shipping with the new top now on new orders. So you should be getting the new design if you order now, I think.

But if your main objective is to just maintain pressure of your balls, I think the yellow Tennis Ball Saver can would do the job just fine by maintaining the 15 psi on your balls until the felt wears out. The Zombie Tube can do this, too, of course. But where it shines is to restore flat balls to original pressure. But it costs a little bit more than the yellow can and requires you to have a pump.
 
Last edited:
D

Dags

Hall of Fame
The Tennis Ball Saver is another that I'd need to import internationally, so it doesn't work out much cheaper. As far as I can tell, it only stores three balls, and over this side of the pond tubes of four are universal. So for that reason, the Zombie Tube is more appealing. I already have a pump from buying the pressureball tubes, and a pressure gauge for checking my car tyres.

I've dropped them an email to check they are shipping the new design (though note your comments earlier in the thread about responsiveness to that form of communication), as replacing any would be a pain for me.

Sounds very promising though.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
The easiest way is to play them often enough so that they go bald before they go flat. That way you don't have to worry about repressurizing them.

Another easy way is to just leave your balls behind at the court for somebody else to enjoy them, if you know that they'll go flat by the next time you get to use them again. So let someone else use them instead of just wasting them away in your possession. I've seen many people do this (leaving their fresh balls behind).
 
F

frank52

Semi-Pro
I purchased two of the Zombie Tube ZT-1 ball pressurizers. So far so good. They are holding air OK. I only pressurize to 25 pounds. At first I went to 35 pounds but had a ball collapse. Note: the ball re-inflates if you slightly reduce the pressure. To make up the cost of the tube ($17 each) I need to save 6 sets of balls. The tubes should last longer than that, although they do have a home-made look to them.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
You can reduce pressure to r
frank52 said:
I purchased two of the Zombie Tube ZT-1 ball pressurizers. So far so good. They are holding air OK. I only pressurize to 25 pounds. At first I went to 35 pounds but had a ball collapse. Note: the ball re-inflates if you slightly reduce the pressure. To make up the cost of the tube ($17 each) I need to save 6 sets of balls. The tubes should last longer than that, although they do have a home-made look to them.
Click to expand...
Yes, the ball will pop back out if you slightly reduce the pressure up to a point. In fact that's the only way to pop the ball back out.

But I want to clarify that if you just stop at that point where the ball pops back out, it will have been too little pressure by then. For example, if your ball collapses at 35 psi, and you reduce the pressure and at around 20 psi the ball pops back out. You can just leave it there at 20 psi, or you can pump more pressure back in to 30 or 32 psi and the ball would not have collapsed again yet because it's still not 35 psi. So at 30-32 psi, the ball hasn't collapse yet, but you're at a higher pressure point and that will help recharge the balls faster than at the 20 psi point where the ball pops back out.

In summary, if one of my balls collapse, I reduce the pressure until it pops back out. But I don't stop there. I would re-inflate the tube back to a few psi shy of where the ball would collapse again in order to give me maximum pressure in the can.
 
F

frank52

Semi-Pro
Got it. I will reduce pressure to re-inflate a collapsed ball, check the pressure, and add a little air.

I have had two ZT-1 Zombie Tubes for a month now and they are holding pressure better than my PressureBall tubes. The zombie tube can go up to 45 psi while pressureball has a limit of 20 psi. I am retiring the pressureball tubes and ordering two more ZT-1 zombie tubes.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
If you already have the PressureBall tubes, I don't see why you need to retire them. I have both types, too, and my strategy is to continue to use the PressureBall tubes to add pressure to flatter balls, since you can't put flatter balls under too much pressure anyway or they'll collapse. And I use the Zombie tubes to add pressure to balls that are not very flat, which can take a lot more pressure before they collapse.

So balls in the Zombie tubes will get recharged faster, while balls in the PressureBall tubes will take longer to recharge. But that's OK. It's still better to put them to use instead of retiring them.

And maybe once every few days or once a week, I'll also top off the PressureBall tubes back to 20psi to replace lost pressure. But the PressureBall tubes are still useful that way. And they can hold up to 8 balls. That's twice as much as a 4-ball Zombie tubes, or almost 3 times as much as a 3-ball Zombie tubes.
 
Tennisist

Tennisist

Professional
I do not know about the revivification...

I got some Zombie Tubes. So far I was unable to revive any of the old balls that have been out of the can for too long and lost their bounce. I've tried the little, high/borderline, and very high pressure (past collapsing), but old balls just would not become new again... Has anyone been able to achieve this? What the secret?

Zombie Tubes seem to be doing a good job keeping the new balls fresh, but once the air is out, I am afraid there is no way to put it back in again.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Tennisist said:
I do not know about the revivification...

I got some Zombie Tubes. So far I was unable to revive any of the old balls that have been out of the can for too long and lost their bounce. I've tried the little, high/borderline, and very high pressure (past collapsing), but old balls just would not become new again... Has anyone been able to achieve this? What the secret?

Zombie Tubes seem to be doing a good job keeping the new balls fresh, but once the air is out, I am afraid there is no way to put it back in again.
Click to expand...
It's possible to revive completely dead balls in my opinion, but it would take much longer to do so.

First you'd have to find the pressure point just before they collapse. Being completely dead balls, that pressure point is going to be pretty low (15-20 psi). Then you may store them in there for a week or two until they are not completely dead, but still fairly flat. At this point you would add more pressure until they collapse again, then back off just a little bit. You may have to do this a few times, first at 20psi, then 25, then 30, then 35, etc. But eventually they will be fully restored.

But it will be a long process, so I'm not so sure if it's worth tying up your Zombie tubes to revive these dead balls instead of using your them to keep newer balls fresh.

If you start out up front using Zombie tubes right away to maintain new balls to keep them fresh, you'll end up wearing out their felt before they go flat. That's how you should use Zombie tubes. Don't just leave new balls out until they're completely dead and then try to revive them. That should not be the use-model you want to follow.

If you have A LOT of balls you need to recharge at once (like for ball machines or coaching, etc), you should look into the Rebounces.com Mini Green Tennis Machine that will be available shortly. They use CO2 gas to recharge the balls faster and at higher volume.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
newpball said:
When balls lose pressure, dispose of them.

:D
Click to expand...
I agree that when balls lose ALL pressure, it's best to dispose of them than to revive them.

When balls lose just a little bit pressure but the felt is still fairly new, it'd be worth recharging them.

But it's best to use these pressure tubes to keep the balls from losing any pressure in the first place.
 
D

Dags

Hall of Fame
I'm hoping the Zombie Tube product is stronger than the customer service. My record with them so far is:

- email query on 14 Feb
- re-send of query on 21 Feb
- response on 5 March

Usually, that sort of delay means I wouldn't bother giving someone by business, but I liked the concept and because a couple of posters here had received the products, I went ahead with the order.

- order in on 5 March
- no email confirmation, other than the Paypal receipt

Deliveries from the US to the UK usually take about two weeks, but that can be extended due to customs. So I've been keeping an eye out for the customs slip to appear in my letterbox.

- dispatch email received on 1 April

Four weeks to ship is pretty bad. I wouldn't have minded if they'd dropped me an email to say 'we're a small company, we're out of stock and there will be a wait whilst we make a new batch'.

Like I say, I'm hoping the product delights when it arrives!
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Yes, I have the exact same poor (actually non-existent) email response and slow shipment and notification like you said with them, too. The only way I can get attention was to call their phone number directly. Some day I'd call several times and nobody answered the phone. Voicemail is as useless as email. Other days Aldric Lee picked up when he's around. I'd been able to get to them live twice, both times with Aldric. I don't know if he's the only person running the show or not, probably is. He probably has another main job since I can't imagine this business is big enough to support him full time.

But if you can get him on the phone, he's great and responsive on the phone.

So I'd give their support an F myself. But their product (only the enhanced version with thicker top and curved notches to keep the wing nuts on) gets an A from me.
 
Last edited:
D

Dags

Hall of Fame
My delivery arrived yesterday: four ZT-1. Based on this comment:

volusiano said:
I also asked him about if they can ship with the 4 ball cans instead of the 3 ball cans.
Click to expand...
It sounds like domestic deliveries come with the tops already on a tube. Internationally, he just ships the tops. This is what I was expecting, partly because of postage costs, and partly because in Europe we almost exclusively play with four ball cans, so anything smaller would be a waste of time.

So the first challenge is to install the tops. I had been saving my Tecnifibre metal cans, but immediately realised they weren't going to be any good: there's a lip at the bottom of the can that's the same size as the one at the top, so there's no way to get the ZT over it. Fortunately I also had some plastic tubes from Dunlop Fort balls lying around... I'm a bit behind on my recycling. :)

On the installation guide, they use this photo:

InstallBottom1W.jpg


and tell you to put pressure on the 'nubs'. The Dunlop tubes don't have the same design, with a flush bottom. For some reason, it also tapers out down there, which meant it was a hell of a job getting the plate over it. I had to really manipulate the tube, and one of them almost looks like it's damaged (the tube, not the ZT cap). I'm going to keep an eye out for some with the 'nub' design down at the club to see if I can bag some.

Once over the base, the caps all installed well. I'm slightly unclear just how tight to screw the washers. I'm slightly wary, as with a tap, if you over-tighten it, you will damage the rubber washer. I'm assuming the same could happen here. I've gone with 'finger tight', and will adjust from there.

I've used three of the tubes to try to revive some older balls. They're not horribly dead, but gone enough to stop playing with them. My pressure readings last night were 27, 26 and 21. This morning they are 26, 25 and 21. So certainly holding well - you've obviously got to release a touch of pressure to take the reading. The fourth tube has some balls that were brand new and hit with for an hour yesterday. I pumped those up to 15, and they were 14 today. I will be using them until they're dead.

Initial impressions are indeed positive. One surprise was that he doesn't include dust caps for the valves. Very easy and cheap to rectify of course, but would have been a very small overhead for a finishing touch. The valve itself does seem pretty sturdy, which is good. Damaging that in the tennis bag may be possible, but provided I'm relatively careful not to throw it about I think it will be ok.
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
Dags said:
The Dunlop tubes don't have the same design, with a flush bottom. For some reason, it also tapers out down there, which meant it was a hell of a job getting the plate over it. I had to really manipulate the tube, and one of them almost looks like it's damaged (the tube, not the ZT cap). I'm going to keep an eye out for some with the 'nub' design down at the club to see if I can bag some.
Click to expand...
I also use the Dunlop 4-can tubes with the flat bottom like yours and I was able to slip the bottom on OK. Not easily, with a bit of effort, but not so bad that the tube looks damaged afterward.

Dags said:
Once over the base, the caps all installed well. I'm slightly unclear just how tight to screw the washers. I'm slightly wary, as with a tap, if you over-tighten it, you will damage the rubber washer. I'm assuming the same could happen here. I've gone with 'finger tight', and will adjust from there.
Click to expand...
I found that if you don't screw the washers on tight enough, the tubes will leak faster. If you open/close the tubes on a daily basis, that may be OK. But if you leave balls in the tubes for a week or two, it won't hold pressure well that long if the washers are not tight enough. I still only hand tight them, but I use a star pattern and tighten them until they won't turn anymore without hurting my fingers too much.

I think eventually you'll need to replace the rubber gaskets at some point when they become too compressed to do a good job of sealing in the air anymore. I hope Zombie Tubes will sell replacement gaskets in high volume for cheap. There's a one year warranty on the tubes anyway so maybe we can get free replacement gaskets during the first year at least.

Dags said:
I've used three of the tubes to try to revive some older balls. They're not horribly dead, but gone enough to stop playing with them. My pressure readings last night were 27, 26 and 21. This morning they are 26, 25 and 21. So certainly holding well - you've obviously got to release a touch of pressure to take the reading. The fourth tube has some balls that were brand new and hit with for an hour yesterday. I pumped those up to 15, and they were 14 today. I will be using them until they're dead.
Click to expand...
I have 10 tubes by now (ordered in 2 waves), and all but 1 are holding pressure well. The one not holding pressure well, I just tried to swap the top with another one tonight to see if it makes any different. At least it'll tell me which part is not working out depending on the outcome after the swap.

Dags said:
Initial impressions are indeed positive. One surprise was that he doesn't include dust caps for the valves. Very easy and cheap to rectify of course, but would have been a very small overhead for a finishing touch. The valve itself does seem pretty sturdy, which is good. Damaging that in the tennis bag may be possible, but provided I'm relatively careful not to throw it about I think it will be ok.
Click to expand...
I had the dirt valves on the PressureBall tubes and found them annoying to take on/off each time so I just left them off altogether. I only see them being necessary on tires where it's real easy to get the dirt into the valves. These tubes aren't exposed to the elements much anyway, so they don't get dirty enough to be concerned about needing the valve.

I have a small ball basket that can hold about 40 balls, so I use the 10 tubes to recharge them and when my other 40 balls start to go flat in about a couple of weeks, the 40 balls inside the tubes are about firm enough to swap them out. At some point when the balls are worn enough, I send them in to rebounces.com for recycling and break out new balls from fresh cans.
 
MathGeek

MathGeek

Hall of Fame
Wilson 1986 said:
sorry, just found it.
I'm not sure the claim, You will play better, more consistent tennis is true.
your technique will make you play better, not a new ball.
Click to expand...

New balls (or inflated ones) is like playing on a faster court and will favor the same strengths as a faster court.

Old balls is like playing on a slower court and will favor the same strengths as a slower court.

zorcy3 said:
recharge tennis balls

Yes it can be done. I have done it. My tank holds 60-68 balls. It would take 2 tanks to do some ball machines. If the ball is relatively new, a month or less, you just need to store them on 15 PSI. If you collect them from around the courts and they are unknown, you have to recharge them around 20-30 PSI. It takes about a week. Every once in a while, you find a few balls that go farther flat. I toss them out. I stated this for my friend. He coaches all ages and uses a LOT of balls. I think I have saved him about $1000 in just the last 10 months.

The tank I made him can go up to 200 PSI. I saw the green machine, nice set up. I like it. I think they should go to Nitrogen instead of CO2 though.
Click to expand...

CO2 will take a bit longer to get into the balls, since it is a bigger molecule.

But it will take longer to diffuse back out for the same reason.
 
elga

elga

Rookie
How long has it taken other domestic customers to receive after ordering? One week after ordering now and no shipping confirmation, no nothing. (apart from the original paypal receipt)
 
newpball

newpball

Legend
MathGeek said:
New balls (or inflated ones) is like playing on a faster court and will favor the same strengths as a faster court.

Old balls is like playing on a slower court and will favor the same strengths as a slower court.
Click to expand...
I wonder, how long have you been playing tennis?

:D
 
Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
mhd said:
I modified a used 6.0 quart pressure cooker for this job. I uninstall the original air pressure release valve and tapped a 1/8 NTP thread on the hole. With a 1/8NPT tee, I could install both a pressure gauge and a air tank valve through this hole. The best part was that the safty features was intact. The parts that I used were
  1. an air tank valve
  2. a 1/8 NPT tee
  3. 1/8 male to male adapter
  4. a used car tire pressure gauge
It can hold about 18 balls. Good for a small batch. The same technique can be applied to a pressure cooker with large capacity.
20160104_182829.jpg
Click to expand...
Still feel uncomfortable explaining this to Homeland Security...............................................................................balls
 
V

volusiano

Hall of Fame
elga said:
How long has it taken other domestic customers to receive after ordering? One week after ordering now and no shipping confirmation, no nothing. (apart from the original paypal receipt)
Click to expand...
Yep, that has been my experience, too. I'm used to great service almost everywhere else, at least when it comes to notification of shipment and tracking numbers, etc. But not these guys. They just don't bother. If you're patient enough, eventually you'll get it in the mail. If you're not, try to call their number repeatedly and if you're lucky, you may be able to catch them live.

I've been having some issue with some of my Zombie Tubes not holding pressure for long. I suspected that the seal is not doing its job anymore. I emailed to request new seals under warranty. Got a reply from Matthew Lee right away, saying he'll ship them out. A week later, nothing in the mail. Sent another email asking him, but no response so far and it's been another week.

It's really hit or miss with their service.
 
elga

elga

Rookie
volusiano said:
Yep, that has been my experience, too. I'm used to great service almost everywhere else, at least when it comes to notification of shipment and tracking numbers, etc. But not these guys. They just don't bother. If you're patient enough, eventually you'll get it in the mail. If you're not, try to call their number repeatedly and if you're lucky, you may be able to catch them live.

I've been having some issue with some of my Zombie Tubes not holding pressure for long. I suspected that the seal is not doing its job anymore. I emailed to request new seals under warranty. Got a reply from Matthew Lee right away, saying he'll ship them out. A week later, nothing in the mail. Sent another email asking him, but no response so far and it's been another week.

It's really hit or miss with their service.
Click to expand...

Good call, I'll keep trying to give them a buzz. Hope you get your replacement soon! Thanks for the advice
 
D

d0lph1n

New User
I was thinking to buy a seal lid from home depot / amazon that fits a 5-gal bucket and just install a schrader valve on it since my bike pump has built in pressure gauge. Anyway, a decent pressure gauge costs just $6-10.

If it works, it will do aprox 40 balls in the same time and it will costs aprox $10-25.

The bucket & the seal lid should be able to handle a 20-30 psi. I’ll post the results in a few days.
 
Last edited:
M

MiPeGr

Rookie
Bucket & lid won't stand anywhere near 20 psig. If lid is 100 sq. in. that means lid would need to hold against 2000 lb. of force. Do you need to apply 1 ton of force to remove the lid by hand?
 
R

Ruark

Professional
I've found the best results just using plain vanilla yellow-and-white Ballsavers. If the balls have already lost some pressure, the trick is to open and re-close the Ballsavers after 3 or 4 days. The pressure inside the Ballsaver declines as it is absorbed into the balls, so open and closing re-pressurizes it. I have some balls I've been using for over a month, and they're as hard and bouncy as new ones.
 
D

d0lph1n

New User
MiPeGr said:
Bucket & lid won't stand anywhere near 20 psig. If lid is 100 sq. in. that means lid would need to hold against 2000 lb. of force. Do you need to apply 1 ton of force to remove the lid by hand?
Click to expand...

Right, it didn’t work at all. It was a $10 complete failure. Next, I’ll build it from a pvc pipe.
 
O

obana48

Rookie
What about using hydropneumatic tanks (diaphragm tanks, membrane tanks)? Some of them can have large enough flange diameters for a ball. By removing the diaphragm (membrane) they can be used to pressurize balls. What do you think guys?
varem-plusvarem-tank-500x500.jpg

This kind of tanks should have minimum leakage I believe.
 
Last edited:
M

Maximus XXIV

Rookie
These would probably work well but have a disadvantage of having to unscrew all those bolts every time you needed to charge the balls. I see an advantage of being easy to get balls out. The Corny Kegs really require removal of balls one at a time. I do not see this as a huge advantage though, because I like to squeeze then all anyway so I can pull ones that are still under pressurized.
 
O

obana48

Rookie
Maximus XXIV said:
These would probably work well but have a disadvantage of having to unscrew all those bolts every time you needed to charge the balls. I see an advantage of being easy to get balls out. The Corny Kegs really require removal of balls one at a time. I do not see this as a huge advantage though, because I like to squeeze then all anyway so I can pull ones that are still under pressurized.
Click to expand...


I agree. The Corny Keg should be a better solution.

Unscrewing those bolts is disadvantage. The only advantage is that this kind of tanks are almost ready to use with car pump and car pressure checker. As I understood correctly you will need to disassemble it and cut the bladder (leaving and installing its throat back) to start using it. Also these type of tanks can be quite large. The smaller ones shold hold 1.5bar (~22psi) working air pressure (not sure what happened above 22psi)

Following video speaks for itself
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Gamma Revive Ball Pressurizer
Replies
26
Views
4K
LGQ7
L
tennisfreak15347
a ball reviver?
Replies
18
Views
2K
brownbearfalling
brownbearfalling
N
Must I keep a ball in the repressurizer?
Replies
1
Views
642
oble
oble
A
Home made tennis ball pressurizer
Replies
15
Views
8K
d-quik
d-quik
topseed
Reviving tennis balls
Replies
6
Views
942
dangros
dangros
Top