How long will a new can of balls last unopened?

[uofmrocky]

This may seem like a stupid question..but I'm hoping one of you experts out there know the answer. I have a case of tennis balls that have been sitting in my basement unopened, how long will those cans last? Can I open those cans 4 years from now and them still be in good New condition? Thanks for all replies.

Rocky

 

[volusiano]

I still have cans that I bought 4 years ago that are still good when I open them recently. Mine are the Dunlops. It really depends on how well the seal is made. I wouldn't wait too long and would try to use them up soon, though.

 

[khw72004]

I buy balls in bulk and it usually takes a year to finish using them all. But I have to say they last as long as they were not opened.

 

[Ken Honecker]

Gather around younglings as I tell a tale of days gone by. I just got back into tennis last Spring and so I hunted out my Arthur Ashe Comp I, toddled out to my storage area, and pulled down a half dozen unopended cans of Wilson tennis balls that had been enduring temperture ranges of -20 to 100+ for almost 15 years. They were absolutely fine. So I wouldn't worry about unopened balls dying on you in this life time.

Does anyone else remember back in the 70's when they sold those pressurized devices where you put your 3 balls in and gave it a couple of pumps to keep them from going flat? I really can't say whether they did anything or not and after a ball is all dirty and bald they aren't much good anyway but they sold for a while.

 

[Irvin]

This may seem like a stupid question..but I'm hoping one of you experts out there know the answer. I have a case of tennis balls that have been sitting in my basement unopened, how long will those cans last? Can I open those cans 4 years from now and them still be in good New condition? Thanks for all replies.

Rocky

Why wait 4 more years to open them? Open'em and see if they are any good, or you could sell them on the 'bay.

Irvin

 

[J011yroger]

I had several cans of penns that I had forgotten about in one of my bags around the house for about 2 years.

Went to play with them, and they were totally dead/unplayable.

Would not bounce above my knee from shoulder height.

So I suppose it depends.

Can was pressurized aswell, not as if the seal went bad.

J

 

[mlewis721]

A case of tennis balls has a shelf-life of 6 months. After that, expect to find a significant portion of the case to have lost pressure.

 

[GPG]

I had several cans of penns that I had forgotten about in one of my bags around the house for about 2 years.

Went to play with them, and they were totally dead/unplayable.

Would not bounce above my knee from shoulder height.

So I suppose it depends.

Can was pressurized aswell, not as if the seal went bad.

J

I would say that it depends on the brand. Penn, for example, don't last that much and aren't that good in quality (unless you are playing with ProPenn)

 

[J011yroger]

I would say that it depends on the brand. Penn, for example, don't last that much and aren't that good in quality (unless you are playing with ProPenn)

Personally I prefer the ATP. But the ProPenn are not bad either.

I like a heavy, soft ball.

These were two cans of regular duty penns, that I had gotten in a case of extra duty over the summer. And since it is rare for me to play on clay in the summer, I stashed them away somewhere. A year and a half later, I was going to play on indoor clay, and thought to bust them out of storage.

The results, ummmm....sucked.

J

 

[nomie]

I would agree it depends on the brand. More specifically the quality of raw materials that were used.

After not playing for 12 years I found that most of my old stash of balls has turned rock-hard. Even the ones still in pressurised cans. Babolat balls was the exception though. They were still perfect. Very impressive.

 

[dennis10is]

They lose pressure if stored for too long. How much probably depends on your sensitivity to lost of pressure.

Lots of people play with dead balls so a new can that has some pressure lost would still few "new" to these people. IF you are used to new cans every time to hit then you will notice the difference.

I found a mixture of 1 year and 2 year old cans( from when I purchased them) and all were dead in that they did not play like new ones. Multiple tennis partners confirmed that these were different than the usual ones.

Dunplop Grand Prix, Wilson US Open, Penn Pro all suffered lost of liveliness.

I heard that they are beginning to sell wine in plastic bottles, mainly to restaurants. Reason is that plastic is lighter so they can ship more fluids. Reason restaurants are the first wave of customers is because

1: the restaurant patrons will not know that it came from a bottle (selling by the glass only)
2: plastic bottles are not completely air tight, while glass bottles are. I didn't know this. So, I infer that plastic tennis cans are also not completely air tight hence the very slow loss of pressure.

 

[Migelowsky]

A few months ago I found a can of Spalding balls from the early 80's, I opened it thinking I wouldn't hear the Tssss, but I did and they were in perfect condition

 

[BORISK]

Any brand after 4 years are dead. If not - you are lucky.

 

[Irvin]

If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it does it make a moise? If a can of balls is unopened how can you tell if the balls are dead or not.

Irvin

 

[steve728]

I just found a old can of balls in our storage room. It's funny that there's an on-going thread about the very thing I was wondering about....

 

[alidisperanza]

Maybe I've had bad luck but I've bought cases of the regular Penn balls and have had the pleasure of finding them half-flat or dead brand new! Bollocks!!