Aramith Manufacturing Defect?

[wlorcb]

Just pulled the plug on getting a set of Aramith Tournament Champion balls after playing for a year with Premier. After reading all the stuff on here, the first thing I did was weigh them all. 3 were at 141 bordering on 142 and the rest were 142, so I was quite impressed by that.

While playing today I noticed a small blemish on the blue ball that is maybe 1/16 inch in size. I only noticed it while respotting it. I can actually feel the difference when I run my fingernail over it. It's not like it is indented, just that it looks matt instead of shiny. I checked all the other balls, and all seem fine.
As I have only played 2 frames with these, I cannot believe it is wear.
Is this a manufacturing defect and should I contact Aramith or where I bought them from? I tried to take a pic, but the blemish is not visible.
thanks

[DeanH]

As with anything, you should contact who you bought the item from and if they can not help with a replacement then contact Aramith (Saluc company).
What do you actually feel, difference in surface finish?

[Danger Steve]

Just pulled the plug on getting a set of Aramith Tournament Champion balls after playing for a year with Premier. After reading all the stuff on here, the first thing I did was weigh them all. 3 were at 141 bordering on 142 and the rest were 142, so I was quite impressed by that.

While playing today I noticed a small blemish on the blue ball that is maybe 1/16 inch in size. I only noticed it while respotting it. I can actually feel the difference when I run my fingernail over it. It's not like it is indented, just that it looks matt instead of shiny. I checked all the other balls, and all seem fine.
As I have only played 2 frames with these, I cannot believe it is wear.
Is this a manufacturing defect and should I contact Aramith or where I bought them from? I tried to take a pic, but the blemish is not visible.
thanks

Are those the ‘3G’ version??

[wlorcb]

Are those the ‘3G’ version??

Yep. I was quite surprised that they were that close in weight. They probably do a production run and pull out all the balls that can make it into the 1G sets for as many of those that they need. Those that don't make the grade would auto go into the 3G sets, but they would also include any left overs that would be over spec for the standard 3G sets.

[wlorcb]

As with anything, you should contact who you bought the item from and if they can not help with a replacement then contact Aramith (Saluc company).
What do you actually feel, difference in surface finish?

When I played today I took a close look at all the balls. The white and black also have similar marks. I checked the blue from my Premier set and it does also(blue is the easiest to see). I guess it is just a mark from playing, but I would have thought that they would have been more durable than that. I guess that's why they sell ball polish

[vmax]

I would suspect that all Aramith balls have this problem, their phenolic resin is a softer material than the previously used super crystalate so it cannot be so highly polished. Those matt patches are probably the causes of the many kicks you get using these balls, chalk would stick more readily to these patches and there would be more friction on contact with one of these patches anyway.
Like I've always said about these balls, they're not fit for purpose and are only used because of an industrial takeover that stopped production of super crystalate.

[Neil Taperell]

Lots of marks on mine ……...a few don't come off either .

[Mark187187]

I have an aramith set I use for pool. I have these marks also. I am almost certain they are as a result of friction/heat when chalk gets on the cue ball and then contacts OB.

[Nifty50]

I’ve often heard of balls having “burn marks”. Sort of makes sense if you think that the balls can be spinning very fast on occasion. Bound to be lots of friction generated. Maybe one reason the pros don’t use a set for too long.

[Danger Steve]

I see you can pick up new sets of Super Crystalate still.. Does anyone know the weight difference and playing difference is between these and the Aramith?? I was all set for buying the 3G Aramith but after reading this I’m not sure??

[itsnoteasy]

I have a set of TCs , I have heard of these ( white ) spots appearing on the balls but I have never seen it. It doesn't happen on my set, there are a few lads that have 1gs in the club, never seen it playing with them. Play in other clubs that use bothTCs and 1gs and have never seen it on those sets either, I'm really surprised to hear it seems more common than I thought.
l have sets of super crystalate balls from different decades, the best set I have is the black box version that was made in Belgium but all sets are playable there is no difference in weight really they will average around 142g the biggest difference is the sound, they make a much harsher click noise when struck off each other than the modern TCs do. For the price you can get them for they are well worth the money imo.
Thought of another difference, the colours of the balls can be different from what we are used to, the yellow can be more mustard, the blue lighter brown and pink can be different , black and reds are the same as today's balls , none of this makes any difference to how they play of course.

[Mark187187]

I think it's probably more common with some of the newer chalks which seem to leave more residue on the cue ball.

[wlorcb]

Good to hear from some others. At least I didn't make more of an idiot of myself by asking for a replacement for a non problem. I looked an all my reds, but no marks. I guess the blue(and I only saw it initially because it was oriented perfectly when I respotted it) is just easier to see on.

[wlorcb]

I see you can pick up new sets of Super Crystalate still.. Does anyone know the weight difference and playing difference is between these and the Aramith?? I was all set for buying the 3G Aramith but after reading this I’m not sure??

I checked on Amazon and the seller that i bought from has Super Crystalate for $80 more. But when I did a search it said that production stopped in the 90's and anything marked as Super Crystalate is actually the same phenolic resin. I just checked Aramiths website and they do not show anything other than the phenolic balls. Do you have a link to a supplier of SC balls?

I just check the website of the seller, and they do show SC balls as a separate entry from the TC and 1G balls. However the product description says they are resin and all the other copy are the same as the TC balls. Maybe it is the 'Vitrified Surface Brightness' that makes a difference.

[Danger Steve]

I checked on Amazon and the seller that i bought from has Super Crystalate for $80 more. But when I did a search it said that production stopped in the 90's and anything marked as Super Crystalate is actually the same phenolic resin. I just checked Aramiths website and they do not show anything other than the phenolic balls. Do you have a link to a supplier of SC balls?

I just check the website of the seller, and they do show SC balls as a separate entry from the TC and 1G balls. However the product description says they are resin and all the other copy are the same as the TC balls. Maybe it is the 'Vitrified Surface Brightness' that makes a difference.

https://www.samleisure.co.uk/product...et-2-116-52mm/