Hard Rubber on one Rail
3/26/2010 9:28:55 AM
Hard Rubber on one Rail
My Brunswick table is five years old. Half of one side rail has always had harder rubber compared to all other rails. Now it seems that the "bad" rubber is even worse - balls barely rebound - they just make a thud. I am planning to disassemble that side of the table to see what's wrong. Can anybody advise what I am likely to find, or is it even worth the trouble to check? I cannot afford to hire someone to do the work. Thanks!
Hard Rubber on one Rail
Replies & Comments
quickshot on 3/26/2010 10:11:53 AMYou are closing the barn door after the cow got out. if the table is 5 yrs old you should have had it checked then when the trouble was apparent. he onlt thing you can do is take it off and see what the problem is. If you find the rail has hardened all you can do is replace it. If it comes to that I would advise that you replace all the rails so they are consistent around the the table.
chinupman on 3/26/2010 11:05:17 AM
I wonder if the guys who assembled my table may have left a rubber protector of some kind on the rail that is "bad". Does anyone know - are there protectors for the rubber that should be removed before assembling?.
- quickshot on 3/26/2010 11:29:56 AM
Either way you are going to have to take it off and look. Or, your other option is live with it which i do not think you want to do.
Mitch Alsup on 3/26/2010 11:47:41 AM
I am assuming that you are calling the rubber hard because of the way the balls bounce off it. There is a small chance that the bolts holding the rail to the bed are not properly tightened (10-15 pound-feet) and that the thud is from the rail not holding still while the ball bounces off.
At least it's something to check before disassembling the table.
- quickshot on 3/26/2010 12:18:41 PM
Good point Mitch. He's been living with the problem for 5 yrs and maybe the bolts have worked loose to the point where they creating a more serious problem than he had.
Thanks for the ideas. Actually, on the bad rail it is extremely hard to push on the edge of the rubber where the balls make contact. I tend to think there is a piece of wood of plastic wrapped around the edge to protect it. I'll be taking the rail apart next week and will post my findings.
- quickshot on 3/26/2010 12:35:31 PM
Okay. Lets us know. Should be interesting.
Pooltable911 on 3/27/2010 4:37:47 PMYou have a bad cushion. The filler in the rubber is drying out and turning the rubber hard as rock. Brunswick Supperspeed cushions have gone down in quality over the last decade. You should hire a good mechanic and get all the cushions replaced. I recommend the Diamond Black cushions. They are k-55 profile like the cushions on your table. If you don't want to spend the money than I would get the generic cushions from Muellers.
- quickshot on 3/27/2010 5:08:18 PM
Good piece of info. Did not know about Mueller's.
Well, I peeled back the cover on my bad rail cushion today. Also peeled back some cover on a good rail for comparison. Looks like dry rot on the bad cushion rubber. It is dark compared to the pinkish color of the good cushion. I'm surprised 1) that any rubber would dry rot so fast (5 years) and 2) that only one out of six cushions went bad. One reason I bought Brunswick is that I heard so many stories about 100 year old tables with good original cushions. Thanks Pooltable911 for your answer.
terry bare on 3/29/2010 1:40:45 PM
I googled, "how long does the rubber on pool table cushions usually last", and came up with numerous sites, with an array of information on the subject. I'm sure they would be of interest for you.
- quickshot on 3/29/2010 1:45:54 PM
It was probablty a bad piece from day one and not noticed, It may have been rotting from the inside.
Hard Rubber on one Rail
- Title: Hard Rubber on one Rail
- Author: chinupman (Mike Dreher)
- Published: 3/26/2010 9:28:55 AM
