tennis balls - help?

[desmond]

Hi ,

I joined the forum partly because I like beer and used to brew a little in my youth but to be honest I am interested in asking a bit of a weird question. I play tennis and I'm thinking of using a cheap barrel (eg from wilkos 30-00) to put tennis balls in to keep them pressurised.

I won't bore you with details but basically tennis balls can be made to last 4-5 times longer if you keep them at 14 psi ( hence the pfizz when you open a tube). Now I know a keg or barrel can do the job with a big enough opening but I'm wondering about the c02 injector valve. Can you use a bike pump on a co2 valve to force air into a barrel ? I'm talking about a good pump with a psi meter and adapter for both types of valves on bikes - eg that can work on a car tyre also.

If not could a bike valve be substituted for the co2 injector valve ? Or could the co2 injector tubes be used instead (tennis balls don't mind co2)? If so - how do you measure the psi?


Anyone tried this or know someone who has? And would it render the barrel unfit for later use for brewing?

Thanks for any ideas. Anyone for tennis? :thumb:

 

[Leon103]

Why would you want to do this? You will be spending a lot on co2 because every time you took a ball out the pressure would go

 

[desmond]

Why would you want to do this? You will be spending a lot on co2 because every time you took a ball out the pressure would go

You would take all the balls out together. It's a way of storing practice balls long term - also you can re-pressurize balls - if I got 20 in a barrel then it's worth it. New tennis balls (decent ones ) are 4.99 up to 7.99 a tube for 4 good balls - do the maths. Often they get thrown away after 3-4 hours use. You wouldn't believe the wastage at a tennis club.

I have a small pressure tube for 8 balls that I can use on a day to day basis.

Watch wimbledon - they have new balls every 9 games - the old balls have lost pressure.

 

[chub1]

You would take all the balls out together. It's a way of storing practice balls long term - also you can re-pressurize balls - if I got 20 in a barrel then it's worth it. New tennis balls (decent ones ) are 4.99 up to 7.99 a tube for 4 good balls - do the maths. Often they get thrown away after 3-4 hours use. You wouldn't believe the wastage at a tennis club.

I have a small pressure tube for 8 balls that I can use on a day to day basis.

Watch wimbledon - they have new balls every 9 games - the old balls have lost pressure.

I used to do a lot of work for a tennis club in Wimbledon and the wastage of balls is shocking. Can possibly understand pro's needing new balls each game but simply can't understand why run of the mill,everyday wanabies should need them.
It's all a load of
balls:lol:

 

[Godsdog]

Hi ,

I joined the forum partly because I like beer and used to brew a little in my youth but to be honest I am interested in asking a bit of a weird question. I play tennis and I'm thinking of using a cheap barrel (eg from wilkos 30-00) to put tennis balls in to keep them pressurised.

I won't bore you with details but basically tennis balls can be made to last 4-5 times longer if you keep them at 14 psi ( hence the pfizz when you open a tube). Now I know a keg or barrel can do the job with a big enough opening but I'm wondering about the c02 injector valve. Can you use a bike pump on a co2 valve to force air into a barrel ? I'm talking about a good pump with a psi meter and adapter for both types of valves on bikes - eg that can work on a car tyre also.

If not could a bike valve be substituted for the co2 injector valve ? Or could the co2 injector tubes be used instead (tennis balls don't mind co2)? If so - how do you measure the psi?


Anyone tried this or know someone who has? And would it render the barrel unfit for later use for brewing?

Thanks for any ideas. Anyone for tennis? :thumb:

seeing as you just need air pressure and not CO2 pressure,go get a b&q manual paint pressure sprayer fit an appropriate connector( Schrader tyre valve) on the end and hook up to your plastic barell and get a cheap digital tyre pressure guage,bobs your uncle:thumb:

 

[Pawlo7671]

My balls are under pressure :lol:

 

[Clint]

Well you learn something new every day! My terriers get through loads of tennis balls...

 

[chewie]

A foot pump that is used for cars should work fine for you, I'm not sure about the longevity of a pressure barrel though with 1 bar of pressure in it, i think I've read somewhere that they are designed for around 5 psi at which point the blow of valve kicks in.

 

[Godsdog]

A foot pump that is used for cars should work fine for you, I'm not sure about the longevity of a pressure barrel though with 1 bar of pressure in it, i think I've read somewhere that they are designed for around 5 psi at which point the blow of valve kicks in.

Not if you fit a schrader valve in a plain cap and leave out the S30 valve

 

[desmond]

A foot pump that is used for cars should work fine for you, I'm not sure about the longevity of a pressure barrel though with 1 bar of pressure in it, i think I've read somewhere that they are designed for around 5 psi at which point the blow of valve kicks in.

So the foot pump adaptor will fit over the co2 valve ? Do you think they are compatable?

 

[desmond]

A foot pump that is used for cars should work fine for you, I'm not sure about the longevity of a pressure barrel though with 1 bar of pressure in it, i think I've read somewhere that they are designed for around 5 psi at which point the blow of valve kicks in.

The one I'm looking at says up to 15 psi - I can reinforce the barrel , my issue is getting the air in there using a pump - or replacing the co2 valve with another valve.

 

[desmond]

seeing as you just need air pressure and not CO2 pressure,go get a b&q manual paint pressure sprayer fit an appropriate connector( Schrader tyre valve) on the end and hook up to your plastic barell and get a cheap digital tyre pressure guage,bobs your uncle:thumb:

sort of makes sense but what are you saying? on what end? hook up to what?

 

[desmond]

Not if you fit a schrader valve in a plain cap and leave out the S30 valve

You can buy a plain cap? a cap without any hole is that? That would be compatible with a barrel?

 

[chewie]

So the foot pump adaptor will fit over the co2 valve ? Do you think they are compatable?

No, you need to change the valve as GD says. A foot pump is more than capable of getting you the pressure you need, whether a plastic barrel will withstand 1 bar of pressure or not over time with temp fluctuations or not is another question.

 

[Godsdog]

So the foot pump adaptor will fit over the co2 valve ? Do you think they are compatable?

Nope they are not compatible,you need to buy a Schrader tyre valve, 99P from China on eBay if you can wait for delivery,from the UK I have no idea of price,but are simple to fit

 

[Godsdog]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Bolt-in...s-dust-caps-/262949411230?hash=item3d3901999e
this is what you need to fit into the barell cap although its for 4 when you only need one(you can as I said buy them separate from china 99P) and you will have to probably double up on the S30 valve rubber if the cap is fitted with one to stop it blowing off at low pressure,incidently the suggestion to use a car foot pump is a good one as most car owners possess one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Unive...531724?hash=item2f0661bd8c:g:3wEAAOSwPWRZVkIl

 

[desmond]

Nope they are not compatible,you need to buy a Schrader tyre valve, 99P from China on eBay if you can wait for delivery,from the UK I have no idea of price,but are simple to fit

Now we are talking! So I buy a schrader valve ? , I can do that. I have a schrader valve from an old innertube but I'm assuming you mean something that screws into the hole for the co2 valve? So let's be specific about what you are saying. I can take the cap off a pressure barrel , take out the co 2 valve and replace it with a scrhader valve and it will still be airtight? When you say "simple to fit" do you mean just unscrewing the nut for the co2 valve and then putting the schrader valve into the hole?

You said "easy to fit" as if you had done this before , have you? ,but if the schrader valve is thinner than the hole for the co2 valve then how does this work?

 

[desmond]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Bolt-in...s-dust-caps-/262949411230?hash=item3d3901999e
this is what you need to fit into the barell cap although its for 4 when you only need one(you can as I said buy them separate from china 99P) and you will have to probably double up on the S30 valve rubber if the cap is fitted with one to stop it blowing off at low pressure,incidently the suggestion to use a car foot pump is a good one as most car owners possess one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Unive...531724?hash=item2f0661bd8c:g:3wEAAOSwPWRZVkIl

missed this post , sorry - what's an S30 (= co2 valve?)

 

[Godsdog]

Now we are talking! So I buy a schrader valve ? , I can do that. I have a schrader valve from an old innertube but I'm assuming you mean something that screws into the hole for the co2 valve? So let's be specific about what you are saying. I can take the cap off a pressure barrel , take out the co 2 valve and replace it with a scrhader valve and it will still be airtight? When you say "simple to fit" do you mean just unscrewing the nut for the co2 valve and then putting the schrader valve into the hole?

You said "easy to fit" as if you had done this before , have you? ,but if the schrader valve is thinner than the hole for the co2 valve then how does this work?

The hole the S30 is fitted into is far too big for a screw in Schrader valve so you leave the S30 valve in and mount the Schrader valve along side it in a smaller hole,incidentally what barrel is it,a king keg or budget barrel? If its the budget one can you get a tennis ball through its kneck diameter
Yes I have fitted them in my keg caps alongside the S30s

 

[terrym]

I have fitted a car type valve (see below) to a blank cap for the 2" opening on a standard barrel. I use it to pressure test barrels. I use a bike track pump to pump air into the barrel and a tyre pressure gauge to monitor the pressure. Although barrels are usually stamped max pressure 15psi(g) I don't go above 12 psig on the gauge
If there is space on a Wilko pressure barrel cap to fit one of these that's the way to go imo. I assume you cant get a tennis ball through a 2" cap opening.
You will need to drill a hole 11.5mm in which to push the valve. It will be a tight fit but washing up liquid will help you snap it in place.
I scrounged a few valves from a tyre fitting place, although they are available from ebay for a few ��£��£.

But all this assumes that the thickness of the cap does not signioficantly exceed the recessed thickness allowance on the valve. For the 2" cap it is a good fit.