Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

you can put up to 7 of your 20 moonrocks into your robot.

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

Yes, but those come from the 20 originally given to your team.

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

We too picked up about 12 of these at Walmart, and within minutes of them arriving, one of them snapped. This is a bit worrisome in that each match will most likely have a few of these busted. In a typical regional with a 100 or so matches - they will need to supply several hundred extra. Unlike the ringers from 07 and the balls from 04 that can be stored flat, these will take up a bit more space!!

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

Thank you for clearing up the confusion.

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

Im not sure, we have been punting them around for quite a wile now and they still seem to be holding up quite ok, a bit loose i guess, but o well, fun stuff, its FRC!!!

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

When you first recieve your new ball it has a rating of 5+ years old. Does this mean the rating would then be inaccurate, because the ball breaking at a glue joint with sharp plastic corners could mean danger. and if there were enough broken and enough problems/complaints. lol there may be a recall on the balls :ahh:

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

Some "broken" joints can be easily fixed with some patience if they "break" right below a line of stitching.

I felt a tounge & groove/ dovetail type connection on the end of the plastic strip & was able to manipulate it within the fabric and snap it back together. All the years of hacking & fixing parts as part of the field reset crew is paying off I guess. lol

I haven't seen one without the fabric on it, but these things are going to get really mangled I do agree.
At least they won't leave foam all over the field though like the poof balls. Oh wells, no cool foam skid marks the full length of the field this year. HA!

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

That explains why they've been discontinued (supposedly)...

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

All 4 of the ones we found (& more other teams found) at the store were labeled (c)2007 & in a box shown here (or just loose from being played with at the store):



The ones in the kit have a simple tag on them & say (c) 2009.

Makes sense they were discontinued, & possibly the company was contacted by FIRST to make new ones??
I'm just guessing here though.



edit: Btw, I should probably give credit where credit is due for the picture.
Thanks Team 228 for the pic on FB I linked here! lol

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

They were probably "discontinued" because FIRST gave such a massive order for them...

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

Thanks for the helpful tip; our was "broken" within an hour of getting it (by 12:40 at kickoff, to be exact), but I too noticed that it was a manufactured joint as opposed to something actually snapped. I'll manipulate it back on Monday and maybe add a dab of adhesive in there with a needle or something.

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

I noticed that when the balls we purchased at Wallmart break straight across the band at a 90 degree angle, however the bands on balls from kickoff seemed to have broken at an angle creating a sharp point that would poke through the fabric.

I wonder if the (c)2007 balls are constructed slightly differently from the (c) 2009 balls?

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

[quote=Elgin Clock;791553]

I felt a tounge & groove/ dovetail type connection on the end of the plastic strip & was able to manipulate it within the fabric and snap it back together. All the years of hacking & fixing parts as part of the field reset crew is paying off I guess. lol[quote]

One of our teammates went to Wall Mart to buy some orbit balls, but all the balls were broken. He talked to the manager and was able to buy them for 2 dollars each instead of 10. While we were tossing them around during the meeting one of our other teammates discovered what you found and we were able to fix most of them.

Also, it wouldnt hurt to practice with some broken balls, thats why the teammate bought them. There is a very high chance that you will be playing with broken balls at a competition, and you want to be able to accommodate for that.
Joey

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

What do you expect they are made in China and sold at Wal-Mart..... that's like THE single worst combo for quality of products in the world!

Re: Orbit balls breaking
 

I'm sure we'll see pictures of both without the fabric on them as teams destroy these in practicing with them.