BallReviews

General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: Pinbuster on February 15, 2018, 09:26:01 PM

Title: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: Pinbuster on February 15, 2018, 09:26:01 PM
Showed up at the lanes tonight to bowl and they turned the lanes on for practice.

I was the first on my pair to throw, my ball landed on the lane and it looked like someone had kicked it to the left a foot and it then proceeded to hit the 7 pin.

Everyone else on the pair threw and either guttered in the left channel or got the 7 pin.

I was finally able to get a blue dot to the right of the head pin but it was a struggle and it still started hooking at the 10 foot mark.

Turned out the lane machine had stripped and hadn't put any lane conditioner down on the lane.

They stopped practice and tried to run the lanes but they couldn't the machine to put down any oil.

The league then voted to postpone the league for one week.

I've bowled on some messed up conditions, dry, extreme wet, but this would have been a real challenge if we had gone ahead and bowled.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: HackJandy on February 15, 2018, 09:44:25 PM
That sucks.  Still put some of this on a plastic pancake ball and you'll be set (until someone reports you for cheating, very not USBC approved lol).  Its what I use now on my 7yo's ball for open bowling and it makes balls go dead straight.  Does smell like gun oil for a few days though.  -
www.walmart.com/ip/DuPont-Teflon-Silicone-Lubricant-10-oz/49235089
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: Impending Doom on February 15, 2018, 09:57:50 PM
Turtle Wax works wonders too
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: BallReviews-Removed0385 on February 15, 2018, 10:01:39 PM

The lane machine stripped, but didn't oil. 

Is the mechanic paying attention at all?  Can he not see that the lanes are lacking that clear, shiny stuff that goes onto the lane surface?  This boggles my mind.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: charlest on February 16, 2018, 04:59:53 AM

The lane machine stripped, but didn't oil. 

Is the mechanic paying attention at all?  Can he not see that the lanes are lacking that clear, shiny stuff that goes onto the lane surface?  This boggles my mind.


Except maybe in your house, managed by you, why would you believe that the machine guy would even look at the just oiled lanes, except out of sheer boredom?

I'm not being pessimistic, just reporting what I've seen maybe 95% of the time, watching guys putting down oil.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: storybook123 on February 16, 2018, 07:43:46 AM
you should have bowled then the USBC would say your averages are way lower, and rerate your league to a sports shot.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: spmcgivern on February 16, 2018, 07:54:42 AM

The lane machine stripped, but didn't oil. 

Is the mechanic paying attention at all?  Can he not see that the lanes are lacking that clear, shiny stuff that goes onto the lane surface?  This boggles my mind.


A lot of the centers here have a walker type machine and it is "set it and forget it."
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: BallReviews-Removed0385 on February 16, 2018, 09:27:00 AM

We have the "lane walker" machine here, but if the mechanic doesn't even watch it run one lane he's got some explaining to do.  The owner has $40,000 invested in that machine and wants the mechanic close by in case of a malfunction or the like.

The machine we have (Kegel Flex) won't even go down the lane if one (or both) the oil tanks, water tank, or cleaner tank is empty.  It sits there and beeps until the mechanic comes to investigate. 


Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: Pinbuster on February 16, 2018, 11:07:05 AM
I believe the machine is a kegal kustodian ion.

The lane man watches the machine and cleans the approaches at the same time.

The impression I have is that it had oil in the tank but was not putting any down.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: ksucat on February 16, 2018, 12:02:00 PM
Funny, I was talking to someone who was getting ready to go bowl this league last night.  He said the lane machine has been pretty inconsistent all year.  He heard it wasn't stripping correctly before.  Stripping isn't nearly as important as putting down some oil.

I've seen lanes not get stripped at all, sport shot left programmed in machine, but haven't had lanes with no oil. 

Sure does seem like lane man wasn't paying attention.  Probably just cleaning approach and spacing off. 

It's really funny because it didn't happen to me.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: BallReviews-Removed0385 on February 16, 2018, 12:57:43 PM
I believe the machine is a kegal kustodian ion.

The lane man watches the machine and cleans the approaches at the same time.

The impression I have is that it had oil in the tank but was not putting any down.

On the Ion machine there is a switch that allows the machine to clean only, without oiling, in case that is needed.  This happens when people come to inspect the lanes each year so they aren't slipping all over the place.  I wonder if that was accidentally selected.  Either way, he should be occasionally watching whether the machine is actually applying oil to the lanes...

Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: HackJandy on February 16, 2018, 02:46:32 PM
>It's really funny because it didn't happen to me.

Empathy is for suckers lol.  JK.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: bradl on February 16, 2018, 03:05:05 PM
Showed up at the lanes tonight to bowl and they turned the lanes on for practice.

I was the first on my pair to throw, my ball landed on the lane and it looked like someone had kicked it to the left a foot and it then proceeded to hit the 7 pin.

Everyone else on the pair threw and either guttered in the left channel or got the 7 pin.

I was finally able to get a blue dot to the right of the head pin but it was a struggle and it still started hooking at the 10 foot mark.

Turned out the lane machine had stripped and hadn't put any lane conditioner down on the lane.

They stopped practice and tried to run the lanes but they couldn't the machine to put down any oil.

The league then voted to postpone the league for one week.

I've bowled on some messed up conditions, dry, extreme wet, but this would have been a real challenge if we had gone ahead and bowled.

Similar happened to me 3 years ago.

50 lane house. Mechanic strips and dresses lanes 41-50, 31-40, has a problem come up, then strips and dresses 1-28.

Our league shows up, and we're placed on 29-30. Same thing as what happened to you happened to us. We couldn't do anything on it because the rest of the league had already started, plus were saying that their lanes were fine.

We couldn't even keep a blue pearl hammer right of 20. Best person on the pair walked away with shooting 540. What made it worse was that all of us were in the running for the last 5 spots of a POA tournament that was being held at the time. That cost all of us the last 6 spots. All the house could do is give us an "I'm sorry, the mechanic messed up, we'll give you 3 free games whenever you come in next."

I haven't been back to that alley since to bowl league (now a Bowlmor joint), but I will say that if this happens to anyone, there is a USBC rule that you can invoke at any time that states that if conditions are not proper before league play starts, you can have them condition the lanes so that they are. If the first ball of league play is thrown, then the lane conditions can not be modified, and you have to bowl with what you are given.

BL.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: LyalC52 on February 16, 2018, 03:16:22 PM
a couple years ago, something happened to the oiler on just one lane
left lane was our normal house shot the right was no oil.
the house was full (no break down pair) so we took on the challenge and still bowled
it was kinda fun but difficult

someone at the house said the oil tray much not have been pushed down properly for that lane. not sure i buy that excuse since it was in the middle of the house
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: dmonroe814 on February 17, 2018, 07:01:10 AM
Quite a few years ago, before reactive, the lane machine malfunctioned.  Before anyone noticed, it did a full oil down 45 feet and oiled back 45 feet.  All we could do was throw the ball at the head pin and hope for the best.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: mrwizerd on February 17, 2018, 11:23:10 AM
My league had the same situation happen on the 1st night of bowling (belt broke on the oil machine) and we postponed until the next week.  I wanted to bowl because I thought we have bowled on other oil machine screwups, but someone pointed out in the rulebook that there has to 3ml of oil on the lane and there wasn't in this case.
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: Walking E on February 17, 2018, 01:02:30 PM
Quick, just run to Home Depot and buy a bug sprayer to oil the lanes.  :o
Title: Re: A league bowling first after 50+ years.
Post by: agroves on February 17, 2018, 10:54:41 PM
Why risk the bad habits that can develop from a night like that?