BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: johns811 on October 26, 2019, 09:29:12 AM
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So I got this old 70's vintage colemen cooler laying around, normally I just use the hot bucket of water for ball maintenance
Anyway I stuck a small halogen work light, a desk fan, and an old ball in the cooler. 10 minutes, warm but no big deal. 30 minutes. Holy cow, way to hot. Started to warp the plastic. Killed the fan. Ball fine. 2nd Attempt, 60 watt normal bulb, no ball. Cooler still got to about 150 deg in 20-30 minutes. I guess I'll try to crack the lid open a bit or lower bulb or dimmer needed. Didn't think a bulb would get that hot.
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There's a tutorial on how to do this safely. YouTube homemade bowling ball oven
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There's a tutorial on how to do this safely. YouTube homemade bowling ball oven
I have seen all those, I was just tinkering around with some stuff that was laying around, closely monitoring and using a thermostat keeping an eye on temp. I didn't think a lightbulb would be that much of a heat source. It was just a quick experiment.
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Max safe shell temp = 125F
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You can always try something like this to turn the light on and off.
https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Max-1200W-Temperature-Controller-Greenhouse/dp/B01HXM5UAC/ref=asc_df_B01HXM5UAC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198101685250&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17831674460033186605&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9027845&hvtargid=pla-318107594620&psc=1#customerReviews (https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Max-1200W-Temperature-Controller-Greenhouse/dp/B01HXM5UAC/ref=asc_df_B01HXM5UAC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198101685250&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17831674460033186605&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9027845&hvtargid=pla-318107594620&psc=1#customerReviews)
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I have always used the dish washer without the drying cycle on. For me there is less chance of a catastrophe than using ovens or homemade heat producing boxes.
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If my better half caught me putting a bowling ball in the dishwasher my bowling days would be numbered, if not gone forever!
That's why I bought a NuBall bowling ball oven 4+ years ago. I have baked (@ 125 degrees) many balls for myself and friends and have never had a problem.
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If my better half caught me putting a bowling ball in the dishwasher my bowling days would be numbered, if not gone forever!
That's why I bought a NuBall bowling ball oven 4+ years ago. I have baked (@ 125 degrees) many balls for myself and friends and have never had a problem.
LOL, I can relate!
The NuBall works and it's safe. There will always be those that insist on home remedies, but no thanks. :)
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I have a Nuball and have yet to get a drop of oil out of any ball I own. I've used it at lest 10 times and so far nothing. I wonder if the wet methods - bucket of water, dishwasher... do a better job of penetrating deeper into the ball? I have a No Rules Pearl that acts like it's oil logged. I didn't get anything out of the Nuball (still acted like it was oil logged after), so I'm going to try the wet methods next and see what happens.
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I have a Nuball and have yet to get a drop of oil out of any ball I own. I've used it at lest 10 times and so far nothing. I wonder if the wet methods - bucket of water, dishwasher... do a better job of penetrating deeper into the ball? I have a No Rules Pearl that acts like it's oil logged. I didn't get anything out of the Nuball (still acted like it was oil logged after), so I'm going to try the wet methods next and see what happens.
I have the exact same experience using NuBall with my own equipment. I've never extracted a drop. BUT, I wipe my covers between shots, and I do clean my balls immediately after use.
A few weeks ago, my teammate was complaining to me how his Track Precision had lost much of his pop. Hitting it with Abralon wasn't helping much anymore. I asked him what he was cleaning with, and he looked at me with a blank stare. ??? So, no cleaning of a high performance ball after several months of use.......
I took his Precision home and put it in my NuBall. The cover was wet within the first minute. It took 4 hours to completely bleed out all the crap that absorbed into the shell. After the process was done, I applied a fresh 500/2000 Abralon treatment on the spinner to bring the ball back to NIB condition.
It's a beast again. NuBall works if a ball has been badly ignored. Maybe the wet methods will work better in more mild situations.
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I totally agree with Steven's experience. If you properly maintain your ball(s) cleaning with a quality ball cleaner after your session is done, then most likely you have greatly slowed down oil absorption ( if not totally eliminated it) and when you bake the ball in the NuBall oven it does not bleed oil.
However, there are exceptions to various balls e.g. my wife's Motive Venom Shock. Her ball is cleaned after every league session, but for whatever reason her ball soaks up oil like a magnet. I can put it in the NuBall oven every three to four weeks and it bleeds oil like a sieve. Her previous Ebonite Cyclone was the same....a sponge.
No oil is a good thing, but when oil has taken over your ball performance through absorption, then the NuBall oven is your best friend.
I understand many of the "wet' methods also produce good results.
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I use The NuBall.
Some bowling balls soak more oil in the cover stock. Some will not sweat or sweat as much. Some will seem like a flood gate of oil has opened. I clean my bowling balls after every set, my dad does not. My dad's bowling ball, when I put it the NuBall, will fill the tray with oil.
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I totally agree with Steven's experience. If you properly maintain your ball(s) cleaning with a quality ball cleaner after your session is done, then most likely you have greatly slowed down oil absorption ( if not totally eliminated it) and when you bake the ball in the NuBall oven it does not bleed oil.
However, there are exceptions to various balls e.g. my wife's Motive Venom Shock. Her ball is cleaned after every league session, but for whatever reason her ball soaks up oil like a magnet. I can put it in the NuBall oven every three to four weeks and it bleeds oil like a sieve. Her previous Ebonite Cyclone was the same....a sponge.
No oil is a good thing, but when oil has taken over your ball performance through absorption, then the NuBall oven is your best friend.
I understand many of the "wet' methods also produce good results.
+1. Same with the Vertex as haven't been able to extract much of anything but nearly OCD with my cleaning plus I live in a climate where it gets 115+ in summer so oven probably was unnecessary. My stuff looks nearly brand new, even balls with a fair amount of games on them (usually fairly fresh cover as well) compared to most people's stuff which has never been cleaned, de-oil or even resurfaced at least in my just for fun league (plus I am one of few to use spare ball, channel really beats up balls, as does not keeping balls wrapped in microfiber seesaws in bag imo). Coincidentally balls barely mellow out at all for me forget anything close to ball death. Regretted oven at first but peace of mind and being able to help team mates in future means don't really any more. Plus been lucky with used stuff I have picked up so far but doesn't mean won't get a oil logged one eventually.