BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: TWOHAND834 on June 11, 2021, 11:18:03 AM
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I came across this in my recommended feed on youtube. Hickland goes in to reasoning behind a lot of cracking issues and what can be done to help eliminate them. Worth the listen if you are curious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stz_7akL-o8
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good video; never would have thought to use the plastic bags for storage.
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good video; never would have thought to use the plastic bags for storage.
I wouldn't have, either. In fact, since my kids have their youth league tomorrow, I'm going to see if the PSO at the alley has a few bags back that they are throwing away and ask if I can take those.
That, plus keeping them in a cool place will really help, as I worry about the greenhouse effect and the potential for oil reabsorption back into the pores of the balls, even after cleaning them after use.
BL.
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We've been saying on this website since at least 2008 to store bowling balls in plastic bags.
https://www.ballreviews.com/miscellaneous/balls-splitting-whya/msg946036/#msg946036 (https://www.ballreviews.com/miscellaneous/balls-splitting-whya/msg946036/#msg946036)
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If the ball is an absorbent "sponge", why is it leaching it's water out into the ball rack or carpet? It should be pulling water in from those surfaces. It would be nice to hear from the chemists/engineers that create the balls, not the marketers. Hickland mentions that the balls are compressed at the factory (haven't heard that before). If that's true and the balls slowly? decompress, I'd think that would have way more to do with cracking than anything else mentioned. And again if true, no product applied to the surface or storage trick is going to help in any meaningful way.
I know the plastic bag has been recommended here and other places but never proven. Just because it comes from the factory doesn't say anything about why the bag is included. I'd guess it's just more protection for shipping. I don't think I've ever received a ball in a closed or "zip locked" bag, just an open plastic bag. Does any manufacturer recommend storing their balls in plastic bags? I know most have recommended cleaning methods and give maximum temperatures for heating.
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Of course, Hickland has a product for sell that will make an amazing difference.
He will probably start selling "special" CTD bowling ball storage bags soon.
Have to give the guy credit though, he knows how to market.
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If the ball is an absorbent "sponge", why is it leaching it's water out into the ball rack or carpet? It should be pulling water in from those surfaces. It would be nice to hear from the chemists/engineers that create the balls, not the marketers. Hickland mentions that the balls are compressed at the factory (haven't heard that before). If that's true and the balls slowly? decompress, I'd think that would have way more to do with cracking than anything else mentioned. And again if true, no product applied to the surface or storage trick is going to help in any meaningful way.
I know the plastic bag has been recommended here and other places but never proven. Just because it comes from the factory doesn't say anything about why the bag is included. I'd guess it's just more protection for shipping. I don't think I've ever received a ball in a closed or "zip locked" bag, just an open plastic bag. Does any manufacturer recommend storing their balls in plastic bags? I know most have recommended cleaning methods and give maximum temperatures for heating.
The keeping a ball in a plastic bag idea comes from a article in the Fall 2008 edition of Pro Shop Insider written by Rich Jacobson
The main points of Rich Jacobson's "Ask Ebonite.com" article were that while there are other factors in balls cracking, the main reason for it happening during long term storage were gravity and leaving a ball in a static position for a long time. (IE: Sitting on hard surface which cause there to be pressure on a small spot on the ball surface )
The recommendation to help reduce the chance of cracking is to rotate the ball a quarter turn every few weeks.
The second factor is open air exposure, which has to do with the curing process of the balls. While the ball surface is fully cured when it leaves the factory, They will still continue to cure for month or even years. (that continuing curing causes the coverstock to shrink compressing it against the core which doesn't give any and thus the coverstock cracks at the weak spots such as the holes.)
The recommendation to help reduce the chance of cracking is to store the ball in a ziplock bag or wrapped with plastic wrap or a plastic bag. You want as tight a fit as you can get, to insulate the ball from the outside air and store at room temperature (This helps slow the curing or you could say in a manner of speaking the drying out of the ball).
Note: All the recommendations don't guarantee a ball won't crack, Just that it might help it not.
Here's a copy of the article
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I would be hesitant to buy wholesale into the plastic bag idea given that humidity control is allegedly a major factor.
Originally for resin balls we thought heat was the primary driver, but before we knew better a lot of us carried balls in the car all the time so we could just drop in and bowl, and while that would lead to a lot of "sweating out" of oil or plasticizers, we didn't see a ton of cracking in the early days. Of course, in the early days of resin, covers were much thicker, which may have had an effect.
I fully believe the pressure point theory and try to physically rotate my stuff on their racks from time to time, but I have kept all my equipment in a temperature-controlled area now for probably 20 years. During that time, I've moved a bunch, and the times I've had the most problems with cracking were the times in which I lived somewhere with humidity conditions I couldn't control well (i.e., closed-in garage with a split-system AC that kept a stable temperature, but had trouble properly dehumidifying due to the status of the insulation in the room).
Keeping a ball inside a plastic bag, therefore, makes me wonder if you'd trap moisture in the bag, and if so, what long-term effect that would have.
The other thing I've noticed over the years -- I've got 70+ balls in my home shop right now and have probably gone through another 30 that I no longer have -- is that I have had the most cracking problems from balls poured in the old San Antonio plant that was Columbia, then 900G, etc., and it was by a degree large enough to be statistically significant to me. And I say that as a big fan of 900 Global stuff; if I had to make an arsenal right now from one company, it would be 900G/AMF, all of it. I realize I'm just one data point, but that's been my experience.
Jess
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I wonder if vacuum bags would help...you could suck out any air and vacuum seal them?
Brad
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The ZipLoc bag is a 2.5 gallon. About 30 cents a bag on Amazon. Not even an concern in regards to cost.
Does it really work? Don’t know. But does it really hurt to store them in a plastic bag? Probably not.
For the record, Hickland answered a question about the bag size on the YouTube video. No sales pitch.
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Its a carp shoot and you can only try to avoid extreme weather etc and hope for the best. I have had both drilled and undrilled bowling balls crack.
As someone who does not use finger inserts or a thumb slug I can tell you this interesting tidbit. Most bowling balls I drill at some point I have to redrill the finger and the thumb because they shrink. Not a bigger size but the same size they were originally drilled at. Sometimes it can be within a few weeks of drilling a ball sometimes a few months or longer. But it definitely changes which would make sense why many bowling balls may crack at some point in that process.
I have never had the issues of needing to redrill the hole again more then once in a said ball. Almost all have had the thumb, fingers, or both redrilled to the original size again.
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🤔 Guess I have been lucky haven't had one crack yet. I just keep them in my bedroom in bowling ball two ball roller bags. I also have one in a locker at the bowling center. Like I said maybe I.have been lucky. My buddy had two crack, but he stored them in his garage on wooden racks. So that was kind of his own fault.
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I’ve tried the bag method. Still doesn’t prevent from cracking.
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I’ve stored my balls in balls for the last 3-4 years; Not one ball has cracked since. (Prior to using bags, I had a handful crack FWIW), I also keep in controlled temperature, and rotate them every 3-4 weeks, as well as in 2 ball totes.
The bag method works IMO, no harm to try it. ;)
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Had an emerald iq and an after dark solid solid both crack in the last couple of months. Both had been out of service for quite awhile. My other current arsenal stuff right beside these have been fine. I think the frequent rotation is a good idea
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I've had a RotoGrip Riot and a less than 2 year old DV8 Pitbull Bark crack on me while sitting on the rack, just this month.
Personally I believe its a combination of resin formulas that they use today, plus the lack of thickness to the shells in balls today.
I have never had one Zone ball crack....ever! And I still have 7 from the 90's. Nor have I ever had a Lane Master ball crack on me, and I had several of those as well.
The plastic bag idea sounds plausible however, and worth trying, so we'll see!