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Author Topic: truth about ball death  (Read 5751 times)

Strokewiththelefthand

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truth about ball death
« on: August 09, 2008, 06:28:45 AM »
This may have been posted before but apparently it hasn't sunk in for some and I'm tired of people wasting bandwidth complaining about death. Here is a refresher course:

1. Clean your equipment. Every set or as necessary. There is too many good cleaning supplies out there to not have a cleaner in the bag. If you don't want to buy one make one.

2.keep up the surface up to liking. If you dull a ball to 2000 it won't stay at 2000 forever. As you bowl the grooves in the dull ball smooth out and the polish on pearls wear off. Dull balls will go longer and sharp reacting pearls will smooth out.

3 make sure there is head oil or enough oil to make your ball perform at peak efficiency. No head oil to a dull ball will make it burn out. Too much oil or high volume of oil will make pearls labor.

4 don't throw dull equipment on dry lanes. It burns a friction tracks on the ball. Makes the ball extremely porous and the cover brittle causing super oil absorption and cracking. I'm tired of hearing "my cell or my widow or my ebonite ball died." I have had a black widow solid, it didn't die. A lot of my friends have the BWS and no death. I have a cell. I only throw it in oil and it hooks a lot and carries a ton. These ball were made to handle oil.

5. Balls are drill sensitive. Leverage drillings are almost a thing of the past and a big no no in big cored balls. Leverage drillings are designed to read early and hook when touching friction. That means it hooks if the friction is 45 ft down the lane or 10 ft. Aside from that they are extremely smooth. No big backend unless you have a ton of side rotation, not hand or speed. Don't drill a cell stack leverage and expect a huge backend reaction. 9/10 the ball is hooking as soon as it reaches the lane. drill the balls the way they are recommended to be for reaction you want/ as close as your driller can get it.




If anyone has anything to add, please feel free. That's my opinion. And there are some bad ball out there but realize that there are a lot of contributors to ball death that is user related rather than manufacturer.
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Formally LeftyHawse, Jim Jones.
I''m man enough to admit I stroke with the left hand and it feels good.

Mullans pro shop Richmond, Va.

J. C. Jones coaching solutions
Richmond, Va.
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Krakken

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2008, 02:47:37 PM »
I have had many ebonite balls and they didn't "die"  They cracked at the bridge but were still hooking the same as when I got them.

Then again, I clean them after every set and resurface them from time to time.
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Speed Kills
When in doubt, move out
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charlest

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2008, 03:24:02 PM »
quote:
I have had many ebonite balls and they didn't "die"  They cracked at the bridge but were still hooking the same as when I got them.

Then again, I clean them after every set and resurface them from time to time.
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Speed Kills
When in doubt, move out


Many, many people have said the same thing. Unfortunately this does not prove that all their balls will last, given the proper care. One person's experience, not even several person's experiences does/do not prove the case.

See the attempted discussion by Strider on Ebonite-poured balls in the Hammer forum. He tries to rationally discuss the matter, but does not seem to be allowed to proceed.
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"None are so blind as those who will not see."
Unofficial Ballreviews.com FAQ
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"None are so blind as those who will not see."

Krakken

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2008, 06:37:18 PM »
I would say that you can find at least one person for every ball manufacturer out there that has had similar bad experiences.

Bowling balls are like any other product.  You get great ones and you get bad ones.  Balls that come out of the manufacturer right behind each other may be big time different in this situation.
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Speed Kills
When in doubt, move out
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DON DRAPER

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2008, 06:41:16 PM »
i see two(2) important causes of the so-called ball death:


1) failure to use the rejuvenator or revivor to extract lane oil from the ball

2) failure to use a haus-type ball resurfacing machine


most cases of the so-called ball death can be eliminated by the regular use of these two pro shop devices. in my opinion( and many others )these two pro shop devices are the most important tools a pro shop can have.
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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2008, 06:57:25 PM »
^^^ I agree 100%^^^


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Lane Carter, Strike Zone Pro Shops - Salt Lake City, Utah
Brunswick Amateur Staff
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NtheDitch

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2008, 08:12:26 PM »
I have a Raid that has about 150 games on it house shot.. PBA patterns.. dry lanes this ball still has just as much hook, hit, whatever anyone wants to call it. The shape of the shots I make with the ball has changed but I atribute to my changes more than the ball. But I did have a Gamebreaker that I had to bake after 20 games, and it was never the same.  Luckly it paid for itself the first night in pots.
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"Don"t leave it if you can't pick it up"
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ye3hawp0ny

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2008, 08:27:08 PM »
I had a Columbia Rival and I loved it until it began losing its kick. I am very careful with all of my bowling equipment and clean them rigorously each set after bowling and hot water baths every so often.  I think Ebonite covers are more highly prone to coverstock and oil absorption problems compared to storm and brunswick covers based on personal experience and what the majority of people here say. I just stay away from any ebo' company and have decided to use brunswick/morich and i havent had any issues/problems. my .02 cents.
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Inferno_256

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2008, 02:18:15 AM »
i dont understand how its even possible for a ball to die after 30 games
ive got a couple balls with at least a 1000 games on them and they still hook like the day i got them
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Michael Makela
Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada

www.mjbt.org

My Vids:
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Blistershurt

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #9 on: August 10, 2008, 02:40:10 AM »
quote:
Tried all of these things with Hammer and Ebonite balls and they still died after 30 games. I think it is more about the company.
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You're pro or you're a noob.

That's life.

You're obviously a noob at ball maintenance. He didnt mention hot water baths in there. When doing a hot water bath it will take hot water and a good 15 minutes soaking to get the oil to come to the surface if it is really far down in the ball. I cant tell you how many times people have said they had ball death and I took their ball, cleaned it and gave it back to them, good as new. Yes, these people claimed they cleaned the ball well and yada yada.
I throw my equipment A LOT. I get free bowling at my house center and I bowl upwards of 100+ games a week. I will give the stuff a bath every few weeks, I know my Cell has over 500 games on it, and still working very very well, I just clean it using a hot water bath. I probably bowl more games in 30 days than you do in a few months (right now at least).

"Running your hands under water isnt the same as washing them with soap.
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Weapons
Anger, Cell, Spare ball (for the pesky one left standing), Scout (rico!!), and No Mercy (on the way)

High Game-300
High Series-767
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Moon57

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #10 on: August 10, 2008, 04:42:00 AM »
One thing I haven't heard suggested is plugging and redrilling the ball to put the track on a fresher part of the ball. If the ball is still dead, I would think there may be something wrong with the cover. Has anybody tried this?

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Moon
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So many questions, so little time but I'm having fun.
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LuvThatWhiteDot

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #11 on: August 10, 2008, 08:49:53 AM »
I use 91% alcohol from a spray bottle after every practice or league session.  My seven-year-old El Nino X-It still hooks as much as the day I got it, except I won't be using it as often as it's now old enough to start first grade

Actually, it'll be right back in the bag as soon as leagues start.  I'm saving my fresh coverstock on my Special Agent for Nationals.  I want to get my 25-year plaque throwing the Special Agent
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White Dot
I'm only as strong as the coffee I drink and the hairspray I use.
www.luvthatwhitedot.bowlspace.com
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SVstar34

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #12 on: August 10, 2008, 01:21:54 PM »
I wipe visible oil lines off the ball everytime I go to throw, I wipe each ball off with Liquid Nitro after every set. After 25 games, I use alcohol on each ball and apply a liberal amount of Liquid Nitro. Every ball I've had has never died. I even do the same thing to my dads Red Hammer from back in the day after he had it resurfaced, he says it reacts like new everytime.
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My Arsenal:
Twisted Fury
Raw Hammer Pain
Blue Vibe

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mainzer

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #13 on: August 10, 2008, 02:12:11 PM »
quote:
I use 91% alcohol from a spray bottle after every practice or league session.  My seven-year-old El Nino X-It still hooks as much as the day I got it, except I won't be using it as often as it's now old enough to start first grade


Agreed all you need is rubbing rubbing alcohol after every 6-9 games
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MainzerPower
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"No one runs...from the conquerer "

MainzerPower

Inferno_256

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Re: truth about ball death
« Reply #14 on: August 10, 2008, 02:34:42 PM »
I haven't heard this talked about before but is it possible that different conditioners affect how fast a ball looses reaction?
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Michael Makela
Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada

www.mjbt.org

My Vids:
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