I noticed the house I bowl league have upgraded to a kegel machine. I have not bowled league there this last winter, but I've been practicing there recently.

Well, yesterday I noticed the conditioner felt a little dense compared to the other house known to put down more oil. The house with more volume has a thinner feel to it.

Is there any affect with transition/carry down with the two different conditioner's viscosity? assuming all lanes surface, ball, rev, line, ect... are the same...

Thinner more volume vs. thicker less volume...I think thicker as a greater chance of carry down...??  this is my own assesdment, so excuse me if I am mistaken.

It's not as simple as just viscosity determining how an oil will play. There is a lot of information on Kegel's site if you want to learn about it.

I believe they have a flex machine....I'll ask what oil they're using.. It's just interesting cause this house tends to be on the drier side with their old summit machine and wick problems. I struggled a lot on dry lanes and I'm hoping things will be different. Though it might not even matter, I bowled second shift..

I'll check out the kegel site just to see what's new...

Also keep in mind, bowling league the condition created is built to last 5-6 games depending on size - 3,4, or 5 man and generally won't see a lot of change per sey...it's tournament conditions is where you see change throughout

My home house started using Ice oil about 6 weeks ago. Compared to the previous oil (no idea what it was they probably got it used from the woks of a local Chinese restaurant, knowing how cheap Bowlmor/AMF is these days),
Ice seems a lot slicker, lower friction.

I no longer need to think of using urethanes as an option or my B/G Centaur (unless I sand it dull). In general, whie our house wall always seemed to be a wet/dry, now it seems even more so with more backend and more skid.

Most telling is my captain's ball reaction. He fires it hard down the 5/10 board. With Ice he is constantly in danger of leaving 5/7s and 8-10s. I had to keep reminding him to stay under and behind the ball to insure it gets into a roll. Our season just finished and he dropped from 220 to about 215 in these last 6 weeks. That's a lot over 90-95 game season.

I use low vis oil in our wick machine it flows better . I believe the flex machine has multi tanks so you can use different oils .

Quote from: Coach castle on May 29, 2014, 09:57:28 PM

I use low vis oil in our wick machine it flows better . I believe the flex machine has multi tanks so you can use different oils .

I don't think it's a flex they are using. I asked one of the managers what kegel machine they are using and he said it was a walker. He wasn't sure if it's a flex or the older model. Also, they are trying different patterns with it this summer to prepare for winter.

My assessment the other day after practice was similar to what he said bowlers have seen since the upgrade, and that was carry down. Carry down was often. He mention possibly shortening the pattern.

It'll be interesting to see how it is when I return after a year off. Whatever they put down for next season is already on upgrade from their old patterns with the summit.

The problem my center had with the Ice oil was carrydown, especially in the beginning of fall when it was still hot out. There was too many complaints so they switched back to Defense-S. We use Kegels Ion to oil

Xrayjay,
     The comments make sense based on the characteristics of Ice, it doesn't disappear as quickly as older oils so it can only move, left or right or carry down. It sounds like your center is doing it right though, trying different patterns during the summer to see which one(s) give them the shot they like. You may need multiple ones ready though, as the change in temperature from Summer to Winter will effect how the patterns break down and one that looked good in Summer may not work as well in the Winter.
 
    Another option you could mention to them is dialing back the volume a little, that may help reduce carrydown as well.

That's what I thought too, temp changes from summer and winter will be a factor that's for sure here.