Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

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bowl1820
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Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by bowl1820 »

Since all bowling has effectively come to a stand still for a indefinite time period, You might want to see about getting your equipment ready for long term storage.

I would suggest,
1-remove all tape from your thumb holes and clean the hole if needed. Tape left in a hole a long time can get difficult to remove and/or leave sticky residues.
2- If you have interchangeable thumbs, remove the insert. While it may be unlikely, you don't want to run the risk of it getting stuck in the hole for whatever reason.
3- If possible use this time to resurface and de-oil your equipment. If you can't do that at least clean them thoroughly.
4- Find a good place to store them, somewhere that the temperature stays constant.
5- Try not to sit them on a hard surface, put them in your bag or a ball box.
6- A 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.
7- Another recommendation to help reduce the chance of cracking is to rotate the ball a quarter turn every few weeks.

Here's a interesting blog post by Jeff Richgels about balls cracking and a article in the Fall 2008 edition of Pro Shop Insider written by Rich Jacobson.

Click here for The 11th Frame: The Ebonite article that tells you how to keep resin balls from cracking – and how I got it wrong

Click here for the Ebonite Article

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.

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.

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.

Thinking about it, balls do typically have a plastic bag around them when they come from the factory.

While this won't stop cracking totally, it could help reduce it.
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Re: Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by MegaMav »

My opinion on why balls crack:

Unfinished wood ball racks.
Wood absorbs like a sponge when left unfinished, drawing our stabilizers from a very small spot over a long term.
Sand ball exposure edges on the rack with 400/800/1000 sandpaper and do 2 coats of polyurethane.
My problems went away.
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Re: Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by EricHartwell »

I have a theory...
A reactive bowling ball is like a sponge.
Dry sponges get hard, brittle and shrink.
When this happens to a bowling ball and the surface tension can become too much, the result is cracking.

I have only had 2 balls crack and both of them were clean, free of oil and been in storage for only a few months not on carpet, wood or uncontrolled environment.

Once the season is over I don't clean my equipment until the next season is about to start.
I won't de-oil until I am ready to get more oil on/in them.

Hopefully we will be back to competition come this September and the storage won't be that long.
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kajmk
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Re: Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by kajmk »

Good topic and advice.
This one needs more reads.
Just commented to bump it.

I've had 2 crack during the age of resin. Was an ardent cleaner.
A friend of mine had 2 crack.

Stay safe, stay well.
Happy coping!
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contribute in some way to that happiness
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Re: Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by krava »

How long do you think we are talking, until like september?
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Re: Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by kajmk »

krava, look to medical experts for scientific opinions and advice.
Remember, this is a learning process for the medical community.
Check daily at a minimum.

We are fortunate to have a man of Dr. Fauci's character and intelligence working to save lives.

Some resources

https://www.who.int

https://www.jhu.edu

https://www.cdc.gov


Stay safe!
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Re: Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by krava »

I still need to get the tape out of my balls etc. I bought 2 slides to replace my Dexter The one slides. Should I send them back and get a refund? This thing looks like it is getting worse. I am not sure if the bowling alley is going to be around after this.
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Re: Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by bowl1820 »

krava wrote: April 12th, 2020, 4:04 am I still need to get the tape out of my balls etc. I bought 2 slides to replace my Dexter The one slides. Should I send them back and get a refund?
If you ordered them you must have needed them, So Unless your planning on quitting bowling forever no. This isn't going to last forever.
I am not sure if the bowling alley is going to be around after this.
Unless every other bowling alley in the area you've mentioned going too is going belly up, you'll have some where else to bowl.
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Re: Might want to get ready for long term storage of your balls.

Post by Daryl »

[POST REMOVED]
Last edited by MegaMav on April 14th, 2020, 2:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: I dont wipe posts often, but this is a case where we need to stay on topic and on bowling please.
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