this isnt bommershine but this is what i had gotten from storm when i asked the question..
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Thank you for contacting us with your inquiry.
Ball maintenance is an essential part of maintaining your current ball reaction and restoring the same out of box reaction you originally had when you first owned the ball. Essentially, two of easiest methods to maintain ball reaction is through keeping the ball clean and occasionally resurfacing the ball. The easiest way to keep a ball reacting is to clean it every night after practice with a recommended cleaner. This will help keep the surface of the ball clean from lane debris, grit, grim and other miscellaneous elements that will detract from the porosity of the coverstock, the coverstocks molecular structure, and ultimately weaken the ball’s dynamic motion as it encounters friction. We recommend the following cleaners:
Storm Xtra-Clean: Designed for all Reactive Urethane balls water based, safe for travel
Storm Reacta-Clean: Designed for all Reactive Urethane balls alcohol based
Storm Megabite: Designed for all particle balls solid, hybrid or pearl
The second recommended maintenance involves restoring the surface of the ball by sanding and possibly the application of polish. In general, we recommend doing basic surface maintenance to your ball using the same finishing process we use at the factory. We recommend doing this every 20 - 40 games depending on how often it is used, the type of lane conditions you are bowling on, and the shape and quality of the lanes. For example, wooden lanes tend to eat away at the surface of the ball much more rapidly than synthetic lanes so you would want to give the ball a quick resurface every 20 games. To do a basic maintenance resurfacing, please follow these recommendations:
1000 Grit Finish: Thoroughly Scuff the surface of the ball with a 500 grit Abralon. All you are attempting to do is put new grooves and scratches on the surface. These help to create friction in both the oily and dry parts of the lane. Finally, finish by lightly applying 1000 grit Abralon to smooth some of the grooves and scratches from the ball, but not completely remove them.
2000 Grit Finish: Thoroughly Scuff the surface with 500 grit Abralon. Next, lightly sand the ball with 1000 grit: just enough to make a slight, but noticeable difference to the coverstock. Finally, finish by sanding lightly with a 2000 grit Abralon Pad.
4000 Grit Finish: Same steps as the 2000 Grit Finish, but finish with 4000 grit Abralon.
-The trick to sanding is to be very thorough with the 500 grit Abralon while being very light and gentle with the proceeding grits. Our testing has shown that the deep grooves and cuts create friction on the ball from start to finish by creating deep valleys and peaks (if viewed via electron microscope). However, these deep valleys and high peaks also create friction in the heads and midlanes: more so than we typically desire. Hence, the best way to get length through the heads while maintaining backend reaction is to round the peaks and valleys by lightly sanding. The key to the concept is in creating deep peaks and valley via 500, but only sanding enough to round the peaks and valley, not remove them. This is the main reason why ‘resurfaced balls’ never perform like out of box. Most individuals accidently sand the ball more than necessary removing these peaks and valleys. This can be recognized if there are very few scratches/grooves on the surface and the ball appears to be shinny and completely smooth.
For virtually every polished ball we’ve released over the last several years, we have used a 1500 Grit Polishing and Finishing compound. Hence, the 1500 Polished finish on most of our equipment.
For simple maintenance, please lightly apply Reacta-Shine to the surface of the ball after it has been cleaned. This will polish the ball back to 1500 grit and keep the surface tacky and new. If the ball has particle technology, please use Moon-Shine Particle Cleaner instead. Once again, less is more. You are simply trying to maintain the finish at this stage, not trying to resurface the ball.
Finally, we recommend having your local Professional Resurface the ball every 100 – 200 games depending on the same factors listed previously. What this entails is deeply cutting the surface of the ball with a new 500 grit abralon pad to remove the track area, lane damage, and also create the deep grooves and contours that create friction. If it all possible, it is worth using a resurfacing machine because it will quickly resurface the ball evenly and randomly enough to restore the factory finish. If possible, ask the Pro Shop to follow the same steps as listed in basic maintenance procedure listed above. The only key difference is the time spent at each grit level. If by machine we recommend 2 minutes at 500, followed by 90 seconds at each of the following grits until the desired finish is achieved. Time at each stage may very slightly depending on what resurfacing machine is used.
For a thorough resurface of a 1500 polished ball, our recommendation is to use 500 grit abralon for 2 minutes, but then skip directly to Storm’s Step 2 Finishing Compound. This has an aggressive resurfacing and polishing medium that will polish the ball while resurfacing it to a 1500 grit finish. As well, less is more so apply the compound sparingly until the desired finish is achieved.
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De-oiling the ball is one last option that isn’t always a concern, but depending on the ball and what type of lane conditions you bowl on, it may be necessary over time. In order to de-oil the ball without damaging the molecular structure or inter-cohesion of the coverstock we recommend giving the ball a hot-water bath. We don’t recommend using dry heat methods, especially ovens or otherwise because the temperatures often exceed safe parameters. Dry heat can also pull the moisture from the coverstock and certain additives we’ve used to create ball reaction can literally bake off. As such, dry heat or excessive heat may remove the oil, but it may also weaken the coverstock and kill the ball’s over-all reaction if the key additives are ‘baked’ off. Therefore, warm water is the ideal medium because it isn’t going to negatively effect the coverstock as certain other methods may.
The recommended temperature for the warm water bath is just slightly above that of a Hot Tub, typically around 110 – 120 degrees Fahrenheit. This is hot enough to remove the oil, but not hot enough to damage the ball. Please be aware that pro-longed exposure at this temperature can cause burning. As such, please avoid prolonged exposure to your skin or any contact with your eyes. We recommend using a water source where you can readily add or remove water to keep the water temperature constant. The addition of dish-soap is recommended but not required.
The easiest method for oil removal is to do multiple balls at once (if you have them) in the bath tub with warm water. Put the ball(s) in the water and let them soak for 20 – 30 minutes. Then, we recommend removing them, toweling them off to remove the oil, and putting them back in the water. You may want to add more hot water occasionally to keep the temperature around the ideal range of 110 – 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Continue to do this every 20 – 30 minutes until no visible oil comes to the surface of the ball. This will ensure the ball(s) have been safely de-oiled and are back to near out of box quality.
Regular maintenance, resurfacing and de-oiling will keep your equipment reacting great for multiple years on many of our high-end balls. I know this is a lot of information and a lot of maintenance, but many of our medium to high performance balls will respond very well to this maintenance, indefinitely prolonging the life of the ball.
I hope this information is useful. If you have any other questions, thoughts or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Mike Sargent
Tech I
Storm Bowling Products
165 S. 800 W.
Brigham City, UT 84302
Tech@StormBowling.com
tel:
fax:
800-369-4402
435-226-9122
BOWL UP A STORM!!!!
