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Author Topic: balls splitting, why?  (Read 3998 times)

hamma

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balls splitting, why?
« on: July 19, 2008, 01:05:40 PM »
within a week i have had a columbia rival and a hammer blue vibe split.  i have 43 bowling balls in the garage, the temps commonly exceed 100 during the day, could this be causing my problem?

 

Oskuposer

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #1 on: July 19, 2008, 09:09:11 PM »
Is it over a hundred in your bowling alley? There is your answer.  The varying temperatures on your bowling balls cause them to expand and contrast sometimes at different rates.  Keep the ones your not using as paper weights or as door stops.
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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #2 on: July 19, 2008, 09:35:18 PM »
Yes, as Oskuposer said, keep your balls in moderate temperatures.

I have been conducting an experiment with mine lately.  I have had several that cracked on me and they were all indoors balls, but exposed to air.  I am now storing the unused balls in plastic bags since they come from the factory in plastic bags and will see if I have any that crack.  So far (knock on wood), at least one year with none cracking.

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charlest

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #3 on: July 19, 2008, 09:38:10 PM »
quote:
within a week i have had a columbia rival and a hammer blue vibe split.  i have 43 bowling balls in the garage, the temps commonly exceed 100 during the day, could this be causing my problem?


And at night I'd bet it goes to 65 or 70 degrees.
It's not the heat and it's not the cold. It IS the constantly changing temperatures AND humidity. DO NOT KEEP THEM in your garage. Keep them in the A/C house or better yet the basement. They need steady temperatures like wine and beer.

Coverstock and cores are made of different substances. The expand and contract at different rates, like a thermostat. The different rates are one of the things that crack and split the ball.
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Edited on 7/20/2008 11:23 AM
"None are so blind as those who will not see."

novawagonmaster

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #4 on: July 20, 2008, 07:41:50 AM »
I store mine on a rack in the basement. Temps hover just above 70 degrees. I have never left a ball in the car. On league nights when I bowl directly after work, I take the balls into work with me, and they are subjected to a constant 72 degrees.

I just lost another ball last week to a huge crack (this being the 4th ball in two years, and from 3 different manufacturers). None of the balls was more than 3 years old, and one was only 3 months old with 20 games on it.

It must have something to do with the modern coverstocks. Whatever it is, it's frustrating.
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Edited on 7/20/2008 7:42 AM

Mike E

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #5 on: July 20, 2008, 08:08:23 AM »
I had 2 crack on me this year. First was an AMF VP-2. The other was a Track Desert Heat. Balls were always in my family room and never subjected to extremes in temperature.They were both on my ball rack and both cracked all the way around.Wierd!

                              Mike E

JOE FALCO

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2008, 08:22:46 AM »
I'm sure temperature changes will not be good for bowling balls .. I store 50+ bowling balls in my home office on racks and the temperature does NOT get to extremes. Yet, there was a period where I had 4 unused ball crack.

I have NO COMPLAINTS since the manufacturer replaced each ball.

Why do only a few balls crack and the others remain healthy? They are all in the same area!

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dicnic

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #7 on: July 20, 2008, 05:15:44 PM »
My bowling balls are either in the garage or in the car. Either way, they get constantly exposed to temperatures around 95 degrees F. However, since it only gets down to about 80 degrees F at night (in the summer), the temperature change is not very drastic.

Taking them into the local bowling center is probably the coolest they ever will get. Never had one crack yet. Guess I am lucky, so far.
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hamma

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #8 on: July 20, 2008, 06:51:48 PM »
thanks all for the responses.  i have moved most of the balls inside where they will remain.  as some of you have experienced, eliminating the temp extremes and wide variations did not eliminate the cracking phenomena.  since i am more closely controlling the environmental side i will keep records to  see if there is a detectable trend on any that i have a problem with in the future....oem...core....anything.

again, thanks...

themagician

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #9 on: July 20, 2008, 06:53:09 PM »
Remember that humidity also can take its toll on a bowling ball, temperature changes aren't the only threat.
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Oskuposer

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2008, 08:43:57 PM »
also if a ball is just sitting around make sure it is not on  a hole.  because all of the pressure will be on that spot.  I had my beloved control zone in the closet just siting there and i went to pick it up and it had a crack from the ring all the way around to the left side of the thumb.  I normally have them in my room so they are at a constant temperature.
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Smash49

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #11 on: July 22, 2008, 01:29:21 PM »
We had a lot of problems with balls cracking when we had our Texas shop.  Ebonite/Hammer and Brunswick certain models were really bad.  Modern bowling balls have many different materials that are of different densites.  As the ball heats up or cools down the different materials expand and contract at different rates causing the cracking. We also found that balls left on the carpet floor for some reason cracked at a higher rate than ball left on a rack.  In some cases it also did not matter if the ball was drilled or not.  We had a brand new Black Ice crack into four sections while it was sitting on the display shelf,

Smash49
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Rev_O

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #12 on: July 22, 2008, 01:51:21 PM »
I drilled one new ball a few months ago, yet to throw it. It has been sitting in my basement in my 3 ball roller. It is cracked completely around the ball. BRAND new ball with ZERO frames on it, and now it's not even good for a boat anchor!
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Smash49

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Re: balls splitting, why?
« Reply #13 on: July 22, 2008, 02:46:01 PM »
Should be covered by the warranty.  Call the manufacture and check.

Smash49
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Slick, tacky, wood or synthetic it does not matter your slide is correct with Bowlers Slide Sock.  The Finest Slide Sock on the Planet!!!
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Top 100 Coaches by Bowler's Journal International 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012!  Outstanding Coach in the state of Texas by Bowler's Journal International 2006.
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