win a ball from Bowling.com

Author Topic: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?  (Read 8865 times)

Neptune66

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 461
Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« on: September 04, 2009, 01:09:25 AM »
We're moving in a few weeks to a place with a basement. For years my wife has wanted the bowling balls out of the closets, so the plan now is to banish them to the basement.

I am concerned about what would happen if there is a flood and they are submerged for any extended period of time.  On the one hand... I'm thinking... people put there balls in dishwashers and tubs of water to clean them. But am still concerned.

We may never have a flood, but I would still like to know if there is much risk to the balls if they are stored in a basement and get water logged.  If there is, I would at least try to make sure they are elevated somewhat ----or put the least favorite balls on the floor, and the others on top of them.

Thanks for any feedback at all on this.

 

bass

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1063
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #16 on: September 04, 2009, 03:13:23 PM »
Neptune,

What part of the country do you live in?
If you live in a colder climate.

In the northern part you might need to take precautions.
Like not letting them lay in direct contact with the floor.
I have seen equipment crack from this.
But if they aren't in direct contact I can't see it being an issue.

As for flooding you'll have more to worry about than just replacing bowling balls.
--------------------
2nd arrow is for pansies.
free agency it is until i get a better offer.   LMAO

mainzer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4405
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #17 on: September 04, 2009, 03:31:39 PM »
I live in the same area of WI as Bass and I leave my gear, in the basment carpeted floor in ball boxs with the cardboard tape rolls underneath them to keep them off the floor completely I have no issue in winter, It gets pretty cold up in these parts.
--------------------
''Don't you Forget their is a price
you can pay.
Cause I am the Game!
And I wanna Play!''

-MotorHead Song ''THE GAME''-


MainzerPower
"No one runs...from the conquerer "

MainzerPower

charlest

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24523
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #18 on: September 04, 2009, 03:43:41 PM »
I have been keeping all the balls currrently not in rotation in my fairly humid basement since I returned to bowling in 1995. We keep the dehumidifier running to try to keep the humidity in the 55% or less range.

I keep many balls in their original plastic bag in their original box, but I always have about 20 or so sitting on an old rug directly on the cement floor, in front of one of my storage racks.

Over those 14 years, with many balls staying in there from 3 - 6 years, I have had about 150 - 200 in there over the years. Only 2 have cracked, one Track Sensor/C (no great loss, after sitting idle for 3 - 4 years) and one Columbia Ego (I really liked that ball. It was sitting idle for about 2 years.) Other than those, no cracks at all.

I still believe most (but not all) cracks come from mishandling/misdrilling by the driller. There's about 3 or 4 things they should really do very carefully. I won't go over them because we've done that time and again.

Keep in mind that some balls will crack when you pass them through lare changes in temperature AND/OR humidity. While my basement is humid, it stays around the same range for most of the year.

--------------------
"None are so blind as those who will not see."
"None are so blind as those who will not see."

Neptune66

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 461
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #19 on: September 04, 2009, 09:44:19 PM »
The basement closets will be carpeted, and the balls currently sit in carpeted closets, all except the ones I don't care about, that sit directly on the carpet. So ... the basement situation wont be any different in that regard.

And I can understand that insurance would cover (as long as I purchase the additional coverage), and that if I had enough water to submerge the balls, most people (even BOWLING people) would think that the balls would not be my primary problem anymore.  But it's not just the value of the balls in terms of what they cost. I am VERY fussy about drillings and it has taken me years to get them all to feel just right. So.. its the hassle factor of replacing them and having to find someone capable of drilling them correctly that I want to avoid.

Oh... I live in the Chicago Suburbs.  It won't get that cold in the basement cause it's a finished one and part of the home. Not down a long stairway and behind a shut door. We intend to be living down there and watchig TV and so forth, so it won't be considerably colder than the main floor. Not as long as I am manning the Thermostat.

:-)

charlest

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24523
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #20 on: September 05, 2009, 09:37:00 AM »
Sounds a lot like mine, Neptune. Should be fine. However, I would wait a couple of days to let both temperature and humidty settle into a stable range, before bringing them all down. Especially, after you get a dehumidifier.
--------------------
"None are so blind as those who will not see."
"None are so blind as those who will not see."

JohnP

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5819
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #21 on: September 05, 2009, 10:50:34 AM »
Talk to the former owner of the home and see if flooding has been a recurring problem.  If it has, for many reasons besides your bowling balls, have a sump and sump pump installed.  I'm assuming you don't live in an area where water from a river overflowing would cause the flooding, just seepage from hard rains.

Look for areas in the basement where you can install a shelf about 10" below the ceiling.  The wife won't be able to reach it and after a few days will completely forget about it.  Just be sure it's stout enough to hold the load.  --  JohnP

qstick777

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5188
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #22 on: September 05, 2009, 12:30:51 PM »
I wouldn't worry about it.  I would think about building a rack or storage shelf for them, and using 2x6 for the base - will keep them off of direct connect with the floor, and should help to keep them dry if you experience flooding.

You guys have me worried with all this talk about keeping the temperature and humidity consistent.  I keep my balls stored in my detached garage - no HVAC of any kind, and not well insulated.  Last winter the temps got down to 26 (25.8) in there, and this summer they've gotten as high as 90 (89.8).  Temps measured at around 7 feet and almost in the center of the garage.

Out of the 100 balls I've owned, I've only had 5 crack on me.  1 of those was a Titan SE stored in the house (constant temp of 72-75) - but it had been plugged and redrilled.  It cracked from the thumb slug all the way around.  1 other (Orbit Extreme) was a simple crack in the bridge.  1 (V2 Sweet) cracked from the x-hole to the fingers, and them from the fingers almost around to the thumb - it was a 2nd and probably had other issues.  I had a Mutant that cracked - again it had some plug work. The last one cracked all the way around, but was a ball that I was using for testing different plugging material.  The plug was never cut down.  It sat in the corner for several years, so no idea when it actually cracked.

Most of my balls are stored in bags and boxes.  I've left a few sitting in ball cups on my work bench, but I've never left them sit directly on the concrete floor.  I guess the worse I've done is sit them on a piece of Dricore subfloor that we had left over from a kitchen remodel.  They sit on shelves with at least a 2x4 as the base and I never stack them more than 2 balls high.

Like charlest said, most problems seem to come from drilling (although my Orbit Extreme was a single drill and hadn't been touched in over 2 years when the bridge cracked).
--------------------
Unoffical Ballreviews.com FAQ

Search Ballreviews entire database here

"The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose."

"Government is not the solution to our problems - government is the problem."

lenstanles703

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 346
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #23 on: September 05, 2009, 12:39:50 PM »
I keep mine in an unheated garage, no problems. I live in PA, yea it gets cold here.
--------------------
"We are all one"
Visionary test staff member

Neptune66

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 461
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #24 on: September 05, 2009, 09:23:24 PM »
"Look for areas in the basement where you can install a shelf about 10" below the ceiling. THE WIFE WON"T BE ABLE TO REACH IT AND AFTER A FEW DAYS WILL COMPLETELY FORGET ABOUT IT....-- JohnP"

I don't know exactly why, but this made me laugh.


JohnP

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5819
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #25 on: September 06, 2009, 04:30:47 PM »
I'm 6'5", anything I want to hide goes high.  --  JohnP

charlest

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24523
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #26 on: September 06, 2009, 06:46:49 PM »
quote:

You guys have me worried with all this talk about keeping the temperature and humidity consistent.  I keep my balls stored in my detached garage - no HVAC of any kind, and not well insulated.  Last winter the temps got down to 26 (25.8) in there, and this summer they've gotten as high as 90 (89.8).  Temps measured at around 7 feet and almost in the center of the garage.
--------------------
Unofficial Ballreviews.com FAQ



It's basically a matter of a physics and chemistry. Life on this ball of dirt we call Earth.

Think about a temperature gauge. Basically 2 metals (can be any substance) which have different expansion and contraction rates, based on temperature. Humidistats are based on the substances' reaction to humidity.

Substances made of different elements/molecules/materials expand and contract at different rates. A Bowling ball's coverstock, core and, if applicable, filler, are, in many cases, made of different substances. They expand and contract, as the temperature and the humidity rise and fall. Bascially, they have nowhere to compress into or expand into. If the rate at which each one changes (expand or contracts) is very different from the one it is next to, something has got to give - CRACK!!!

Keep in mind some AZO and some Lanemasters balls have cores made of urethane and directly next to the coverstock with no filler. So core and coverstock are both urethane (resin is a form of urethane). Both being very similar substances probably have similar (or very close) rates of expansion and contraction. So their rate of cracking can be much lower than many other brands.

This takes into account ONLY the substances themselves making up a bowling ball, not what drillers may do to them.

--------------------
"None are so blind as those who will not see."
"None are so blind as those who will not see."

qstick777

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5188
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #27 on: September 06, 2009, 09:04:18 PM »
quote:
quote:

You guys have me worried with all this talk about keeping the temperature and humidity consistent.  I keep my balls stored in my detached garage - no HVAC of any kind, and not well insulated.  Last winter the temps got down to 26 (25.8) in there, and this summer they've gotten as high as 90 (89.8).  Temps measured at around 7 feet and almost in the center of the garage.
--------------------
Unofficial Ballreviews.com FAQ



It's basically a matter of a physics and chemistry. Life on this ball of dirt we call Earth.

Think about a temperature gauge. Basically 2 metals (can be any substance) which have different expansion and contraction rates, based on temperature. Humidistats are based on the substances' reaction to humidity.

Substances made of different elements/molecules/materials expand and contract at different rates. A Bowling ball's coverstock, core and, if applicable, filler, are, in many cases, made of different substances. They expand and contract, as the temperature and the humidity rise and fall. Bascially, they have nowhere to compress into or expand into. If the rate at which each one changes (expand or contracts) is very different from the one it is next to, something has got to give - CRACK!!!

Keep in mind some AZO and some Lanemasters balls have cores made of urethane and directly next to the coverstock with no filler. So core and coverstock are both urethane (resin is a form of urethane). Both being very similar substances probably have similar (or very close) rates of expansion and contraction. So their rate of cracking can be much lower than many other brands.

This takes into account ONLY the substances themselves making up a bowling ball, not what drillers may do to them.

--------------------
"None are so blind as those who will not see."


Yeah, I remember reading that before.  You have the 3 different materials to worry about - core, filler, and cover - and the different rates of expansion and contraction.

I'm really surprised I haven't had more balls crack.  I think this past winter was just extremely cold - I don't remember it ever getting down past 35-40 in the garage.  I guess the temp changes are gradual enough that they don't drastically affect the materials.  Every time I've been in there this summer it seems to stay around 78-80 - I don't spend a lot of time in there and I have several fans running, so it isn't as bad as it sounds.

Of course the other night I decided to plug a couple of balls - figured 80 was close to the optimal temp for plugging.  It ended up being the one night that it got considerably cooler - went out the next morning and it was down to 70 in there.

I've always been tempted to take 2 5 gallon buckets and fill one with boiling hot water, and the other with ice water.  Then take turns soaking the ball in each and seeing how long it would take before the ball cracks.


--------------------
Unoffical Ballreviews.com FAQ

Search Ballreviews entire database here

"The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose."

"Government is not the solution to our problems - government is the problem."

scotts33

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8451
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #28 on: September 06, 2009, 09:20:28 PM »
Is there a correlation between humidity in basements which might keep covers more able to keep some flex?  Basements always tend to be more humid than say closets.


--------------------
Scott

Scott

charlest

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24523
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #29 on: September 06, 2009, 09:54:43 PM »
quote:
Is there a correlation between humidity in basements which might keep covers more able to keep some flex?  Basements always tend to be more humid than say closets.
--------------------
Scott



Need to ask a resin chemist that question.
--------------------
"None are so blind as those who will not see."
"None are so blind as those who will not see."

JohnP

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5819
Re: Basement safe for Bowling Balls?
« Reply #30 on: September 07, 2009, 09:31:44 AM »
I saw an Ebonite article on ball cracking a few months ago, don't remember if it was on the internet or in their ProShop magazine, but I don't see it on their website.  As I remember their conclusion was that leaving balls setting on a hard surface in one place for an extended time caused pressure related cracking.  Their recommendation was to set the balls on ball cups or in a rack to distribute the weight over a larger area and rotate them regularly.  --  JohnP