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Author Topic: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!  (Read 3823 times)

tunaman4u2

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Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« on: July 17, 2018, 06:31:40 AM »
I watched the mechanic put conditioner in the lane machine, run it down the lanes before league & I was the first to throw my BTU pearl & I couldnt keep it from over hooking, burning up in the midlane if I came over the ball more, lofting didnt help, the ball felt dry when it came back. I went all the way left & it still hooked too early. I moved to plastic & scored a PR at that house. At another alley my poly ball goes straight as an arrow

Has anyone else been forced to use plastic on freshly done lanes? What is going on here?
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Impending Doom

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2018, 08:10:42 AM »
No oil in the machine, machine didn't lay it down properly, a whole bunch of machine based issues?
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Juggernaut

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2018, 09:24:03 AM »
Just because there’s oil in the tank, doesn’t mean it got to the lanes.

 The pump could be out on the machine, or the jets could be clogged, or they could’ve been running the wrong pattern.

 Depending on the machine, there could be several reasons this could happen.
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psycaz

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2018, 11:58:20 AM »
Anyone else have that problem, since it was league? Other lanes as well?
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rocky61201

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2018, 01:03:29 PM »
We had that problem with an old machine in our center.  Had intermittent problems for about a year until they finally replaced it with an ICON.  It was a sanctioned league and whenever the machine crapped out it was tough for anyone besides the straight bowlers to make their average.  There wasn't anything we could really do except do our best.  Nobody was willing to just go home and cancel league night. 
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tunaman4u2

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2018, 03:43:23 PM »
Alright, so from what you guys are saying this shouldnt happen. I'll talk to the house about the machine. Its nice to know I can still get a decent score rolling plastic. Most of the guys gave up hooking here since its always really damn dry but recently its been getting worse.

I just wanted to make sure there wasnt a THS setting that was bone dry haha
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charlest

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2018, 03:48:46 PM »
Quote from: Juggernaut on July 17, 2018, 09:24:03 AM
Just because there’s oil in the tank, doesn’t mean it got to the lanes.

 The pump could be out on the machine, or the jets could be clogged, or they could’ve been running the wrong pattern.

 Depending on the machine, there could be several reasons this could happen.

Happens all the time. Complex machines like this need regular maintenance. I'd guess 75% of oil men knowing nothing about maintaining the machine they use every day.
The local AMF center manager refused to send the mechanics to the course AMF offered on maintaining the oil machine the house bought from them. SO, of course, over time, the oil laid down became more and more erratic. The idiot manager got promoted for saving AMF so much money. but few league people wanted to bowl there any more. Even the house hack's averages went from 220-230 to 195-205. Did the manager, a pool player, not a bowler, listen to any one? Of course not.
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Impending Doom

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2018, 03:57:19 PM »
I actually bowled league at a place that was known for the huge puddle in the middle of the lane, and one night on our 1 on 1 league, something happened with the machine and it laid the pattern out flat. Scores went from 240 winning to 150 winning. It was the best! All the guys that stand left and throw right were frying!
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tunaman4u2

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2018, 04:45:43 PM »
Ill take any oil at this point but a 235 with a tzone wasn't bad at all and that's with 2 flat 10s.

Sometimes a bad house actually makes you more versatile. We gotta throw hard here too... Going to a real alley is cake.
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rocky61201

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #9 on: July 17, 2018, 04:46:27 PM »
Ok I got a good story about our bad machine.  One time there was a puddle of oil from 15 to the gutter on the right side of the lane only all the way to the pin deck.  But the lefty's had their normal house shot on the left side of the lane.  After warm up I sanded my No Rules OG down to 500 as hard as I could press.  Stood on the left gutter and cranked it at the 10 pin just to confirm what I saw in warm up.  The ball never checked up and slid right in the gutter before the 10.  Yea that was a fun night.  And the  lefty's were having a blast getting their revenge and laughing their ass off at us righty's.  The lefty's took all the bracket money that night too.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2018, 04:49:14 PM by rocky61201 »
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TwoFourEightNineNine

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #10 on: July 17, 2018, 06:39:14 PM »
Chances are any of the aforementioned things may have happened, however, I find it likely that whoever you notify won't care.

Yay! bowling!
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Jesse James

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #11 on: July 17, 2018, 11:58:00 PM »
I can say that I've bowled on lanes where we watched the laneman try to put oil down. Nothing ever came out! We found out during practice. Balls hooking BEFORE the arrows!! We were like whoa!! It was a painful night for sure. 170' and 180's were looked at like 260ish games! Later that week we found out the wicks in the old machine were clogged and had never been cleaned. Three weeks later we had a brand new machine....thank goodness.

In another league, a trios league, the lanes had heavy oil from 10 to the gutter. The rest of the lanes were dryish, too dry for a medium ball. I had just started using 10 as my preferred target area so this was disconcerting to me! Went into my bag and pulled out an old Brunswick Monster pearl ball. It was drilled pin down, almost in a rico position but not quite. I played straighter, revved the ball up and let it just spin off the  end the pattern, going down 7. I got swisher strikes all night long and ended up shooting a 702 set! My teammates loved me because they struggled all night but we
swept the team bowling us! Never saw a look similar to that again!
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tunaman4u2

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2018, 01:16:54 AM »
Awesome stories, so it doesnt just happen here, thats good to know. I was telling my friend we gotta let it go & adjust. I lose my focus and let it get the best of me too often. Gotta find what works best regardless of what the machine is doing.
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tunaman4u2

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #13 on: July 18, 2018, 10:28:18 PM »
Tonight lanes had a little bit of oil. Was able to use the btu pearl and motiv rebel tank. My buddy could use his rhino.... No way we use anything stronger. No idea when the lanes were done it's just funny to have less oil when the lanes are freshly done, go figure.
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rocky61201

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Re: Freshly oiled lanes, had to use plastic ?? Help!
« Reply #14 on: July 19, 2018, 11:13:35 AM »
Quote from: tunaman4u2 on July 18, 2018, 10:28:18 PM
Tonight lanes had a little bit of oil. Was able to use the btu pearl and motiv rebel tank. My buddy could use his rhino.... No way we use anything stronger. No idea when the lanes were done it's just funny to have less oil when the lanes are freshly done, go figure.

Maybe they are diluting the conditioner with water.  If management are not bowlers and just trying to save a few bucks and have a tight budget then don't put it past them.  And yes I've seen it done. 

In my house there are no leagues from Saturday morning until Wednesday evening.  The lanes don't get oiled at all on those days even though they see quite a bit of business from recreational bowlers.
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