I want to add in another variable here that I have discussed on previous threads before, one that we experienced first-hand in our center.
On fresh THS, we couldn't seem to understand why when you go straight up the lane the ball would read too early, then open up your angles through the front and it would hit flat at best, many times it would bucket or worse. This was actually a good look for the absolute knucklers and on the opposite end the total shimwreckers - but put the 80% tweeners in jail.
After monkeying with the pattern, volumes, crush settings on the machine we hired a maintenance professional from our distributor to come in to look over the machine. He discovered that 1-1/2 turns of a screw head on the "pen head" in our Kustodian made the 1st load on the lanes be applied at 15' rather than at the foul line. A stupidly small amount, but it made a HUGE difference.
This explained why the pattern was so tight down lane and the shimwreckers hammered it (extra hold) and why the knucklers wrecked it too (ball started earlier for them)...but what was so frustrating for us is how such a simple thing cause total fits for half a season.
So, in order to be objective about what we "see" on the lanes in ball motion, we have to know for sure that there are lane vailables that could be causing what we see as ball death. What we have in this thread are some who experience quick death (no matter what is done to revive the reaction) and others who have 200+ games on theirs. I know Riggs has over 500 games on one of his and it's still going strong (too strong in Peru, IMO).
Before junking it, try it at 3-4 other centers and on other lane patterns compared to other equipment to make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you're not giving up on one that is okay where the lanes surface, pattern or machine could be the culprit for the motion to look different.
"I promise the machine always does the lanes the same" - Riggs
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Steve Richter
USBC Silver Level Coach
IBPSIA Certified Technician
