When Home Bowling Ball Work/Modifications go WRONG!!

[Aslan]

Now...last year I devised a method to de-oil my bowling balls by essentially bathing them in hot, soapy water. It worked "pretty" well...but was a waste of a bathtub full of water and as you may or may not know...California is in a "bit" (to use that term loosely) of a draught.

So I perfected the method using a 5-tray food dehydrator. It worked GREAT!! I would take off the lid and put 2-3 trays in it...but a 5-gallon metal pail over the top. The pail fit PERFECTLY in the trays!! It was inexpensive (bought the dehydrator used on Ebay for like $38 shipped) and seemed to do a GREAT job....a LOT of oil coming off the ball!

Well, I initially only did it for about 20-24 minutes. But over time, have lengthened that to 28-42 minutes. And one thing that went WRONG initially was due to the weight of the ball and the plastic trays...the trays started to crack and break. This would cause the ball not to sit in the middle, roll to the side, up against the pail, and then unevenly de-oil.

So, after all of the trays had cracked, I realized I could actually use the lid of the dehydrator, upside down, and the ball would sit perfectly in the middle...and it was even closer to the heating element....so I backed down the time to the 22-28 minute range.

Well, last time I tried this, I noticed that the lid was starting to melt. The lid is made from a softer plastic...and not meant to be that close to the heaitng element. But I did it again, less time (22-24 minutes)...no big deal. Well, last night, I de-oiled the Hammer Rhythm and after 28 minutes noticed that the plastic lid had melted and come into contact with the elements...and so did the ball!! So now, there's a 1 inch x 1/4 inch x 1/32 inch (depth) gash in the ball from where it came into contact with the heating element.

So now I have to figure out if the ball/gash should be repaired or not. I mean, according to the USBC guidelines, a damaged ball only is disqualified IF:
1) It is out of specifications.
2) It is damaged in a way that would adversely affect the lane surface/equipment.

I don't think a gash like that, given it's depth, will adversely affect the lanes/equipment nor take it out of specification. So I guess I just gotta roll it tonight and see if the damage causes any issues as it rolls.

Looks like I'll need to come up with a new de-oiler. The current system works, I just need a support of PVC or wood capable of supporting the 16lb ball. The heating element and pail combo work well, it's just the trays are designed to hold fruit and beef jerkey...not 16lb bowling balls.

Any comments?

Any other stories of homemade fixes that didn't quite work out the way you'd hoped?

[Amyers]

Just make sure the spot is not in your track and it won't matter in the least. If it is could cause problems I would replace the ball. Are you resurfacing after the oil extraction?

[vdubtx]

If you wanted to get the gash fixed, the pro shop can handle that really easily. Otherwise, stop using jerry rigged equipment.

[bowl1820]

If it's not in the balls track, it's not problem.

If it's really only a 1/32 inch (depth), just get it resurfaced and it's gone entirely or it only leaves a little mark.

Given if you had a spinner, you could fill it in with a little superglue let it harden , cut it down and resurface it good as new yourself.

for a support just cut a short piece off a big diameter pvc pipe or use a big pvc pipe cap or the right size dog dish would work and be real stable or go to the proshop and get a ball cup.



and don't set it on the heating coils (Which shouldn't have been exposed in the first place in a dehydrator)

[Shaneshu87]

i saw a "Po-boys ball oven" idea on facebook and thought i'd try it. basically all it takes is a cardboard box, a hair dryer, and some duct tape. it helps to have a food thermometer, basically cut a hole in box to fit the nozzle of the hair dryer insert ball into box tape it shut and turn it on, bigger boxes can do many balls at one time, the hair dryer can bring the temp up to the 140-165F range, i set mine on low heat and it held at 151F. i first tested this on an old ball, for 30 minutes, just to see how well it worked, and surprise! it worked great so i threw my whole arsenal in there and did it again, i left 3 balls in the box, i figured i should keep them in there just a little longer and i covered the box with a blanket for insulation. i turned it on and set a timer for 45 minutes, and went to play some Xbox... 20 minutes later my smoke alarm in the kitchen was going off and the box was on fire! fortunately is was near my sink hose and i was able to dose the flames and no damage was done to the balls or my house, however the blanket was ruined lol i believe it was the blanket that caused the fire, my wife was pissed, and i slept on the couch that night! hahaha! live and learn!

[Aslan]

and don't set it on the heating coils (Which shouldn't have been exposed in the first place in a dehydrator)

In a food dehydrator, the heating element isn't usually exposed because the trays separate the food sits on the plastic trays. The trays separate the food from the heating coils. But the trays in this case, cracked under the weight of the bowling ball. So I used the plastic cover as a tray...and apparently the plastic cover is of a lower density plastic that melted being that close to the elements.

So I'll need a supports that sits down "near" the elements but doesn't touch them.

If you wanted to get the gash fixed, the pro shop can handle that really easily.

Yeah. He fixed my Frantic after it collided with the pin setter and I thought that ball was a lost cause. So filling in this little gash with epoxy and then sanding it smooth will be nothing.

Otherwise, stop using jerry rigged equipment.

I just can't see buying one of those little ball dehydrators when really, thats all they are is a food dehydrator made specifically for bowling balls. I have a perfectly good dehydrator...I just need the ball supported so it doesn't come in contact with the elements.

Just make sure the spot is not in your track and it won't matter in the least.

Not sure if it is or not. I guess I'll find out tonight.

Are you resurfacing after the oil extraction?

No. I've only resurfaced a ball a couple times. But I de-oil regularly.

i saw a "Po-boys ball oven" idea on facebook and thought i'd try it. basically all it takes is a cardboard box, a hair dryer, and some duct tape.

My initial version of this idea was to use a cardboard box and garbage bag instead of the pail. But when I got a pail of flavored popcorn as a Christmas gift from the company...it fit perfectly inside the trays...so it's made it easier, safer, and more effective than the original design.

I could always go back to the bathtub or try the dishwasher idea...but I just can't justify wasting that much water, especially in an epic draught. Maybe if I was de-oiling 4-5 of them at once less frequently. But the dehydrator works really, really good. It's amazing to see how much oil come off that ball.

[bowl1820]

as a point of reference this is the one I made back in 2009. Still going by the way.

Its a five gallon bucket setting on a magic chef dehydrator. I used one tray so it had a level surface inside to sit the ball on. even without the tray the elements in it are not exposed, they are encased in the base unit and the hot air is circulated out by the fan through vents.

I used a ball cup from the pro-shop to set the ball on.

[rv driver]

i saw a "Po-boys ball oven" idea on facebook and thought i'd try it. basically all it takes is a cardboard box, a hair dryer, and some duct tape. it helps to have a food thermometer, basically cut a hole in box to fit the nozzle of the hair dryer insert ball into box tape it shut and turn it on, bigger boxes can do many balls at one time, the hair dryer can bring the temp up to the 140-165F range, i set mine on low heat and it held at 151F. i first tested this on an old ball, for 30 minutes, just to see how well it worked, and surprise! it worked great so i threw my whole arsenal in there and did it again, i left 3 balls in the box, i figured i should keep them in there just a little longer and i covered the box with a blanket for insulation. i turned it on and set a timer for 45 minutes, and went to play some Xbox... 20 minutes later my smoke alarm in the kitchen was going off and the box was on fire! fortunately is was near my sink hose and i was able to dose the flames and no damage was done to the balls or my house, however the blanket was ruined lol i believe it was the blanket that caused the fire, my wife was pissed, and i slept on the couch that night! hahaha! live and learn!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, that is soooo Homer Simpson! Glad none of it was worse! You could have had melted balls and a divorce on your hands and a fire-damaged house.

[rv driver]

Well, this is all new to me. Are there any threads/forums about cooking a bowling ball? Never heard of doing that. I guess I just figured that's something the pro shop would take care of.

[vdubtx]

I used a ball from the pro-shop to set the ball on.

Wow, you are good. You can balance one ball on the other?