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Thread: Regarding ball ovens

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    High Roller Phonetek's Avatar
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    Default Regarding ball ovens

    I was doing one of my balls in the oven at work and got a little busy. I forgot about it and it was in there for an hour. When I came back all seemed well, tons of oil came out. I wiped it off and let it cool then cleaned it thoroughly with ball cleaner. I put it on the spinner and put the surface I wanted on it and it seems ok.

    What would you say is the max amount of time to have a ball in there for? I've had some that still tend to have more oil seeping out while cooling. I thought about putting them in for another round but decided against it. If I wanted to put them back in would they have to completely cool first or do I just do it all at once until it stops bleeding?

    I want to get clarification on this before a customer's ball ever goes in it. I don't want to be replacing bowling balls because of my lack of knowledge.

    By the way... Why is it you can put a ball in the ball oven and it's okay but leaving it in a hot car is taboo?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Phonetek View Post
    I was doing one of my balls in the oven at work and got a little busy. I forgot about it and it was in there for an hour. When I came back all seemed well, tons of oil came out. I wiped it off and let it cool then cleaned it thoroughly with ball cleaner. I put it on the spinner and put the surface I wanted on it and it seems ok.

    What would you say is the max amount of time to have a ball in there for? I've had some that still tend to have more oil seeping out while cooling. I thought about putting them in for another round but decided against it. If I wanted to put them back in would they have to completely cool first or do I just do it all at once until it stops bleeding?

    I want to get clarification on this before a customer's ball ever goes in it. I don't want to be replacing bowling balls because of my lack of knowledge.

    By the way... Why is it you can put a ball in the ball oven and it's okay but leaving it in a hot car is taboo?
    The ball oven is designed to stay under a certain temperature. I think there is also a mechanism that distributes the heat evenly. With the hot car, you don't know how hot it is, and you may not know how long it will be in there. I think the hot car taboo is really about bowlers who would just put their bowling gear in the trunk at the start of the season and leave it there until the season ended. In southern New England this wasn't a really big problem unless you joined a summer league.

    I think the balls can stay in until they stop bleeding. Your best bet would be to ask your friend at the pro shop. The manufacturer might be much more cautious than necessary.

    p.s. the last two weeks just the 20 minutes ride to the alley with the balls in the back of a pick up with a cap has been enough to start sweating oil out of my lefty HyRoad.
    Last edited by J Anderson; 07-08-2021 at 06:55 PM.
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    A former teammate used to leave his in the car on bowling day while he was at work. He'd get to the center and the balls were soaked with oil. He has done it for a few years and never had an issue but he only leaves them in there for that day.
    I actually put one of mine in my oven here at home on 120* for about 10 minutes. No issues. Figured it it cracked no big deal but a few years later it is still fine
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    Quote Originally Posted by J Anderson View Post
    The ball oven is designed to stay under a certain temperature. I think there is also a mechanism that distributes the heat evenly. With the hot car, you don't know how hot it is, and you may not know how long it will be in there. I think the hot car taboo is really about bowlers who would just put their bowling gear in the trunk at the start of the season and leave it there until the season ended. In southern New England this wasn't a really big problem unless you joined a summer league.

    I think the balls can stay in until they stop bleeding. Your best bet would be to ask your friend at the pro shop. The manufacturer might be much more cautious than necessary.

    p.s. the last two weeks just the 20 minutes ride to the alley with the balls in the back of a pick up with a cap has been enough to start sweating oil out of my lefty HyRoad.
    I keep it set to 135 degrees, that's the recommended temperature. I usually let it heat up first with a calibrated thermometer and then I put the ball in.

    The only worry I have with leaving the ball in too long is heating up the core of the ball. I mean I'm sure the core gets warm but not 135 degrees in 30 minutes to an hour. I'm no science major or bowling ball engineer but I would think the core getting up to 135 would be a no no. I could be wrong.

    I think you had the best advice to talk to my PSO friend. I have two bowling balls I have to pick up anyway. Yeah I bought two more. I'm a bowling ball addict all in the sudden. These make 11 & 12 in less than two months for my son and I. This guy is the best PSO I've ever dealt with and know his stuff. He'd definitely know.

    Again, I'm probably being overly cautious but I'd rather do that than ruin someone's stuff.

    As far as balls bleeding in the car, yeah I've seen that with a couple of mine I brought back home loose on the back floor. They are slippery suckers trying to pick them up!

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    So I got my answer. He said an hour and a half is about the max time at 125 degrees to be in the oven. He says to wipe it every 15 minutes with acetone until done. He said to avoid using Dawn soap as it stucks it up and takes forever to get out. Once cool use diluted simple green for the final wipedown.

    He told me his horror story of how he left one in over night and he came in to find the expected result. Yep... Cracked. So there you go folks, use your oven wisely

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    Quote Originally Posted by Phonetek View Post
    So I got my answer. He said an hour and a half is about the max time at 125 degrees to be in the oven. He says to wipe it every 15 minutes with acetone until done. He said to avoid using Dawn soap as it stucks it up and takes forever to get out. Once cool use diluted simple green for the final wipedown.

    He told me his horror story of how he left one in over night and he came in to find the expected result. Yep... Cracked. So there you go folks, use your oven wisely
    ACETONE!! NO! You don't use Acetone for cleaning balls. Using a little bit to remove superglue from the surface is okay, But you don't use it for general cleaning.It can alter the balls surface overtime.

    You can pretty much use any other regular ball cleaner or just plain alcohol.

    As for Dawn you don't put it on the ball to clean it. It's mainly used in The Hot water & Dawn oil extraction method which is just soaking the ball in a bucket of warm water with a little bit ( about TSP) of Dawn dish soap mixed in the water. This method is slow and not as efficient as one of the purpose built machines, But has been used for years and is safe.

    As for why your not supposed to leave your ball in a hot car.

    Is because the temperature in a car fluctuate and you don't want drastic temp. changes because it can cause the ball to crack possibly. Also the temperature can get too hot, like upwards to 170. Plus the ball might not heat evenly which is bad also.

    What kind of Oil Extractor is in that shop? Most proshop ones have timers on them so you cant leave them running all night. I believe the Innovative Revivor Oven has a 2 hour timer.
    Last edited by bowl1820; 07-11-2021 at 07:15 PM.

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    My gosh, I’m sorry I didn’t see that. It was not supposed to say acetone, it was supposed to say alcohol. By no means use acetone on a bowling ball. Spell check got me and I didn’t see it. Thank you Bowl!

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