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I didn't mean the rivets. I meant the thickness of the metal of the H bracket under the bumper rail making contact with the thick activator arm preventing the auto upright assembly from lying flat.
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9th Amendment! -
The H bracket was designed to reinforce the bumper where the air cylinder is, so that is as flat as the bumpers are made to be. Is there something unusual about your install that makes the bumpers interfere with your lane machine?
I have added 1/4 X 1/2 or 1/4 X 3/4 bolts to other supports on some bumpers to raise them so they don't go over center in the down position and make them harder to raise.
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Probably, LOL!Originally posted by mr.badwrench View Post
Anyway, this is what I mean.
not flat.jpg
hits here.jpg
9th Amendment!Comment
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That looks normal to me. When bumpers are down, do the edges of the bumpers keep the angle of the gutter, are they higher so there is a gap, are they lower so the bottom of the bumper on the gutter side goes below the edge of the gutter?
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So, after thinking about your question, I decided to download and read the Durabowl bumper install manual. The manual calls for the mounting surface to be 2 3/4" from the top of the lane surface....mine is 2 1/2".
So I guess I lose a quarter inch of play in the height. And the distance between the bumper assy. and the lane is greater than the 1/8" the manual states.
[Thanks install crew!
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I have done this too! It started when I had a rail that was very difficult to raise and I discovered about halfway downlane the angle base was badly bent as if a ball was lofted that far and landed on top of the rail. The depression in the angle base was allowing the nearby bracket to angle downwards when the bumpers were down, basically locking them. I didn't have time to tear apart that section to try to bend things back to normal. The fix works great and I have used the same solution a few times elsewhere.Originally posted by mr.badwrench View Post
Don't let those quick fixes become permanent ones; the job is not done until it is done right.Comment
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The one nice thing with Durabowl bumpers is they can be repaired (and tweaked) somewhat easily.
You can eliminate the problem with H-brackets sticking in the support legs by spreading he legs slightly apart when they are installed .A pair of small Channellock pliers works well in in this case. It doesn't take much and does not affect their operation at all.
The 10 foot common sections can be pieced together from a combination of broken pieces in quarter, half and 3/4 sections. I used to take all of my broken pieces and salvage them into 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 sections and then make full 10 foot sections out of the pieces. You just need to carefully measure where the cuts should be made. Then I made a drill guide from one of the couplers by drilling out two of the threads on either end of the coupler. Mounting a short piece in the other end to use as a stop guide. This way I could predrill the holes on the ends of my salvaged pieces and have them ready to go ahead of time.
I'm sorry I don't have any picture to illustrate this as my current center has Pinball Wizard bumpers and they're not quite the same. Although I have thought of coming up with a system to repair those as easily.
If you have the LED strips in clear bumpers..... My advice is to get rid of them.
Only way I could even come up with a quick fix for a torn strip was to use common staples in a stapler as a splice between the breaks in the copper foil traces. and it didn't always work.
-- LarryComment
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I have clear bumpers and when I have a mounting slot break I replace the entire length and make sure it has all the h- brackets installed and then repair the broken one. I also use a flap disc on a hand grinder to flatten the rivet heads a little so they sit inside the legs. Easier than trying to bend them.Sometimes we have to do stuff to get by....Just go back and do it right when the "by" has passed!!Comment
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All of this makes me stop complaining about our XLS-2 (Qbump.18 out of 24 lanes fitted with them). It's totally FUBAR by now and basically untenable (it was left neglected a considerable amount of time before I started there), but they're the cheapest, thinnest railed bumper system on earth. What can one expect? All plastic & only somewhat flexible. No bells n' whistles either (LED running lights). Just 3/8" hollow, long, black, square segments with green plastic tab-lock couplers. Pneumatic cylinders. It was hastily installed & is very evidently hastily repaired. The lane frames are all drilled up in random spots...
I've been trying to talk the owner into a retrofit for something like BankShot, but he won't entertain the notion.
Fine. you get what you pay for.Where's Mrs. Pisses?
And where's my son, Schmuugar?Comment
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https://usbowling.com/bumper-gutter-system/Originally posted by Mr. Blister View Post
Like these? I had a few lanes of them in my old place and they were great.Comment
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Very close! But not exactly (see this link): QubicaAMF - Pinspotter PartsOriginally posted by mr.badwrench View Post
The difference is it's an AMF/Qubica design, & "Qbump" in Texas is our source for these bumpers, not US Bowling. It's non-fluorescent & retrofitted to our Brunswick UOS capping & gutters. It hasn't been a peachy experience for me as far as the bumpers go.
It's absolute garbage in my experience. Bowler abuse mainly. The counter staff lets the late-night weekend ADULT customers "work their magic" on them and they give in because it's busy & they're intimidated by them (major customer demographic changes during these weekend nights in this house). The bowlers treat the bumpers like it's a Demolition Derby & the damage is quantitative & overwhelming. The replacement segments are mechanic-modified on many of these to compensate for the fact ("Wing it. Get creative. Anything you can to NOT order parts." is the way this place is being handled budget-wise), so the segments are either too long or too short. Some segments are altogether missing & left that way.
The cord on the Phoneix can get caught on the popped-out segments, and there's bowing where the segments are too long, causing interference with the white tapered white guide rollers on the lane machine & it'll jump off the lane and give me a "reverse travel interrupt"..etc).
Our center is under black light ALL the time, so when I/we run the phoenix, the damages to/improper corrections can't readily be seen.Where's Mrs. Pisses?
And where's my son, Schmuugar?Comment
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We had XS3. I think that design was sold by QAMF to US Bowling. They didn't break, but we didn't let drunk adults use them. The QAMF Durabowl wouldn't stand up to drunk adults either. To reduce the abuse the only answer I have is if you can get management to agree that bumpers will be disabled from down back at the times of day when abuse is likely. "Sorry. This is when we turn off the air compressor and drain the tank every day."
For the rest, you will need to buy more rails. The US Bowling ones might be compatible if you did a whole lane at a time.
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DSCF1793.jpg
This is a previously repaired one. I don't remember where it was when it broke originally, but this time it was on a candlepin lane. The balls are 4 1/2" diameter and 2 1/2" pounds. I'm not sure I will repair it this time.
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