Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

[BowlEquip]

Is any one else out there (PBL) sick and tired of those "indestructable" urethane ball door rings? You know, the ones AMF said "you'll never have to replace agaain"?
After they modified the designed the second time, and all looked OK, I installed them all the way accross the house (40 lanes). About the time I installed the 20th set, the first ones in were starting to break. By then the replacements were being very sloppily made in ugly red. Add your comments, then I'll probably recall more issues about them.

[Kat]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

I've just put a few in over the last 3 months and have not yet seen any problems. I will be sure and post if I do.

I used to use the Black Urethane from AMF with Great success...I dunno why they changed. Was it a design flaw or something?
I still have many black urethane ones out there still going strong.

Kat

[Coors]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

I have not had any problems with the urethane rings.

the original dark-blue/black rings didnt have the little triangle piece to reinforce the "back filler plate" part. So a few of them broke...then the last two blue ones i got had the little triangle reinforcement....and then they changed to red. i like'em.

another change they made was...the blue ones had the 1 inch frame of urethane the entire way around the ball door. which meant adjusting the lift arm was a pain. the red ones are "shaved" at the bottom for plenty of lift arm adjustment room

[Coors]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

as for why they changed to red....ill guess the red compound is a little softer..."shock absorbant"... the dark blue ones are harder and more brittle...i think....

[8270king]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

I don't know but I would try the humpback door rings. They look like a tank could run over them and they would be fine. I have had some in service for over a year with no breakage.

king

[Kat]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

King:

Can you run the Humpback rings with a regular PBL ? Any modifications?
What's different than a standard ring?


Kat

[felix]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

have not had any break, but have stripped some threads...

[Jimmy Jam]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

Is it just me, or does it seem like the rear bounce board should be angled a little more so the balls don't ram into the rings?

Remember, I have those foreign kickbacks that don't have the hotdog bun shaped holes in them.

Jonas

[BowlEquip]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

King and Kat: Thanks! I was about to come on tonight and tell everyone about Lifelong's (Humpback) rings. I have been replacing the remaining original steel rings and the urethanes with them in for the past six months...they are fantastic and easy to install.
No modifications required except to check your lift arm rod adjustment. Make sure the lift arm is even with or a little below the weldment.
As far as later plastic rings, even with the extra "triangle" portion, we've had some heads of pins shove through the rear gap. Nice thing about urethane is if it does crack, you don't have to replace it immediately to prevent ball damage.
I guess we just have too much lineage to expect no problems.
Jonas: I never recommend altering the original angle of the bounce plate, side-to-side nor back-to-front. This often leads to pins being burned by the carpet belt due to tight clearance between board and cushion pad.

[8270king]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

Kat,

Equip says you can. The metal is REAL THICK. They really are indestructable.


Equip,

I thought the lift arm was suppose to be about 1/16 or 1/8 above the door rings?

king

[BowlEquip]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

King: that's the spec for the original, but I've found that even or lower works great with Lifelong's Duro-Rings. Must be a little more gap between the "chutes". A real help with lightweight balls.
Duro's, AMF steel, and AMF urethane all have slightly different chute slopes.

[Dutch]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

I agree with the Lifelong’s. With the last modification they made (To keep the pin heads from getting stuck by the tracks), I don’t think that there is anything better on the market. The only thing is that you have to replace both sides at the same time… A minor inconvenience.
Although I’m still not totally sold on the Humpback itself, their other products have been VERY impressive. Their Rocket Rail track covers have no equal. The adjustable lower link bracket for the ball lift addresses a problem that I’ve always thought of as one of the only design flaws of the PBL and (To stay on the topic at hand) their ball door rings have been a God send since AMF switched to urethane.
Dutch

[BowlEquip]

Re: Ball Door Rings#@!%#$@

Right-O, Dutch. And, after talking to JR @ Lifelong about the problem of worn out countersunk kickback holes, he agreed with me that there needs to be a way to mount the rings if new holes are drilled in the kickback. He is going to put this into the next production run: both mounting flanges on the ring will be large enough to accommodate a new hole! Always improving!
PS:: Soon to come from Lifelong: a simplified light ball sensor that's nothing more than a de-clutching crank pulley, and a new design distributor clutch that can hang on the wall completely assembled. Just install it, adj it, and go!