As The Cups Turn....

[Louie_IV]

I have noticed something on quite a few of the machines, but not all. When the cups turn, instead of turning smoothly with no hesitation before setting the pins on the deck, they do hesitate, sometimes even turning backwards a hair before completing their turn. It is not like a bind, but more like a dip in the cam kind of motion. They turn half way, stop for a fraction of a second and keep going. I think this nonsmooth cup turning is making pins fall over at random times. Before I spend hours experimenting and trying to find what is causing this hesitation in the turning the cups, I thought I'd ask you guys if you have ever run across this and how do you make the cups turn smooth again. I know it is nothing that is broken because it is happening on 90% of the lanes. It has to be something either wearing out or out of adjustment. Still stumps me how most of the lanes are like this, yet 2 out of every eight work very smoothly??? [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif[/img]
Any Ideas??

Louie

[Mike Stalker]

Re: As The Cups Turn....

Yoke spring tension.

I set mine weak enough to spot single pins smoothly, but strong enough to control a full rack.

[Rep]

Re: As The Cups Turn....

Mike called it, I've seen it too. Play around with the yoke springs a bit. You'll find when they're set with the right amount of tension those cups will turn smooth as silk! [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

Rep [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img]

[Mike Stalker]

Re: As The Cups Turn....

Louie, the easiest and safest way to set the springs that I have found is to spot an empty rack and shut off the table at bottom dead center.

Unplug the table and backend motors and hop into the pit. Take the spring puller and pull the three spring hooks off of the yoke.

Now you can move the spring locking collars with ease. Once you have moved them, put the springs back onto the yoke and try them.

Some guys only use two springs but I use all three.
Good luck
Mike

[Rep]

Re: As The Cups Turn....

We use all 3. But the way I adjust them is leaving the table up. Get in and from underneath loosen the allen head screws and adjust it all at once, there's tension there but nothing too too bad. Anyway as said, make sure the cups turn smoothly with only one pin in them as well as a full rack, thats the adjustment you want [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif[/img]

Rep [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img]

[Kat]

Re: As The Cups Turn....

Yoke spring can and will cause this problem. But, also look at the lighting rod thing that ties all of the cup shafts together. The sleeve bearings in there as well as the bolts like to wear out causing inconsistent spring tension, hence the "backwards motion" you mentioned. Drop the deck down to 270 setting new rack. Grab a cup on each shaft and rock back and forth. See if there is any play in that sleeve bearing.

[callkiller]

Re: As The Cups Turn....

Originally posted by Louie:
I have noticed something on quite a few of the machines, but not all. When the cups turn, instead of turning smoothly with no hesitation before setting the pins on the deck, they do hesitate, sometimes even turning backwards a hair before completing their turn. It is not like a bind, but more like a dip in the cam kind of motion. They turn half way, stop for a fraction of a second and keep going. I think this nonsmooth cup turning is making pins fall over at random times. Before I spend hours experimenting and trying to find what is causing this hesitation in the turning the cups, I thought I'd ask you guys if you have ever run across this and how do you make the cups turn smooth again. I know it is nothing that is broken because it is happening on 90% of the lanes. It has to be something either wearing out or out of adjustment. Still stumps me how most of the lanes are like this, yet 2 out of every eight work very smoothly??? [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif[/img]
Any Ideas??

Louie

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">[LIST] put your table in spot position and check your shifter cam it could be out of adjustment, i've seen that cause eratic spot action.

[BowlEquip]

Re: As The Cups Turn....

Here's the COMPLETE (unlike the manual's)yoke spring adjustment:

First check that both (2) or all (3) springs are OK. Sometimes they break. Then Run a dry spot with no pins and observe. If jerky, too much tension. Now:

1. Table at zero, adjust the springs so that the clamp collar's gap is even with the spotting cup cap upper nut for three springs, or the gap between the cup and the cap for two.

2. Run a dry spot (no pins). If jerky, back off a little on each spring until smooth.

That's it as far as the manual is concerned. BUT, if the tension is too weak, it may spot smooth but create another problem: the cups with ten pins might fail to turn back horizontal before reaching the bin, resulting in a bin jam and possible breakage. There are several reasons why the cups might fail to release the pins, the most common being deadwood on the pindeck.

3. Step 2 checked for too much tension. Now, to check for enough, run a spot with ten pins, but create an interference by placing a two-by-four vertically on the deck under the edge of the table, preventing it from reaching the lane. If you're careful, you can use a pin. The table will go up to zero, and the cups with pins should return to horizontal. If not, increase the tension a little.