Pin chute help

[kyleBB]

I haven't had a lot of time to search in the books or online for this but does anyone know of a part to replace the skirt of the pin chutes? I have several 7&10 pin chutes with the skirts completely cut off and I'm trying to save a little money by not just junking them. I don't understand why it was done for me it seems like problems just get worse with them cut completely off. Any help at all would be great!

[Mechanick]

firstly, what problem are you having...pins sticking in the chute and causing a black out/ deckjam? or pins dropping from the cute late and falling over. If the pins on the 7 & 10 are falling over because they are catching onto the scissor deck and dropping a little late, there is a double deck roller mod that can help with this situation.

I trim my chutes to about 1/4" long. this usually helps with pins getting stuck and causing deckjams/blackouts. And leaving a small skirt prevents the chutes from tearing at the bottom, and the aluminum hole from being exposed if the chutes opening at the bottom gets larger over time.

One of the bowling companies (maybe Quality) sells a liner that you would stick onto the moving deck in place of the skirt.

[kyleBB]

The chutes are not in machines ATM they were pulled long before I started working here. I've never liked when the chutes were completely cut off it just seems "wrong" to me but I would like to use them in place of some worn out ones instead of buying new ones for $57 each

And thanks a lot for your help ill be looking into my quality stuff for the part

[wepauls]

I don't think Thar's a repair kits for skirts
as NICK has manchion cut all but 1/4" off but never all

[mikeb]

Play it safe and toss the old chutes.

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

There is nothing that will solve the absence of the skirt except to replace the chute. The skirt is used to maintain the shape of the chute. Once removed, that integrity is gone. There are "liners" that you can install inside the opening of the chute but it will not keep the shape of the deck chute from deforming as a pin lands in the chute.

The part number is 12-2850 from Quality for the insert.

[Mechanick]

I have a bunch of chutes with skirts cut off on the lanes...they usually don't cause issues until they either rip at the base or deform to the point where the round aluminum opening is exposed. You could use them until they become a problem...it may take a few or many years for this to happen and in the mean time you will get a few or many years of use out of them. So if you want to you can still use them, but check your chutes periodically for if they have gone south. I have the pinnys do a monthly cleaning and inspection on all the pinsetters, and one item to clean and inspect are the chutes.

I think that quality does sell something to adhere to the aluminum in the case that the skirt has been trimmed....I don't see any point to it though. The skirts were trimmed in the first place to prevent pins from sticking in the chutes and causing a jam. The only propblem is that the whole skirt was trimmed. The trick is to trim the skirt so a 1/4" lip is left. This helps to maintain the life of the chute, while improving its performance.

the red Jcp chutes are the only chute on the market that is manufactured with a skirt like this already

[Steve Stafford (JBEES)]

I agree with Mechanik...unless you are having issues with the current chutes...continue to use them. If you are having issues with them, the inserts are not going to solve the issue if the issue is that the skirt is gone. The skirt was only there to keep the deck chute shaped and the inserts are not going to accomplish that.

[RipOwens]

I always just trimmed the skirt on the rear from finger to finger leaving the full skirt on the rest of the chute to keep it stable, the rear of the the skirt is the part that will cause pins to stick so no reason to trim it all the way around

[Mechanick]

I always just trimmed the skirt on the rear from finger to finger leaving the full skirt on the rest of the chute to keep it stable, the rear of the the skirt is the part that will cause pins to stick so no reason to trim it all the way around

Im not sue if you trimmed them completely off in the rear of left a little of the lip intact, but if you trim them off completely in the rear then they have more of a chance of ripping or deforming at that spot

[RipOwens]

only about 1/2 way up

[kyleBB]

Thanks for all the help guys guess I'll just junk those now. The chutes that are in now are giving any "problems", but they are starting to tear and deform and I can see them giving problems in the near future. I'm trying to get them out during the summer when things are dead.

"I have the pinnys do a monthly cleaning and inspection on all the pinsetters, and one item to clean and inspect are the chutes."

^ I wish we could do that, 24 lane center that consistently runs on 4 or 5 people, 3 of which strictly work upfront (winter leagues we might hire a new person but that never lasts long). It also doesn't help the owner believes that all the pin chasers she hires need to know how to work upfront and that it is there main job and to only go down back when they get a call.

[Mechanick]

Thanks for all the help guys guess I'll just junk those now. The chutes that are in now are giving any "problems", but they are starting to tear and deform and I can see them giving problems in the near future. I'm trying to get them out during the summer when things are dead.

Personally, depending on how tight your parts budget is, I wouldn't just toss the ones that are on the shelf or in the pinsetter with the lip completely trimmed off. They still can last a long time when they are completely trimmed. I have some that have been on longer than I have been at the center (12 years). Most of them were done like that when I first started....but I definantly see more chutes fail that have the lip completely cut off in the end. I would go through and toss the ones that are on the pinsetters which are ripped or have been deformed to the point that the aluminum edge is exposed, or close to being exposed (the chute edge is flush with the egde of the aluminum). And when replacing those bad chutes, try throwing in the ones on the shelf to see if they are any good.
If you have a tight parts budget, and the chutes are not problematic, perhaps the money you would be spending could be put to better use in areas of the pinsetter that are problematic for you!

^ I wish we could do that, 24 lane center that consistently runs on 4 or 5 people, 3 of which strictly work upfront (winter leagues we might hire a new person but that never lasts long). It also doesn't help the owner believes that all the pin chasers she hires need to know how to work upfront and that it is there main job and to only go down back when they get a call.

^ not the best way to operate....there are too many reasons to list.

[kyleBB]

If you have a tight parts budget, and the chutes are not problematic, perhaps the money you would be spending could be put to better use in areas of the pinsetter that are problematic for you!

with how things are running right now the pin chutes are about the only things that need money spent on them they have been rather ignored for years XD.

^ not the best way to operate....there are too many reasons to list.

wanna come talk to the owner about that? LOL

I told her at the start of the season I might be moving up and staying on campus at college and we needed to hire someone to AT THE LEAST pin chase and only pin chase... sadly I got a guy who spent 99% of his time upfront and now quit to "pursue other interests". It feels like I'm talking to a brick wall sometimes

[rivmike]

Kyle, Just here to help!