Lonnie's lift rod adjustment

[JohnSebeny]

Was having terrible ball return issues on this lane. Wish I had a before video, but I do not, of just how crappy it was. Got fed up and decided to bite the bullet and do Lonnie's lift rod adjustment. Wow, what a huge difference. Going to let it be for a week or so to see if I have to do anything to it before I jump on another lane that's giving us fits. Here is a link to the video I took of the "after" effect. Along with a picture of the clapper box and how it should look after everything is all said and done.

http://youtu.be/o3dcZX7yc6U

IMG_20120720_221118.jpg (notice how the clapper is at a slight angle towards the 10 pin side)

Get Lonnie's lift rod adjustment here: http://www.kingpinenterprise.com/upl...Adjustment.pdf

[PJ]

Nice move John, we did that to all 24 pinsetters.

[JohnSebeny]

Nice move John, we did that to all 24 pinsetters.

1 down, 31 to go. just have to convince the HM to do this. after him seeing this, i'm sure he'd be more than happy to say bye bye ball return calls

[JohnSebeny]

got the go ahead to do this to all 32 (well... 31 now) pinsetters. looks like this scrawny guy has a lot of work to do! hahah

[speir01]

I've been slowly doing this as well. My advice, Do 1 or 2 lanes, makes sure the kinks are out and its running smooth, then move on. Nothing worse than having the house going and needing to bend 20 of your 32 lift rods.

[JohnSebeny]

I've been slowly doing this as well. My advice, Do 1 or 2 lanes, makes sure the kinks are out and its running smooth, then move on. Nothing worse than having the house going and needing to bend 20 of your 32 lift rods.

i've let lane 4 go for a week as of today and when i've been working i've had zero ball calls on this lane. going to do another lane next week when the HM is back (having all 4 of his wisdom teeth out today). and let that 2nd lane go for a while before I do more throughout the season.

[witty690]

We were having quite a few lanes with repeating ball problems. Went through all 48 using Lonnie's adjustment, and 95% of them are gone. It made a huge difference.

Now if we could just iron out the last few issues like disappearing ball tape and blown guide rollers, ball returns should be a thing of the past

[Lonnie_Mitchell]

Good sound advise Speir01. I do this as well even as confident as I am in my own procedure. some lift rods will be defiant to the adjustment and require a little more fine tuning than others.

John / PJ, thanks for the testimony. I'm sure all will be happy with the end result. I just returned from showing another mechanic this adjustment after he had replaced three lift rod assembly's on the same lane thinking they were all bad. All lift rods can be reformed! It's just a matter of recognizing the wrong shape and reforming it to the right shape.

Good luck John and I hope all turns out well. Feel free to call me if you have any issues.

Lonnie
214-505-7663

[JohnSebeny]

I was hoping you'd see this post Lonnie. From the video, did it look like it was working the way it should? I'm very impressed with how your adjustment works compared to what the book says to do. Definitely going to use it wherever I go! We've had a bunch of open play on that lane, and when I'm working, I've yet to hear "ball on lane 4" If/when I do hear it... there better be a pin blocking the ball from it's path ahahha.

I'll definitely save your number Lonnie. Right next to Steve Stafford's on speed dial, lol

[Lonnie_Mitchell]

I was hoping you'd see this post Lonnie. From the video, did it look like it was working the way it should?

Looked good John. Notice the very small amount of spring compression movement on the spring rod. This is just as it should be. The spring compression remains the same whether the nuts are at this position or at the end of the rod. The difference being, the ball has more momentum at the top to continue onto the tracks and return to the bowler. If the nuts were backed off too far, it allows the top of the lift rods to jerk out from under the ball at the top and the ball loses momentum and ends up cradling itself on the top of the rods.

Good job John, now go out there and get the rest completed.

[Kanga (James)]

John, now you can get rid of the forth rail.

[JohnSebeny]

John, now you can get rid of the forth rail.

i plan on it those are the biggest pain in the @$$ in my opinion. might make a collection of them then sell 'em.

[brentman1]

Lonnie, 3 questions:
Will this work on A's as well as A-2's?
Does the SBE still remain an asset with this mod?
Will this work with slowed down ball wheels?

Thanks Brent

[Lonnie_Mitchell]

Brent,
This will work for both "A" and "A2". However, I have on occasion, had trouble with the steel "A2" track supports. There may be a need to compensate for this.
You can still use an SBE with this mod and helps when having issues with the "A2" Steel track support.
The slowed ball wheels have had no adverse affect with this mod.
***NOTE*** Kickers WILL have a negative affect on my modification as they will be counter productive to the rocking motion of the spinning ball. The ball must be allowed to rock as with each rocking motion, the ball comes closer to the elbow.

If you have any other issues, please call me.

[Popeye]

Brent,
This will work for both "A" and "A2". However, I have on occasion, had trouble with the steel "A2" track supports. There may be a need to compensate for this.
You can still use an SBE with this mod and helps when having issues with the "A2" Steel track support.
The slowed ball wheels have had no adverse affect with this mod.
***NOTE*** Kickers WILL have a negative affect on my modification as they will be counter productive to the rocking motion of the spinning ball. The ball must be allowed to rock as with each rocking motion, the ball comes closer to the elbow.

If you have any other issues, please call me.

When you say "kickers" do you mean the cork strips on the ball wheel?