View Full Version : How do you keep your balls warm (bowling balls in the winter )
I always carried my ball inside at work and then to bowling but this year have no way to do that so the ball or balls would sit in the car for almost 3 hours, I decided it was time for a locker. Not sure how many balls I can fit inside but at least my first choice strike ball and spare ball will be in there.
epiepenburg
08-29-2015, 01:53 PM
Thankfully I can go home before going to league, therefore mine stay inside at home. Where I bowl their lockers aren't big enough to fit more than a few balls, so I transport mine each week.
bowl1820
08-29-2015, 02:17 PM
While you don't want extremes one way or the other, The main thing about temperature is you want to store balls at a constant temperature. It's the fluctuation , the going from back & forth between hot & cold that stress's the ball.
3 hours in the car in winter isn't that bad, throw a blanket around it, wrap a towel around the ball in your bag. Anything to give it a little extra insulation.
While you don't want extremes one way or the other, The main thing about temperature is you want to store balls at a constant temperature. It's the fluctuation , the going from back & forth between hot & cold that stress's the ball.
3 hours in the car in winter isn't that bad, throw a blanket around it, wrap a towel around the ball in your bag. Anything to give it a little extra insulation.
It gets pretty cold where I'm located the average high temp in Jan is 29 and lows can sometimes reach 10 or more below zero. The car trunk is never warm to begin with because the car is in an unheated garage. I doubt that's enough time to freeze the ball, but they certainly would get cold and I'll be getting to bowling late most of the first 1/2 of the season due to a class that ends 15 minutes before practice starts so the ball doesn't have any time to warm up there either.
I thought about an battery powered small electric blanket, like a heating pad ....
bowl1820
08-29-2015, 03:30 PM
I thought about an battery powered small electric blanket, like a heating pad ....
I don't think I'd go to the extreme of a electric blanket.
You can get a big insulated cooler and put them in it.
Take some styrofoam and line your bag.
billf
08-29-2015, 06:25 PM
I leave mine at the bowling alley. One of the few perks of being an employee.
vdubtx
08-29-2015, 09:45 PM
I leave mine at the bowling alley. One of the few perks of being an employee.
Thats fine if you only ever bowl in one place. Balls stay in my car at all times. Never had an issue with cracks etc. Sure, they get really cold sometimes, but I am usually garage parked at work and at home, so warmer than the ambient temp typically.
Tony, maybe try keeping inside car so they get a little warmed up before going into the center.
billf
08-29-2015, 11:15 PM
I knd of cheat. I have to drive by the center to get home and have keys so I just stop and grab them on my way.
To keep mine warm I wear thermals when it's that cold.
billf
08-29-2015, 11:16 PM
We do have a guy who's wife crochet some ball covers. Looks a little silly until yours cracks and has worked for him so far.
I don't think I'd go to the extreme of a electric blanket.
You can get a big insulated cooler and put them in it.
Take some styrofoam and line your bag.
Hey, I'm an extreme kind of guy, I once built a heated, insulated dog house, even had a window in it! The heater was a fiberglass mat with a heat coil molded into it and it had a temp control inside my garage. The dogs were toasty warm.
The cooler would certainly help keep them warm, I could even keep them next to one of the heat registers inside before I leave to have them at a little warmer temp to begin with. Thanks
Thats fine if you only ever bowl in one place. Balls stay in my car at all times. Never had an issue with cracks etc. Sure, they get really cold sometimes, but I am usually garage parked at work and at home, so warmer than the ambient temp typically.
Tony, maybe try keeping inside car so they get a little warmed up before going into the center.
I could never get away with keeping them in the car all winter, way too many days below zero here and I've left one in the car for a couple of weeks before, didn't crack but did get oddly discolored. I could put them inside the car on the drive, would help some with getting them warmer.
I did go ahead and get a locker but don't really want to keep them there all the time, there are a couple other leagues I might sub in and one of the other centers closer to my house runs a lot of practice specials I can take advantage of too.
Thanks for the idea's on keeping them in the car !
We do have a guy who's wife crochet some ball covers. Looks a little silly until yours cracks and has worked for him so far.
I already have a purple and pink ball (diva divine won here) I don't think the ball covers are in my future !
Amyers
08-30-2015, 10:57 AM
I already have a purple and pink ball (diva divine won here) I don't think the ball covers are in my future !
That's what I want to see a guy throwing the Diva with crocheted ball covers. Lol :eek:
That's what I want to see a guy throwing the Diva with crocheted ball covers. Lol :eek:
If they give me crap I'll just show them the saying in the ball "It's all about me " and roll a strike !
Aslan
08-31-2015, 02:21 PM
Oh...I thought this question was about something else...
Wait...so it gets cold sometimes? That's weird. How do your palm trees stay alive? Do you move them inside?
If it DID get cold here...(hell'll freeze over eventually)...I'd drive into the Home Depot nearby and pay a 5 Mexicans in the Home Depot parking lot to sit on them like chickens keeping an egg warm.
vdubtx
08-31-2015, 03:49 PM
If they give me crap I'll just show them the saying in the ball "It's all about me " and roll a strike !
Or, leave a 10 pin. LOL
jab5325
08-31-2015, 04:21 PM
Another thought, if cold balls are that concerning, is to get/activate those portable hand warmers, and wrap them in a towel before placing into the bag. The towel would be necessary to avoid any chemical reactions/issues--warmer to skin....errr, coverstock contact should be avoided.
Mike White
08-31-2015, 04:53 PM
As a person who lives in a warm climate, keeping balls warm is not a problem I face often.
However, if the ball is colder than room temperature, doesn't the ball create condensation from the moisture in the air?
Whats worse is it wouldn't only be on the outer surface, where you could easily wipe it off, it would also be inside the thumb/finger holes.
I remember a trip to Wisconsin years ago, it was 30 below outside, when I came inside, and turned to shut the door, I couldn't see it.
My glasses instantly fogged over.
As a person who lives in a warm climate, keeping balls warm is not a problem I face often.
However, if the ball is colder than room temperature, doesn't the ball create condensation from the moisture in the air?
Whats worse is it wouldn't only be on the outer surface, where you could easily wipe it off, it would also be inside the thumb/finger holes.
I remember a trip to Wisconsin years ago, it was 30 below outside, when I came inside, and turned to shut the door, I couldn't see it.
My glasses instantly fogged over.
The ball has to be colder than the dew point and this can happen depending upon the relative humidity of the air inside the bowling center, it will be pretty dry, so there will only be so much water in the air to condense on the ball. For example with an indoor temp of 68 and humidity of 40% the dew point would be 42 degrees.
This is not to say it happens often but I have seen it a couple of times.
The glasses are a much more dramatic example ... the relative humidity of your breath (assuming you are not a zombie) is 98.6 % so at whatever the indoor temp is the will also be the dew point ... if it's 70 with a dew point of 70 you have instant foggy glasses.
This happens all the time, you either get used to it, or remove your glasses and put them in your pocket. There are some anti fog treatments that can help prevent / minimize the fogging.
Aslan
09-01-2015, 01:35 AM
This is not to say it happens often, but I have seen it a couple of times.
Ummm...as a Californian that originated from the far northern parts of Michigan....you're lucky...because it happened to me every day, every building, from right around mid-November through about mid March....sometimes late September....or as late as early April.
The worst building was the math building because when you entered they had this huge heater blowing hot air from every direction. It was an older building so not as efficient or well-designed. But that heat hitting you directly in the face...most people learned to take their glasses off before entering the doorway. It usually only took 1-3 weeks of winter for the Freshmen to figure it out.
And I played both outdoor broom ball and hockey and the plastic shields were almost impossible to use...had to use the metal cages...because you couldn't wipe the mask off fast enough before it would fog right back up. I even had a car....an old Geo Metro....that was so small that if I took 3 other guys in it on cold nights, the windshield heater could only keep the windshield half unfogged. On nights when we were coming back from hockey and everyone is all stinky and smelly and hot...I'd have to keep an old t-shirt with me to wipe the inside of the windows as I was driving.
Ummm...as a Californian that originated from the far northern parts of Michigan....you're lucky...because it happened to me every day, every building, from right around mid-November through about mid March....sometimes late September....or as late as early April.
The worst building was the math building because when you entered they had this huge heater blowing hot air from every direction. It was an older building so not as efficient or well-designed. But that heat hitting you directly in the face...most people learned to take their glasses off before entering the doorway. It usually only took 1-3 weeks of winter for the Freshmen to figure it out.
And I played both outdoor broom ball and hockey and the plastic shields were almost impossible to use...had to use the metal cages...because you couldn't wipe the mask off fast enough before it would fog right back up. I even had a car....an old Geo Metro....that was so small that if I took 3 other guys in it on cold nights, the windshield heater could only keep the windshield half unfogged. On nights when we were coming back from hockey and everyone is all stinky and smelly and hot...I'd have to keep an old t-shirt with me to wipe the inside of the windows as I was driving.
The meaning was I've seen the bowling ball develop condensation a few times.
The fogging of glasses is very common since your breath is putting high moisture in the right place constantly.
I guess that wasn't clear.
I drove a dodge colt 75 miles one way and it never defrosted the entire windshield .....same reason you had to wipe the windshield, breathing out 99% (98.6) humidity provided all the moisture.
Mike White
09-01-2015, 02:07 AM
The ball has to be colder than the dew point and this can happen depending upon the relative humidity of the air inside the bowling center, it will be pretty dry, so there will only be so much water in the air to condense on the ball. For example with an indoor temp of 68 and humidity of 40% the dew point would be 42 degrees.
The glasses are a much more dramatic example ... the relative humidity of your breath (assuming you are not a zombie) is 98.6 % so at whatever the indoor temp is the will also be the dew point ... if it's 70 with a dew point of 70 you have instant foggy glasses.
This is not to say it happens often, but I have seen it a couple of times.
I'm not a zombie, unless you wake me up too early, like to bowl at 8am.
What happens when your body temperature goes over 100 fahrenheit?
Do you become a fog monster?
taxexpert2
09-01-2015, 11:45 AM
I have bowled with someone who let their ball get too cold and then bowled with it. It cracked. I keep mine in the house unless I am going to the lanes (which are only 4 miles away). Guess I am lucky they are so close.
I'm not a zombie, unless you wake me up too early, like to bowl at 8am.
What happens when your body temperature goes over 100 fahrenheit?
Do you become a fog monster?
At over 103 F my mind becomes foggy !
I have bowled with someone who let their ball get too cold and then bowled with it. It cracked. I keep mine in the house unless I am going to the lanes (which are only 4 miles away). Guess I am lucky they are so close.
Yes, I have seen it happen before, happened to a teammate a couple of years ago, he not only left the ball in his trunk it wasn't even in a bag or box, it just rolled around smashing into everything around it...
jlwonderley
09-06-2015, 11:29 PM
Yes, I have seen it happen before, happened to a teammate a couple of years ago, he not only left the ball in his trunk it wasn't even in a bag or box, it just rolled around smashing into everything around it...
WTH!? A loose bowling ball int he trunk... who does that. Did he have an amp and subwoofer back there? :D
I did leave my ball (in the bag) in my trunk shortly after getting it, in between bowling nights during the winter. Next time I used it it was cold enough that it killed the hook almost completely til it warmed up! I also realized the danger of cracking then as well. I repented of my grave sin, and have never done that again.
HowDoIHookAgain
09-07-2015, 08:33 AM
I tend to wrap mine up in my towel(s), keep it in my bag, and leave it somewhere in the basement. On the night before bowling (be it school or league), I bring it in my house to warm it up all night.
Jessiewoodard57
09-18-2015, 10:26 AM
I just keep mine in the bag in the living room against the inner wall . Widowed so I need not worry about a complaint .
Seen the post about the ball loose in the trunk. Wonder what his quarter panels look like?
RE: Bowling ball in the trunk, keep in mind this guy was pretty much a hoarder, his trunk had tons of other stuff in the trunk. Boxes , remodeling supplies, clothing, tools, dog food, and who knows what else, so while the ball could potentially roll it also had plenty of stuff to keep it from rolling free.....not that this makes it much better .
larry mc
10-04-2015, 10:15 PM
i keep em home till im leaving . i have time 2 make it home b4 league
Copyright © 2025