AMF 82-30 Common Stops and Calls 

I'm amazed, you're about the age when I first wandered to the back of a 50-lane center that had 30 center lanes with the 82-70 ball lifts. The center closed in April 2018 (I threw the last ball there) and I remember there being an absolute mishmash of various alterations including a few digital chassis, a "hump back" ball lift on two of the -70 lifts, and a number of other things. I wasn't at the level of mechanic but I did have to do nearly all of the things described here. You speak very well and one can easily understand what you have to say.

This is a great video Joe. I think I mentioned on a live previously that I am the same age as your machines. This brings back many memories for me. There were several centers in my area that had 82-30s. All of them are gone now.

Thank you very much for this videos

Very informative and check you out soon on the next LIVE.

Great job Joe..

Cool video... almost got a few bowling lanes last fall

Keep these great videos coming im not even fixing them anymore but love your videos

Back in the day when we had ball doirnissues we would use a broom stick and wedge it and paddle the ball and pin out the door. It worked all the time but the other issue was it clicked the pit sensor and cycled the machine.

We still have 82-30s at my job right now. These vids help a lot as i want to train with the mechanic to learn more about them :) only difference between our machines and urs is the ball return- we have a paddle that goes back and forth? Not two separate doors.

Great video Joe. Love those 82-30’s. I remember also clearing black outs (table-sweep crash) and out of cycle chassis where the sweep and table are out of sync and can lead to a crash, and pins kicked out front.

The incessant ball return used to drive me nuts. Or when the sweep would lock in the back and the table would sit on top of it, and have to hand crank that beast back up... The best used to be when the ball would end stalled in the channel, and dumbass people would stick their heads in the channel way looking for the ball.

Cool video. I work on these. A pain in the butt but incredible system honestly. I couldve never come up with it.

Joe, this is Harold. I worked in a 40-lane center in Largo Florida (Largo Lanes). The first 16 were open pin wheels and the other 24 were solid pin wheels. I loved working there, but the one problem that has stumped me is clearing an off spot pin. I tried to do it the way I was shown, but I always came up with a machine that was "out of time." Can you show how to correctlly do this call on your next video? Thank you

Fantastic video what about out of range what does a AMF pin spotter do for out of range

Do you have a video of what will be a normal maintenance on this machine Joe the 82-30

Hey, I’m currently 18 and this fall I’m going to be going college for diesel mechanics and I’m planning to try and get a job at a local bowling alley fixing the machines. Do you have any tips for someone starting out?

What happens if the table should happen to come down on an offspot pin? I'm guessing a lot of times the pin will be knocked over due to the design of the table but what about the one time everything lines up perfectly?

I would like to have the opportunity to work on an AMF machine. Clearing calls on the Brunswick A1's was pretty stressful during leagues, had a lot of catastrophic failures on those old machines

Dude your front roller is shot. That thing is knocking pretty hard

Well lane 1 may have a staged ball issue but the first thing i hear in the first few minutes is a front roller in need of some help! Pin that thing back and pull that carpet bounce plate and rear roller before the bearings create an issue like rip the carpet the roller seats or the hex bolts are loose. Should not be as usually trying to remove them without heat will snap off as many hex sockets you care to buy! Are they the old style stepper relay chassis? I know they made updates that almost are like the 82 70 MP Single board chassis and the 90 XLs But i learned on the 30s in the 80s with the old heavy ass stepper relay chassis. Well heavy for a kid who was like 7 the first time i went in the back it was 1984 and the way the house was set up the pit was really the pit the lanes and machines were elevated a little higher then most because it was under the shopping center so you went down 2 flights of stairs to get to center then down a step to concourse then down another to seat area the approach was step up but to go in the back it was not ramp down to the lanes were knee high then at the door to back another ramp down so in the back all the carpets were elevated cause all the pits were on like adj feet but solid to hold weight! So i did lots of sweeping under those 30 lanes. Like a pin could roll under a machine just the very bottom of pin wheel is only spot where it may hit the belly of pin but as a 7 year old what that did was make the first experience of my 82 30s for almost til i was 20 WAS MAKE MY FIRST 30S SEEM LIKE GIANTS! AND IT WAS AWESOME! SO LOUD! SO SCARY! SO HUGE! AND I LIVED ON THEM SUCKERS! I COULDN'T GET ENOUGH! But what a bitch as i learned later on how easy a 70 or 90 pit and distributer come out even out the back where those 30s CARPETS BOUNCE PLATES AND ROLLERS WERE COMING UP AND OUT OVER THE PIN DECK AND OUT ON THE BACK END! THEY WERE NOT GOING OUT THE BACK. ESPECIALLY SINCE THINGS WERE ELEVATED SOME ALL THE REARS WERE PINNED TO EACH OTHER AND TO THE PIN DECKS WITH A SET UP TO KEEP EVERYTHING IN SPEC WITH JUST CRAZYNESS BY THE TIME I WAS THERE SINCE IT OPENED IN THE 50S I WAS BORN IN 77 SO ALL THE 80S AND 90S I WAS ON 30S NOT FAR REMOVED FROM THE ORIGINAL CHAIN DRIVE SUCKERS THAT ATE FINGERS OF MANY MEN BEFORE ME! EVEN VINCE ONE OF THE OWNERS WAS MISSING PART OF HIS PINKY AND MADE IT A POINT TO ALWAYS YELL AT ME AND SAY... YOU SEE THIS SWEEP LEVER? WHEN YOU RUN THIS SWEEP YOU NEVER STICK YOUR HAND IN THAT CAM OR IT WILL CUT IT THE FUCK OFF LIKE THIS! WHEN YOU SET THE DISTRIBUTER ON TRACK AND SET THE BEARING JUST BACK LEFT A GEAR AT 5 PIN NEVER GET YOUR FINGER UNDER IT OR IT WILL CUT IT THE FUCK OFF JUST LIKE THIS OTHER ONE! LOL MADE HIS POINT AND I GOT ALL 10 AT 47 AND BEEN IN MANY MACHINES FROM COAST TO COAST! I could go on forever! Lol But you know what im saying so you probably wanna stick my head in a respot gripper by now to shut me up! Fair enough! LMFAO

Can you show where the second ball switch is? I’m new to the 82/30s and trying to learn whatever I can. Thanx