I could watch the 82-30s work for hours - it's almost hypnotic in its motion. In Evergreen, CO, the bowling center had six lanes with these magnificent pinsetters ("pinspotters"), with above-ground ball returns. I was 5 - 6 years old when we would bowl there, then the "new" Hiwan Bowl was built (with 24 Brunswick A2s, if I am remembering correctly) and the Evergreen Bowl closed down. I liked playing on the A2 "alleys", while trying to stay out of the "gutter" (the terms "lanes" and "channel" came along somewhat later) alright, but these AMFs were my favorites! Thanks for the video! It's interesting also that the table can continue to load, even with the table descending or ascending during any cycle, first or second ball. The others, A/A2, 82-70, 82-90, and GS-X, require the table to be fully raised to load pins.
Hi!!Hii! May you please tell me what happens when there’s a out of range on the 82-30s? As the pin cups are slanted I suppose it’ll knock the pin down?
For me it was Angola Bowl in Angola Indiana! They still run AMF and the owner handles all of the calls. He says only 3 calls a night! I worked on Brunswick A-2s and got multiple calls per minute at times!
These old 82-30s are great machines! All 10 pins from a strike were in the cups within 20 to 25 seconds after the sweep went up following a strike. You had several consecutive strikes and not a single time out.
Too bad they never made an 8230 Xli Edge or some type of model where the basic design was kept, but you could load 10 on 10, the way some Brunswick A2s or GS series pinsetters do, it speeds up the strike cycle if you get a hambone or anything above, lol
The Random YT Channel That’s true, I find it funny how this 82-30 can set a rack faster than the 82-70’s at my center. I find the 82-70’s and the 90’s struggle with back to back strikes.
in france where i boled first time around 6 years old i remeber biarritz had a bowling with this lanes 82 30 ! was fantastic to watch this effect of pins desk
I am now retired; I was AMF and Brunswick mechanic. I noticed the table does not pause on a strike cycle to allow the sweep to clear but the table does wait after second ball for the sweep to clear before motioning to set new pins. I worked with 82-70s in three centers on both coasts; worked many more Brunswick centers over my four decades of service. I loved working on 82-70s much more than Brunswick machines as AMF machines are far safer and almost impossible to get killed in.
To me, I find that both AMF and Brunswick are great but I’m not very comfortable to be honest with AMF because just like some AMF Bowling Centers, I super hate they remove the Ball Lift Guards while the machine is running, I don’t want my leg to be caught while clearing out a double loaded 10 Pin or 7 Pin on the 1st Ball and also some machines have electrical issues which causes an interlock, solving the interlock is easy but it’s very frustrating if one lane kept repeating and lazy mechanics are not bothering, clearing a Deck Jam on an A2 is a lot better for me. Edit: I would rather either work on A2’s or GSX cause A2 is much more simplistic and GSX is the safest of all pinsetters
If you want to see more videos like this one, I found a channel called Daily Dose Of Bowling. He uploads videos just like this one. Just a friendly pointer 😁
I bowled at a place called Ribault Lanes in Beaufort, South Carolina that had theses style pin setters. That was long ago, though, and I wonder if they still have them today.
70s are a lot better then the old 30s, 1 thing right away that I hated, sweeps get hit and carriages pop off the rails (pain to put back on). 70 can take a hits before the adhesive breaks on the plates. I could go on and on but that could take all day.
I was a mechanic at a bowling alley for 18 years. We had 82-30’s. Good old machine, easy to fix, but parts got hard to find. The owner ended up replacing them due to lack of parts. They were replaced with AMF XL-90i’s. Miss them old machines.
Hiii!Hii! May you please tell me what happens when there’s a out of range on the 82-30s? As the pin cups are slanted I suppose it’ll knock the pin down?
@@sledhead8625 I mean when a ball knocks the pin off-spot but is failed to be picked up by the grippers. For example in the case I’m taking about will the parts of the table knock over the pin or will the table rest on the pin like A2s?
The ball return is a lot more gentle on the ball than the Brunswick A 2. It would be rare for a pin to enter the ball port though I'm sure that it has happened. The A 2s are heavily prone to the pins getting caught in the ball return chute and the ball getting caught in between the lift rod and pin wheels! That scars the balls up pretty bad sometimes and the company that I worked for replaced many balls and paid for resurfacing others. Resurfacing only makes the ball smaller and makes the ball yo yo in the lift rod, again damaging the ball. I took extra springs and mounted them in a special place to pass undersized balls through. In Arizona, we only have Brunswick machines and I hate them!
That happened once at a Brunswick bowling center in Bethesda MD I was at with friends when I was a kid. We noticed that no balls had been returned for several minutes and we also heard a high pitched whining, grinding sound. The guy removed the hood of the ball return on our end and pulled out a pin. The damned thing had made it from the pin pit to the ball rack, practically.
@@Paul-gq2bn I've spent hours getting a pin out of the chute and I also have pulled them out of the ball lift as you described! I was a bowling alley mechanic and I had the scars to prove it! Lots of sharp edges on everything!
Interesting that the table does not temporarily stop on a strike cycle to allow sweep to clear but the timing between the sweep and the table seems to be right on time or the sweep could clip one of those spotting cups in returning to its guard position.
In watching the sweep more closely, it does just miss the head pin spotting cup returning to its guard position, hence the reason for a temp table stop on a strike cycle, just like the 82-70s.
I just read somewhere that this unit probably uses an upgraded chassis. The 82-30s from my childhood bowling always paused the table in the raised position until the sweep(er) was fully forward (not much danger of hitting the #1 cup). I imagine that this might have been done to speed up the game.
@@boeingpilot7002 The only reason I would think as to why the table keeps running on a strike cycle without a pause to let the sweep clear is so that the motor contactor does not have to reenergize, saving some wear and tear on the contacts. It does depend on how the chassis is programmed. But, yes, it is a close call with the #1 cup.
These are probably the later 5850 or 6525 chassis. On the earlier 3930 and 4400 chassis, the table didn't begin to descend until the sweep was completely forward.
Hypnotic! How many pins are in the machine? When the deck and the table are both full, it seems there are a lot of pins in the pin wheel and in the pit.
I worked on Brunswick Model A’s when I was a kid (in my teens, in the ‘70s). The more I see of the old AMF machines, the more I believe they are far superior to the Brunswicks, in many ways.
@@saints093. No, Brunswick Curtains are a bit taller than the AMF ones. Plus the Brunswick Curtains are removable and it has a flap and that can hang from a hook, AMF doesn’t do that except pulling a spring at the side will drop the curtain.
@@Octolicia It's very rare these days to find someone who knows how to keep score - electronics have ruined us! As a teenager I used to make anywhere from $5 to $20/week keeping score for evening leagues at the Gable House Bowl, in Torrance, California. I loved it! I still keep my "own" score, on a paper scoresheet downloaded from the internet. I like being able to compare games, from week to week -- and, it makes the game more fun!
Matt Forty The sweep is either the first or second design sweep for the 82-30. The owner of the house wanted to keep it as close to when the original Ken-Cliff Lanes were built. Nice seeing an small house built old school.
Matt Forty Saw these everywhere in the 60’s and 70’s. Until somebody actually hit the sweep with their ball there was an AMF triangle with the older-style lettering on the middle of the sweep.
@@H0TWHEELS. It’s not a great idea for 82-70’s or 82-90’s for having 21 or 22 Pins, it’s gonna cause Pin Jams or Pile Ups. Also A2’s had more pins flying out than AMF.
