I admire you guys in your knowledge of these machines. They are quite fascinating to me. I guess you could say I was a pin chaser years ago at an 8 lane house with straight As
The last time that I worked on one of these was in 1986. Been watching your videos and it's amazing how much I remember. Almost 40 years later, I'm a Maintenance Mechanic fixing extremely large and extremely expensive machines and making pretty good money at it. Like my boss told me when I was 16: "If you can fix a Brunswick pinsetter, you can fix anything".
Mike, your videos are awesome and extremely helpful to me as a new gsx mechanic. I have a GSX that makes 7&8 pins wobble when it sets a new set of pins. Could this be an unlevel table?
I forgot what a pain it was to change those belts. Would an adjustable length belt work? You could just thread it through without taking anything apart. You can make it any length you want. I've had great luck using this stuff. Lasts forever, doesn't stretch. Kinda spendy, but not if you only have to change it every 10 years. McMaster-Carr part #: 6173K38. Videos on RU-vid if you've never used it before.
Zot Pinsetter Parts had a red link-belt available for many years. It came in 1/2" and 5/8" options. I have used it before. It worked well for most situations. However, it did not work well as a substitution for the short turret drive or the long drive belt positions. I've never had the opportunity to use the 5/8" link-belt on a ball or pin wheel. Brunswick does make a "spliced" belt. It has a split clip that allows for the same option. Quick and easy install as a temporary repair. Thanks for watching my videos! It means a lot to me! If you have a really good understanding of how these machines work inside and out, then you should do very well in countless other fields. Mechanical principals are constant. The shapes of the parts might change, but mechanical principals remain constant.
@@michaelbuckley3808 LOL. I moved on from pinsetter "mechanic" (I only had a few years' experience 1981-1986) to Maintenance Mechanic for the past 40 years working on very large, very expensive machines and making good money at it. You are correct or, as we used to say, "If you can fix a Brunswick pinsetter, you can fix anything". Tonight, I fixed a 15-ton bridge crane. Thanks for the videos. It takes me back to the beginning. Love it.
an extra holding spring for the lift rods? lol just means that the mechanics don't know what they are doing. lol and I would have put on notice everyone about the the Electrical box cover missing. I always hated that someones temp solution to a problem became permanent. Man that A-2 sounds awful :( due to the ball wheel is floating. you never tighten up the upper ball wheel belt tension arm first, you always do the lower one first so the ball wheel is seated firmly against the lower guide rollers. Then you tighten the 10 pin side upper guide roller, then place the tension arm on the belt. when you only loosen up the upper and lower 8 pin side guide rollers you run the risk of the ball wheel floating and not tracking within the guide rollers. that can put pressure on the guide roller plastic flanges and wear them out quicker. all because the ball wheel is not tracking true center. the sound is the ball wheel and the upper tension arm vibrating. and he okayed the machine for use without testing or adjusting the Turn pan and cross conveyor? or the ball wheel and lift rods with a ball. and due to the ball wheel floating that is why they put the holding spring on the lift rods. and that upper ball wheel tension arm does not swing freely as it should. poor machine needs a lot of TLC. ---- AMF certified A mechanic on the Brunswick A-2, and top of class.
Thanks for your feedback! It helps me to do a better job. Like you said, these machines need a lot of work. This center does not have any qualified mechanics. They have 2 pin chasers. I try to stop by once per week to help them out. Their previous mechanic neglected the equipment for nearly 20 years. There's a lot that needs to be done, but nobody to do it. My goal is to help them tackle some of the bigger jobs and resolve issues that they can't.
@@michaelbuckley3808 yes you do have a lot of work cut out for ya. 2 pin chasers, oh boy. no wonder they thought the extra spring on the lift rods would work. cant fault them for that. known many of a facility manager and B-mechanics that did the same thing. but it never made sense to me. so I figured what really was going on with the lift rods on my own. never had to use extra springs on lift rods ever again.
