Fun with plastic tubing...

[Sederien]

Well, I've had fun making a paper funnel, a duct tape funnel, and an invisible funnel (just attaching the tubing directly)... but it would seem that there isn't anything better than a tray in back for the moment.

Considering that the fun for me isn't lots and lots of balls during a fever, but rather getting to the fever, I'm going to put this to the side for the moment and work instead on the more pressing issue of sound dampening next weekend.

Only other thing to note is that each machine hit a fever no less than three times while testing:

Spiderman: 3 wins, still in fever chance mode.
Lord of the Rings: 4 wins, still in fever chance mode.
Indiana Jones: 5 wins, back to normal mode.

The chance that this will happen in an afternoon again while I'm actually playing for fun or trying to demonstrate for a friend: 0.00000000001%

[Meathead]

I used the same type of tubing with a larger diameter. I used half an inverted plastic coke bottle as the funnel, getting the idea from the post LD referred to. I found that the plastic in the coke bottles had a bit of a give to it, whereas other materials I used were more rigid. On occasion, the more rigid materials would receive a higher veloicity sphere and bounce it out. But the straight up/down sides of the bottle, along with its ability to absorb a little of the velocity, caused 100% of the balls to be contained and funneled out the bottom.

The bottle opening (where the cap screws on) also was the perfect size for the tubing. No fasteners, I just inserted the funnel into the frame opening and 'screwed' the tubing onto the funnel from underneath. The first photo shows the backs of three machines and where the funnels/tubing were placed.

The tubing is directed to a piece of 4" ABS waste pipe, capped on the lower end with a 'test plug' (second photo). The tube can get very heavy with thousands of balls, so metal plumbers tape had to be used to fasten it in place (eventually the plastic stuff failed). Just place a container under the test plug and open to receive your balls.

I used a 4" cap for drainage pipe (I believe it is called ADS) for the top of the tube (last photo). It's made of thin plastic and using a hole saw, I drilled three holes the same as the outside diameter of the tubing. It serves to hold the tubing firmly in place, and I created a slight droop in each of the tubes to slow the balls.

The funnels have never jammed during play. I can, however, drop a large handful of balls all at once into the funnel and cause a jam, but there are not enough balls coming out of the machine at once to cause a jam during play. The noise is not noticable during play, but can sometimes be heard when you cease playing the machine for a moment. The funnels are quiet, the tubes silent, and the noise heard is the ball striking others in the collection tube.