what causes bow failures?

[RD808]

I've had multiple risers (3) fail on me.  One at full draw and the others broke while it was strung and I was out hunting.  

4 limbs have cracked, 2 delaminated ILF's, 1 minor crack, and 1 (just the other day) delaminated on me at full draw.

So here are my specs and what I do.

bows were 56"-58" Tip to tip, Shooting 10gpp @26"  47# shooting .500 spine with 200gr heads. Bareshaft tuned, never did dry fire.  The bow is stored in my room unstrung (heat in room never gets over 75 degrees).   I run the brace height right in the middle of the bowyers recommended brace height.  Bow is always strung with a stringer.  

Anyone got any ideas?  Maybe just bad luck?

All of the bowyers fixed these problems as they ALL broke within a year of the purchase date.   I live in hawaii and the only guess I have of why things break is the temperature changes we have.  early morning is in the 50's and by 10am its in the 80's.  Not sure if that would do it but thats my guess

[madmaxthc]

Uh... this is weird. You're right, temperature would be the first thing coming to my mind.
I've had my bow for a few years now in a room that gets up to 90, and I recently decided to check its actual draw weight and speed, as I was afraid it could have deteriorated with the temperature, but it had the same draw weight as when I bought it, almost 10 years ago.
Is the bow exposed to direct sunlight? Do you carry it in the trunk of your car when it's hot? Are there hot water pipes running anywhere nearby, or in the wall? Has anyone else access to the bow? (I found a dent in mine after coming back from a trip, I think my old landlady got nosy...). I Wouldn't know what else to think, you shoot heavy arrows and say never dry fired it.

[RD808]

The bow is exposed to direct sunlight when I'm out shooting it and hunting with it.  Other than that it is stored in my room with my rugs and euro mounts.  

when traveling to hunt/archery tournaments it rides in the back seat of my 4door truck with the AC on! hahaha

[madmaxthc]

Originally posted by RD808:
The bow is exposed to direct sunlight when I'm out shooting it and hunting with it.  Other than that it is stored in my room with my rugs and euro mounts.  

when traveling to hunt/archery tournaments it rides in the back seat of my 4door truck with the AC on! hahaha

:D

I'm sorry, I don't know what to say then. Have you tried ask a priest to splash some holy water on it?

[RD808]

 That's my next option! hahah

[neargeezer]

How about humidity. I suspect where your at is fairly humid and if the bows came from low humidity areas the woods would expand and the fiberglass would not. This could cause delamination. Are the bows well sealed around ILF fittings and such?

[nineworlds9]

So by your OP I'm assuming all the gear was purchased new by you, nothing second hand?  How many different bowyers?  There are a couple out there where if you told me who they were I'd probably not be all that surprised (of course don't discuss them/that here!), BUT all builders eventually have a failure somewhere down the line.  Perhaps you're having really really ****ty luck with bows?  LOL The holy water might be a good idea. Or an exorcism.  Could it be bad luck with shipping oversea to HI?  Sat on the tarmac too long in transit?  LOL.  Sucks to hear your plight.

[RD808]

Originally posted by neargeezer:
How about humidity. I suspect where your at is fairly humid and if the bows came from low humidity areas the woods would expand and the fiberglass would not. This could cause delamination. Are the bows well sealed around ILF fittings and such?

Oh yeah Humidity could very well be the case.  It is pretty humid where im at.  To me, it looked as if the ILF stuff were sealed properly but who knows.

[nineworlds9]

Originally posted by RD808:
 

Originally posted by neargeezer:
How about humidity. I suspect where your at is fairly humid and if the bows came from low humidity areas the woods would expand and the fiberglass would not. This could cause delamination. Are the bows well sealed around ILF fittings and such?

Oh yeah Humidity could very be the case.  It is pretty humid where im at.  To me, it looked as if the ILF stuff were sealed properly but who knows. [/b]

Another definite possibility.  Do the bows live in the a/c?  If so then not likely the cause.  FL is humid as hell and no problems here, bows get stored indoors.

[RD808]

Originally posted by nineworlds9:
So by your OP I'm assuming all the gear was purchased new by you, nothing second hand?  How many different bowyers?  There are a couple out there where if you told me who they were I'd probably not be all that surprised (of course don't discuss them/that here!), BUT all builders eventually have a failure somewhere down the line.  Perhaps you're having really really ****ty luck with bows?  LOL The holy water might be a good idea. Or an exorcism.  Could it be bad luck with shipping oversea to HI?  Sat on the tarmac too long in transit?  LOL.  Sucks to hear your plight.

Yup, all of the gear brand new to me.  4 different bowyers!  Yeah, I won't be mentioning names as they all had great customer service and replaced the bow no question asked.

I'll be going to the dark side and shooting the wheels until I can find a bow that will stay in its original piece count. haha

[ChuckC]

Temp, long draw, light weight arrows, car doors.

[RD808]

Originally posted by nineworlds9:
 

Originally posted by RD808:
 

Originally posted by neargeezer:
How about humidity. I suspect where your at is fairly humid and if the bows came from low humidity areas the woods would expand and the fiberglass would not. This could cause delamination. Are the bows well sealed around ILF fittings and such?

Oh yeah Humidity could very be the case.  It is pretty humid where im at.  To me, it looked as if the ILF stuff were sealed properly but who knows. [/b]

Another definite possibility.  Do the bows live in the a/c?  If so then not likely the cause.  FL is humid as hell and no problems here, bows get stored indoors. [/b]

No the bow does not live in the AC.  A few other trad guys here dont have a problem but they do not use their bow as much as I do.

[Etter]

I dont have any insight into all of those failures but I can suggest that going forward you may want to try one of the black widow line. I doubt there is a more bomb proof bow made

[shag08]

Hmm....that is strange! Humidity here in TN runs around 70 and temps average in the low-mid 90's here this time of year. I still shoot regularly and sometimes leave bows strung in my non AC garage...99% of the time I do unstring and bring in the AC, but I have been known to get busy and forget. Never had an issue. And most of my bows are at least 30 years old.

[monterey]

It can be a matter of humidity but not necessarily directly caused by the humidity where you live.  Also to be considered Is the humidity at the bowyer's location and the moisture content of the wood. The variations in moisture content of multiple species of woods or differences in
moisture content of same species of woods.

A riser constructed of two or more woods with variations in moisture content are eventually going to stabilize and shrink/expand at different rates while the glue remains stable.  Sometimes they just give up!

You could try an all phenolic riser.

[mark Willoughby]

I second the widow option those bows are bad as hell

[M60gunner]

I could only suggest a bow with no natural materials. Carbon riser, carbon and foam limbs. We have high heat to contend with and low humidity here in AZ. I keep my bows in A/C but still cased. Yes, wood will "move" to stabilize between different climates but your climate is not really an extreme as say going from HI to Alaska in winter. Only bows I have seen "break" are the older ones we call classics from the 50's. And 60's.

[old_goat2]

That's like asking what ticks off your old lady! I mean we all know the obvious answers, but there's all those hidden answers that we struggle with!

[The Whittler]

It might be the woods being used and how they are handled and prep. before being built. There is also the glues how there mixed etc.