Bow exploded in hands
Equipment
I was just shooting in the garage, getting my daily reps in. Came to full draw, noticed the back wall felt spongy. Let down thinking it was me. Came to full draw again, felt spongy again. Looked at my draw stops, and they weren't touching the limbs -- about 1/4" from the limbs -- both top and bottom. Let down just a touch to see where the valley put the limb stops, and then came back to full draw --- POW -- bow explodes, arrow goes through the freezer.
Cable busted at the loop that attaches to the top cam.
Cams are bent and limbstops are sheered off.
The string (with D-loop) is still in tact and in tension (not full tension).
What do you think? Are the limbs toast? Do I call it a wash and use it as an excuse to go get a new bow?
Gonna need a full thorough inspection if your thinking of rebuilding
Ok let's hear the nitty gritty. Bow and model, how old and how old is the cable. Custom string/cables? How many shots through them? Do you shoot mechanicals? Hunt over bait?
Bummer, glad you weren't hurt.
haha. Classic responses thus far.
2014 Elite E35. Cables are from 2017. Strings are new 2018. Cables are winners choice. String is piranah.
I shoot 20-30 shots a day.
Iron Will hit system.
I hunt in steep shit. But it's not BC Ambush ;-)
That sucks...wish I hadn't read this :^/
Hope you have better luck than I did getting elite to honor their warranty. I am sure you won't have any problems getting whirlpool to honor your freezer warranty. ;)
Had a limb bolt let loose from a wood riser many years ago during a 3D shoot. Bottom limb come up and hit me in the ribs. There were guys that heard the explosion from the opposite side of the property it was so loud. My last wood riser.
Bow is worth keeping and since the string didn't let go, I be very tempted to rebuild. Probably find some good cams on-line. Check the limbs for slivers. Is it possible to bend the riser with this type of failure?
But I would also tell the wife I needed a new bow, buy one, then fix the Elite on the sly.
Are you sure someone didn’t paint it to look like an Elite maybe it’s a PSE or something else Damn may have to change my name now go into hiding.
I painted it in October! So, of course, that voids the warranty (no I didn't paint cams, etc.).
I'll take it into the shop and spend some more time looking at my thread from below: https://forums2.bowsite.com/tf/bgforums/thread.cfm?threadid=486115&messages=82&forum=2
I personally don't know enough about bow components that I'd have the confidence to rebuild. Its a mental thing too. I'd buy new, but it's all up to you. Someone who builds and tinkers with bows a lot could prob feel confident rebuilding and saving a lot of money.
If the cable is aftermarket and that’s what broke, is there a legit warranty claim against the bow?
I personally would see what elite says and buy a new bow in the mean time. They tell you to pound sand, so be it, if they fix you have a good back-up.
—Jim
I had a cable blow on a Hoyt Ultratech. Limbs had to be tapped out of the limb pockets with a rubber mallet after wedging in from the explosion. Gave it a good inspection, put new cables and string on, and shot it for a couple more years before selling it.
No way would I just rebuild it.
In the past 35 years I have had two bows "blow up" I tried to rebuild them both, both times through the manufacturers and both attempts failed with lots of headaches. A lot of wasted time, and once with a bunch of money wasted.
Unless they will send you a brand new bow, which they won't, because you "altered" the bow... Toss it in the trash and get something new...
Just my thoughts and experiences.
Good Luck, and I am very happy you didn't get hurt!
The first bow sliced my hand wide open and required something like 12 stitches. luckily the second failure I wasn't hurt at all.
Had it happen last year. Drew the bow and it blew up as I released, the string snapped and luckily no one including myself was hurt. It scared the hell out of me more than anything. Rebuilt the bow in the middle of the season after killing an elk and with a mule deer and antelope tag still in my pocket it was just in time. Harvested both bucks and then went to KS where I filled my buck tag there as well. Top limb was splintered and string completely snapped but cams remained unbent and in good shape. Was very thankful that it didn’t result in any injuries and also that the bow was able to be rebuilt. Seems to be shooting great.
I think there are quite a few variables to consider, probably the most variable is my confidence.
Looks like I'm shopping for bows.
I had my old Reflex bow blow up. My new string came apart. The top limb was in front of me the bottom limb at my feet . The arrow was in two pieces. It was a bit unnerving . I drove home and put the cams through a rotation and found nothing amiss. I put my old string and cables on and was shooting again within an hour. Sometimes you get lucky. Investigate before making a decision.
Glad you didn't get hurt!
Time for new bow. Might be some micro fractures in parts you can't see.
Unless you are really attached to it would likely take more money to rebuild than buy new.
Did you release the string as if you were taking a normal shot?
Rebuild it. I had a PSE that broke in half at the grip during full draw. PSE sent me a new riser and bow was put back in use. This scared the hell out of me and I sold the bow and never bought another PSE.
So I don’t get it, you say “rebuild it” then go on to say “it scared the hell out of you” so you sold it and never bought another PSE.
So the OP should rebuild his but you won’t shoot yours that broke or even buy another bow from the company that seems to have done right by fixing yours?
Maybe I’m missing something or maybe I’m just dense....
—Jim
I'm glad you are ok, that's easy to be really bad medically speaking.
On the bright side, the 2020's just came out, so you can likely get a really awesome 2019 cheap! Sometimes, trying to get something that messed up fixed costs 3/4 (or more) what a new one would cost. It's not worth it. Enjoy a new bow.
Run a cotton ball over it. The fibers will stick to any fractures you can’t see with naked eye, if you decide to keep. I would buy new if it were me though.
JMO....
Send up a prayer of thanks that you weren’t injured in that mess, and start 100% new.
Whenever I am troubled by the cost of something with real safety implications, I convert the cost of the item into emergency room co-pays.
That used to be 100 bucks a pop. These days, it’s 20% of whatever the care comes up to.
At that rate, a new bow is DIRT CHEAP.
I don’t think I could ever draw a bow that exploded on me again. Memory would have me a basket case. Replace don’t repair
A couple years ago I bought a new 10 point crossbow. It exploded on the fifth shot. I took the pieces back to the store where I bought it. They gave me every bit of my money back, no questions asked. Then they set me up with a Ravin and it has worked great. You haven't seen a real bow blow up until you experience a crossbow blow up. I saw a Mathews that was drawn and accidentally released with no arrow on the string. It went to pieces. One of the guys on the Bowsite did it to Tennbow;s brand new Mathews bow.
Of course you do know that new bows neeeeva break.......... that much......
Great posts. I spent a good portion of my energy looking at bows on the web today. Excited to see what the shop has to offer on Monday.
I'd like to see a picture of the arrow in the freezer. Not sure if I go with euro or full body mount if I got a freezer.
Rupe had a picture of an arrow stuck in the siding in his cellar. He worked like crazy to fix the hole before his wife saw it.
I'm a diehard Bowtech guy, but had a brand new bow blow up on me on the first draw out of the box. Scared the CRAP out of me, pieces all over the living room, blood running down my arm. The outfit I bought it from offered to replace it with a new bow, same model. I said no thanks, cash back please. It took me months before I was able to draw the next new bow back. Kind of like flinching at the shot of a rifle. I even put on safety glasses the first few times drawing back. A couple years on, I'm still shooting that replacement Bowtech bow and killed a nice 6x6 elk with it this past fall. Sure hope to never experience anything like that again.
I can’t say I’ve ever had a bow “blow up” on me, but I shoot a Hoyt , all jokes aside I saw a video a couple years ago about “cotton ball testing” the limbs. I’ve never caught my bow fixing to blow but it sure proved to help my father in law. On a whim we checked his bowtec and his upper limb was very “catchy” on the cotton ball. Took it into the shop and they agreed that it wasn’t right and bowtec replaced it!! Maintenance maintenance maintenance!!!
JT, I did shoot it after the repair, but any time I heard a noise it scared the hell out of me. Bad Medicine. You really need to experience a bow breaking and folding around you and barely missing you and others on the shooting line to have that bad feeling. That experience really messed up my shooting and the guys that were next to me for months. Toss it in the barrel.
I had a limb bolt on my daughters Hoyt let go while I was tightening. Limb hit me in the nuts. Thank goodness it was only at 35#. I think the bolt partially stripped when the dealer turned it down at the beginning but took 3 years for it to let go. Spent 3 months(all of deer season) trying to get a bolt and a barrel nut from Hoyt before I finally found parts off a garage sale bow. Every dealer I have talked to says Mathews service is hands down the best.
New bow time... (You will never see it the same)
I would rebuild. From my understanding elite designs there cams to be the week link. If the limbs and riser passed the cotton ball test I would rebuild. But it is a great reason to update.
Good luck with your new bow!!! That said I had a limb on a Mathews Drenalin get "dented" in a slide rock sheep hunting. Next a big sliver of carbon fibers popped up a week later. I cut them off and sanded it but the tiller was off based on shooting it a couple shots. Got a set of "new/used" limbs from a great dealer and still use the bow as backup.
I also had one of the Jennings wood riser 4-wheelers fail. Riser broke when I was at full draw and it folded around me. The two piece quiver was full of arrows with razor sharp broadheads. They laid at and on my feet like pick-up sticks. Anyway, I found a Jennings that had a limb crack and salvaged the riser off it and put the bow together. It shot fine.
