String breaking. I need suggestions.

[black velvet]

I am having problems with strings breaking at  the nocking point.
 I am using F/F 14 strands, flemish twist. 54# bow. Serving is not wearing, the sting is breaking under the serving without warning. Once while the bow was set aside. Twice upon release.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[black velvet]

Forgot to add I am using tie on nock ppoints.

[Dano]

Do you make your own strings?

[amar911]

No way that should be happening. Who made the strings?

Allan

[Focusource]

Are your arrow nocks super tight on the string?  Perhaps the nocks could be pinching the strings to death.  Filing the inside of the nocks or expanding them with hot water could do the trick.

[waiting4fall]

Here's a suggestion for an excellent string.

 http://shop.dakotabows.com/category.sc;jsessionid=C95F5CC648C9EE60157746ADF2E09DAC.qscstrfrnt01?categoryId=10

[geno]

Dry rotted material ? If it is not the tight nocks..

[SHOOTO8S]

Strings breaking at the nocking point is called a compression failure....caused by too tight string nocks,serving or as mentioned waay too tight arrow nocks...which is rare.

With Dyneema the most widely used string material, compression failures are rare....but with the old FF,and blended materials (450, 452, ultracam) it does occur.

[black velvet]

I am making my own strings, never had the problem with Dacron only the F/F. Nocks are not tight. Also have used different spoons of string material. I am going to try loosening serving, if the problem still occurs I will try another material.

Thanks for your input guys.

[AllenR]

What material are you using for serving?

How tightly do you wind it?

[black velvet]

Been using BCY 62 .025 or.018. Serving didn't seem tight to me, But I am probably wrong. Made up a new string Sat. using Spectra F/F .018,
loosened the serving tool and nocks are not tight.

I think there may be a possibilty I am shooting this bow to much without changing the string and that may be causing the problem. I have made strings for other bows and my friends without any bad results. I'll keep everyone posted on how this one works out.

[James Wrenn]

I would switch to d-97 and not look back myself.For that many breaks there is something wrong with the materials you are useing.Ditch it and get new material. jmo

[Jesse Peltan]

You might have a bur on your serving jig that's cutting the material.

[black velvet]

James you seem to make the most sense. I am going to take your advice and get new material.

I'll use the old stuff for tying nock points,etc.,etc. Better safe then sorry. Thanks for helping me come to my senses. I probably would have given the same advice if someone had asked me. Sometimes I get brain freeze.

[Running Buck]

When you serve the string, how many wraps do you use to cover the tag end before cutting it off? I had a friend that would wrap about 30 times and cut the excess off. On occasion he would nick the string and wrap over it unknowing. On a 14 or 16 strand string you can get away with a little nick but not on a skinny string.

[black velvet]

12 to 14 wraps, Tag end is nowhere near the nocking point its breaking at. Also when I cut the tag end I move the string not the razor blade or knife. Learned that from wrapping fishing rods.

[frank bullitt]

Black Velvet, I went back and read thru the post and replys. At 12:11 pm you said you think your shooting this bow too much! How much how long has this string been on the bow?

  Like was said earlier by Rod, could be a compression break. Someone posted this back awhile ago, where the string broke under the nock, under the serving! This will happen on a highly shot bow with the F.F. materials.

 Imagine the string angle on the nock over several shots. It's like bending a piece of metal wire back and forth until the metal fatigues to the point of breaking!

 You did'nt say how old the string was and also the length of the bow and your draw length? Something to consider! D-97 with the same treatment may have the same results. I've seen it. Good shootin, Steve

[black velvet]

Frank,I shoot this bow about every other day. And average 300 to 400 arrows a day.

The bow is 60inches and I draw 26inches. I usually change the string just before hunting season, but I am going to change the string more often, aside from buying new string material.

Keep em sharp...........Carl

[Eric Krewson]

I had this problem once. I asked for solutions on one of the early Internet sites. Dan Quillian piped up and said I was shooting too light an arrow and essentially dry firing my bow.

Much younger and dumber 18 years ago I thought"you old goat what do you know, I have been shooting for 25 years and know a lot about archery". I was shooting 2114s out of a 70# Bighorn bow at the time.

After breaking a few more strings I tried some much heavier 2018s, strange, no more string breaking, ever.

Mr Dan knew what he was talking about and I was the only one with a goat head. Lesson learned, I listen to my elders now. They paid their dues and have a vast knowledge base to offer advice from.

[Mike Mecredy]

I'd suggest since you never had the problem with dacron to stick with it.  I've never had a problem with it either.