Waxing the serving, why?

[Pydpiper]

I have had my Exocet about 3 weeks now, I wake up and keep shooting until it's dark. My bow is new, my experience is new but I have a tremendous amount of shots to base my experiences.
I followed the directions in great detail on how to wax my string. After 150-200 shots I noticed the serving was gaping at the contact points where the trigger engages it. A helpful member offered to repair it for me, so I stuck on a new one, again being very precise in the waxing preparation. After another couple hundred shots I noticed the new string was doing the same thing, So I asked a young fellow in the "bow shop" in Waterloo, his response was "you are lucky to get that many shots out of a serving on these things". I expected his word to be accurate, solely due to the fact that Excalibur recommended me them to me on two separate occasions. Not having the old one with me to get reserved I bought yet another one.
Around this time someone sent me a PM saying to try it without the wax, I may be surprised. I am now WELL over 300 shots without any signs of wear or separation, no wax.
I have the barrel smooth and slick with a car wax to prevent wear on the string from that aspect.
I am not willing to dismiss this as coincidence, and after absorbing the cost of this bow I am not willing to accept this as a quality control issue. Excalibur's recommended shop also told me the wear was normal. Yet, no waxing provides better results?
I don't want to have to reserve every week, although I will. But now that I have skipped the seemingly important wax I am getting substantially better life out of the serving.
Again, I am not speculating or assuming. I am talking about proof in my hands. What is with the need for wax?
In my experience, wax leads to premature breakdown of the serving.

[Tom]

Pydpiper I have been using a crossbow for over 25 years and I am still using my Excalibur Relayer for over 24 years. I have had many strings reserved, actually my dad does them for me, he is better at it then I am. The quality of serving will actually determine how long it will last.

If the serving is not wound tightly, then it will not last as long. Some material which the serving is made from does not last as long as others (just the nature of the material, sometimes there are weak points). If you get a weaker point against edges (trigger, deck edges) then you can get the starting of seperation in the windings. Once it starts to seperate, then the serving becomes weaker and will break, requiring to be reserved.

Waxing the serving will not only lubricate the string (also transfers to the deck rail) but it will fill up the space between the windings, which will make it a tighter winding, making the seperations of the strands more difficult.

When I wax my string, this is how I do it. Many on here do it wither the same way or very close to it. I stretch the string stightly between two points (usually pulled tightly my a rope) then liberally apply my string wax. I then will rub it in with my hands (new string, first waxing). I then apply more wax. This time I rub it in with a small piece of leather. You want to rub hard enough to create heat to really melt the wax in deep. The better job you do here will lengthen the lif of your string.

Also remember that the higher poundage bows will always have greater pressure pulling of the servings (trigger & deck edges) trying to seperate them. The more you can do to strengthen the bond between the windings, then longer you serving will last.

Good luck and enjoy your bow.

[Pydpiper]

Thanks for the input guys!
I suspected moisture to be a good reason for wax, but as far as "gluing" I find fault in that (the idea, not the post), theoretically it makes good sense to use a bonding agent between the windings on the serving, but I am not sure the wax is the best choice for that particular situation, it seems to be taking advantage of the apparent loose windings and letting the trigger sliding right through.
Having a serving wound tightly and properly may solve this for me, and also allow the use of wax to bond the string together opposed as letting the wax be a lubricant to allow the double holds of the trigger to work its way into the windings onto the string.
So, either I learn to do my own servings or run the string dry, the way they come is apparently not tight enough. I am looking forward to the serving that is getting done by hand, it will be one less thing I have to think about.

[Tom]

Pydpiper when I look at your picture I see a possible other problem. What I see is not the serving being pushed apart like we thought in our above postings, but possibly cut from sharp edges. Take a fine piece of emery paper to smooth the edges of the bars that hold the string when cocked. Sometimes there has been a trigger assembly that gets shipped with sharp edges but it is easy to cure.

Give that a try and see if it helps for you.

[GaryL]

Pydpiper when I look at your picture I see a possible other problem. What I see is not the serving being pushed apart like we thought in our above postings, but possibly cut from sharp edges. Take a fine piece of emery paper to smooth the edges of the bars that hold the string when cocked. Sometimes there has been a trigger assembly that gets shipped with sharp edges but it is easy to cure.

Give that a try and see if it helps for you.

Yep Tom has that one right, Pydpiper as Tom stated a piece of super fine emery paper/cloth and smooth the edges down on the trigger claws or if you do not want to try that send it to Excalibur or Dan Miller for fix up. The claws are doing the damage.

[Pydpiper]

Now this is getting interesting..Here is why:
I said that when I went to Waterloo to buy my 3rd string and since then it hasn't happened again, well I also stopped by Excalibur and had a whole new trigger assembly installed(for a non related issue), when I got home is when I put on the new string, since then I have not had a problem, new string, new trigger.
Talk about pieces to a puzzle. Solved.

[ComfyBear]

Crossbow are inherently hard on servings. I find that the original retail serving doesn't hold up too well. However, I find that once I re-serve my strings, the serving lasts longer, and even longer on my own custom made strings.

Here's a closeup of my serving and string, which has been shot approx. 50 times.

[Pydpiper]

Crossbow are inherently hard on servings. I find that the original retail serving doesn't hold up too well. However, I find that once I re-serve my strings, the serving lasts longer, and even longer on my own custom made strings.

I like the color of your string, more importantly, the serving looks like it is holding up excellent.
What would you compare your string to in the world of Excalibur? Similar in strength and speed as the stock one, or have you managed to make something you feel is more able to perform?

[knobby]

the serving on any new bow string is bound to begin separating sooner or later...

as the string stretches with use...it gets alittle thinner...causing the serving to become looser. Especially on sumthing with as much pressure on it as an Excalibur style xbow.

Thats why the serving hold up longer on a string that has been reserved. The string has already stretched at that point and the new serving will stay tight longer.

At the rate my FFF string is stretching I can see reserving it very soon.

[ComfyBear]

I like the color of your string, more importantly, the serving looks like it is holding up excellent.
What would you compare your string to in the world of Excalibur? Similar in strength and speed as the stock one, or have you managed to make something you feel is more able to perform?

I feel that speed-wise my custom string is comparable and not much faster than the factory FFF string. However, as far as stability, and durability, I feel that both the string and serving exceed the factory ones by far.

the serving on any new bow string is bound to begin separating sooner or later...
as the string stretches with use...it gets alittle thinner...causing the serving to become looser. Especially on sumthing with as much pressure on it as an Excalibur style xbow.

Knobby, there's a lot of truth to what you say, however with the proper preventative maintenance and care, the serving will last longer. At the end of, and even in between my shooting sessions, I alway inspect my string. I will readjust the brace height if needed, rub and twist the serving. By doing so, I've had some of my strings last for more than two years

[BUCKSHOT]

Pydpiper when I look at your picture I see a possible other problem. What I see is not the serving being pushed apart like we thought in our above postings, but possibly cut from sharp edges. Take a fine piece of emery paper to smooth the edges of the bars that hold the string when cocked. Sometimes there has been a trigger assembly that gets shipped with sharp edges but it is easy to cure.

Give that a try and see if it helps for you.

That is good advice Tom!
You should stick with the string wax Pydpiper, now you know what the
co-incidence was!
String wax is a must, and the thought of using the leather to melt it in is also a good recommendation!
Shoot straight!

[Pydpiper]

A hair dryer is a great idea, I bet that gets the wax good and deep.

I applied the wax last night, thinking my morning walk may be a bit damp, later today I will try the hairdryer.

[htoler]

one of you guys ought to call D. Miller and see what he tells you about waxing your center serving I think what he tells you might surprise you..
it caused a pretty big debate when I shared what he told me..

[wabi]

I've always waxed the center serving, but the description of the serving thread says it's "resin coated" - not sure what that might be for, but perhaps it would hold up without wax? I would think some type of deck lube might be needed if the center serving isn't waxed. One thing I have noticed when meeting and shooting with other Excalibur users is that most of them (when I looked at their crossbow) do wax a lot heavier than I do. There is often wax build-up on the rail and riser. I have always been very careful to keep wax applications minimal (with my trad bowstrings, too) and always rub the new wax to heat it and "melt it in".

[awshucks]

What Htoler is talking about is Dan Miller's advice to NOT wax center serving. While I realize that borders heresy on here, I had consulted him about an Emax that is/was eating servings. I assumed the claw was cutting the serving, but he correctly diagnosed the problem as not so much a cutting but rather the serving separating. He told me that the wax was softening the serving and allowing this to happen. Since I had a freshly waxed to the max string on the Emax, I decided to try this method on my Phoenix which was due for a string. I'm about 150 shots into it now, sans wax, and can see no difference. It still looks like new.