2016 Excalibur Micro 355 Limb Issue

[Campbell813]

Hi everyone, new here and to Excalibur crossbows... sorry if I put this in the wrong place/category...

Names Paul and currently live in New Jersey, hoping to be moved to Tennessee by fall...

Recently bought the new 2016 Excalibur Micro 355…

Set it up and noticed the cheek piece was loosening as I shot, so tried to tighten it and turns out the screws were actually stripped and just spinning. Contacted Excalibur warranty and they are shipping me a new cheek piece...

So last night I was sighting it in and couldn’t get the Quill + 150 grain field points to shoot constantly for nothing... I'm hoping it will group better once the string stretches and settles in… So after about 15 or so shots I notice the foot stirrup had loosen up so I tightened it and shot for another 20 or so shots then put the crossbow up for the evening… so went to go shoot some more this morning, giving everything a once over I noticed the entire anti-drifire assembly and scope had worked it’s screws loose and was moving up and down a lot.... so my guess is that’s a main factor I couldn’t get a decent grouping…

At that point I re-tightened with locktite on the screws, lubed the rail and was starting to put some wax the string when I noticed what appears to be several hair line horizontal cracks on the inside of the limbs close to the were the string rests on the limb… the left limbs is much worst then the right but both have cracks in them….(see attached pics)

This is fairly concerned as I'm not sure if this is a major issue and dangerous to shoot or just a comedic issue…
I am going to contact the warranty dept. and send them the info and pics to see what they think… Not off to a very good start with a crossbow I was so excited about…

Left Limb




Right Limb

[SEW]

Sorry about all the problems. Locktite is standard fare for Excal xbows. I have owned Excal for only 4 years but have shot well more than average (M380 , M405, BD400). These are high performance Xbows also and have been left cocked (hunting) 100s of hours; and the first 2 have over 2,000 and 1,000 shots respectively . No limb breakage or issues.
Get a warranty #, send it in; and I'll bet you'll be very satisfied with what happens. Just a thought: many of us buy a spare set of blemished limbs($80) for a spare set. 3 Matrix xbows and have never needed them, but have the peace of mind.

[paulaboutform]

Hi Paul and welcome to the forum. I looked at your pics and from what I can see those are not cracks at all. Those lines can show on the limbs simply from the manufacturing process and are purely cosmetic. You said you locktited some fasteners, you should actually be loktighting every fastener you can see then let them set over night. You also mentioned waxing your string and lubing your rail. This is a common mistake people make as waxing your string is truly a case of ' less is more!' Use the wax VERY SPARINGLY and only when your string starts looking a little fuzzy. Also, don't lube the rail. This isn't necessary and will ultimately reduced your string serving life. Rather, when your rail is looking dirty, spray a little silicone spray lube onto a microfiber cloth and clean your rail. Use a clean part of the cloth to remove any excess.

Paul

[robertyb]

I totally agree with the above post. The bow is fine to shoot. Did you loctite the two screws that hold the trigger assembly also?

When psoting pictures from Photobucket using the SHARE function always use the IMG code which is the one on the bottom.

[Campbell813]

I totally agree with the above post. The bow is fine to shoot. Did you loctite the two screws that hold the trigger assembly also?

When psoting pictures from Photobucket using the SHARE function always use the IMG code which is the one on the bottom.

no just the stirrup and anit-dry fire assembly screws ... but will definitely tighten and lock-tight them all...

I tried using the Image code but It wouldn't allow me to... first forum I've been on that I ran into that... I'll try again...

These are definitely cracks not manurfactering marks, they may be superficial and simply comedic in the finish but that's why I figured I ask opinions first before I get to worried...
Still going to contact Excalibur Warranty as even if only comedic it's still not what one would expect on their brand new $1100.00 crossbow...

[Hunt it]

The lines you are seeing are not cracks they are voids. The limbs are made up of thousands of strands of fibreglass. The surface area is not smooth out of the mold. They are then painted/dipped/coated whichever term you desire. That process fills in a lot of the voids and gives limbs a smoother surface. Once you start shooting the bow the paint/finish in the voids sometimes pops out and leaves the lines you are seeing. As stated above they are cosmetic and show up on all limbs once shot some. Shoot on, no worry.

[Campbell813]

Ok... thanks for the info. guys... that puts my mind at ease and was along the lines of what I thought/was hoping but then panic bottom goes off in your mind over riding commonsense... ... also read about some limb issues with the 335 when it first came so having that in mind you could see why it's unnerving... I would think stress or serious cracks would be vertical not horizontal...

Thanks again for the info and reassurance I was looking for...

[Normous]

The limbs are made up of thousands of strands of fibreglass.

250,000+ individual strands in each limb.

[racking up points]

These lines are cosmetic in nature and nothing of structural concern, as others have already pointed out.





All I had to do to post the pictures was paste the photbucket code between two [IMG] tags by clicking on the Img button, above the posts you write. Alternatively, you could copy the IMG code that photbucket makes for you, as Robertyb suggested.

Welcome to the forum.

[sproulman]

These lines are cosmetic in nature and nothing of structural concern, as others have already pointed out.





All I had to do to post the pictures was paste the photbucket code between two [IMG] tags by clicking on the Img button, above the posts you write. Alternatively, you could copy the IMG code that photbucket makes for you, as Robertyb suggested.

Welcome to the forum.

This is what happened to mine too and I sent it in..I thought I had splits too. Excalibur needs to put pictures in their manual showing these lines would ease our worry and stop a lot of warranty work ...I noticed that my first limbs were DARKER than my 2nd set of limbs..I believe those lines show more on darker camo than the lighter camo I got on second set .I have 40 shots on 2nd set and no lines at all had 10 on first set left limb and it showed splits in finish...

[SEW]

When I saw this thread yesterday, the pictures would download so I could see what you referenced. I, too, agree that those lines are normal. And agree about the wax, silicone, and Locktite .
I'd go shoot it.

[janesy]

Picked up a gen2 335 yesterday. Left it cocked over night, woke up this morning to lines like those on one limb. Not the end of the world, probably wouldn't have even noticed had I not seen those pics yesterday.

[georgiaboy]

Welcome to the forum!!
If you have anymore questions/issues just ask away...ton's of knowledge on this forum !!

[BrotherRon]

Use the blue loktite... not the permanent stuff.

[sproulman]

Picked up a gen2 335 yesterday. Left it cocked over night, woke up this morning to lines like those on one limb. Not the end of the world, probably wouldn't have even noticed had I not seen those pics yesterday.

What is it with left limb?Mine was left limb and when you see broken limb its left limb?My lines did not show up until I left the bow strung all night also to strecth the string?