Has anyone opened a Stan Perfex thumb release aid?

geoffretired

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I opened, mine to clean it. When I saw inside there wasn't much in there that came as a surprise, but when I put it all back together, the jaw did not lock when I set it to shoot. (It was nothing to do with the set up.) I took it apart again and worked the mechanism, as it can be set up all in one half of the body.
There are three parts inside and the jaw. The lever that holds the jaw in the set position is free to move on a pivot. Once the setting lever is activated, that lever should be held in place keeping the jaw locked. It looks as if there is space for a spring to do that "holding in place". I opened the release inside a plastic bag so nothing could get lost, but no signs of anything. I have found a way round this problem , but am curious to know what was in place to hold that lever in the locked position.
Cheers
 

geoffretired

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Heehee, no lubricating, Stan is very clear on that.
How do I post pics? I do have one but not sure how to get them here.
 

geoffretired

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If you follow the line of the spring inside the body, across to the left, the lever looks like a dog's front leg. Opposite the spring on the other side of that leg is a half moon cut out.( not very clear)That cut out is where I would expect to see a spring to push the lever into a locked position against the hook. The lever is on a single pivot and rotates very slightly clockwise and anticlockwise. Rotating anti clockwise hold that lever against the hook during the draw of the bow. Triggering the release aid, kicks that lever clockwise, releasing the hook.
Once triggered, there is nothing to return the long lever back into the position where it prevents the hook from opening.
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
I was about so say - use the attach files button. How confident are you that the thigh spring on the hook is in the correct place and is located correctly? Looks like the big spring pulls the pawl/sear into lock location. The thigh spring gives the hook some spring loading and helps it open by the looks of it?
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
I'd wonder about that thigh spring. Closer look says the big spring is on the trigger. Maybe the thigh spring hooks onto the sear to click it into lock position.
 

geoffretired

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Hi Thanks for the replies. The strong spring is correct, It holds everything in place and when opened for the first time, everything stayed where it should be. Also, a pic from Archery Talk shows the same. All the actions I make when shooting work properly, so long as I put a plastic spring of my own, in the half moon cut away. Take that out and again , everything works as it should apart from the hook. I can get the hook to hold, but the slightest shake and it breaks free, because the long lever can move into any position. The trigger mechanism stays in place as the strong spring is in control.
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
There are only three possibilities:

1. Something has been reassembled incorrectly. Such as the little thigh spring.
2. Despite your excellent care in opening the release in a plastic bag, something has been lost. Very easy for something tiny.
3. During the cleaning process, something has been disturbed and is now floating around under one of the levers out of sight. A little bit of spring steel or similar.

Makes me want to buy one and take it apart to find out what.

Usually, at this point, I contact the manufacturer and ask for a parts drawing. 😁
 
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geoffretired

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Hi, The spring that is visible in the pic is very strong. It fits over a peg that fits into the release aid body at the right hand end, and the left hand end is a hook that fits into a groove cut out of the piece next to the dog's leg lever. It is so strong it could not stretch beyond the place where it is now, plus, that's how it was when I took it apart. Taking the pieces apart to clean them showed nothing I did not recognise; so I am pretty confident there isn't a tiny part hiding.
I am happy to accept blame for losing a small part, I just don't know what it is like to look at. In the picture posted on Archery Talk, there is nothing in the little half moon cut away..... perhaps that one was lost too before the owner realised.

Makes me want to buy one and take it apart to find out what. Heehee I love that thinking.
Do you think Stan would send me a parts drawing.... specially as he says not to take it apart.
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
I think we're talking at cross purposes. The thigh spring is the little one on the hook. Not the big one for the trigger. I can't see why you'd need one on the hook but I dont know what the hook action feels like on a Stan. You could put the thigh spring on the latch pivot and use it to preload the latch. Then, after release, your finger pulls the hook back to operating position and the latch clicks forward.
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
However, this depends on how you operate the release. On my hinge I flick the hook back onto a magnet with a finger on one type. On the other, a little elastic band does the same job.

I'm not sure the handedness of the spring works like I've suggested but you might be able to experiment.

Hours of fun 😆
 
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geoffretired

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Thanks again.
The hook, once the shot is made, is spring loaded to return it to the closed position.( That is the spring you mean, yes?) In the pic it is loose as the loose end locates in the other half of the body. The hook is only half closed because the spring isn't fully working with the top missing. If the hook was rotated to its natural position it would turn a little more anti clockwise and you can just see in the pic that the end of the long lever next to the hook would have a space between the hook and the lever. That leaves the long lever free to rotate inside the body of the release aid. It is free when the body is back in place, because I can hear it tipping back a forth if I tilt the release aid. I tilt it one way and the hook catches; tilt the release aid the other way and the lever rotates as if the release has been triggered and the hook is free to flip about. So it will not hold when I draw the bow. The only way I can see it working is to have the long side of the lever pushed to rotate it anticlockwise. That brings the short end across to the left , blocking the return of the hook. Triggering allows the piece with the spring attached, to rotate clockwise, under the strong spring tension. That in turn kicks the long end of the lever clockwise, freeing the hook.
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
Aye. That's the one. If the hook is supposed to be spring loaded then, as you say, you'd need a second spring to flip the sear into locking position.

I guess that this release automatically locks the hook? In normal operation. No need to click a lever to latch it?
 

geoffretired

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On the odd occasion, when the hook had not sprung back into positions,( sometimes I was holding the end of the release near the hook) I found that setting the trigger hadn't set the hook so I had to press it into place. I have had release aids where that was the method you had to use every time. On the Stan it takes very little pressure to set the hook, you feel just a very slight resistance as things inside click almost silently into place.
The point at which that resistance is felt is very close to the last mm of travel of the hook. I think that shows that the hook is free with very little contact against the long lever, once the release is triggered to make a shot.
The action is very crisp. I only opened it because I started to feel the trigger moving before the release went off, as if I had set the travel to more travel than usual. It is certainly back to its normal crisp action, now.
 
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