Split ACEs :(

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
My club starts shooting again from Saturday so thought I would finally check and refletch all my ACEs. I have found 5 split at the back. I shoot pins and these have split the aluminium tube but not the carbon. I suspect it is impact damage but can't get it out of my head it may be stress from string walking. If it is stress I may go to In/Out nocks to lessen it. For now I've hacked off 0.5" from the back of each arrow which will make them more twitchy but I can live with that.
 
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geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
I shoot FMJ's full length. If I break the back end a bit, I saw off about 2cm. When I get half a dozen short arrows, I refletch them and use them as a set. That's compound for you!!
 

Stretch

Well-known member
Never heard of pins behaving like that. I had a cracking issue with pins in x10s but it was the carbon that cracked. Every time I damaged a pin I lost an arrow. (Those were pre-production pins). So I went back to Beiter over nocks.

If I shot ACE I’d use Beiter 12/ best nock ever. Never had issues, arrow breakage wasn’t bad. In/Outs OK if you don’t have the problem with the skirt cracking. I can’t shoot them in the #2 size but oddly they are fine in the #1 size on thinner string.

Stretch
 

KidCurry

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AIUK Saviour
Never heard of pins behaving like that.
I haven't seen it before but I don't tend to look down inside the arrow if the carbon looks okay. I was shooting them a lot at 30m back end of last year often a dozen at a time. I guess they took a lot of contact. For now I have put on TopHat steel collars so it should beef them up a bit. I was thinking the plastic of the Beiter 12 may be kinder but I have lost a few ACCs indoors this season using them.
 

Stretch

Well-known member
I think when one thing hits another thing at 130mph it is remarkable how often the things survive. I’m unconvinced that any nock is really any better than another. Apart from maybe the original x10 ear nock, it really was 1:1 broken nock = broken stick.

To be honest I think it is more about luck.

Stretch
 

Cereleste

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Supporter
AIUK Saviour
If you've still got the bits you removed from the back, could you post a picture of the splits please? Curious to see what's happened. How many splits are in each arrow, and how long are they roughly? Is there any delamination where the split meets the carbon?
 

garryplymouth1

New member
My club starts shooting again from Saturday so thought I would finally check and refletch all my ACEs. I have found 5 split at the back. I shoot pins and these have split the aluminium tube but not the carbon. I suspect it is impact damage but can't get it out of my head it may be stress from string walking. If it is stress I may go to In/Out nocks to lessen it. For now I've hacked off 0.5" from the back of each arrow which will make them more twitchy but I can live with that.
I found this to be a problem with ACE. Used to change them every season. Tried various nocks/pins etc but still happened
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
If you've still got the bits you removed from the back, could you post a picture of the splits please? ...
One split, no delamination that is obvious but the carbon came away from the aluminium tube easily. As it should have been glued it's hard to say if the heat from the trim saw delaminated it or not.
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Mark2

Active member
AIUK Saviour
That looks like a stress crack to me. We get exactly the same in our terminal ferrules on our instruments. The aluminium work hardens with the flexing from the pin insert and eventually splits. It's a shame you don't know which orientation it was on your string. I reckon that comes from the force on the pin during the release, not from back impacts in the boss. Especially as it was on 5 arrows.
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
As a coach, I offer lessons on nock preservation techniques.
Most archers don't need those lessons, as they seem to instinctively shoot with preservation in mind; rather than just hitting x's every time.
 

Mark2

Active member
AIUK Saviour
I think its a combination of age, which brings knowledge of how big a difference there is between the manufacturing cost of a tiny bit of injection moulded plastic, the price to the end user and how much it hurts to have to pay that price. That and 100's of thousands of arrows needed to reinforce the skill that keeps that cost down.
 

geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
I think it's time we put our heads together and designed a nock repair tool.
Or just make nock slots to fit over the stub ends.
 

indegold

Member
Yes cracks at the rear of the shaft. I used arrow sock things right up against the pin so this hid the cracks . Had to move socks down a bit revealing small amount of carbon so I could keep a watch out for cracks. Now gone over to Skylon and feeling richer for it.
 
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