Compound bow lubrication??
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
i just keep mine clean and dry, wax the string, and put string wax on the threads of any accessory bolts (although i've heard people use anti seize as well)
the bearings are sealed and should be pre-packed with a lubricant if required
lubing things that don't need lube just makes dirt stick to them
the bearings are sealed and should be pre-packed with a lubricant if required
lubing things that don't need lube just makes dirt stick to them
PS...if you read anything about lubing compound bow axles, check the date of publication.....i believe back in the day that the axles did NOT ride on sealed bearings....so lube might have been more appropriate
The short answer is no.
The long answer is as follows:
No. The only place it does any good is a light wax on your cables where they go through the slide (N/A if you're using a roller slide). I have found that to slightly reduce the wear on the cables and the slide. Anywhere else, lubrication just attracts dirt and doesn't help anything.
Another thing to not have on your mind at full draw.
lee.
Strange but true: the old bushing setups like on the older wheel bows didn't require any lube. The bushings were made of a hard plastic that was self-lubricating and, unlike our ball bearing equipped modern cams, they were really super durable and long lasting. I loved mine and they never wore out.
The sun will grow into a gigantic red giant and swallow up the earth, and those bushing bows will still be fine before they burn up too....
lee.
interesting, thanks
with modern polymers, such as ultra high molecular weight polymers that are very slick, we could probably do even better today, if a maker moved away from sealed bearings....might be able to incorporate them into a shim/top hat system as well
Truth is, the only real problem with the bushings is a little bit of friction/drag on the draw (but not on the actual discharge of the bow). In extreme cases, you'd get a little play in the bushings, but our wheels were still so small and the bows were so long, worn bushings leading to a little wobble of the cams never made a detectable difference in accuracy.
With today's super short bows with great big cams, maybe it could be a liability, but who knows.
The ball bearings are nice and slick and slop-free, though.... until they're not......
lee.
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I try to hit all the grease zerks every time I shoot.
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It's actually kinda funny this thread happened....
At our weekly 3D shoot this past Thursday, a new member (Joined that day) had not a single good word to say about bow shops and an even lower "opinion" of the people who work at bow shops... Evidently, he had spent a good hour on the practice range bashing every bow shop inside of 30 miles. My buddies called me over to hear him ranting. I heard him going on and on about how he's such a great tuner and knows this pro and that pro personally... He obviously didn't know that I own a shop (and my buddies were getting a good chuckle out of this encounter) so I pressed for more information:
Me - So... why all the hate for bow shops???
Him - If I'm going into a bow shop, I expect the people there to know more than me about tuning, repairs and maintenance of the bows they sell....
Me - So you've had a bad experience?
Him - I took my bow to [XYZ] for a "tune up" and they didn't do [email protected]!!!
Me - Hmmmm, I know that place very well... They have a reputation for being excellent for set up and tuning... the owner is a little abrasive if you didn't buy everything from him, but he can tune a bow!!!! What did they NOT do that you think they should do?
Him - They didn't take my cam bearings out and grease them!!! $85 and they couldn't even lube my cam bearings?!?!?! They're crooks!!!
Me - [pointing to his PSE Evolve 35] That bow has sealed bearings....there isn't a good way to take them apart, lube and reassemble those bearings....
Him - The shop I used to go to back home (he's a recent transplant to my area) used to take the bearings apart to clean and repack the bearings on my bows every year when I took it in for a tune up!!!
Me - I'm not sure how to tell you this but.... your shop "back home" was ripping you off if their tune up was cleaning/repacking cam bearings.... They aren't serviceable like that!!!
Him - I've known that guy for 20 years.... I'll take his word over yours!!!
Me - That's fine... Maybe you should either buy a press and do it yourself or ship it back to them for your annual "tune up".
Him - I don't have to.... That guy over there [pointing to my buddy] gave me the phone number of the guy he uses.... I already called him and set up an appointment to get my bearings serviced tomorrow.
Me - Really, who did he send you to?
Him - Half Bubble Off Archery
Me - Wow, you got an appointment with Adam??? [That's ME for those who don't know] That guy is always busy!!! I heard he's gonna be here breaking down the 3D course tomorrow, maybe you should call him to make sure you got the date correct?!?!?!?! [KNOWING that the only appointment I had on the schedule was for a guy looking to buy a Vista 31]
Him - I'll call him tomorrow.... He is highly recommended by everyone of those guys [pointing to my buddies] he should be able to help me out...
He hasn't called me, yet.... I kinda want to see if he shows up this week to either praise or bash me....
At our weekly 3D shoot this past Thursday, a new member (Joined that day) had not a single good word to say about bow shops and an even lower "opinion" of the people who work at bow shops... Evidently, he had spent a good hour on the practice range bashing every bow shop inside of 30 miles. My buddies called me over to hear him ranting. I heard him going on and on about how he's such a great tuner and knows this pro and that pro personally... He obviously didn't know that I own a shop (and my buddies were getting a good chuckle out of this encounter) so I pressed for more information:
Me - So... why all the hate for bow shops???
Him - If I'm going into a bow shop, I expect the people there to know more than me about tuning, repairs and maintenance of the bows they sell....
Me - So you've had a bad experience?
Him - I took my bow to [XYZ] for a "tune up" and they didn't do [email protected]!!!
Me - Hmmmm, I know that place very well... They have a reputation for being excellent for set up and tuning... the owner is a little abrasive if you didn't buy everything from him, but he can tune a bow!!!! What did they NOT do that you think they should do?
Him - They didn't take my cam bearings out and grease them!!! $85 and they couldn't even lube my cam bearings?!?!?! They're crooks!!!
Me - [pointing to his PSE Evolve 35] That bow has sealed bearings....there isn't a good way to take them apart, lube and reassemble those bearings....
Him - The shop I used to go to back home (he's a recent transplant to my area) used to take the bearings apart to clean and repack the bearings on my bows every year when I took it in for a tune up!!!
Me - I'm not sure how to tell you this but.... your shop "back home" was ripping you off if their tune up was cleaning/repacking cam bearings.... They aren't serviceable like that!!!
Him - I've known that guy for 20 years.... I'll take his word over yours!!!
Me - That's fine... Maybe you should either buy a press and do it yourself or ship it back to them for your annual "tune up".
Him - I don't have to.... That guy over there [pointing to my buddy] gave me the phone number of the guy he uses.... I already called him and set up an appointment to get my bearings serviced tomorrow.
Me - Really, who did he send you to?
Him - Half Bubble Off Archery
Me - Wow, you got an appointment with Adam??? [That's ME for those who don't know] That guy is always busy!!! I heard he's gonna be here breaking down the 3D course tomorrow, maybe you should call him to make sure you got the date correct?!?!?!?! [KNOWING that the only appointment I had on the schedule was for a guy looking to buy a Vista 31]
Him - I'll call him tomorrow.... He is highly recommended by everyone of those guys [pointing to my buddies] he should be able to help me out...
He hasn't called me, yet.... I kinda want to see if he shows up this week to either praise or bash me....
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Sort of reminds of my younger years as hot rodder. Yep, high compression hubcaps, full race muffler bearings and the such....
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33,947 Posts
deleted double post
My PSE came new with (what appeared) to be lithium grease in the limb pockets. Other than that: I used a tiny bit on my axles to get them to slide through my cam during a string change. PSE axles seem to enjoy slightly corroding if you get them wet.
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8 Posts
Yes, just like car engine oil, you need to do the oil change every certain miles or period of time. And personally I think we need to lubricat our cam bearings every 50 years or 1 million shots , which ever come first. That's about 55 arrows/day for 50 years...😂😂
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276 Posts
We used to do a lot of custom cam work. Adding bearings to bushing cam bows and re-boring cams to use flange bearings instead of R3s. Sealed bearings can be serviced. Remove the dust cover, lube and reinstall. Necessary? I guess that’s up to the owner. Impossible? No
Yep. High speed sealed bearings are actually designed not to be greased, and in fact trying to "repack" them can ruin them even if you try to do it right. If you somehow manage not to destroy the seals getting them apart, the additional grease the bearing wasn't designed to have in it will finish the job. Plowing the big blob of stuff around at 20 billion rpm will blow em out for you 
.
Don't ask me how I know that.
Generally, by the time lubrication is the problem in a sealed high-speed bearing, it's more or less at or past its lifetime anyway and just needs replaced....
lee.
.Don't ask me how I know that.
Generally, by the time lubrication is the problem in a sealed high-speed bearing, it's more or less at or past its lifetime anyway and just needs replaced....
lee.
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8,862 Posts
I use Tri Flo silicone..
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I've had two bearings take a dive, since bows transitioned from the polymer type bearings. Both cams were on nearly new bows, and needed to go back to Hoyt. I don't know how many bows that is, but I shoot year round, and own some of them over ten years. Sealed bearings are either "born bad" or they last forever.
However, the axels are not immune to rust, and I've had a couple bows exposed to mother nature that did rust, and removing the axels to swap limbs was a pain. I put a film of moly based grease on the axels if I pull them for a limb change.
One thing I did learn with the purchase of a new bow with a carbon riser, is lubes are poison for the risers. Some solvents will, "apparently" degrade the carbon structure. Silicon lubes seem to be the worst, along with WD-40.
However, the axels are not immune to rust, and I've had a couple bows exposed to mother nature that did rust, and removing the axels to swap limbs was a pain. I put a film of moly based grease on the axels if I pull them for a limb change.
One thing I did learn with the purchase of a new bow with a carbon riser, is lubes are poison for the risers. Some solvents will, "apparently" degrade the carbon structure. Silicon lubes seem to be the worst, along with WD-40.
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