I recently had my string and cable replaced. the old setup was scaled at 72lbs maxed out on a 70lb bow. now i only get 67lbs on it with just new string and cables. The guy who did it tried to put a few more twists in the cable and got it to 69lbs. I also went from 285fps to 270, What gives????
schmalts: Did the guy replace your old with the correct size Zebra string? Or one that was close? Was he a Mathews dealer? You have to have approx. 37" A to A, 7.5" of brace, while maintaining proper cam rotation. Is your bow a 30" draw? I had the same problem with my 5 yr old MQ1. I took it to a couple Mathews dealers and the best both could do was 65 lbs. I had a job in Sparta so I contacted Bob Jenkins in the tech dept. and asked if he could take a look at it while I was in town. He ended up giving me new limbs and my bow back at 71lbs. I know how you feel. You have to ask yourself how much you want to go through over 3lbs.(your bow). Have you shot your new string a couple hundred times yet? I wouldn't do anything til you've shot it in. Email me if you'd like a pic of what your cam rotation should look like if set correctly.
Thanks NUB, I know what the little holes are for, the cam timing. In fact thats one of the reasons i had the string replaced. I blew the cable and had it replaced, still had good poundage but noticed the timeing was off now. took it back to the mathews dealer and they said the only way they could get it timed was by replacing the string. I guess the new cable and old stretched string would not match up. But ever since the string was replaced now i have less poundage. What the hell??
schmalts, either your buss is too long, or your mainstring is too short, or a combination of the two. Because of the radical angle that the limbs are mounted on Mathews bows, even the slightest variance in string or cable length will really throw your poundage and draw length out of whack.
Coincidentally, I just fixed a friends MQ1 last week that had the same problem as you, only his was way worse. He had new strings made for his bow, it is a 70lb. max bow, and when he brought it to me to look at, it only would max out at 55lb.!!
His mainstring was less than 1/4" too short, and his buss cable was exactly 1/4" too long. After whipping up a new set of strings for him, the bow went right back to 70lb. max.
Check your string lengths very carefully, I am betting you will find them to be your problem.
Had the same problem with one of my mathews ended up that winners choice sent the wrong string in a mismarked package. One good way to tell is to measure your brace hieght if it is off you probaly have the wrong string and cable.
heres the whole scoop. I was shooting 72lbs. The cable broke and i took it in to get replaced. after i picked it up the poundage was 72lbs. I noticed the cam timing was off a lot so i took it back and told them to do it right. They said the only way they could get the timing in was to replace the string now. After that my poundage went down to 66lbs. twisting up the cable got it up to 68lbs.
The brace is 7 5/16 the axle is 36 1/2
2 of you said the string is two short, is this correct? wouldnt a shorter string raise the poundage???? in fact the mathews tech guy to put 6 twists in the string, not the cable. twisting it would make it shorter. I wont mess with it untill i get back from my elk hunt, its just to late to be messing with it now that i am tuned . when i get back i will get this figured out.
schmalts, twisting the mainstring makes it shorter. This does two things.
1.Lowers the draw weight
2.Shortens the draw length
Twisting the buss cable shortens it also. And this does the exact opposite of what the mainstring does.
1.Raises draw weight
2.Lengthens draw length
A little tip, the next time your bow needs new strings, before take the old strings off, make 4 measurements.
1. Axle to axle length
2.Brace height
3.Draw length
4.poundage
When the new strings are on, all of these should go right back to where they were. If not, start twisting until they get there.
loss of poundage on a MQ1
