Cracked CRB floor tom

[billyo00769]

Always inspect your CRB drums when you receive them. I just noticed cracks around the floor tom leg mounting points. The drums are only 9 month old and have never been moved since i received them.
They were delivered already assembled and have the stock heads.
The tom has never been opened up.
The screws never touched.
When people ask me if I recommend acrylic drums I always say NO!!
They are a pain in the butt. Hard to clean. Scratch easily. Quality is not good. I have received them already cracked.
Back to Wood for me.
What was I thinking??????
I wasted a year and thousands of dollars buying these because they look and sound great.

:0(

[scooterdavis]

I've messed around with them, but they appear fragile. Sound is okay enough, but not my cup of tea. Good that you have lifetime warranty protection, sucks that you might be without equipment good luck!

[Fuller89]

That sucks about the cracks.

Acrylics look cool, but I've never heard any in person.

My motorcycle helmet visor is hard enough to keep clean (lexan, not acrylic) without a scratching it, I can only imagine how hard it is to keep those clean! Then making sure to not over tighten anything... seems like such a pain.

(Btw I voted for your kit for sept DOTM)

[iCe]

I've messed around with them, but they appear fragile. Sound is okay enough, but not my cup of tea. Good that you have lifetime warranty protection, sucks that you might be without equipment good luck!

I believe the CRB's have a 2 year warranty, not a lifetime warranty. Hope I'm wrong though!

[Feenix]

I believe the CRB's have a 2 year warranty, not a lifetime warranty. Hope I'm wrong though!

Absolutely correct! It's a "Limited 2-year Warranty".

Shear cracking, the bane of acrylic drums everywhere.

[therocker]

Always inspect your CRB drums when you receive them. I just noticed cracks around the floor tom leg mounting points. The drums are only 9 month old and have never been moved since i received them. They were delivered already assembled and have the stock heads. The tom has never been opened up. The screws never touched. When people ask me if I recommend acrylic drums I always say NO!! They are a pain in the butt. Hard to clean. Scratch easily. Quality is not good. I have received them already cracked. Back to Wood for me. What was I thinking?????? I wasted a year and thousands of dollars buying these because they look and sound great. :0(<img src="https://www.pearldrummersforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=497175"/>

I've been romancing the idea of the Ruby Red Crystal Beats for some time now. This really helped me to make up my mind against them.

Sorry for your situation. That is really a bummer. That's a lot of cash for something not that road worthy. And as you've stated...they've never been in the road. Good luck!

[Drumming-4-Life]

Always inspect your CRB drums when you receive them. I just noticed cracks around the floor tom leg mounting points. The drums are only 9 month old and have never been moved since i received them.
They were delivered already assembled and have the stock heads.
The tom has never been opened up.
The screws never touched.
When people ask me if I recommend acrylic drums I always say NO!!
They are a pain in the butt. Hard to clean. Scratch easily. Quality is not good. I have received them already cracked.
Back to Wood for me.
What was I thinking??????
I wasted a year and thousands of dollars buying these because they look and sound great.

:0([ATTACH=CONFIG]497175[/ATTACH]

At first I thought, "thousands of dollars for a CB?" Then I realized you have the large NP-style kit. I'm sorry you're having trouble with the acrylic shells. Pearl does stand by their products, but there will be wait and down time. At least you know they will make it right.

[therocker]

Pearl should maybe look into drilling the holes big enough to accommodate a nylon sleeve that acts as a little more of a bumper between the shell and hardware running through it.

I'm guessing this is a stress fracture. Not from being over tightened but from being hit with sticks on top of the drum ( their sole purpose ) and then the shell can't absorb the blows.

I believe a sleeve between the screw and the shell could alleviate this unwanted stress.

If it is caused from over tightening ( and I believe anyone with a Neil Peart sized drum kit, knows their way around kit, thus knowing not to crank the threads) ( a two year amateur should know better ) that it's not really over tight, just adequately snug. Then maybe longer screws and thicker isolation pads between the lugs and the shells

Something should be looked at to remedy this problem instead of just replacing the crack shell with a new one, that could ultimately break/crack the same way for no apparent reason.

Again I've been seriously considering cb as my next kit. But this really makes me think other wise. Shame too. The Ruby Reds are freaking beautiful.

[BadAstronaut]

most likely it was caused by factory drilling of holes in shell .. add to that the torque of screwing in screws into shell and you have recipe for stress fractures in the acrylic

it is what it is acrylic wise .. there's a reason there's a limited warranty .. but for Pearl quality control to let that out of factory for sale is their mistake

[Woodboy]

Great looking drums these acrylic drum sets!,,
I don't want to burst the dream! But there is a limited life time
for all these ..polymer sets!,,(known as acrylic)
What will appear is something called crazing!!!
Wikipedia
Crazing is the phenomenon that produces a network of fine cracks on the surface of a material, for example in a glaze layer. Crazing frequently precedes fracture in some glassy thermoplastic polymers. Crazing occurs in regions of high hydrostatic tension, or in regions of very localized yielding, which leads to the formation of interpenetrating microvoids and small fibrils. If an applied tensile load is sufficient, these bridges elongate and break, causing the microvoids to grow and coalesce; as microvoids coalesce, cracks begin to form.
Lifetime expectations for an acrylic drumset like Ludwig vistalite or Pearl Crystal Beat will be always limited due to
this fact.
After 15 to 20 years when a wood shell just gets Ripe ...acrylic shells start to deteriorate.
This timespan varies ....that's why you get a limited 2 year warranty for acrylic drum shells.
Sad but a fact!,,,,
Cheers

[Raider09]

I received my Crystal Beats a few months ago (after a 9 month wait,) and they came with little mounting brackets for the floor toms legs. The main objective of these "mounting plates" is to prevent cracking, which supposedly occurs fairly easily when the screws on the floor toms are too tight. (At least , this is what I was told by the manager of the drum shop where I bought them.) Even with them on, I don't have much tension for the mounting piece just to be on the safe side. Aside from that (and the fact that these drums tend to go out of tune quickly,) I'm pretty pleased with these drums.

[Kevin Packard]

Always inspect your CRB drums when you receive them. I just noticed cracks around the floor tom leg mounting points. The drums are only 9 month old and have never been moved since i received them.
They were delivered already assembled and have the stock heads.
The tom has never been opened up.
The screws never touched.
When people ask me if I recommend acrylic drums I always say NO!!
They are a pain in the butt. Hard to clean. Scratch easily. Quality is not good. I have received them already cracked.
Back to Wood for me.
What was I thinking??????
I wasted a year and thousands of dollars buying these because they look and sound great.

:0([ATTACH=CONFIG]497175[/ATTACH]

Billy,

On behalf of Pearl, I want to thank you for your investment in Crystal Beat drums and want to apologize for your difficulties with them.

Relaunching Crystal Beat seamless acrylic drums has been an exciting endeavor for Pearl, and we are committed to seeing that all Crystal Beat owners (particularly those that have invested so heavily as you have,) are satisfied with their purchase.

Before I launch into tech speak and an extended essay on Acrylic drums, let me first say that you are covered for two years (a warranty concurrent with all other major drum companies,) and Pearl will replace the cracked shells without a problem. Our warranty directs you to go to the dealer you bought them from to proceed, but your best option is to go to our contact page at http://pearldrum.com/support/contact-us/ and fill out the contact form so we can get you to the proper channel for replacement immediately.

As seamless Acrylic comes with a variety of strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats in ownership, proceeding with the relaunch required a lot of R&D and consideration on our end. The nature of the material creates a delicate balance, as a shell that is too rigid will rob it of tonality, make it more brittle, and subject it to shattering; and one that is too flexible will make it susceptible to warpage and undue cracking. Our tests on the current version yielded a shell that was stronger, more flexible, less prone to cracking, and by FAR better sounding than the previous generation of Pearl Transparents. This is not to say that they are superior or inferior to our wood shells, just a different sonic flavor with added visual appeal.

Like any material, they are prone to some cracking if impact occurs in shipping, particularly in the drilling points, which is apparently what happened in your case. In terms of cleaning, our experience has shown that carnuba-based polishes (like good ol' reliable Trick polish,) are great for cleaning Crystal Beat shells. Though scratching can occur if you are cleaning with a more abrasive cloth or an ammonia-based cleaner on the in AND outside of the shell, there are specialized Acrylic cleaners (available online and at your local hardware store,) that are exceptional for cleaning and repairing surface scratches.

In his excellent post on cleaning Acrylic drums, drummer Harry Conway recommends Meguiar Plastic Cleaning products. Check out his full post on scratch and haze repair here:

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=57131

We obviously want you to play and experience these drums as they were meant to without having a bad taste in your mouth. We are here to help, let's get together!

Sincerely,

KPack @ Pearl

[monophonic]

I have to say, having owned my CB set for just over 6 months now the quality is rubbish, Iv used the kit for two gigs a week since having it and in that time, the floor tom was split on receiving the kit, the floor tom leg brackets have cracked (stupidly thin cast metal) and tension rods either to tight to turn or keep coming loose. If these were any other product they would be recalled!!!

[rollracer]

^^^^^
wheeew! this doesn't looks good at all and won't last .

[Feenix]

Uh-oh!

More drum hardware issues?