Bought a used bat... Broken???

trippy1313

Starting Player
Bought a used Diesel Helmer, supposedly light use. Not from any of our fine members here.

The barrel looks like it hasn't seen heavy use, but not exactly what I'd consider "light." No big deal though.

But it had a hockey tape wrap I wanted to replace with a real bat grip... peeled it off and there's two lines under it that to me look like splitting right at the hands...

Also it has this gold hologram sticker that says "Original" that I've never seen before. What's that?

This look cracked to you guys too or have any of you seen this when changing grips? I haven't hit any balls with it cause I havent had the chance. It just showed up this week.

I'm trying to upload pictures but its struggling. I'll figure it out soon.
 

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trippy1313

Starting Player
Do these pictures show up now? Anyone see the crack I'm talking about, or know what the gold "Original" sticker is?
 

D-ROCK13

Well-Known Member
Pic is there, looks like a crack, but I've never heard of this problem or seen it before. I believe the sticker means it hasn't been warrantied, maybe...
 

trippy1313

Starting Player
Well, if I can get a day without rain I'll take it out and hit a bucket of balls with it. I've never seen or heard of that either which is why I'm so confused.
 

loxx0050

Member
No clue on the sticker but my initial thought was to prove it isn't a fake and is indeed authentic. I recall seeing some similar stamping or sticker when replacing grips on a couple of bats I bought last season (one used and a couple of brand new ones).


As for cracks it's still hard to tell in the better pics if it'sjust paint or the structure. You could try a "ping" test to see if the tone is different on the suspected cracks. Take a quarter or something solid similar and tap it on a known not cracked area then the suspect areas. See if yhe sound is different. That could point to it being cracked. But it isn't a 100% surefire method either. It's the cheap man's method to check carbon fiber and composites (people with carbon fiber bicycles recommend this all the time when they suspect a cracked frame/bar).
 

trippy1313

Starting Player
Well I don't know. It definitely looks and feels like a crack or split in person I can easily catch my nails on it. The other side is harder to see because of the flaky paint, but it feels worse than then black side.

But I threw a grip on it, and took it and another bat out today and hit an even amount of balls each. It doesn't sound or feel cracked, and seems it hit fine, so either it's not really cracked, or it's just not cracked far enough to affect it yet. I emailed Easton about it because I do have a possible receipt good till November, but they haven't replied yet. I'm just worried about if they want to replace it with one of the newer bats, and maybe there's nothing actually wrong.

But I also dont want to have a safety issue if it brakes at the handle and flies at someone.
 

Hiltz

Built for comfort
Well I don't know. It definitely looks and feels like a crack or split in person I can easily catch my nails on it. The other side is harder to see because of the flaky paint, but it feels worse than then black side.

Are the lines exactly 180* apart? Every Easton I've owned (a lot) has had opposing seams under the grip from the manufacturing process. It looks like they just don't bother cleaning the handle up where it's covered by the grip.
 

trippy1313

Starting Player
Are the lines exactly 180* apart? Every Easton I've owned (a lot) has had opposing seams under the grip from the manufacturing process. It looks like they just don't bother cleaning the handle up where it's covered by the grip.
Yes, they are exactly 180°. That's interesting to hear. I've only owned one Easton (2012 St100) and it doesn't, but that's only one out of probably millions of Easton's produced.

So maybe that's it then? Just sloppy finishing. That's exactly what it looks like, either cracked seams or I suppose unfinished. Hearing that you've seen this on many bats definitely eases my mind about it. Lol. Thinking I paid $150 for a cracked bat just doesn't settle well.
 

trippy1313

Starting Player
I dunno.... maybe I should look up how composite bats are made... lol. If its two pieces glued/laminated together then that makes perfect sense.
 

jkwoody22

League ball huer
I had similar lines in a couple
Demarini white steel composite handles back in the day, seemed like part of the molding, seeming, manufacturing process, they lasted until the end caps broke, never handle issues
 

nam2212

Dr. Nick
The Diesels honestly don’t last that long. Even if the handle was cracked odds are the barrel breaks before the handle anyway.
 

andy-rockstar

Living for the Cit-ay
That line looks awfully uniform and straight to be a crack, in my highly amateur opinion. Even moreso if there's a corresponding line on the opposite side.
 

Hiltz

Built for comfort
The Diesels honestly don’t last that long. Even if the handle was cracked odds are the barrel breaks before the handle anyway.

Ah man... that's not what I wanna hear either! Lol.


That entirely depends on the balls you hit and whether or not you need to get compression tested.

We're entirely .52's here and guys are getting years out of today's more fragile models. If you're playing in the cold with Classic M's it's gonna be a different story.
 

trippy1313

Starting Player
Never had to do a compression test in my life, but I only do tournaments like once every 5 years. Just rec leagues usually.

And the ball varies. Typically we used to play with the ole Dudley SY but I think they swapped it with some Baden a couple years ago. I wanna say they're 44s.

If by being less durable we mean failing compression then I could care less. Lol. But actually breaking or cracking is more my concern. Or just the pop pop just pain dying...
 

D-ROCK13

Well-Known Member
If its a 44 or 40 core, eastons don't last long compression wise at all, haven't seen too much issue with cracking though, at least until at least several hundred hits. If they're 52s then it should last alot longer
 
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