I'm planning on buying a used Laserfibre quantam TT and I'm concerned about later on in the future having to replace parts that may break down. I've never owned a stringing machine before and don't know which parts or how often stringing machine parts need replacing. I figured out that the company that made this machine went under so I'm worried if I ever need to buy replacement parts for the machine. For stringing machines is it easy to replace parts with other brands/models (since I don't think its possible to get parts from a company that went under)? and Which parts and how often, if ever, break down and need replacing?
personally i have never needed replacement part for my machines. however, it also depends on the machine and how well it is made. so YMMV.
For most modern mechanical machines, there are rarely any parts that fail - sometimes springs in crank machines, but usually you can always get a replacement spring. Dropweight machines usually have a spring inside the gripper that is used as a one way rotation - these do fail at times and require replacement. Others have a ratchet system, the teeth in the ratchet can occasionally have problems, but usually a good repair shop can make something similar to suit. I have an old StringsAll machine that use a rubber ring for the gripper, i.e. the rubber sits on a rotating disk/cylinder, and you wrap the string around it, then put a loop under, and the friction of the string allows the rubber to grip under tension and away you go. However my rubber rings have perished and are no longer available - everything else seems fine. For electronic machines, motors can fail but usually it is the electronics that fail, and some parts are available, some aren't - you pick.
Haha thanks for the reply learned quite a bit from it. This was a pretty old thread, about half a year ago. Already got my machine now and its working great and I doubt I'll need replacement parts for a long time. Though thanks for the thorough answer, I'm sure it will help someone who ends up purchasing the machine in the future.
Yes, I haven't been on here for a while. Another thing - though, not necessarily replacing parts, but maintenance. The fixed clamps and string gripper - if they are diamond coated, do need to be cleaned from time to time. Use alcohol with a small stiff bristle brush - methylated spirits is also ok, but leaves a little residue. I found that after stringing a fair few racquets, that the gripper or clamps start to slip a little, especially at the higher tension, and often due to tennis racquets. Cleaning them will make them good as new, and require less clamping pressure - equating to less crunching of the string. If you use a linear gripper, you won't have this problem - but the gripper ball bearings may go a bit dry, so do need a bit of oil or grease from time to time. But be careful if disassembling the linear gripper - and count the ball bearings and where they go - either that or replacing linear grippers are usually available for most brand name machines.
