Does anyone know what causes this? The racquet in question is a bs lhi 3u, strung frequently at 24-26lbs. The grommets were also regularly replaced at the top whenever i noticed it wearing out. A similar process happened to a bs lyd 4u, and a yonex arcsaber 11. I noticed it a year after i started stringing, and originally thought it is related to starting mains centrally (therefore having four length of string under tension pulling against this one grommet loop at the start) and since have opted to start to the side of mains (eliminating this excessive pull). I havent noticed it on any racquets after i changed my starting process. Just wondered if anyone else has this issue? And whether you guys think my initial guess was correct.
The grommets are not worn out, it looks like they have just fallen out. Some rackets tend to have a bigger holes than others (the JS10 is also one of them) which makes it easier for the grommets to fall out either at the moment when the string snaps or is cut out or later while handling the racket with strings removed. The way I see it, the grommets don't really care about how and where you start the mains - but the frame does care about it. I would strictly avoid doing the mains side-to-side since this causes massive stress for the frame and increases the risk of breaking the frame drastically.
...sorry. I took out the grommets to show that there is a groove towards each other. Thats what i meant by worn out. Sorry to be unclear.. When i said mains to the side, i meant one loop to the right or left of the central main, and then stringing the middle 3 loops to make it then 'symmetrical' from that point on.
ahaaaa... understood now, thanks for clarifying. To be honest, I have not noticed these notches at the sides of the grommet holes neither the visible marking of the string going from one hole to the other. But since my own experience as a stringer is rather limited, I guess it's best to leave this question to some fellow BC'ers with more strining experience.
I've seen it before, always assumed it was from not changing grommets and/or going over tension for the racquet. You've ruled that out (unless its second hand?) So now I have the same query as you. My BS12 has it on the side holes too. Those grommets were split!
The racquets were all owned from new . I understand this happens with some shared grommet holes and about 5/7 o' clock positions, and like you said due to higher than intended tensions. For my racquets only the top grommet showed this, so i suspected its overwhelming strain on one grommet loop at the start.. I searched specifically but no one seem to have reported this for top grommets. :s (Ps: it got very bad for the arcsaber11 that the groove cracked and caved in. It was repaired professionally but never played the same again, so quite keen not to do this to any other racquet. The other two still hold tension and does not seem to be getting worse since i switched technique.)
I had this issues with my SW35 @ 32/34 and rarely use. I also made the experience that the grommets from mbs and rkep get cutted easily with thinner strings and moderate high tension. I have to change them often and cut strings in the past, just because of the grommets which get notched quickly to save my racket. Now I changed to YY grommets for my rackets. A bit harder and the top is thicker. With mbs and rkep I needed to change more than 30 grommets for each job, to be save. They are damn cheap, but the time for the change was too much, to string efficient.
Just out of curiosity - where do you buy the YY grommets and which "standard" types do you buy? I tried to find my way through the Yonex-grommet-jungle at MBS and got so confused that I went with the MBS generic ones in the end.
I do now, but my impression is that it wouldnt make much difference on the first pull, since no matter how the load is spread, only those two grommets are supporting the entire length of string under tension.
I buy a various YY grommet set from german shop. One set costs 3.50€. Over some time and so much different rackets to string, I use all of them.Normally I run out of the 2.7mm ones first. It's a bit pricey, but for my time management it's better to replace all grommets after 1-2 jobs instead cutting strings to save the racket. @OP The other grommets are also badly worn out, so I don't think that you changed them very often. No offense, but with thin strings and medium to mediocre high tension you need to change them every job at the well known spots. I met a stringer, who place always U grommets at the 12 o'clock position.
Anyone tried these things? http://www.mybadmintonstore.com/sho...th=25_62_150_152&products_id=380#.ViXkBpP6nwA
Yep. [MENTION=96935]dbswansea[/MENTION] was kind enough to send me some. They are very soft and squishy. I only used them once on a racquet which was cracked through between grommets. I've not seen it since so maybe dave can provide feedback?
Pity. The basic idea isn't bad at all. So then using a U-grommet at this critical spot does sound like an interesting idea.
One question - what string are you using that is causing this? I do know that using thinner strings means that there is more force (psi) on the side of the grommet, that might eventually cut through and then the force is acting on the frame. If this is happening with standard 0.7mm string, then it could be that the racquet cannot handle the high tension.
One more thing, this was happening to some of my very old racquets - Yonex Carbonex 15 even with normal tensions due to age, the graphite frames were getting weaker with age allowing the string to cut through. I did have a post on this some time ago. With newer racquets, this should not be happening, unless excessive tension is used. (or maybe even fake racquets, who knows)
I often wondered why the rackets doesn't have those u-grommets at the top 3 positions (middle 6 strings). I've strung some Tactic rackets (Danish cheap brand, made somewhere in Asia, designed by taking a few ideas and then basically assemble using a copy of various Yonex design components). So one racket is more or less a copy of the Yonex Voltric head shape, with very few mods and a different flex/weight spec, etc. ALL these Tactic rackets I've strung (4 different models) come with 4 u-shaped double grommets at the button (2 in each side) and 3 u-shaped double grommets at the top. It seems like a good idea, so I don't understand why other manufacturers doesn't do the same? How are the Panda rackets? (I mean, if they are designed to cope with unusually high tensions, then they must have some kind of solution to this problem?) Back in the old days, we strung with these plastic tubes wrapped through 2 holes (basically acting as a u-grommet). Perhaps it's time to find those tubes in the drawer? Except they probably wont fit in the modern single string holes? We also used these small leather patches at the side of the t-bar, to give a little lift/curve to the string to protect it from the t-bar joint groove. Maybe we should start using those at the top for high tensions? (people would probably look at such a job and think your a dinosaur!)...
Actually I got some of these to try on my old Carbonex 15. They work better if you take the grommets out first, then put the grommets through these pads. However, as previously mentioned - they aren't that great.
