Port Stringing Problems

Doc Hollidae

Doc Hollidae

Hall of Fame
Upon cutting out the strings of my Ozone Pro Tour, I noticed an inch long gash/cut from the string tearing through the grommet hole and into the frame. I'll try and post pictures later.

Anyone else had this happen to them?
 
Doc Hollidae

Doc Hollidae

Hall of Fame
iplaybetter said:
sounds bad, the string tore the hole?
Click to expand...

Yep. Tore straight through one of the cross holes near the throat and almost into one of the O ports.

Quite upset as it was a brand new racket. I took it out to hit for 10 minutes and couldn't figure out why it didn't feel right.
 
Mr. Blond

Mr. Blond

Professional
Doc Hollidae said:
Yep. Tore straight through one of the cross holes near the throat and almost into one of the O ports.

Quite upset as it was a brand new racket. I took it out to hit for 10 minutes and couldn't figure out why it didn't feel right.
Click to expand...

yeah, that sounds like the frame was defective to me because it would take a monstrous amount of tension to do that unless if were defective. Warranty!!!!
 
YULitle

YULitle

Hall of Fame
Who strings your racquets? Is it possible that this gash was there BEFORE you cut the strings out?
 
Doc Hollidae

Doc Hollidae

Hall of Fame
YULitle said:
Who strings your racquets? Is it possible that this gash was there BEFORE you cut the strings out?
Click to expand...

Bought it brand new. It was strung with Prince Duraflex at mid tension. I normally string my own sticks. The gash was probably there before I cut out the strings as I had only hit with it for 5-10 minutes before noticing it didn't feel right.
 
YULitle

YULitle

Hall of Fame
This kind of gash happens when inexperienced stringers string O3s. Especially the new speedports with the string hole inserts. They try to run the string over the gap instead of over the post and it tears the hole.
 
Doc Hollidae

Doc Hollidae

Hall of Fame
p1010001tn9.jpg


p1010004jk8.jpg


p1010006vf3.jpg
 
YULitle

YULitle

Hall of Fame
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo

Wow, that is not what I thought you meant at all. That is awful. I've seen that happen once, with an O3 Tour. Wow, that is bad.

Warranty. :D
 
hit2mybh

hit2mybh

Rookie
I'm guessing you didn't have any added weight to it right? This often happened to me with the Graphite II's. I believe it was because i leaded those up quite a bit, and strung on the tighter end of the scale.
 
Doc Hollidae

Doc Hollidae

Hall of Fame
hit2mybh said:
I'm guessing you didn't have any added weight to it right? This often happened to me with the Graphite II's. I believe it was because i leaded those up quite a bit, and strung on the tighter end of the scale.
Click to expand...

No weight added. I play with them stock except I used a Wilson [K]ontrol replacement grip covered by Tournagrip II.
 
hit2mybh

hit2mybh

Rookie
now you are going to have me constantly checking mine for this. I just checked my bag and all good for now.

I'll have to try that grip setup. I am using the stock Prince grip still, no overwrap, miss my tournagrip, but doesn't feel the same over the prince pro grip.
 
Doc Hollidae

Doc Hollidae

Hall of Fame
hit2mybh said:
now you are going to have me constantly checking mine for this. I just checked my bag and all good for now.

I'll have to try that grip setup. I am using the stock Prince grip still, no overwrap, miss my tournagrip, but doesn't feel the same over the prince pro grip.
Click to expand...

The stock Prince was too thick and made the grip larger than a normal L3 grip. The [K]ontrol grip is thinner and is closer to a normal L3 and allowed me to use my beloved tournagrip again.
 
themitchmann

themitchmann

Hall of Fame
Stan said:
3 cheers for grommetless technology...Hip, Hip Hooray!!!
Click to expand...

It's not about the technology. That's saying you prefer a metal racquet when your graphite one cracks. It's more about quality control...Prince is not the only company with this issue.
 
C

Chauvalito

Hall of Fame
This seems like an issue from the factory. for whatever reason, not enough graphite was in that area, and that allowed the strings to slice through.

having seen this for the first time, I am quite surprised I have not seen it happen on other rackets.
 
D

Davychinko

New User
I've not had that happen to me before in that spot, although I've had strings pull through the throat grommets 4 times and once actually through the bottom of the head the thus far. My buddy was and still is skeptical of the no grommet technology. I called up Prince and explained to them the situation they were more than happy to rectify the problem.
 
Doc Hollidae

Doc Hollidae

Hall of Fame
Stan said:
3 cheers for grommetless technology...Hip, Hip Hooray!!!
Click to expand...

Even though this sucks balls, I still full support and advocate the O port and Speedport technology. This sticks are the real deal. As much as I loved my Radicals, I do not regret for one second changing to the Ozone Pro Tours. They do everything the Radicals did, but with more power, more control, and 10x more maneuverable at the net. Definitely don't see me changing in the next decade or two.
 
themitchmann

themitchmann

Hall of Fame
Glad you still dig the Prince sticks, Doc. Sure, this sucks, but Prince is a company that believes in it's products and respects their customers. They will definitely take care of it for you.

I've strung a ton of Speedport Tours and Speedport Blacks, and I've never run into this. Not even with my old O3 Tours.
 
Loco4Tennis

Loco4Tennis

Hall of Fame
YULitle said:
This kind of gash happens when inexperienced stringers string O3s. Especially the new speedports with the string hole inserts. They try to run the string over the gap instead of over the post and it tears the hole.
Click to expand...

YULitle, im trying to picture what your saying here, but i dont think i understand, i have not done one of these racquets yet, what gap?, is there one on the picture? is there a gap next to the grommet hole that people run the line through by mistake??
 
YULitle

YULitle

Hall of Fame
Loco4Tennis said:
YULitle, im trying to picture what your saying here, but i dont think i understand, i have not done one of these racquets yet, what gap?, is there one on the picture? is there a gap next to the grommet hole that people run the line through by mistake??
Click to expand...

This doesn't relate to Docs problem. This is only what I thought he meant. It happens in the throat more often than anywhere else. But, with the "string hole" inserts on the Black or the Tour, I've seen people start the mains at the bottom and try to apply tension with the string going around empty space instead of the posts of the racquet, simply because the string holes allow for it (at low tensions.) On the original O3s, this could not happen because the port had no string holes, so the loop just came back into the racquet when you tried to tension.
 
1012007

1012007

Hall of Fame
As you have the grommets in, does that mean you dont have to use a boomerang or table lock on your machine??
 
Loco4Tennis

Loco4Tennis

Hall of Fame
YULitle said:
This doesn't relate to Docs problem. This is only what I thought he meant. It happens in the throat more often than anywhere else. But, with the "string hole" inserts on the Black or the Tour, I've seen people start the mains at the bottom and try to apply tension with the string going around empty space instead of the posts of the racquet, simply because the string holes allow for it (at low tensions.) On the original O3s, this could not happen because the port had no string holes, so the loop just came back into the racquet when you tried to tension.
Click to expand...

hit2mybh said:
Here's a pic of what I think yulitle was talking about... I happened to have an unstrung speedport...

spt1.jpg

spt2.jpg
Click to expand...

ahh, thanks for the clarification guys, the pictures do put my question to rest, i can see how pulling on the strings like its shown would create a weak point, and possible tear the grommet
 
YULitle

YULitle

Hall of Fame
Tubing more than grommets. I would think it'd be hard to find grommets to fit. The tubing might not be a dream fight either. The tubing would provide protection all the way around the bend.
 
vwfye

vwfye

Semi-Pro
if the resin was thin, you would have no way of knowing ahead of time. tubing might have helped, but fatigue would still have found the weakness.
 
mdjenders

mdjenders

Professional
I am thinking these Prince frames are made of some really cheap material. I cut out the original strings on a client's Ozone Tour, and at the X tie off holes, there are good sized "troughs" right in the frame where the main string is eating into the frame. If this is what Prince "quality" is like, last thing I want to do is order more Ozone frames like the one I am demoing now.
 
Last edited:
Ljubicic for number1

Ljubicic for number1

Hall of Fame
themitchmann said:
Nope. The string hole inserts allow to string like a racquet with tradition grommets.
Click to expand...

I dont really agree with that, although the string holes do hold the string against the frame I would still use the turntable lock so as you are pulling against/into the frame rather than against the thin plastic grommet hole.
 
PBODY99

PBODY99

Legend
The pull through problem is similar to the keyhole issue that the MORE frames had. The Squash frames have this occur at the tie off holes.
 
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