Damaging the elasticity when stringing with luxilon alupower.

[Anthon]

Hi

I have a friend that complains that the tension is dropping to fast when I string on my tyger t-630 with a lockout pull. The pull happens fast (around 0.3 seconds). I have read that polyester strings can lose the elasticity if it is pulled to fast of with to high tension (above 23 kg or 50 pounds). I´m stringing it with 25kg So I thought that the high tension or fast pull was the reason. If I string a racquet at 21.5 kg it seems like the tension lasts well even for a guy that is at least level 5 han can hit hard but no insane spin. So it seems like the fast pull is acceptable at this tension.
But 24.5-25kg seems close to the limit so I expect that the damage shouldn´t be very severe. If an other person strings for the same person at 24.5 kg at a good 20 year old machine with constant pull the tension seems to last longer.
I tried to string at a pro stringer platinum which is supposed to have a constant pull and still around 24-25 kg with a slower pull (close to 1 second) But the issue about keeping the right tension above 10 minutes seems to persist. And if the machine makes more pulls after the first one it gets to almost 28 kg when I use a good digital weight for calibration. To get to 25 kg in the first place on both machines I make a pull around 26.5 kg and wait 7 sec to clamp it. Must I have some other flaws in my stringing to end with this issue. Should I maybe try to string at 23-23.5 kg instead an clamp it faster and hope it doesn´t drop the tension fast now. The guy wo get a 21.5 alu power string job from me is a young coach who have a few ATP points and he is joking that if he went on the tour he would like to have me traveling with him to string racquets.
Any suggestions or advise on how to fix this is very, very appreciated!!

Thanks in advance

Anthon

 

[seekay]

All strings lose tension after they're pulled, and polys like ALU Power lose more than other types of string. It sounds like you're describing the normal behavior for a string, and it's not clear that there's anything wrong.

The best you can do is pull strings the same way every time. If your technique is repeatable and precise, you'll do well.

 

[MathieuR]

You will have better tension- maintenance if you pull every string twice. (Pull-relax-pull).

That way you remove more of the "creep" of the string.

 

[am1899]

OP - while pulling each string twice may help out with tension maintenance, it may also have unintended consequences with respect to playability.

Now, I do wonder if you're over thinking the numbers aspect of this. One thing you need to do is find the reference tension setting that you set YOUR machine to, for the customer in question to be happy (or perhaps happier) with the outcome. Using tension calibration equipment during the stringing process is unlikely to help you do this. In addition, drawing comparisons of reference tension settings between different machines (especially those with different tension mechanisms) is only going to further complicate what you're trying to do. Receiving feedback from your customer, and continuing to experiment are far more likely to help find a setup that your customer is happy with, and one that you can repeat.

The outcome that your customer has described is, frankly, not surprising. I have experienced the same outcome when stringing racquets for myself. The full poly jobs, in particular, that i strung for myself on my LO, would simply not hold tension as long as the ones I strung on an electronic CP machine. I adjusted for this by pulling slower on the LO, and/or by increasing the reference tension setting. I had some success. But I did find slowing down my pulling speed in particular made it harder for me to be consistent. YMMV, obviously. Also, this probably goes without saying - but it is also crucial that your clamps are clean, set properly, and that you clamp as close to the frame as possible.

 

[Anthon]

You will have better tension- maintenance if you pull every string twice. (Pull-relax-pull).

That way you remove more of the "creep" of the string.

Ok. Thank you. I make more pulls when the tension is drop or is it pulls again just when I clamp off. But you want me to pull it and let go off the string without clamping it and the pull it again from no tension. Thought that the thing that the Claws on the tension wheelvor the clamp could damahe/scratch the string if it isnt clampedd before I let it go. Feels like I have read about it before though, so thanks for telling med

OP - while pulling each string twice may help out with tension maintenance, it may also have unintended consequences with respect to playability.

Now, I do wonder if you're over thinking the numbers aspect of this. One thing you need to do is find the reference tension setting that you set YOUR machine to, for the customer in question to be happy (or perhaps happier) with the outcome. Using tension calibration equipment during the stringing process is unlikely to help you do this. In addition, drawing comparisons of reference tension settings between different machines (especially those with different tension mechanisms) is only going to further complicate what you're trying to do. Receiving feedback from your customer, and continuing to experiment are far more likely to help find a setup that your customer is happy with, and one that you can repeat.

The outcome that your customer has described is, frankly, not surprising. I have experienced the same outcome when stringing racquets for myself. The full poly jobs, in particular, that i strung for myself on my LO, would simply not hold tension as long as the ones I strung on an electronic CP machine. I adjusted for this by pulling slower on the LO, and/or by increasing the reference tension setting. I had some success. But I did find slowing down my pulling speed in particular made it harder for me to be consistent. YMMV, obviously. Also, this probably goes without saying - but it is also crucial that your clamps are clean, set properly, and that you clamp as close to the frame as possible.

I clean each time and strive to clamp of close to the frame. It helped some when I strung without Per stretch on my electronic lockout machine. I believe my knots are good. I use kevlar main alu cross for my own and I feel the tension stay long with High tension. She hits with same pace as me but a bit more spin. Mine is pulling in around 0.3 seconds and I can't change it. If you Google polyester and tension loss you can find an article abou fast pulls and tension above 50 lbs is ruining the elasticity. And that you need to let the string set in for 10 before clamping. They are still going to Lose tension faster than other strings. I have a ERT300 to measure DT and I'm able to get the same number each time. But I'm not experienced with adjusting tension on a pro stringer platinum and it doesn't have a digital display. So I ended with DT 39 instead of 38 once and I was able to drop the tension one number Down with my thums on strings an Holding the frame with the other fingers. But diff between 38 and 39 is 1 in kg. So I could gave droped the tension from 200-1000 g. Thank you for taking so much time to help me. I really want to do a good stringing job for this player (for free). So it means a lot to me

 

[esgee48]

I think you just need to find a higher ref tension to lock out on. LO will pull to ref tension and then stop pulling. Results in string starting to lose tension immediately. Even after clamping, string will continue to lose tension. CP mode would be better. String is pulled to ref tension and is pulled at that tension until you clamp. The longer you wait until clamping, the more residual static tension loss gets pulled out. Once you clamp, string starts to lose tension again, but because you pulled out more static tension loss, it will cease losing tension more quickly. Pulling twice in LO mode pulls out more static tension loss, so it replicates somewhat the CP loss model. However, it does not fully replicate CP pulling at ref tension for a longer period of time.

Speed of pulling to LO vs CP will not change string behavior if you change the speed of the pull. The LO speed will need to approach the speed of the CP pull and its maintenance times (10-15 secs min) for them to have the same effect on the string. Since you can't change the speed, change the ref tension at which you LO.

 

[Anthon]

I think you just need to find a higher ref tension to lock out on. LO will pull to ref tension and then stop pulling. Results in string starting to lose tension immediately. Even after clamping, string will continue to lose tension. CP mode would be better. String is pulled to ref tension and is pulled at that tension until you clamp. The longer you wait until clamping, the more residual static tension loss gets pulled out. Once you clamp, string starts to lose tension again, but because you pulled out more static tension loss, it will cease losing tension more quickly. Pulling twice in LO mode pulls out more static tension loss, so it replicates somewhat the CP loss model. However, it does not fully replicate CP pulling at ref tension for a longer period of time.

Speed of pulling to LO vs CP will not change string behavior if you change the speed of the pull. The LO speed will need to approach the spened of the CP pull and its maintenance times (10-15 secs min) for them to have the same effect on the string. Since you can't change the speed, change the ref tension at which you LO.

Thank you for your reply. What seems to happen when I increase the tension is that the tension drops faster. Guess its because there is more preassure on the strings the tens when playing. So the sensation for how much the tension is dropping is just scaled up. When I string at 21.5 kg . for an other good player the tension stays way longer while playing. I guess I could test how it goes if I tension to like 28-30 kg and manually drop the tension on the strung racket to the tension we want (or play with the racket before the tournaments until it have the right tension.) but then then the string will be slightly thinner and if its played with the mains will be cut in to a bit giving it a different sensation to play with than when its fresh at the desired tension. plus the elasticity is ruined according to the a article that you can read when googling: The definitive guide to playing low tension polys. Which recommends that you dont tension polys above 52 lbs(besides the last string before knots) and make a slow pull with no pre-strech and wait at least 5 secondes before clamping. But this method also means that a constant pull machine can get to a higer string bed tension without going above 52 lbs. But it also means that the player needs to adapt to a lower starting thension ( which should be maintained for longer ). But I will bet that none can name more than 10 wta player that can hit the ball harder on the forehand. So the tension will drop faster than for the average good player no matter what but a guy using a old constant pull machine is still able to do string jobs that is maintained longer but this machine is not good to travel with for tournaments. And at tournaments the local stringer is not making accurate or consistent stringing every where and we don´t know how it will be before its tested at the tournaments.