Prince 5000 experiences

[SeeItHitIt]

A local tennis shop left town last winter and I ended up with one of the handful of Prince 5000's in my basement workshop. I had never strung a racquet before, but after watching 12 minutes worth of video on u-tube and reading this forum (and others) gave it a whirl. I'm somewhere past 50 string jobs and usually do 2 piece with everything from multi, syngut, natty hybrids with poly or straight poly. I use the iPad and racquet tune to 'verify' my reference tension right after I finish. The only maintenance I've done to the 5000 is a drop of oil on the mechanicals, cleaning the clamps and fine tuning the pull tension using a digital luggage scale.

I string for myself, my wife and the occasional friend in a pinch. The iPad generally reports an initial reference tension within 1# or so of where I had the machine set. This is true of all the strings I mention above and whether an 16x19 or 18x20. But, the one frame that does not report back accurately is an RF or PS97.

For some reason Racquet Tune reports a tension as much as 10% higher than the machine tension on both these frames only (in my limited experience, could be other frames act like this too I just haven't seen it). Other common frames I've worked with include 6.1 95 in the 18-20, APD cortex and non, Yonex Ai98 &100, older 95" Pro Staffs, Wilson Juice 100. I keep a log of all of the string jobs.

Example - the PS97 got a full bed of 17g Cyclone at 55#...iPad said 59.6! That was two weeks ago and I just finished the same frame but used 53/51...this time Racquet Tune reported 54.1 (average of four or five attempts). I did one of my wife's APDs last week with full 17g Revolve, 2 piece...machine tension 54 and it came in at 54.4 (again an average of like five pings).

So first, is there anything about this frame shape that would lead to what I'm seeing? Does that frame generally string up accurately on drop/lock outs? I'm new to this, but pretty diligent about making sure the frame is properly mounted and locked in without stretching/distorting the head before I start. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Cobra Tennis]

Be VERY wary of Racquet Tune's accuracy regarding tension. It is far better at measuring tension loss over time, not checking reference tension off the machine.

The dynamic string measure throws it wildly off, and is more often than not inaccurate.

 

[zapvor]

the key is being consistent. as long as you are doing each job the same the results will remain consistent

 

[SeeItHitIt]

Thanks Cobra and Zap - So there's nothing about either the frame or machine that lends to what I'm experiencing.... Hunh. It must be me but I think I'm doing the job the same way every time. The results I'm getting on the 97" Wilson's are regardless of string type too - from full bed smooth poly to shaped poly to a gut/poly hybrid.

I just restrung the PS97 again and observed the following results (granted using RT as noted): Cyclone 17 black full bed, 53#m/51#c. Racquet Tune results = 55.4#. The last two jobs before that:

Ai100 - Cyclone 17 black full bed, 54#m/52#c. Racquet Tune results = 53.1#
Wilson KFactor - NXT comfort mains @ 60#/YPTP crosses @ 58#. Racquet Tune results = 59.6#

Bottom line - I'm going to try going down 3-5# from where I want to 'end up' next time around and check it. I understand the shortcomings of using RT for off the stringer accuracy. Thanks again for the replies.

 

[ElMagoElGato]

As already said, RacketTune is not a tool to measure absolute values. It's useful if you get the same number every time after you do the same job. Also, you can track down how the tension changes after it's strung when you intend to watch tension loss. One more thing is that you need to use the same stick to hit the string bed every time. I used to use my finger but didn't get consistent numbers. I picked one would stick around and use it every time.