or any other gripper, for that matter. after 200 or so rackets, i noticed that the gripper of my wise is not smooth anymore. the two plates that grips the string doesn't always bounce back to the normal position after it releases the string. or in some cases, it doesn't even release the string. so off i went with the allen key and carefully took out the gripper body and proceed to clean the whole thing. taking of the body requires taking out 4 bolts that holds the outside plates together. becareful not to let go as the bearing inside will drop and create a big mess. after having the whole assembly off and the parts sitting on the table, it was obvious what is the problem, over time a lot of powdery stuff accumulated at the needle bearing as well as the plate themselves. probably the result of string coating shaving off during the process. out comes the degreaser and the whole thing was spotless after 10 mins of cleaning. i used some napkin paper to make sure that everything gets a clean job. other cloth can be used also as long as it doesn't shread a lot of fiber. after putting back the whole thing, carefully to make sure that the bearing won't drop off in the process, the gripper now feels like new. after every release with a crisp "click" it retracts back to its resting position. not sticky anymore i was debating whether i should put some oil on the bearings. i might just put a couple drop just to be sure. otherwise it is working very smoothly now. i clean it on my WISE but i am sure similar procedure will benefit other machines too. so if you find your gripper getting sticky and not functioning as smooth as it was new anymore, try cleaning it.
in fact, i think it is advisable to do this procedure every once in a while. i plan to do it every 50 rackets from now on. i will mark the cleaning schedule on my stringing logbook.
I do mine when it starts sticking a bit. A way to give it a bit longer life between cleans is to hoover it after a big stringing session, it picks up all the free dust that would work its way into the bearings if left alone. A decent oil or grease can help extend the gripper life before a clean too.
Cleaning on a regular basis makes a lot of sense, especially for all the string debris that can get in there. But for plain old house dust, do most of you put a cover over your machine when it's not in use?
yes. over the years i collected a lot of those soft racket cases. i drape one over the machine when it is not in use.
Heh - I did this very procedure the other day to get rid of the limiter pin at the back of the far gripper plate. I decided to give the roller bearings on each side a few dots of dry PTFE lube while the assembly was in bits (it's fine, Kwun, just don't use too much or it drips down into the electrical gubbins) and now the plates fly back and forth with the slightest nudge. I'm told the same problem does manifest with the older ball bearing WISE, it just takes a bit longer.
Do clean your swivel clamps as well as they do the same job as the gripper on the tensioner. Recommendation was to be cleaned after about 50 restrings (by that time, your string gripper on your tensioner would've gripped the string about 2200 times already.) half for swivel clamps as they have 2. hahaah
i disassembled (completely) and cleaned my pro's pro pioneer (with the wise tension head) last week. now the machine works like never before... before i only cleaned (~every two months) my fixed clamps, flying clamps, and starting clamp and a little bit the gripper... now its a complete new feeling with the pro's pro pioneer now i want to clean up my machine about every four months...
I have an Eagnas gripper but to be honest, even if I knew it was not working properly I'd have no idea where to start taking it apart from or put it back for that matter!
Kwun, I cleaned my plates and the roller bearings before I sold my machine. When I resassmebled the bearings the rollers moved too freely and managed to lock up. I tried oil and that corrected it, however I advise NOT to drop oil onto the rollers. A drop is too much. If you wish to oil them I recommend you drop oil onto a paper towel or tissue and wipe the bearings and plates.
also oil your WISE itself. there is a worm gear that drives the tension head, with the daily stress that it takes the gear will dry up after 100 or so stringjobs. the result is a creaky or scratchy sound when tensioning. i drip one or two drops of bicycle lube on it (very carefully) and it always goes back like new, smooth and no funny sound.
after 100 string job since the last cleaning, i cleaned the gripper over the weekend. this time i drip one drop of bicycle lube on each side of the gripper. carefully dripping it into the bearing track. and i like the result much much better than before. the feeling is much more damped and smooth. before when i only wipe oil on the bearings themselves and it was still dry and clanky. but i think one drop is the most that one can do. any more than that it will start flowing out.
I decided to dismantle my gripper assy to stop the plates locking on their way back. Found a fair amount of dried grease, so I cleaned every mating surface with rubbing alcohol and dried everything off before reassembly. Locking gone. Moral: use only dry Teflon as lube. (Over to you for the double entendre, SH.) Another way I'd mod the WISE: big, rounded gripper entry like on the ES5.
So after about 100 string jobs, i've finally cleaned my WISE2086 gripper. I dismantled the gripper carefully noting where all the original parts went. For those that are interested I used the following for removing the grease: http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cycling/Tools/PRD~5025-048/orontas-bikecare-cleaner.jsp After wiping and waiting for the cleaner fluid to dry up (I used a sheet of Bounty), i applied one drop of the following lube on each set of bearings: http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cycling/Tools/LubesCleaners/PRD~5028-393/filzer-dry-lube.jsp Although i put a badminton racket cover over my machine and wise, I opted for the dry lube because my place attracts a lot of dust. Hope this info is of use to anyone. Cheers.