Hi all As anyone who has ever seen a stringing machine in real life would have a better idea about stringing than I would, I'm in desperate need of some advice. Basically, I've got an AT600 (had it for about a year now) and it's currently strung with NBG95. Examining the 11 o'clock section of my racket, I've noticed that the grommet on one of the points in that region had split and it appears that the string is now digging into the frame. Questions: 1) Based on the situation depicted by the photos, should I immediately cut the strings and change the grommets? 2) If the answer to Q1 is yes, is there a specific type of grommet for this racket? I've noticed that mybadmintonstore.com has AT700 and AT500 grommets on offer. In this case, which one should I choose? Thanks in advance peoples!
My, what a poor racquet Yes, you should immediately cut the strings out. If you don't know how, you're really supposed to start from the very centre, having the scissors diagonal between a main and a cross string. Cut the main then immediately the cross. After that go in a circular pattern with the next main then cross. The AT600 uses the same grommet set as the AT900, which is marketed as AC416-ATB in MBS's product list. By the way about the second picture, why are there not one but two strings in the first cross
Hi Blitzzards Thanks for your advice mate! Now I'm confident to go about cutting it out and getting new ones from MBS. I had the exact same question as you did about the double cross strings in pic 2. My stringer does this for all the rackets he strings but seeing as though the racket felt fine I stopped thinking about it. Though now that I have come across this grommet problem, it would be a great idea to get someone else to restring my racket. Though i must say, the NBG95s I have on this Armortec has lasted a good 11 months of weekend play. But at the moment I can't think of anything else but the frame.
No worries. You may want to coat the shared grommet which will be installed on that grommet hole (I believe its top 13) with hard epoxy BUT DON'T install it with the epoxy still wet as you don't want the grommet to remain in the hole forever. What you do is use a hard epoxy glue and coat a thin layer of it over the circumference of the grommet and wait for it to completely dry. Once that happens the sides should be hardened and you will have a strengthened grommet which will hopefully not collapse when the cross string pushes into the crevice which was cut into by your last string. You may also want to do the same thing with the other grommets which have been cut into. You actually do not have to replace the whole grommet set; just the shared grommets which have been cut into will suffice. Your next good stringer will have extra shared grommets. Just liaise with him about the problem.
Those 2 strings look scary, looks as if its already cut in and affected the frame. I would advise you talk to the stringer and tell him to remove that second string, I can't really think off the top of my head hows he done it to be honest, some crazy pattern.
I had this same problem with me Armortec 900 Technique strung at 30x32lbs....until it eventually broke on a mishit in the same spot
