Hello, My gamma universal clamps are stringing while stringing badminton! I have tried cleaning the clamps with alcohol wipes and with the Isopropanol + toothbrush method, and it still is slipping! The clamps are only 10 months old! I did travel for month and the machine didn't get any use, if that make any difference. Do you guys have suggestions on resolving the problem? I don't want to buy new clamps since they aren't that old. Thanks!
Doesn't make any sense to me to be honest. If you have tightened the clamps properly and the clamping surfaces are not severely damaged, then what should cause the string to slip? It's not like the clamping mechanism is some kind of rocket science. The quality of the Gamma clamps is beyond any doubt IMO so if both of your clamps show the same problem at the same time after only 10 months (how many rackets have you strung with them yet?), then I would first of all expect the operator to be the root cause for this issue. Have you disassembled the clamps for cleaning them? If yes, are you sure that you have re-assembled them correctly again afterwards? Could you share a close-up photo of the clamping surfaces?
is this the first time you cleaned the clamp teeth in 10 months? How many Restrings was it since the last clean? Open them up to see if you can see any string residue on the teeth themselves.
I was helping a friend out by teaching him to string on his Gamma X-6FC drop weight. I noticed that his clamp teeth were not diamond dusted unlike my old set of Gamma badminton clamps. The clamp teeth looked smooth and the string would continue slipping. We obviously adjusted the clamp to tighten further but this led to the string visibly being pinched more so than before. For the time being i've lent him my old yet good clamps. Has anyone else noticed this specifically with Gamma Clamps?
I clean them once a month. Lol But here pictures. Picture are taken After I clean them and tested them again, so they slipped and more string residue stuck to it.
Sounds weird. At least in the Gamma Europe catalogue, all available universal clamps have diamond dusted teeth (https://gamma-europe.com/Clamps). That's something I would definitely ask the seller of said machine - if he payed the full price for the machine and got 2nd league clamps, that would be a serious rip-off. Besides the quality of the machine itself, the clamps are the biggest reason to go for a Gamma machine in the first place IMO. Are the teeth surfaces really as dented as it appears in the pictures or is that some kind of optical illusion? Looks like some of the diamond-dust is gone, especially on the outer teeth. Before ordering a new set of clamps right away, I would get in contact with Gamma directly to address this issue (https://www.gammasports.com/contact.cfm). Maybe it's even possible to simply exchange the teeth inlays.
I would persevere a little and try to get that residue off the plates before using them again. it may look like some of the dust has come off but it is just covered by the sticky residue. Correct me if I am wrong. Alternatively, before you buy a new clamp, consider getting a gamma cleaning stone and lightly scrub the teeth. It should help.
Check that the fingers are clamping uniformly. When you clamp down, is there more of a gap at one end than the other? If all else fails, and you don't want to replace them, you could try to clamp the string further down below the fingers where there is a larger area of diamond dust. My clamps are gamma copies but they are very well made and so far I have not had any slipping even at over 35lb tension.
From your photo, those definitely look like they are diamond dusted. @kwun - have any tips since you have these clamps too and have been using them for at least 3 years.
You should clean them more. Lot's of debree that I can see (I think). All that white stuff must go. Try acetone with cotton swabs and rub a bit more with toothpicks... When it's clean it should be uniformally gray.
I have these clamps as well, and oddly enough I've had no problems thus far, and I've never had to clean them before.. If you do need new clamps, Toyo's are always an option
I think it might depend on the strings. I had a roll of some waxy strings that were clogging clamps all the time. Was so happy when got rid of that roll...
personally, they have been ok for me. I have had slipping strings but usually that happens when i go from thick to thin strings, esp BG66UM, or the worst offender is some of the adidas/gosen strings. a small adjustment is all that is needed. as for the diamond dust surface, they do need to be cleaned every now and then. string coating can leave dusty residual that overtime penetrates into the gap between the sandy/dusty surface and makes it less effective. personally i might have done that only once or twice. might be more important for someone who string much higher volume than me.
I strung a racquet at 27lbs with lining #1 last night but I had to clamp the string really low, right under where the bottom of the teeth stop. If I try clamping the string higher up it will slip(tested with bg80, bg80p, lining#1) It just look like they are dented, I just tested the clamp after cleaning them and thats all the stuff that came off the string. Even if I overtighten the clamp the string still slips when I use the upper/teeth part. I did look up the cleaning stone, but I wasn't sure how it worked(do I rub it on the clamp surface, wouldn't that just make it worse acting like sandpaper? lol) I don't know how much toyos are but I'm pretty sure they are too expensive lol. I'm in uni. For now I think I'm gonna try to clan them again. Thanks everyone for the replies!
Do yourself a favour and don't even start looking at Toyos. One look at the price tag can cause severe damage to your brain (or your wallet...). What strings have you used lately that caused that amount of residue on the clamps? I have used my Gamma-copy clamps now for around 12 months (75 rackets) and I can barely see any residue at all. String slippage is still at zero. However, I was thinking about ordering that cleaning stone too when the time for the first proper cleaning has arrived. So let me know how this thing works in case you decide to give it a try!
I emailed Gamma Sports a while back and they recommended using a minor abrasive cleaning tool scrub the diamond dusted surface. Here is a part of their reply: "The Gamma Cleaning Stone is small and thin so that it will fit in between the two clamp jaws without you having to disassemble the clamp. As the stone is rubbed across the diamond dust coated clamp jaws the stone will actually consume itself as it wears away on the surface. After using the cleaning stone then use an old tooth brush dipped in isopropyl alcohol to clean out the debris." I haven't tested this out personally but I though it can help towards getting most of the gunk out and then commence with a regular cleaning schedule.
It's that tiny that it fits in between the fully assembled clamp? Wow... looks a looot bigger on the picture. But good to know how this should work, thanks for the info.
