I'm building a wheel. I've used a nipple driver to equally engage all nipples on the spoke threads and used this as a starting point for tensioning the spokes.
Despite this, after applying a couple of turns on all nipples, some of the spokes have some tension in them, while others are completely loose, with the nipples still rattling in the rim. This is true even for spokes on the same side and in the same orientation.
What are the likely causes of this and how can I diagnose the problem?
Some notes on my specific situation:
- The rim is 50 mm deep, carbon, 32 hole (Duke World Runner)
- The hub is a SON28 15 mm 6-bolt dynamo hub
- The ideal spoke lengths, according to Roger Musson's calculator, are 260.6 mm and 261.6 mm for left and right respectively
- I rounded up and chose 262 mm CX-Ray spokes for both sides
- The nipples are Sapim Polyax 14 mm
- The spokes are laced in a standard 3-cross pattern
Here is a photo of the wheel, showing where some of the loose spokes are:
