Your Questions

How do I open the Powerball?

Fault: Unit needs to be opened for the purposes of cleaning or replacing the rotor support band.

Solution: Follow the following video links which will illustrate the two recommended ways to open the ball: 1) Using a Vise 2) Using the hand

Detailed Explanation: From time to time, you may find it of some benefit to be able to open your Powerball up... whether to give him a quick clean out or simply to replace a worn component inside.

The outer sphere shell is comprised of two separate halves, both of which have been precision manufactured to allow them ‘snap’ perfectly together tightly without the need for glue or screws. (There are two screws on the circumference by the way, but these are more cosmetic than anything else and can be discarded if required without causing any harm to the ball afterward).

The fastest way of opening these halves once they have been joined is to squeeze them at the point at which they meet – if this is done as shown in the links above or as recommended below, the two halves will “pop” audibly and establish themselves into such a position that you can grasp each half with your fingers and pull them apart with ease. You will easily see when you have been successful in this task as the gap between both halves (the little “valley” running all around the equator line of the ball into which the ridge of the rubber grip band locates), will have increased from approximately 3mm to 5mm.

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Opening using the Vise:

The quickest way is to lift the rubber grip band slightly at exactly the points where there is no text (that is, at the junction of where the front and back text meets on both sides – see fig A as you can see, there is just black space at these 2 points).Fig A: Screw positions

This will expose the 2 tiny screws on each side without you having to go to the bother to take the band off completely (note: we recommend that you leave the band on the ball at all times while doing this exercise as it will help to protect the surface of the sphere from being scratched)Fig B: Screws exposed by lifting grip-band

Remove these screws and put them to one side.

Remove the digital counter or hard plastic cap (depending on the model powerball you own – both of these items are attached to the sphere by means of 2 solid plastic clips at their 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions and can be prised off easily by using your nail or a flat headed screwdriver at the end just above where the two holes for the wrist cord are on the spheres body as in Fig C. – a quick upward motion will remove it easily.Fig C: Digital counter

Once you have removed the counter or cap, please take the rotor and ensure that either end of the metal axle is pointing down toward those two holes in the spheres surface as in Fig D – this is important as it will ensure that when you are squeezing the sphere in the vise that you do not warp the axle with the pressure. The positions of the screw holes are indicated in the image below.Fig D: Rotor aligned with screw holes

Now, take the Powerball and put him into the vise (fig D) with the jaws of the [vise] resting against these 'blank' areas on the band (where you have just removed the screws from).

Put the ball down into the vise so that the exact middle or 'equator' of the sphere is sitting snugly in the middle of the jaw surface. Gently close the vise to a point where the ball is now firmly supported. At this point, depending on what kind of a vise you it will literally take just an extra 1/2 turn to maybe a full turn (if the vise gearing is different to our own), and you will hear that 'pop' I am referring to.Fig E: Powerball sitting in a bench vise

In truth, if your vise is really different to ours, it doesn't matter, just turn the handle until you hear the 'pop' - the material in your Powerball is extremely strong and will flex considerably before it breaks so don't worry about causing harm - you won't unless you are deliberately setting out to crush the little guy in there!

Once you hear the ‘pop’, take him out and you will now be able to manually separate the 2 halves.

Do the work required and when ready simply press the two halves together with your hands - it will 'snap' back together and your work is done.

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Opening using your hand:

Once again, lift the rubber grip band slightly at exactly the points where there is no text (that is, at the junction of where the front and back text meets on both sides – see Fig 1A as you can see, there is just a blank space at these 2 points).Fig 1A: Screw positions

This will expose the 2 tiny screws on each side without you having to go to the bother to take the band off completely (note: we recommend that you leave the band on the ball at all times while doing this exercise as it will help to protect the surface of the sphere from being scratched)Fig 2B: Screws exposed by lifting grip-band

Remove these screws and put them to one side.

Remove the digital counter or hard plastic cap (depending on the model powerball you own – both of these items are attached to the sphere by means of 2 solid plastic clips at their 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions and can be prised off easily by using your nail or a flat headed screwdriver at the end just above where the two holes for the wrist cord are on the spheres body as in Fig 2C. – a quick upward motion will remove it easily.Fig C: Digital counter

Once you have removed the counter or cap, please take the rotor and ensure that either end of the metal axle is pointing down toward those two holes in the spheres surface as in Fig 2D – this will keep the axle in a suitable position for what happens next. Take the Powerball and position it so that one of the empty screw holes is sitting on a hard surface such as a table or solid bench. Please leave the grip band on during this process.Fig D: Rotor aligned with screw holes

The remaining empty screw hole will now be facing the ceiling.

Holding the ball with one hand, curl up your other hand into a fist and slam it down onto this [empty] screw hole like as if you were angry and were slamming your hand on the desk!! (using the soft under part of the hand as opposed to the knuckles!) – please refer to Fig 2E. Fig 2E: Opening the ball with your hand

This is a similar action to using a vise and should see the two halves 'pop' slightly apart allowing you to open them with your hand thereafter – one smart ‘slap’ is all that it takes.

Disclaimer: please be careful about how hard you hit the ball! It is important that you do not hurt or damage your hand in the process!

Finally – if you have superhuman strength like Akis (our World record holder!) – you will actually be able to pop open your Powerball by simply squeezing him together between your hands and locking your fingers. I have seen him do this but am unable to master the technique myself!