Problems when comparing two new Powerballs

[Stromsberg]

I just took delivery of my new Powerballs today after finally taking the plunge and deciding which to go for. I had decided on a Signature and a Neon Blue Pro.

Had a play with both for a while and decided to concentrate on the Signature Series initially... after 30 minutes I had already gone over 11k and was feeling pretty pleased with my efforts ...then I found that I couldn't get it started any more ... I had been doing thumb starts and then went back to the string when my thumb was too sore - but now neither would get the Powerball moving enough to 'take off'.

I assumed this was just me losing what little "technique" I might have acquired and took a break for a few hours ... on returning I still couldn't get it to start moving no matter what I did. ( I tried for about an hour!)

Out of curiousity I took out the Neon Blue Pro and tried that ... great - thumb start on first attempt and immediately got 10500+ ... so what had happened to my new Signature series? I started to compare the Powerballs.

What I found was that when thumbing the Signature Powerball it seemed to slow down to a stop after 3-4 revolutions ... whereas the Neon Blue Pro would spin freely for a long time. So the Signature had somehow slowed down to a point where it would not get up enough speed to even light the neons.

Any ideas what has happened? I can't believe there is any dirt/debris inside it already - it has only been used for about an hour in total - I am still on my FIRST day of powerballing.

I am also not keen on opening it up just yet...

Thanks

[Sayex]

i have a thought of what might happend there. it happends to me with my Metal Powerball. one of the washers had a curve, so i didnt fit properly in the metal axis. So i just move it around a bit and it fitted great. So its probable that a whaser of you r powerball could be fitting to tight between the support band and the rotor.
My suggestion is to open your little friend, and check inside if everything is ok.

Kindest Regards Stormberg.

PS: My apoligies coz of my english.

[Adrena1in]

What I found was that when thumbing the Signature Powerball it seemed to slow down to a stop after 3-4 revolutions.

What, the rotor would literally only spin round three or four times on its axis and then stop?! That's very unusual. Or are you saying it would only spin three or four times about it's secondary axis?

Try this...hold the Signature Series with the rotor facing the floor. Place two fingernails in the groove of the rotor, push the rotor upwards slightly, (it should move a millimeter or two), and then see if you can manually twist the rotor about it's vertical axis. If it doesn't want to twist then something's wrong. Not sure what it might be, but taking the Powerball apart, checking nothing is amiss, then putting it back together again might be a good idea.

Tim.

[LTLFTC]

Definitely sounds like something stuck in there

[Stromsberg]

Ok, I took it apart as described in the FAQ and discovered (as Sayex suggested) that one of the little square washers had a problem - there was a tiny plastic burr sticking out of the hole in the washer (presumably from when it was punched out during manufacture) and this little plastic burr - which was only about 0.5 mm long was digging in to the spindle and stopping it rotating freely...

I nipped it off with nail-clippers and then cleaned up what was left of it with an X-acto knife blade ... and put it back together - as soon as the round white plastic thing was back on it was clearly spinning a lot more freely ..

All fastened back together and success on the very first thumb-start ... and a 'score' of just over 11k !!

Very happy!

Thanks for the help guys!

Chris

[Alastair V]

What, the rotor would literally only spin round three or four times on its axis and then stop?! That's very unusual. Or are you saying it would only spin three or four times about it's secondary axis?

Try this...hold the Signature Series with the rotor facing the floor. Place two fingernails in the groove of the rotor, push the rotor upwards slightly, (it should move a millimeter or two), and then see if you can manually twist the rotor about it's vertical axis. If it doesn't want to twist then something's wrong. Not sure what it might be, but taking the Powerball apart, checking nothing is amiss, then putting it back together again might be a good idea.

Tim.

Thats the same with my neon, but mine works fine and i can score normally on it. I never gave it a second thought, i thought all neons were like that.