Playing with the Powerball is fun, however, we noticed that most users pay a little attention to the cord. Therefor it is important that you make it a habit of keeping the string in its right place.

However if lost, very simple solutions are the use of a shoelace or a string.

Shoelace: this has to be the thinnest available. The hard (plastic) tip is too long, and has to be cut to approx 1/3 of its length (3-4mm)

String: this can be almost anything. The best thing is to go to a hardware shop and check for a nylon string.

There are many other strings available in the market - check with shops selling knitting wool or imitation jewellery. A piece of around 45 centimetres (1.5 ft) will do

• Wool/Cotton string
  It should be light grade wool and you should tie a knot in both ends. Then, tie a second knot at each end which exactly covers the first knot (to 'bulk' it up!).
  Get a match and burn these 'knotted' ends so that there is a small little hard 'tip' on each end of the cord. This tip should be about 3-4mm in length and should be hard enough to gain purchase in the hole in the rotor (where the proper cord will eventually fit).
  If the tip is still a little too flexible, then get a little bit of super glue and apply to the end, letting it set. This will definitely make it hard enough to allow you start the ball as you would with the proper cord.
  
• Nylon string
  Make sure that the nylon string can not "split", carefully heat the tip above a flame to obtain a melt the treads together.
  If that is too risky, you can also apply some glue. Let is harden before use.
  
  
• Original string
  Likewise, if the tips have come off the original cord, you can use this technique to build up the ends of the [cord] to allow them grip the rotor properly during the starting procedure.
  

The following is a slightly more detailed text on how to best start your Powerball - follow the instructions carefully and you will be spinning in no time!

First and foremost, we need to establish that you are getting enough speed from the rotor when you pull the cord during the starting procedure. The single most important aspect here is that you get sufficient speed up during the initial pull: give it a quick, sharp flick - don't be afraid of it!

This will ensure that you achieve at least between 2500 and 3400rpm on the ball from the pull alone.

What this does is give critical mass to the gyro, this allows it sufficient freedom inside its shell to build up speed once you start a session.

So, to begin: if you are right handed, place the ball in your right hand with the exposed rotor facing the ceiling (vice versa if left handed).

Wrap the cord sufficiently around the rotor groove so that there is just about 2 inches or so remaining (as in the instruction images that come with the ball).

Give the cord a sharp tug, with your left hand and (assuming that you've reached the required 2500-3500rpm with this pull) immediately invert your hand so that the exposed part of the rotor is now facing the ground.

At this point, begin a SLOW stirring motion, as if you were stirring a large pot with a wooden spoon (or slowly waxing a car with a cloth). Its VERY important that, until you get familiar with the technique of using Powerball, you should start the routine with a SLOW, WIDE circular motion of the wrist.

If you hear a slapping/knocking noise then it means that you are attempting to rotate your wrist too quickly for the speed that the rotor is traveling at the beginning, or that you simply just didn't get enough speed onto the rotor when you pulled the cord.

The rotor will slap and knock like mad if the speed of your wrist is too great - its all a fluid motion - and one that you will easily master after a few attempts.

Again, the key is a nice, wide, slow turning of the WRIST ONLY (about one revolution per second). Keep your arm steady and use just the wrist - rotate it slowly like stirring a big pot, and when you get it right, you will feel the gyro try to act against your efforts. You'll also hear the speed building - a slow steady whine as the rotor increases its momentum.

1. 2" of cord poking out from the top of the ball
2. Ball in your favoured hand, rotor facing the ceiling
3. Quick, snappy flick of the cord giving an initial speed of around 2500 - 3500rpm
4. Invert hand and begin a slow, gentle stirring motion
5. Keep the arm steady - use the wrist only
6. Shorten the diameter of each turn and build the speed of your wrist rotations as the rotor speed increases
7. You will need to achieve a speed of at least 10,000rpm before the ball will have its revolutionary effect on your limbs!
8. Enjoy it!

There is no technical restriction in which hand you want to use the Powerball.

In order to achieve a balanced workout with your Powerball, we naturally recommend that you try to use it evenly in both the right and the left hand.

Most people naturally favour one hand over the other, this should be the hand that you learn your technique with at the start. The Powerball demands a certain skill to operate correctly and this is usually perfected in the hand that you naturally write with due to the improved co-ordination that this offers.

Once you have mastered the art of using the Powerball, you should then try to use the gyro equally in each hand going forward. This not alone will this help to develop the wrists and arms on both sides, but it will also greatly improve your over all co-ordination with the unfavoured hand which will be of benefit to many different tasks in the future!

There is actually a reference to an age guideline of 14 years upward on the product instruction sheet.

It is recommended that Powerball should not be used by those under the age of 14 years more as a general precaution rather than an actual insistence to bring attention to the simple fact that these products can apply significant resistance (inertia) to specific areas of the wrist/arm which will not have been exercised in such a fashion previously (regardless of the workout pattern followed in the past, the unique manner in which Powerball operates ensures that it will promote solid growth in areas previously unreached by standard fixed weight resistance workouts).

Taking into consideration then, that the body of a child under the age of 14 is still in a major growth stage, it has been therefore recommended that they would avoid [vigorous] use of Powerball. In order that it would not lead to [possible] damage of these arm/wrist areas going forward.

In truth of course, given that Powerball will only generate that resistance which is in direct proportion to the efforts expended by the user. It is unlikely that any such individual will cause himself/herself harm through the use of the product, but it's nevertheless better that we observe caution in our approach and that you be aware of the possibilities that may occur through overuse.

As always, these are only our own personally recommended guidelines and you should make your own judgment call on whether you would wish for your child to use the product or not. Like everything, when used in light moderation, it will not cause any harm.

HEALTH WARNING

A leading Dutch Occupational therapist, specialist in Hand Therapy noted that

"The Powerball is NOT a tool to which should be used by people suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, repetitive strain injury and arthritis. Nevertheless, if used regularly, it can strengthen the muscles, potentially preventing injuries."

Beware that, due to its impact, children under14 years should not use the POWERBALL. If you develop specific muscle pains due to the used of the POWERBALL, you should change the frequency or duration the POWERBALL is used.

All depending on your skills, and a lot of practising.

The power that you need to break into the 12, 13 & 14k barriers will come only as a result of having true strength in your wrist area.

And this (unless you are already naturally blessed with such physical abilities) will only come from diligent use of the shiny little sphere!

Those high scores you see on the board of other websites, are a result of an arm that is held almost rock steady, and a wrist that is barely breaking about its joint. This is something that is very difficult to maintain when you have a fast spinning powerball in your hand. The ability to hold the wrist steady against the powerful inertia being generated by the gyro, is what gives high speed. It will look like there is no movement whatsoever taking place at the wrist joint. It's the ability to 'whisk' the ball along within a minute, but takes an extremely powerful wrist 'flicks' to take it up to the next level of 13k or 14k scores.

This can happen the best player from time to time, and unless you are really unlucky.

It requires a bit of patience, most of the time the cord can be removed relatively easily.

• Gentle method
  Try to look into into the ball and you might be able to "turn" the cord out of the ball.
  
  
• Less Gentle method.
  • Remove the "cap or counter", so that both sides of the Powerball are open.
  • Now with the help of a long, flexible probe, you can gently lift the cord over each vane (spoke) of the gyro as you turn it manually against the wind of the cord. This will serve to yield about 1 cm of cord for each spoke that it passes over and in a couple of minutes, the cord is easily removed.
    
    
• Harsh method
  Under normal usage it is almost impossible to jam the card so tight into the rotor that it can not be removed by above mentioned methods.YOU MAY TAKE THE BALL APART, HOWEVER, WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTION.
  
  However, if the cord is so badly jammed inside against the metal axle that you can't possibly get it out with the above methods, then we do suggest that you take it apart and unwind the cord this way.
  
  On the other hand, if you don't wish to do this 'surgery' for yourself, please just pop it in the post to us and we'll repair it here for you as soon as we receive it and send it back directly by priority post!
  

All depends on the origin of the fault.

1. If there is an unexplainable fault and you can not solve it with the help of other "questions and answers" in this section. Then please return the ball, in its original packing to:
   
   FlexMag Impex Pvt. Ltd.
   H.002, Ashoka Mews
   Kondhwa
   Pune - 411 048
   
   We check/repair/replace as required, sending it back by priority post, all at no charge.
   
   If the LCD display gives problems, then simply clip off the faulty counter and post it back to us - we'll send a replacement by return!
   
   
2. However, is you dropper your Powerball by "mistake", and it came apart or the outer sphere is broken, then there is not much that can be done.
   
   However, please drop an email explaining your situation, your might be able to send a digital photo along with it. We might be able to give you support [sales@powerballindia.com].

We are flexible and willing to support you. We know our product, and have already come across a number of genuine and non-genuine complaints. Play it fair and we keep the ball rolling. Thanks.

1. Get a high pressure air source, remove the counter and while the rotor is spinning at around 5k, blast the air jet into the top of the ball - this will serve to dislodge the plastic dust that has built up inside the cavity (alternatively, open the ball in a small vice and clean it out with a soft dry cloth)
   After you have done this, continue to use the ball as normal, except making sure that it is always held firmly until the rotor has stopped.
   
   
2. Washing the unit is also possible. ONLY THE MODELS WHICH DO NOT PRODUCE ANY LIGHT. Make sure to remove the counter first - and wash it in warm water with no soap and make sure to rinse well and leave to dry properly - though we personally prefer the high pressure air method!)
   
   Simple as that!
   
   Finally, Powerball should never be lubricated....ever! That will kill it instantly!
   
   
   

NO WAY!! - You will kill me, baby.

"Oil it" and you will have only a ball, NO Powerball anymore.

The principle of operation on your Powerball is based on the resistance that occurs between the rotor support band and the surface of the inner sphere in which it resides. If this resistance is minimised by even a tiny application of oil then the rotor will spin about like a miniature beached whale inside the sphere...generally going nowhere and making you very frustrated indeed!

If something like this has occurred, then you've got to take the ball apart to its base component level, get some pure alcohol and start cleaning!

...no oil...ever!

Your Powerball is a precision product which has been carefully designed to allow that inner rotor spin to almost unbelievable speeds! (When you think about it, 15,000rpm is actually 250 revolutions each second, powered by nothing other than your hand...250 revolutions every second? Unreal stuff altogether!)

It is possible that....

...customers are no longer able to reach those high speeds that they once could when their Powerball was new. They write that the ball was never dropped and that they followed all of the instructions in properly holding the little sphere during use and slowing it down correctly, and therefore they wonder just what is going on? (Sometimes, it would get so bad that even an accomplished Powerballer would be unable to get his beloved gyro up above 5000rpm - a most frustrating experience for sure!)

By trail and error we learned a lot about the usage and failing mechanisms.

One Powerball was returned and on opening the ball, we discovered a very fine layer of fibre and dust, that had been literally vulcanised to the inner cavity wall of the Powerball (the area inside the sphere which contains the rotor support band and where the friction which makes the gyro actually spin is generated).

This fine layer of material had literally coated the surface of the inner cavity and as a result had badly affected the 'frictional' relationship between the rotor support band and the sphere itself.

The rotor support band is manufactured from a special type of plastic. As in the actual sphere itself, the surface texture of both materials compliments each other perfectly. They allow the Powerball rotor to spin at high speeds in relative silence yet at the same time offer that perfect resistance to allow the rotor to achieve those extraordinary high speeds in the first place.

Add in a layer of fibre to the equation, and you put the whole unit out of kilter with itself. The friction between the rotor band and the sphere is reduced by as much as 50%. And you basically find it almost impossible to build speed up on the thing (in much the same way as if you squirted in a few drops of oil except in that case, you would get no movement whatsoever as the friction disappears 100%!).

What to do?

Well, first of all, you have to realise that those fibres are generally introduced to the Powerball by trying to start it on your trouser leg, the table cloth, the carpet or some other [rough surface]. From which your shiny little sphere could pick up and subsequently ingest the aforementioned foreign matter! It's best to just use the cord or get learning how to start it with your fingers (it's actually quite easy once you spend some time trying). It will also help not to leave your powerball around in a dusty area (seriously, these are incredibly precise instruments and should be treated in kind!).

In addition, failing to keep a firm grip on the Powerball as it spins, can also lead to a gradual degradation of the rotor support band (tiny, almost microscopic fragments will be stripped off on each run where you don't hold the ball tightly/firmly). This dust will also gather inside and your ball will become noisy during operation.

These plastic dust particles will almost melt onto the inner surface as the steel rotor axle passes over each time during a run and compresses them into the surface. Leading, in turn, to an upset in the frictional resistance inside the ball and much lower speeds for you despite your best efforts to spin the Powerball faster.

The simplest solution is to either send the ball back to us and we'll review/check it and give the inner cavity a good cleaning. Or take it apart yourself and do the same (check the question in the FAQ on repairs for full instructions on exactly how to do this safely.

If you have been finding it difficult to open your Powerball for some routine maintenance, then take quick read of the points below, to help you along the way. It genuinely is a straightforward task and it should not take too long, provided you follow these instructions:

Reminder

YOU MAY TAKE THE BALL APART, HOWEVER, WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTION.

If you do ask your friends (or even garage technician or carpenter) to do this job for you..... be very very careful. In general the Indian technician is not too technical equipped (knowledge and equipment), most of delicate jobs are done with just a broken screw driver and a hammer. For sure you land up with a powerball, which has a surface rougher then the Moon.

Here are a couple of quick pointers once again: (remember to first remove the counter before you begin)

The quickest way is to lift the 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).

This will expose the 2 tiny screws on each side without you having to the bother to take the band off completely (to look for them in the first place!). Remove these and put them to one side.

Now, take the Powerball and put him into the vise 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 ball 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 have it will literally take just an extra 1/2 turn to maybe a full turn, and you will hear that 'pop' we are referring to!

Once you hear the pop, take him out and you will now be able to manually separate the 2 halves. If you are still not able to do this, then take the ball, put it back in but this time turn it 90 degrees (so that now the middle of the text on both sides rests up against the vise jaws) and give only a gentle turn to the handle (perhaps 1/4 to a 1/2 turn) to bring it that 'final bit' where you will see the two halves physically come apart in the vise...and that's it!

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! Again, we will try to add images on the site shortly, but you really should see the condition of our vise - it has definitely come from the 'dark ages' almost and if it can get the ball apart then any vise in the world should be able to do this simple task!

Hope this helps

Warning!

This method is NOT for the faint hearted!)

Reminder

YOU MAY TAKE THE BALL APART, HOWEVER, WE DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTION.
You have tried to find a bench-vise with one of your friends, unless somebody has a repair shop they are not likely to have one.
You are starting to get desperate! You don't want to post him back to us...yet he sounds as sick as a small hospital...

What do you do?

If you have to guts, here is a "little" tip that we will suggest that you try...as a last resort...when all other avenues have failed;

Lift the grip band slightly in the two points where there is no text (ie. where the front and back texts meet). You'll see a small little screw at each point.

Remove these and place the ball on a carpet with one of the vacant screw holes actually touching the ground (and the other facing up to the sky.

Note: Make sure the rubber grip band is still in place!

Get a solid piece of material, (hard book, piece of square wood, etc.) and place it carefully on the ball. (Picture the way this will be: the ball lying on the carpet, on its circumference, with one of the empty screw holes actually touching the ground...the book, or piece of hard wood sitting on the opposite side).

With a quick movement, step down onto the book, or piece of wood - if you have it positioned correctly, the two halves will 'pop' and are ready to be parted once you pick the ball up again.

By keeping the grip band in place, it will ensure that the two halves don't fly apart, dispersing the inner parts of your Powerball to all four corners of the room!

This sounds like a very crude method of opening the ball, it is actually quite a similar process to using the vise.

The one thing to remember: there is no actual way for you to break this product during the procedure (unless you jump down on it from a ladder or a second floor window, neither of which we actually recommend you try! :-).

The outer shells of your Powerball are manufactured from high impact plastic and will flex considerably before actually breaking. By applying your weight in a quick slam motion like this, you are simply pressurising the shell to pop apart as you would with a vise.

Hope this helps.

You did visit the PowerballIndia website, but your postal address is outside India, and would like to order articles.

We may or may not be able to help you, it all depends on where you are located. You are located in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Buttan, Sri Lanka - then we can help you.

If you are located in Europe, USA, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand - then you have to contact your regional Powerball distributor. [google on "Powerball + your country name]. Distribution regions are very well defined.

Send us the details of the Powerballs you are interested in, as fast as possible we will send you a quotation for the same, including transport/export costs.

We send small quantity of materials through courier only, TNT is our preferred courier company. Please note that sending is not cheap.

Please note that import duties at the location of entry into your country are for your account.

The above mentioned distribution restrictions are also the reason why we can not book orders in India and send the materials to Europe/USD etc..

If you are interested - contact us directly