Securing Powerpod to Mount - won't tighten fully
Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2020 10:38 am
My question is: how easy should it be to tilt the pod on the mount after hand-tightening the black knob? Because unless I use a screwdriver to tighten it further, it takes only mild effort to tilt the pod. I'm concerned bumps will cause it to move while riding. Although mostly smooth asphalt, there are a few bumps and rough patches on my ride.
Full Story:
I just bought a powerpod V3 and set it up/calibrated it yesterday using it with my Garmin edge 530 via ANT+. The pod is mounted on my handlebars. After securing the mount, I put the pod on flat side out tilted forward/down about 5-10°until it hit the (hard to notice) "stop" and tightened it using the black threaded knob screw with the metal end cap. However, I noticed that even fully hand-tightened the pod could be moved up and down with minimal effort. Certainly hard bumps might move it. I used a Phillips-head screwdriver to tighten it a bit further but didn't want to risk damaging the hardware so I left it and set out.
After some unrelated difficulties getting it to enter calibration mode, I managed to get it calibrated and went for a ride. Numbers seemed a little high but overall reasonable with a 3-5 second lag (is that normal?). During the return portion of my ride I somehow bumped the power-pod with my hand and immediately noticed the readings drop to zero. I stopped riding then re-adjusted the pod to the "stop" position. I began riding again and power numbers were 1500+W - I'm getting better, but not that good!! I proceeded to recalibrate it, seemed to work but the numbers were definitely lower than last time (~25% lower than before for similar effort/conditions). I shut it off at this point panning to recalibrate it again later.
After getting home I thought I must have simply not tightened it properly. I tried again and again, but aside from cranking down hard with a screwdriver I can't get the pod to secure in place without fear of moving it. I don't normally fumble around the handlebars so I probably won't bump it, but given how important consistent position is to the device it seems odd to me that it isn't very firmly secured when fully tightened.
Is there a trick to getting it secure? I don't want to tighten it with wrenches etc since I need to remove it periodically to charge it or extract data. I'm surprised there isn't a better quick release mechanism considering the pod needs to frequently be removed.
Full Story:
I just bought a powerpod V3 and set it up/calibrated it yesterday using it with my Garmin edge 530 via ANT+. The pod is mounted on my handlebars. After securing the mount, I put the pod on flat side out tilted forward/down about 5-10°until it hit the (hard to notice) "stop" and tightened it using the black threaded knob screw with the metal end cap. However, I noticed that even fully hand-tightened the pod could be moved up and down with minimal effort. Certainly hard bumps might move it. I used a Phillips-head screwdriver to tighten it a bit further but didn't want to risk damaging the hardware so I left it and set out.
After some unrelated difficulties getting it to enter calibration mode, I managed to get it calibrated and went for a ride. Numbers seemed a little high but overall reasonable with a 3-5 second lag (is that normal?). During the return portion of my ride I somehow bumped the power-pod with my hand and immediately noticed the readings drop to zero. I stopped riding then re-adjusted the pod to the "stop" position. I began riding again and power numbers were 1500+W - I'm getting better, but not that good!! I proceeded to recalibrate it, seemed to work but the numbers were definitely lower than last time (~25% lower than before for similar effort/conditions). I shut it off at this point panning to recalibrate it again later.
After getting home I thought I must have simply not tightened it properly. I tried again and again, but aside from cranking down hard with a screwdriver I can't get the pod to secure in place without fear of moving it. I don't normally fumble around the handlebars so I probably won't bump it, but given how important consistent position is to the device it seems odd to me that it isn't very firmly secured when fully tightened.
Is there a trick to getting it secure? I don't want to tighten it with wrenches etc since I need to remove it periodically to charge it or extract data. I'm surprised there isn't a better quick release mechanism considering the pod needs to frequently be removed.