Assemble your power meter
Last updated
Last updated
To assemble the power meter you simply need to attach blades to each shaft section. This guide describes the process of fixing the blades in their correct position using the hot-melt glue included in with your power meter.
It is very important that the blades are aligned in the position described in this guide.
The left shaft section has the length scale engraved
The right shaft section has the connection clamp
Check that the blades fit the shaft. Left blade onto the left shaft, and right blade onto the right shaft.
Note that shims may have been supplied with your power meter allowing you to adapt your blades to fit the shaft. These shims are to be glued to your blades first, allowing for a snug fit to the shaft.
If the blades fit too tightly, try sanding the end of the shafts with 80 grit sandpaper to reduce the outside diameter slightly.
Measure the overall length of the paddle with the blades fitted. If you wish to shorten the shaft, you can trim the blade end of each shaft to achieve your desired length. Trim an equal amount from the end of each shaft.
Example: If you want to reduce the paddle length by 3cm, cut 1.5cm from the end of each shaft.
You can cut the shaft with a hacksaw fitted with a fine-tooth blade or a metal cut-off wheel. Be sure to use the appropriate PPE for this task.
Leave the blades in fitted to the end of the shaft (not yet glued) and carry out the following steps
Apply masking tape to the throat of the blade.
Apply masking tape to the shaft where the shaft meets the blade.
Perform this step for both left and right shafts.
Rotate the left blade to the position where the face of the left blade is aligned with the length scale (as shown below).
Mark this alignment of the left blade using a pen on the tape applied in Step 3.
Remove the blade from the end of the shaft
Sand the end of the shaft with 80 grit sand paper to roughen the surface, allowing for good adhesion
Heat the glue stick with a heat gun until the stick becomes soft
Dab the softened glue stick onto the end of the paddle shaft, dabbing glue at several locations
Using a stick/trowel, spread the glue over end of the shaft. You will have to apply heat to the deposited glue to allow it to be worked smooth.
Prepare to glue the blade onto the shaft by reheating the applied glue as well as pre-heating the blade socket. Take care not to overheat the shaft or the blade during this stage.
With the glue hot and the blade heated, assemble the blade onto the end of the shaft. Push the shaft all the way into the blade socket and then rotate the blade into the position where the alignment marks made during step 6. are aligned.
Remove any excess glue while it is still hot and easy to wipe away.
Allow everything to cool down before applying force to the joint. Once cool, make sure that the marks remain aligned. If adjustment is required, heat up the join with a heat gun to re-activate the glue then twist the blade to align the marks.
Assemble the paddle shaft by joining the left and right shafts together
Set the blade offset angle to zero degrees
Rotate the right blade so that it's alignment matches the left.
At this stage the right blade should be fitted to the end of the right shaft, but not yet glued in place
Alignment can be achieved by supporting both blades on a two level surfaces (see picture below). Be sure to support the each blade an equal distance from the blade tip.
Mark the alignment found in Step 8. on the right blade/shaft using a pen.
Same as before in Step 7....
Heat the glue stick with a heat gun until the stick becomes soft
Dab the softened glue stick onto the end of the paddle shaft, dabbing glue at several locations
Using a stick/trowel, spread the glue over end of the shaft. You will have to apply heat to the deposited glue to allow it to be worked smooth.
Prepare to glue the blade onto the shaft by reheating the applied glue as well as pre-heating the blade socket. Take care not to overheat the shaft or the blade during this stage.
With the glue hot and the blade heated, assemble the blade onto the end of the shaft. Push the shaft all the way into the blade socket and then rotate the blade into the position where the alignment marks match up.
Remove any excess glue while it is still hot and easy to wipe away.
Let everything cool down.
With both blades now glued into place, remove the masking tape. If there is any excess glue around the joint, then a bit of heat and a rag with turpentine will clean everything up nicely.
Corrosion is a natural enemy of any electronic product. Although fully-waterproofred, we want to limit the exposure of the internal surface of the load cell to salt water where at all possible. As One Giant Leap has no control over the quality of the hot melt glued bond that joins the blade to the shaft (as this task is performed by the end user), we recommended all customers to seal this joint with a combination of amalgamating tape and heat-shrink. Both the amalgamating tape and heat-shrink have been supplied with your Power Meter
Peel the white backing from the amalgamating tape. Wrap the tape around the blade join, stretching it out as you do so. Stretching the tape allows the tape to amalgamate while compressing over the blade join.
Slide the section of heat-shrink tubing onto the shaft and center it over amalgamating tape.
Using a heat gun, evenly heat the heat-shrink until it tightly wraps the shaft, smooth without ripples.
