Tether care - what you need to know

Below you will find helpful notes discussing the care of the GymAware tether. 

• Damage prevention
• Cause of sticky, slow, clogged, loose tether
• Treatment - what to do!
• Step by step tutorial on how to tension the tether
• Video

The GymAware PowerTool is a tether based system. It is the tether which, if mistreated can become unspooled and effect the systems accuracy. All equipment in the weights room needs to be treated with a certain level of care to avoid damage. So, as a user, what does this mean? 

The GymAware tether is a braided cord with a 65kg breaking strain (thats a big big fish); however, there are some simple concepts to keep in mind to make sure it functions as it should.

Prevention:

The GymAware PowerTool is designed to handle the weights room environment, however, there are a couple of considerations which will help prevent tether issues.

Be controlled when dumping the bar - from the shoulders, from the catch, instructing the athletes to be mindful of violent releases. It is the sudden shock of the reversing tether direction which can damage the spring inside the spool mechanism.

Clean the angle sensor regularly - this is repeatedly mentioned below, but the weights room can be a sweaty place and the angle sensor can become clogged with chalk and grime.

Causes of a slack tether can be:

• Blocked angle sensor - by far the most common reason for the tether failing to fully retract is a blocked angle sensor. First Aid kits are shipped with every GymAware kit which include a special tool for cleaning the angle sensor. Learn more about how to perform this task by reading this article. We recommend this action be performed every quarter.
• Over extension - the tether tries to extend beyond the 10ft (3m) of its total length. This can be due to a bar bouncing and rolling away from an athlete.
• Violent retraction - sounds nasty, well it is! By letting go of the tether when it is in an extended position causes the spring to snap it back into place. This increase in shock can cause the tether to loop over itself and thus seizing the spool. This is easy to mitigate by not letting the tether go at extension.

Treatment:

1. Clean the angle sensor - chalk, sweat and dust contribute to clogging up the angle sensor. This process is as easy as flossing your teeth and should be performed once a quarter. We recommend at the change of season (Autumn, Spring etc.) as a good way to remember when to do it. Read the article on how to clean the angle sensor.
2. Adjust the tether tension - this involves using tools. Find someone who is good at changing lightbulbs and follow the listed below. We have even made a video which we recommend watching.

Tutorial: How to adjust the tether tension

Watch the tether tension video on YouTube

1. Find your GymAware first Aid kit and remove the allan/hex key. This is a standard 2.5mm allan/hex key if you have misplaced your kit.
2. On a flat surface, remove the 4 end cap screws closest to the tether.
3. Inspect the spool (just have a look to see if there are any twists)
4. Using the "L" part of the alan key, pull out a small amount of tether from underneath the angle sensor.
5. In an anti-clockwise manner, wrap the tether once or twice around the pins (up to 4 times) depending on how much slack tether there is. This step may need to be repeated or only once around may suffice.
6. At this stage I like to clamp the PowerTool between my knees. With a finger on the top pin, turn the spool in an anti-clockwise manner to add an extra turn of tether on the spool.
7. Remove finger once all the tether is wound on.
8. Pull the tether to feel the tension.
9. Repeat step 4 - 8 if the tether still feels slack.
10. NOW Gently extend the tether the full 10ft (3m) to check that it does spool out the entire way. Be careful as you don't want the spool to pop off! If it doesn't then this is a sign that the spring may have been damaged and you will need to send it back for a repair.

Note:

2016 models include a lighter weight spring assembly which has helped any tether issues.