Powerdyne Power Plate Users BEWARE!

[GeneP]

After my (Actually my son's) weekend experience with their power plate I thought it would be appropriate to pass the word. Turns out that the studs Powerdyne supplies with their plate kit are of a poor design which will break just from vibration. Once they break then hardware (The washer in our case) will be ingested into the motor via the intake & in our case ended up in #1 cylinder.

The studs they use is a regular low grade 5/15" bolt that they have drilled and tapped a 1/4" x 20 hole straight down through the center leaving a very very thin wall that is for sure gonna break off under any moderate vibration. Also in the photo is a shot of the OEM stud (Much better grade metal & the hex is very beefy compared to the typical hex head on a typical bolt.

We were very very lucky. In our case, the hex head stayed on the threaded rod holdong the breather. But the motor did swallow the washer, which ended up in 3 pieces (Also shown in the photo). The washer must have passed by the valve with perfect timing cause there was no valve or seat damage. Only the top of the piston was dinged up & the cylinder walls were untouched. We cleaned up the top of the piston & put it back together and appears to be no more damage.

The Power Plate my son paid about $70. The repairs cost us about $250 in parts & a good 2 days of our weekend. Summit where he bought it will refund for the part. I spoke to Nick at Powerdye that seems to be aware of the problem but offered no resolution to my expenses.

Just thought I would pass the word. I have photos of their broken parts upon request.

Gene