PoleClinometer® Installation Problems?
Did your sticker not quite line up right in the “check” step of the installation instructions? Below are the most likely problems, and suggestions for addressing them.
This is the goal. If the marks look like this where the edges of your sticker meet, then you’re golden. Note that it doesn’t have to look exactly like this. A gap or overlap of up to 2mm is just fine, and a small offset (<1mm) is OK too. If you’re off by any more than that, see below for the likely cause and suggested solution.
A big gap between the sticker edges means your ski pole shaft is too large for the sticker. Measure the gap with a metric ruler. If it’s less than 2mm, then you’re fine; go skiing! If it’s around 6 or 7 mm, then try the next size up sticker. If it’s anything else, then you have an odd sized or over-sized ski pole shaft diameter. Please contact us; we now have a fix to fit ANY diameter ski pole, and can send you what you’ll need to fit yours at no charge.
A big overlap of the sticker edges means your ski pole shaft is too small for the sticker. Measure the overlap if you can with a metric ruler. If it’s less than 2mm, then you’re fine; go skiing! If it’s around 6 or 7mm, then try the next size down sticker. If it’s anything else, then you have an odd sized or under-sized pole shaft diameter. Please contact us; we now have a fix to fit ANY diameter ski pole, and can send you what you’ll need to fit yours at no charge.
A significant offset just means your sticker’s not aligned quite right. Don’t fret; you can peel it off and try again. But first, measure the offset¹ with a metric ruler. A 1mm offset will result in about 2° of error with a 14mm PoleClinometer, or about 1.5° of error with an 18mm PoleClinometer². It should be pretty easy for you to achieve less than 0.5mm offset (i.e. <1° error) if you align your sticker carefully. You decide how much error you’re willing to tolerate.
Tips for Getting It Straight:
Check the line you drew in the “mark” step of installation. Is it straight and centered on the pole? Is the center line of the sticker aligned to it? Carefully peel the sticker off, and erase the line if you need to (with alcohol wipe), and then try again. Give it a few tries if you need to. Even if the adhesive becomes less sticky, your PoleClinometer sticker will still be held firmly in place after you apply the protective heat-shrink sleeve over it.
¹ by “offset” here I mean the vertical distance between two points that should line up where the sticker edges meet.
² Error due to sticker alignment offset when sighting cross-slope is calculated as follows:
error ≅ arcsin [ offset ÷ (2 × pole shaft diameter ) ]
Error due to sticker alignment offset when sighting down-slope is much less.