Locate the ball on the PopToss in a position where none of the threads on softball touch the Ball Striker upon impact. The ball striker should impact a smooth surface of the ball.

If the timing becomes inconsistent, the very first thing you should do is a periodic oiling of the bottom cylinder of your PopToss.

The problem is the air exhaust valve. When you load your PopToss, the air exhaust valve allows all the air to pass through it, creating a vacuum in the bottom cylinder. When you pull your bat out of the PopToss, the air exhaust valve should close shut. If it gets stuck in the open position the ball striker immediately comes back up. If the ball striker will not stay down, you won't have any time to set up to hit.

Watch this video for instructions on how to fix this problem.

If that did not fix the problem, try this secondary method:

• With a little force, pump the ball striker up and down as you would a hand air pump until the air exhaust valve resets itself.
• After the ball striker begins to stay down again, gradually adjust the timer valve to 13 to 15 seconds, which will you
  give enough time to setup to hit.
• If this doesn’t work, use a butterknife or your fingernail to lift the edge of the small piston on the face of the air exhaust valve. On rare occasions, this piston, which has a small black colored O ring around it, does not reseat itself properly, which means keeps the valve from completely closing, preventing the gray ball striker from staying down.

PopToss models prior to 2020 don't have the air exhaust valve, but we can send one along with an installation video. Let us know and we'll get right on it!

Some simple assembly is required when you get your new PopToss unit before you can use it. See Assembling Your PopToss for instructions.

PopToss is engineered to work perfectly for 6 to 10 years, but requires maintenance. If you need either one of the two valves, your lifetime warranty covers your entire unit. If you need a new valve, we will ship you one.

PopToss provides a lifetime warranty on each unit. You pay one time at purchase and never pay another dime for life. Even though your PopToss will work flawlessly for years, we may have to send you the bottom cylinder containing both valves. This video describes the proper assembly of your unit when you get the bottom cylinder from us.

The vacuum is very much given to close tolerances. Call us and ask us for a new spring. We won’t go into the physics of how springs work in your PopToss, but CHANGING TO ANOTHER SPRING can fix an inconsistent timing. Call 224-858-4159 or email us and we will ship it the same day.