TG T3 - first day review

[Tilmann]

I read the information about how the handle broke off you 9Bot. I had heard that could happen.  You gave a good description as to how you made your own posts to wrap the belt around unfortunately I don't have a great imagination or mind for engineering so I would have to see pictures. 

Hi @claycase, glad to hear you're back in business with a working charger. My apologies for ignoring your request for pictures of my NB1 belt attachment bolts for so long. The simple reason: I have not seen my bot in months now as it was passed from one colleague to the next as a learner along a long waiting list . I'll make those pics when I get my hands on it, but can't promise when that will be.

[RavMan]

HI ClayCase,

Thank you for your quick reply. It helped me, decide to buy new charger.

[Villac]

Hi, Chris, here. I have had 4 days practice on my new TG T3, and neither of us is new anymore!

It is covered in duct tape and padding: a circle of the foam that arrived with the eu is taped low at the level of the fender edge, and I have two foam pads taped to the upper motor housing where the inside of my legs touch it. The handle has several layers of scarred tape.

Here is how days went:

1) many wobble falls to the side. Managed cruising short distances with a hand on a car. Found I hated thestrap: halped me get up, and after that first second it was a liability, kept one hand trapped. Started with boots, jeans, leather jacket, winter mittens, and 3/4 helmet. Got too sweaty and ditched all that for boots and bike helmet.

2) departed safety of one hand on the car Up hill and downhill were smooth, flat was a quick death wobble and some times spectacular fall with eu doing full rolls or travelling 10 feet without me before ditching. Cut my finger on edge of pedal so put gloves back on.

3)started doing "flappy turns" using 15 degree jerky partial pivots and chaotic flapping to remain upright. Can only turn left (???) Not right, and no I am not NASCAR. (13 yr old son has achieved same level in 2 days, and he can turn right.)

4) turning right and left with a smooth lean, right is a little choppier. Starting without wall: I grab handle scoot forward a bit in a crouch then quickly stand. Son can start standing and is better on grass. I got out on the road today; irregular pavement was fun!

 

[Jag_Rip]

ride figure8 on the lawn or on a wide paved area, so you can train all together. bumpy surface, turning both ways, large8 with speed, small8 with balance. And it doesnt scratch or hurt as much as on tarmac.

[Villac]

Thanks for the advice! Here are photos of how I taped/padded the TG T3. It handles falls to the side and forward rolls well. Hopefully there will be fewer of these as time goes on! My commute was about 60% on the wheel and 40% stepping off to walk across intersections or over curb/kerb bumps. The hill up to work is a 1/2 mile 10 degree climb for 2-300 feet and the unicycle took it strong. On the way home I rode 75% of the time and handled many more of the bumps upright. The 1.7 mile trip put me down to 2/4 battery indicator lights each time, but It dropped quicker on the uphill trip. The tape/padding job was to ease the painful inner calf learning injuries, but I'm keeping it because I'm used to the feel, it is good armor for the wheel, and it would be a pain to take all that tape off.

[Grinchy]

Hi Grinchy,
After reading you review :), I got TG-T3 couple of days back from Banggood and they sent EU pulg and Charger is showing 180V-220V. Just wondering have you got same and are you seeing any issues in charging the battery. Can you please advise me.

Ravman - no, I got US plug charger with mine. I think when I ordered you had to select region at order time, I don't remember if it was a dropdown or a note on the order description . . .

I have had no problem with charging with my charger, until this week, when I suspect my charger has broken, but that's a whole other issue. 

Definitely cheaper to buy another or get banggood to replace yours than to buy a transformer for high voltage. I have had really good luck with Banggood replacements, they have replaced a bunch of crappy led light bulbs that had bad ballast out of the box.

 

Editing to fix automerged posts.

[claycase]

Hi @claycase, glad to hear you're back in business with a working charger. My apologies for ignoring your request for pictures of my NB1 belt attachment bolts for so long. The simple reason: I have not seen my bot in months now as it was passed from one colleague to the next as a learner along a long waiting list . I'll make those pics when I get my hands on it, but can't promise when that will be.

Hi Tilmann,

Not a problem. I have been going pretty good now. Well let me say I was going pretty good till I got a leak in my tire. I am currently waiting for inner tubes to arrive from speedyfeet for my ninebot. I haven't been on it for the last two weeks and I am suffering. I have been riding my TG-T3 but there really is no comparison. I feel that I'm using a walker. LOL!  

The other bad thing is that, just like they say in Game of Thrones, Winter is coming and I'm not one to ride my wheel out in the cold. The last day I was on the bot it was just late fall cold and I was freezing even with a hefty jacket. I need to find an indoor lot that I could roll around in just to keep up my skills through the winter season.

Thanks for getting back to me.

[BPINE]

Hi guys another old guy ready to give this a go, I bought one of the 2 wheeled balancing scooters a few days ago and am already bored with it and am looking to move forward. I was thinking of the TG T3 but don't want to make another mistake, what is the best bang for the buck when it comes to electric Unicycle? I know how to ride a regular unicycle is that going to be any help learning to ride one of these or am I in for another long journey which is ok because that is all part of the fun.  Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Blair

[Villac]

Tg t3 is a good starter, and if your goal is to play in the driveway or do a five minute errand it may be all the wheel you need. I paid $300, some here paid $230. Don't pay to much for it; remember shipping can double the price. Try to get free shipping like I did. At this starter level you have lots of alternatives with similar capabilities.

 

Also check check this forum to see if you live near someone who is selling a used wheel or can let you try before you buy. I live in PA if that's close?

One last tg t3 positive: it is legal on a plane with the 132 wh battery.

Before you buy, consider if you will desire these better specifications and buy big from the start:

Faster (good for a commuter, not just thrills)

Bigger wheel

Bigger battery/longer range

Smartphone app connection

Built in lighting

 

I was lucky, when I bought a bigger wheel my son was happy to take over the tg t3; it'shis ride to school!

[BPINE]

Thanks for the reply Villac, I really want one to go longer range with a bit of off roading capability as well. I am getting really confused reading the forums it seems like there is a problem with these (most brands) to shut off when riding am I getting nervous over nothing?  I found a Ninebot + for sale in my area, I know this is a tough question but which brands and models should I really be looking for?

[castShadow]

Never give up!  Never surrender!

[BPINE]

I found a great deal on an Air wheel x3 this weekend, didn't have much time to learn on it this weekend but will hit it hard this week. Seems the training wheels are more in the way than anything so I will take them off tonight and move on with the learning process. So far it seems much more fun than the 2 wheel balance scooter I had,

[Villac]

@BPINE , From what I have read, Airwheel X3 seems like a great starting point and very similar to my TG T3. I didn't have training wheels. I did use the strap: clip around handle and pulling up with one hand as you wobble forward seemed to make me go further before a side tipover. After getting rid of the strap, arms wide and flapping helped me. My son liked going in circles around the car with one hand resting on the car to get his bearings. Congratz on your new ride! Enjoy it in health and cover your noggin!

[Tom]

Basically any generic is the same as Airwheel X3 - I got a 350w / 132Wh / 14" for £140 ($215) next day delivery from UK.

[BPINE]

@BPINE , From what I have read, Airwheel X3 seems like a great starting point and very similar to my TG T3. I didn't have training wheels. I did use the strap: clip around handle and pulling up with one hand as you wobble forward seemed to make me go further before a side tipover. After getting rid of the strap, arms wide and flapping helped me. My son liked going in circles around the car with one hand resting on the car to get his bearings. Congratz on your new ride! Enjoy it in health and cover your noggin!

Well now this is great fun, I took those training wheels off in a few minutes because they seemed to me more problems than help and within a few minutes I had it good enough to ride around. After about an hour I ditched the strap and was off to the races. This is what I was hoping for with the 2 wheel scooter but that was a joke, seemed a bit dangerous and not very fun. The Airwheel seems to work very well but I am already looking for more this is going to be another great hobby. Net stop probably a King Song 14 if I can get someone to return my e mail to buy one.

[jez]

Hi All,

So I bought the TG-T3 about a month ago. The first thing that I noticed was that unpacking it there were no trainer wheels. No big deal. There was also no double sided tape for the bumpers. No big deal. 

I bout it from www.tmart.com

What did bother me the most was that it never seemed to fully charge to 4 lights. It would drop from 3 to 2 in a couple of minutes and then be at one. It would flucte between 1 and 2 charge lights. 

I then noticed that the battery did not last near as long as I would have hoped. I weigh 85 and use it to travel to and from the train station. I have to carry the charger with me to work because it will  run out of charge. The distance I have to work from the station is about 1.5KM which it does OK with, but if I don't charge it will only do another 500m and then die. So a 2KM max is not that great. 

It dies catastrophically. Just stops all the sudden and bucks you off without warning. 

A few times I have practically taken a tumble roll to the amusement of onlookers. 

In addition it has these moments when its shuts down for no reason and throws you off. Not becuase there is no charge, but for some other reason. One day I travelled 500m and it shut down all the sudden and threw me off!. I thought that the battery died, which was unusual, but after leaving it off for 30 minutes it came back to life... Dont ask me how.

I put it down to the battery. I think that there are dead cells that are not charging and the battery is poor quality. I have not taken it apart for testing, however I did contact tmart and they were quite unhelpful. 

While the product is fun and probably ok as a cheap first step into the EU world, its probably a little poorly made and can be dangerous if not used cautiously. It would be nice to have a warning sound right before the battery cuts out. 

My next purchase will probably be a ninebot. It seems that it a far superior and well made product.

[esaj]

12 hours ago, jez said:

Hi All,

What did bother me the most was that it never seemed to fully charge to 4 lights. It would drop from 3 to 2 in a couple of minutes and then be at one. It would flucte between 1 and 2 charge lights. 

Can you measure the battery voltage when it's "fully" charged? It should be way above 60V when full, 67.2-67.8V is usually the very maximum, but the voltage will drop a bit quickly after you remove it from the charger. Something like around 64-67V could be fairly normal. Also if you can, measure how much voltage your charger gives, in case it's faulty and gives too low voltage (for 16S pack, it should be around the mentioned 67.2V, it probably reads somewhere on the charger). 

 

Quote

I then noticed that the battery did not last near as long as I would have hoped. I weigh 85 and use it to travel to and from the train station. I have to carry the charger with me to work because it will  run out of charge. The distance I have to work from the station is about 1.5KM which it does OK with, but if I don't charge it will only do another 500m and then die. So a 2KM max is not that great. 

Even with the "smallest" 132Wh pack, with your weight I'd expect you to get something like 7-10km. Definitely sounds like the battery charge is way below normal, either dead cells, faulty BMS or the charger doesn't fully charge it due to too low charging voltage.

Quote

In addition it has these moments when its shuts down for no reason and throws you off. Not becuase there is no charge, but for some other reason. One day I travelled 500m and it shut down all the sudden and threw me off!. I thought that the battery died, which was unusual, but after leaving it off for 30 minutes it came back to life... Dont ask me how.

That sounds like the overdischarge protection (the voltage dipped to too low) triggering. It will reset once the battery voltage regains some higher value (for example, I have new BMSs that trigger the protection at 2.5V and reset at 3.0V) , so what could have happened is that the battery voltage dipped below the triggering point during acceleration or bump requiring a sudden higher output, and then the protection reset later on once the batteries had some time to recover (the voltage goes up a bit after you let the wheel sit shut down for a while).

[MrBump]

My TG T3 is a lot more reliable than this and goes a lot further - def sounds like there's something wrong with this one.

[chrisinbama]

On 3/11/2015, 9:59:26, Grinchy said:

It immediately got sucked into the wheel housing. No harm done though.

Hi guys! I'm a 50 year old lady in Alabama and have been wanting one of these so badly for so long...I can't believe I finally have one! I've had it about a month...just starting to get pretty good on it (I haven't been able to practice as much as I'd like during the time I've had it. Sort of scattered here and there.)

Anyway, what brings me here tonight is I'm heartbroken and desperate and hoping someone here can help me. Everything was going along perfectly well with my wheel until today. The most ridiculous thing on earth happened...which is why I've quoted Grinchy's one bit up there: my jacket sleeve got sucked up into the friggin' wheel housing and it got stuck up there. I pulled it out and everything seemed fine. I was in the process of trying to run the battery down so I could charge it, so when it just beeped continuously when I turned it on I thought it was just alerting me that it was at death's door this time and really needed to be charged. Plugged it in and it charged for a couple of hours and I saw that it was green, so I was going to do a couple of laps on my apartment landing, but when I turned it on, it still just did the continuous beep sound and the gyro never initialized. Wheel still stayed floppy like when it's not on. I have killed my wheel with a jacket sleeve!!!!

I actually took the shell apart to see if there was anything obvious that I could see out of place or anything, and I don't see anything obvious. I checked all the connections...even unplugged and replugged the batter and the other one...I forget what the other one was, to the power switch I think. Anyway, everything else appears to be soldered or otherwise more permanently attached. I don't want to open it any further down but does anyone have any possible solutions?

I'm seriously torn up about this. It took me the longest time to save up and finagle to get this wheel, and I haven't even had a chance to get good yet. I'm at a loss.

**Editing to add it is one of the generics...one of the TG-T3's from Banggood.

[chrisinbama]

On 10/2/2015, 6:37:21, Villac said:

On 10/2/2015, 6:37:21, Villac said:

 Here are photos of how I taped/padded the TG T3.

 

Haha...that reminds me of when I first got mine...I taped blue bubble wrap to it! (That's all I had)  ;o)

[esaj]

1 hour ago, chrisinbama said:

Hi guys! I'm a 50 year old lady in Alabama and have been wanting one of these so badly for so long...I can't believe I finally have one! I've had it about a month...just starting to get pretty good on it (I haven't been able to practice as much as I'd like during the time I've had it. Sort of scattered here and there.)

Anyway, what brings me here tonight is I'm heartbroken and desperate and hoping someone here can help me. Everything was going along perfectly well with my wheel until today. The most ridiculous thing on earth happened...which is why I've quoted Grinchy's one bit up there: my jacket sleeve got sucked up into the friggin' wheel housing and it got stuck up there. I pulled it out and everything seemed fine. I was in the process of trying to run the battery down so I could charge it, so when it just beeped continuously when I turned it on I thought it was just alerting me that it was at death's door this time and really needed to be charged. Plugged it in and it charged for a couple of hours and I saw that it was green, so I was going to do a couple of laps on my apartment landing, but when I turned it on, it still just did the continuous beep sound and the gyro never initialized. Wheel still stayed floppy like when it's not on. I have killed my wheel with a jacket sleeve!!!!

I actually took the shell apart to see if there was anything obvious that I could see out of place or anything, and I don't see anything obvious. I checked all the connections...even unplugged and replugged the batter and the other one...I forget what the other one was, to the power switch I think. Anyway, everything else appears to be soldered or otherwise more permanently attached. I don't want to open it any further down but does anyone have any possible solutions?

I'm seriously torn up about this. It took me the longest time to save up and finagle to get this wheel, and I haven't even had a chance to get good yet. I'm at a loss.

**Editing to add it is one of the generics...one of the TG-T3's from Banggood.

I'm no expert, but I suspect that either the half-bridges on the mainboard or the motor got damaged when the wheel was stuck... Although I don't think the motor itself burns that easily, so it could very well be the mainboard. For more technical details, see for example here:  http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/108100/why-does-an-electric-motor-burn-up-when-you-physically-stop-it   And although that does talk about the motor burning up, I still suspect the driving bridges will blow before the motor does, but am not sure.

[Villac]

@chrisinbama I'm sorry to hear the bad news! I have no useful mechanical advice for you; you already sound more handy than I am with what you have checked so far. I would give it an other period of rest and try again (no logical reason to think it would change, but I've learned from car electronics there can be some temporary mysterious behavior). And, I would definitely contact banggood to discuss returns/exchanges/service: The chances may by slim, but sometimes you can be surprised when you get an email from a generous company representative. If you search this forum for service locations, you may find one in the US, but I expect that the availability may be limited to ninebot, king song, or other wider range brands. The biggest bummer must be not being able to ride!!! Good luck, and I hope you are up on wheel again soon.

[chrisinbama]

Thank you for your replies. The period of rest and trying again thing...I definitely did that! haha! I keep hoping if I check it again it will suddenly work.  ;o)  But someone somewhere (I think on youtube) did say he had luck unplugging and replugging some connectors, so I've done that a few times...hoping. BAH!!! The worst part is that I had just discovered a new technique..well, foot placement change...that made all the difference (at least in the living room and my hallway!), so I was looking forward to trying it outside for real. It's very frustrating. Also, what I had to go thru to be able to buy this thing in the first place. I'm just so sad and frustrated.

But I'm not giving up. I'll tinker and Google and message until I get somewhere. I did send Banggood a message, just to see. I didn't mention the jacket incident...only about the beeping and the motor and asked them what I should do.

[chrisinbama]

On 9/28/2015, 10:53:50, Villac said:

Hi, Chris, here. I have had 4 days practice on my new TG T3, and neither of us is new anymore!

It is covered in duct tape and padding: a circle of the foam that arrived with the eu is taped low at the level of the fender edge, and I have two foam pads taped to the upper motor housing where the inside of my legs touch it. The handle has several layers of scarred tape.

Here is how days went:

1) many wobble falls to the side. Managed cruising short distances with a hand on a car. Found I hated thestrap: halped me get up, and after that first second it was a liability, kept one hand trapped. Started with boots, jeans, leather jacket, winter mittens, and 3/4 helmet. Got too sweaty and ditched all that for boots and bike helmet.

2) departed safety of one hand on the car Up hill and downhill were smooth, flat was a quick death wobble and some times spectacular fall with eu doing full rolls or travelling 10 feet without me before ditching. Cut my finger on edge of pedal so put gloves back on.

3)started doing "flappy turns" using 15 degree jerky partial pivots and chaotic flapping to remain upright. Can only turn left (???) Not right, and no I am not NASCAR. (13 yr old son has achieved same level in 2 days, and he can turn right.)

4) turning right and left with a smooth lean, right is a little choppier. Starting without wall: I grab handle scoot forward a bit in a crouch then quickly stand. Son can start standing and is better on grass. I got out on the road today; irregular pavement was fun!

 

I also seem to only go left! Right is very uncomfortable and wobbly. I am a sight! I recently discovered that if I place my feet really forward on the foot things I have more control. Unfortunately, before I got to try this on a real ride my EUC got on the injured reseve list. I won't be able to ride again until I can find a way to get it fixed. I'm quite distraught. Was looking forward to trying out the new foot position and see if I had better luck with turning and such.

Also, I wish I'd discovered this forum when I first got it instead of after it broke down. ((sigh))

I do have a few videos on youtube of my learning progress, such that it was. <<looking around for something to sell to use the $$ to just buy another wheel>>  On youtube I am "chrinamint" if anyone is interested.

[Villac]

Ha! you are brave to wheel next to that balcony railing! I would have been afraid of a tumble over the edge when I was beginning!