Ninebot One broken carry handle mod

[RooEUC]

I have been riding my E+ for a day now and the carry handle has broken off. Is there another way to mod the unit to have a handle or strap? It seems to be not uncommon for them to break off so I'm hoping someone has devised a solution.

Update;

So here's my solution; an old leather belt. It works really well and saves weight too.

 

[modifry]

Ooh, I like this.  I think I'll make the holes slotted so the belt will lay flat when not in use.

[RooEUC]

1 hour ago, modifry said:

Ooh, I like this.  I think I'll make the holes slotted so the belt will lay flat when not in use.

The belt can't be removed at either end so you would be stuck with however much slack you choose to have when installing it. Are you thinking of leaving one end unattached, and making multiple holes larger than the screw, so you can adjust it and fasten it flush against the bot when not in use? I think the holes might stretch over time with that design.

[modifry]

Wait, doesn't your belt cover the charging port?

[RooEUC]

It goes beyond the charging port but moves to the side for charging. 

 

[Vik's]

Good solution! Non-intrusive and useful.

 

You can get a new handle here:

http://www.ninebotus.com/handle-replacement-handle-for-ninebot-one/

You don't need the blue part as you've already got that.

[RooEUC]

That will cost me close to $100 CAD and it'll just break again in the future due to the poor design and material choice.  I have emailed Ninebot to see if the warranty covers it. If not I'll stick with the belt.

[Vik's]

31 minutes ago, RooMiniPro said:

That will cost me close to $100 CAD and it'll just break again in the future due to the poor design and material choice.  I have emailed Ninebot to see if the warranty covers it. If not I'll stick with the belt.

Don't be so pessimistic  Ninebot changed the material as it seems in later revisions of the handle. Most of the failures with handle comes from people lifting the 9b1 sideways out of the car, from the ground etc. Best way is to grab handle as near to the body of the unit as possible.

But anyway, as long as you are happy with the solution - that's Ok.

[RooEUC]

35 minutes ago, Vik's said:

Don't be so pessimistic  Ninebot changed the material as it seems in later revisions of the handle. Most of the failures with handle comes from people lifting the 9b1 sideways out of the car, from the ground etc. Best way is to grab handle as near to the body of the unit as possible.

But anyway, as long as you are happy with the solution - that's Ok.

My handle was only 9 months old.  It's not pessimism. I examined the handle design and it is clear that it's a breakage waiting to happen. The hinge is cast aluminium alloy with a large hole through it. A poor material choice and design decision for a handle attached only at one side and being subjected to so much force.  The bot weighs about 30lbs but when you lift it or carry it up steps the force is significantly higher than 30lbs.  And it all exerts on a baby finger sized piece of cast metal with a hole through it. 

I used to build electric skateboards for a living and we had countless breakages with our cast aluminium parts that were under regular load. We switched to cnc.  It doesn't make sense for me to spend so much on another part that is prone to breaking. The belt and screws may look a bit weird but they were free and it's a stronger, lighter solution that is fracture proof ?

[Vik's]

17 hours ago, RooMiniPro said:

...I examined the handle design and it is clear that it's a breakage waiting to happen.

Fully legit points. One thing I don't know about is if anybody with those broken handles tried to fix the existing part? cnc a new part an connect the handle again?

[RooEUC]

6 hours ago, Vik's said:

Fully legit points. One thing I don't know about is if anybody with those broken handles tried to fix the existing part? cnc a new part an connect the handle again?

I like this idea. A cnc hinge would be a lot stronger. Some material would be drilled out of the handle and the new cnc part would have a long protrusion that would be epoxy coated and slotted into the handle. It's quite a lot of work and cost though. If the Ninebot One wasn't a discontinued, older generation product there could have been a short term business venture for someone. 

[steve454]

On 5/3/2017 at 8:31 AM, RooMiniPro said:

 The bot weighs about 30lbs but when you lift it or carry it up steps the force is significantly higher than 30lbs.  

Depends on how fast you lift it.  If you lift it as fast as as you can, the force is more than if you lift it slowly.  You are right that it seems a weak design, I could probably snap mine off if I wanted to, but so far have not lifted it at the wrong angle at too high a force.   (Or crashed it too hard)

That is a great idea of using a leather belt for a handle, strong and easy repair.  Is that the carbon fiber edition from ForwardCa, one of the special edition models?  They put some great wraps on those wheels.  And they had some really great prices too, even on the special edition versions.  It's a shame they got out of the business. 

In picture four, with the QR code, the angle was off or my QR reader app is not good, could you post a straight on photo of the QR code, just so I could test my app?  Never mind, don't bother, just tried the QR reader app on my own Ninebot, it wouldn't read, even with a flashlight held at different angles, it kept suggesting other apps to download like the flashlight app which i already have.  (but i was using an actual flashlignt)

Wait a minute, do you mean that it feels like more than thirty pounds?  Maybe what you have there is a P model with the bigger battery than the E+.  That could explain why ForwardCa was selling them so cheap, Ninebot wanted to get rid of them because of all the complaints, you got a screaming good deal, and ForwardCa fades into the woodwork.

[RooEUC]

22 hours ago, steve454 said:

Depends on how fast you lift it.  If you lift it as fast as as you can, the force is more than if you lift it slowly.  You are right that it seems a weak design, I could probably snap mine off if I wanted to, but so far have not lifted it at the wrong angle at too high a force.   (Or crashed it too hard)

That is a great idea of using a leather belt for a handle, strong and easy repair.  Is that the carbon fiber edition from ForwardCa, one of the special edition models?  They put some great wraps on those wheels.  And they had some really great prices too, even on the special edition versions.  It's a shame they got out of the business. 

In picture four, with the QR code, the angle was off or my QR reader app is not good, could you post a straight on photo of the QR code, just so I could test my app?  Never mind, don't bother, just tried the QR reader app on my own Ninebot, it wouldn't read, even with a flashlight held at different angles, it kept suggesting other apps to download like the flashlight app which i already have.  (but i was using an actual flashlignt)

Wait a minute, do you mean that it feels like more than thirty pounds?  Maybe what you have there is a P model with the bigger battery than the E+.  That could explain why ForwardCa was selling them so cheap, Ninebot wanted to get rid of them because of all the complaints, you got a screaming good deal, and ForwardCa fades into the woodwork.

It's a special edition E+.  The box says E+ on it.  I got it from another forum member who bought it new from ForwardCA last Summer.  Ninebot told me that ForwardCA falsely claimed to be an authorised reseller but were not.  Maybe that is related to why they went out of business.  As a result I have no warranty on my bot (not that Ninebot cover the handle past 90 days anyway) but I got it for what I feel is a good deal and it really is a great wheel.  Everyone says the E+ is super reliable. 

It's coming up as 31.3lbs on my luggage scale. That's with the belt in place of the broken carry handle so it should be lighter than stock.  When fully charged, the quoted battery range is 27km.

[steve454]

2 hours ago, RooMiniPro said:

Everyone says the E+ is super reliable. 

Mine is, but i don't try to over stress the batteries.  Or do drop offs more than 1 inch, Still testing the capabilities, but at 200 pounds, accelerating quickly but briefly, it is very solid.

[RooEUC]

Update:

I have since repaired the original handle.  The thread is here

If it doesn't hold I'll go back to the belt as it was secure and reliable.