em1barns Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Hi guys, After having looked at the disassembly video, it looks clear to me this beauty is not waterproof. I wonder in what desert is engineers live, but anyway I, for one, leave in Belgium where it does not rain only ?. Possible points of water entry identified: side leds, side panel edges, speakers. My wheel is rubber black, any idea how to seal all of this without affecting aesthetic and keeping it easy to repair? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seba Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 No wheel is waterproof, but until we don't try to ride underwater, it's OK if our wheels are just weatherproof & splashproof Believe me - this wheel won't be damaged by riding over puddle or in rain, even heavy. Critical parts are sealed with special coating (controller board, BMS), other are also protected from water ingress. Small amounts of water ale allowed to enter via speakers or other holes. They will just drain down without any harm to your wheel. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomOnWheels Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Yes KS18L is really well made wheel. Battery is well protected, and the main board is on the top, far away from where the water can get it. If you are not planning to swim on it, it should resist heavy rain. Also I will more worry for the motor, as in some old version of KS wheels the water was able to get it. But they probably fixes it since a long time. @tinawong Any idea if there is any gasket that seal and protect motor from water going in ? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
em1barns Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 My bad, gents, I meant weatherproof obviously. If you look at the led connector or trolley sensor at the bottom of the wheel, they don’t look so much protected to me, what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomOnWheels Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 I think they are enough protected from rain, but as said you can't put the wheel is plain water. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim716 Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Actually that's a good question. Just FYI: If water gets to battery cells somehow, the wheel is VERY likely to catch fire, not immediately, but with 12+ hours delay. There was a case in Russia where a guy sunk his KS14s 840 in a pond. He then disassembled it and removed the water (he thought so), but the wheel still caught fire at night, thankfully no deaths, but his apartment was heavily damaged. And 18L has a design feature that can be dangerous in some curcumstances: its battery boxes are flat and long, and the lowest cells hang very low, just above the pedals. Just yesterday a guy from Belarus accidentally got on an 18L into a puddle which reached the tops of his shoes. He was advised to disassemble and check his wheel immediatlely, the outcome is still unknown. Even without ponds and knee deep puddles, I've seen dust in an opened 18L at the level higher than the lowest battery cells. That raises the question: can the wetness reach the batteries from the bottom even when just riding on shallow puddles? I'm not sure the battery boxes are waterproof except just the closed plastic box. Besides that, I guess the only other question is isolation of the wheel compartment. Is it waterproof enough from the factory? All the rest is protected by a plastic bag or a waterproof backpack cover put on the wheel's top, which is always a good idea in a considerable rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Possejdawg Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I rode my 18l through some 2 inch puddles after it rained with water following the tire tread and being thrown in front of the tire. No issues. Mud flap works great too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 On 7/17/2018 at 12:53 PM, tim716 said: And 18L has a design feature that can be dangerous in some curcumstances: its battery boxes are flat and long, and the lowest cells hang very low, just above the pedals. Just yesterday a guy from Belarus accidentally got on an 18L into a puddle which reached the tops of his shoes. He was advised to disassemble and check his wheel immediatlely, the outcome is still unknown. Actually this „design feature“ is on a lot of wheels...RW GT16, KS18S, Gotway Monsters.... Driving into a puddle which goes over pedal height is a bad idea at all....i also would directly inspect the internals. (on all wheels, some other might have their motherboard down there) The motor rim where all the screwas are is normally extra protected by some silicon.... The danger is more coming from where the bearing and the axle are. There the wheel is not waterproof! Even if you sink a motor just for some seconds....you can be sure water is now inside and doing its rust job..... 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomOnWheels Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 41 minutes ago, US69 said: Actually this „design feature“ is on a lot of wheels...RW GT16, KS18S, Gotway Monsters.... Driving into a puddle which goes over pedal height is a bad idea at all....i also would directly inspect the internals. (on all wheels, some other might have their motherboard down there) The motor rim where all the screwas are is normally extra protected by some silicon.... The danger is more coming from where the bearing and the axle are. There the wheel is not waterproof! Even if you sink a motor just for some seconds....you can be sure water is now inside and doing its rust job..... On KS18L they put some silicon when the motor cable is entering the axle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blicky Te⚡️la Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 Still nothing definitive on this? Raining right now in Boston and don’t want to end my streak of commuting to work on my 18XL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seba Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 2 hours ago, General Principle said: Still nothing definitive on this? Raining right now in Boston and don’t want to end my streak of commuting to work on my 18XL You won't get any definitive answer. Even well-known smartphone manufacturers that claim their phones are IP67-certified also notes that their products should not be immersed in water (or even damages caused by water ingress are not covered by warranty). So you can only rely on experiences of other KS-18L/XL riders. I've been riding in light, moderate and heavy rain for hundreds kilometers without any problems. Just don't ride over deep puddles and keep your EUC straight to dry after riding in rain. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumpel Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 On 9/24/2019 at 8:33 AM, Seba said: You won't get any definitive answer. Even well-known smartphone manufacturers that claim their phones are IP67-certified also notes that their products should not be immersed in water (or even damages caused by water ingress are not covered by warranty). So you can only rely on experiences of other KS-18L/XL riders. I've been riding in light, moderate and heavy rain for hundreds kilometers without any problems. Just don't ride over deep puddles and keep your EUC straight to dry after riding in rain. Did you waterproofed your legendary KS18 xl ? I mean cable to engine hall, speakers ? In some movies I saw that there is often whilte silikone around the cable which goes into the wheel compartment so I assume this is done in the factory ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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