Tom Fagerland Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 (edited) So I've used my Mini Pro since the beginning of may with almost no problems, but in the last two weeks I've three times experienced that it makes a beep, and stops balancing when I'm going downhill. In fact, it's happened almost exactly on the same spot, at the end of a long hill. I've ridden down this hill every weekday since may. I am now scared, and have started getting off at the middle of the hill. Has anyone experienced this before? What do I do? I could send it to the store and have them send it to the importer for a checkup, but we all know they're just going to look at it for 30 seconds and charge me a fee for not finding anything wrong with it. I'm in Norway, so we're a matter of weeks away from having to stop using the Mini Pro until april anyway, so should I just throw it away and get a new one next year? Edited November 5, 2018 by Tom Fagerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chriull Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 6 hours ago, Tom Fagerland said: So I've used my Mini Pro since the beginning of may with almost no problems, but in the last two weeks I've three times experienced that it makes a beep, and stops balancing when I'm going downhill. In fact, it's happened almost exactly on the same spot, at the end of a long hill. I've ridden down this hill every weekday since may. Maybe the batteries got "weaker" or you had it at different charge levels? Is the range reduced in comparison to may, too? 6 hours ago, Tom Fagerland said: ... I'm in Norway, so we're a matter of weeks away from having to stop using the Mini Pro until april anyway, so should I just throw it away and get a new one next year? If its the battery then you should solve the problem now - warranty on batteries is only 6 months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeRide Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 (edited) Could this be an over-charge situation? What is your charge level at the top if the hill vs the bottom? Maybe since the battery has aged, it reaches it's full charge level (which is determined by when current draw while in the CV cycle) a little earlier. The regenerative charging may also have component tolerance changes over time as could the general charge circuit. Edited November 6, 2018 by FreeRide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Fagerland Posted November 6, 2018 Author Share Posted November 6, 2018 The range has been reduced, but not more than say 20%. No idea about overcharge, but I had driven UP that same hill every morning I go down it. It's quite possible that I had charged it the night before in every case, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevmar Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 Can you run, or get a friend to run, the new battery status app for Android from MRN76? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Fagerland Posted November 6, 2018 Author Share Posted November 6, 2018 Not easily, no. I'd have to bring it to work, and carrying it on two trains kind of works against the whole "it's so much easier" thing, which is why I bought it We might have an old android device lying around at work, though. I can check around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozpeter Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Maybe with confidence and practice you have started going down the hill faster? Maybe try going significantly slower and see whether it can handle that. It has to work almost as hard going downhill as going uphill. And when you say it "stops balancing" does it literally do that (so you fall off forward probably) or is it pushing you off backwards but actually staying upright itself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Fagerland Posted November 7, 2018 Author Share Posted November 7, 2018 (edited) I'm going REAL slow, cause it's a hell of a hill. And yes, I fall of forwards. It's real fun... Edited November 7, 2018 by Tom Fagerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevmar Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Try really hard to get a readout of the battery cells with Alexandre's new android app. That seems to me to be the most likely problem.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Hoglund Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 This happened to me yesterday, I have rode for at least a year without any issue and it beeped and just stopped balancing throwing me forward like Superman. It hurt roadrash my face and hands and knees . Scared to trust it now which is a must to ride properly. My charge indicator lights had 1 solid and 1 flashing light, others were riding it for 30 min prior to this happening but it seemed like it went to beep and lean back to slow you down and it didn’t have juice or something, but it still had juice to get me bloody self home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siriussak Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 11 hours ago, Chad Hoglund said: This happened to me yesterday, I have rode for at least a year without any issue and it beeped and just stopped balancing throwing me forward like Superman. It hurt roadrash my face and hands and knees . Scared to trust it now which is a must to ride properly. My charge indicator lights had 1 solid and 1 flashing light, others were riding it for 30 min prior to this happening but it seemed like it went to beep and lean back to slow you down and it didn’t have juice or something, but it still had juice to get me bloody self home! Prob the voltage dropped so low it couldn’t handle it.these things do weird things when they are lowl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Fagerland Posted May 2, 2019 Author Share Posted May 2, 2019 Yeah, I've stopped using it in sharp downhills, which makes this considerably less useful where I live. I just tied a string to it and walk it like a REALLY willful dog downhill, then ride it uphill - which to be fair would be cruel to do to a dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Holliday Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 On 5/2/2019 at 1:08 AM, Tom Fagerland said: Yeah, I've stopped using it in sharp downhills, which makes this considerably less useful where I live. I just tied a string to it and walk it like a REALLY willful dog downhill, then ride it uphill - which to be fair would be cruel to do to a dog. I'm debating on whether to pick one of these up for my commute since my electric uni is difficult to bring to work due to the weight (46lbs). By the way, that last sentence cracked me up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevmar Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 (edited) Joe, added 4 July 2019. I was dropped by one of my miniPRO in exactly this way last week, and dislocated my shoulder. I think it was because I had the smaller 240Wh battery pack in it instead of the normal 310Wh I normally use. I was running some tests at lower battery powers. Battery status was 56% after it dropped me. Will update as I get a better idea of what happened. Test from 23 May 2019: Joe, We have hills around here with a 1:12 grade, lots of them. I have never been dropped going downhill on any of my MiniPRO, with widely varying firmware. Maybe your battery is in poor condition? Have you tried to find another nearby MiniPRO owner whom you could swap batteries with? Myself, I rarely drive immediately after charging, Also, has your charger 59 volts output with nothing plugged in? At one time they were selling 64V chargers which give a longer range,, but shorter battery life, and might perhaps trigger an over-voltage condition downhill, although I have never seen it here. Edited July 4, 2019 by trevmar reporting a failure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Fagerland Posted May 24, 2019 Author Share Posted May 24, 2019 (edited) Yeah, mine is not holding the charge it used to. That's probably the reason. Haven't fallen off it this year either. Well, except that time I got my foot stuck in the locking cable. Too bad there's no new version on the horizon - the Plus costs twice what the Pro costs here, and the Loomo is clearly a joke. Edited May 24, 2019 by Tom Fagerland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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