Ninebot Z-series Official manual for reactivation of the battery

[ir_fuel]

Just plug it in a power outlet with a timer. Considering 1% a day the problem will only be there when not riding for a few months. if you charge it completely every month it's ok, and the advantage is you won't kill the battery as it won't hold its charge anyway, so it won't be sitting at 100% for months in your garage. 1 month will make the charge drop from 100 to 70% approximately. You could push it even further to do every 6 weeks. So the problem is only there for people that have long winters (as I do) where the wheels aren't used for more than 3 months.

[esaj]

On 2/12/2019 at 5:19 PM, RockyTop said:

For the sake of the longevity of the batteries I would find an easy way to disconnect the batteries when not in use.  Sure Ninebot should fix the problem but your are stuck with the problem for now. A switch seems simple but switches fail too frequently and are subject to vibration. Maybe move a connector to an easy to get to location or add an access door? 

"Normal" switches won't work, the current during riding is so high that the switch will melt. High current relays can handle much higher currents, but since the connection's mechanical, any vibration on the contactors might break the connection during riding and the wheel loses all power for a split second (which might be enough to reboot the MCU, and down you go), not to mention issues with possible sparking, voltage spikes etc. So no go really.

The way I'd approach this is to use a very low Rds(on) MOSFET, set up so that a separate switch can be used to "close" it when the wheel's not being used. Of course care should be taken to design it so that in case of failure, the power stays on and not off. Still, it'll add yet another point of possible failure, preferably Ninebot should fix their s**t.

[Lucent]

Hi Folks:

I just bought a brand new Z10 form a seller on eBay.  After purchase, before shipping the unit, the seller messaged me to inform me that the factory now ships the Z10 with the battery connectors disconnected and that I would have to open it up and reconnect them myself.  The seller wanted to confirm that I was able to do this myself before shipping it to me.

So, it looks like Ninebot has at least taken some action.  This also implies that Ninebot does not consider taking the side cover off to be a warranty voiding act, but a necessary one to even turn the device on.  Ninebot ships the Z10 with both of the yellow battery connectors disconnected as well as one of the two white connectors that are in the same location.

Only 7 or 8 miles on my Z10 so far, but each mile was ridden with a huge smile on my face!

Have fun out there and be safe!

[Luke Herron]

OK, guys. I was gone for four months and when I came back my wheel seemed severely discharged. I tried the hack but it doesn't work. The battery LED's don't flash any color either. The only time I can get any red light out of anything, is that the batteries and charger will both blip red when I first plug it in to the normal charge port, with the XD60's unplugged.

[ir_fuel]

On 2/2/2019 at 4:05 PM, ir_fuel said:

I just opened my Z10 and connected the charger as explained in the videos.

My charger led did not flash red/green, but turned on immediately red. I also don't see those small leds they talk about in the video. I'll leave it for 10 minutes and then switch sides and see what happens.

 

On 2/2/2019 at 4:19 PM, ir_fuel said:

After 10 minutes the other side was 16V. Still seems very low to me. Since we have dual packs we should have 25V on each side I guess? I'll leave it charging for 20 minutes on each side and see what happens.

 

 

On 2/2/2019 at 6:11 PM, ir_fuel said:

Another update:

Still low packs. Tried connecting everything and going through the charge port. Nothing. Also note that I never saw any leds flickering as in the  above video.

So I restarted the procedure and as soon as I disconnected the XT60 connectors from the battery the small leds turned red, and they flash now when charging separately. So now I am doing the 10 minute wait, will switch to the other and try charging normally.

 

Did you see this?

[Markus]

 is it possible to wake up tha battery by using ninebot cable but lower voltage.

 - as can be seen the charger is 36V compared to the regular one 58.8

https://ibb.co/Svb0zbH - the lov volt charger.

Can this wake up tha battery without the need for opeinng the wheel?

Apperently my seller caleld teh ninebot factory and they told him that i need to use that lower voltage cable.

[Chriull]

Welcome @Markus!

Please decide were to ask a question - multiple post don't really help 😁

[Markus]

Sure my bad. I apologize for the mistake and the confusion.  Can we leave this one since this one i nicer?

[Chriull]

Just now, Markus said:

Sure my bad. I apologize for the mistake and the confusion.  Can we leave this one since this one i nicer?

No need to apologize! Nothing serious happend!

[Druiza]

z10 charger only showing green light. Wheels lcd says its powering. Application tells the % stays the same.

I thought it was the handle with charging port because even the wheels lcd didnt show any signs of life. I got a new  handle. After putting it on the wheels lcd started loading the wheel but the charger stayed green.

At the moment I got 37% power in my wheel.

I really need help how to load it, or is it a dead BMS. I do have a fireproof place to test and bypass BMS. I just dont wanna do it.

A. Its freekin dangerous.

B. I paid €1600 for that wheel.

 

Pic : situation when I checked via bluetooth

[litewave]

2 hours ago, Druiza said:

z10 charger only showing green light. Wheels lcd says its powering. Application tells the % stays the same.

I thought it was the handle with charging port because even the wheels lcd didnt show any signs of life. I got a new  handle. After putting it on the wheels lcd started loading the wheel but the charger stayed green.

At the moment I got 37% power in my wheel.

I really need help how to load it, or is it a dead BMS. I do have a fireproof place to test and bypass BMS. I just dont wanna do it.

A. Its freekin dangerous.

B. I paid €1600 for that wheel.

 

Pic : situation when I checked via bluetooth

Perhaps the charger isn't charging. They can be found relatively cheap on Aliexpress still. I purchased an extra from the same seller within the past year as well as many other Z-10 accessories/parts. I find them to have competitive prices, good communication, and great service.

I am not clear whether you opened the wheel and perhaps did something to damage the boards inside the Z-10 or failed to reconnect everything properly, but I'm going to assume the answer is NO.

First, I would test the charger and try charging the battery directly. I believe the BMS is housed in the battery module, so you are not bypassing it. This is also the standard procedure for "jump-starting" dead batteries due to vampire drain after sitting for a long time and is documented elsewhere. I have done this many times safely.

Steps:

Unplug the charger from the wall. 

Cut the cable about 3" or so from the ninebot-plug connector. Peel back the outer insulation about 3cm to expose the red and black wires on the cable that is still attached to the charger. Strip approx 1cm from each. Twist the wire strands into a bundle and fold each backward onto the insulation. 

Remove the cover of the battery side on the Z10. Unplug the two XT-60 connectors from the board. Each connector has a red and black wire clearly visible.

With the charger still disconnected from the wall power outlet or mains, plug either the black or red wire from the charger into the corresponding XT-60 connector receptacle ON THE BATTERY.

Break a toothpick in half and insert the fat end of the toothpick into the receptacle next to the wire to help keep it there for a moment.

Repeat the process for the other wire: insert it into the corresponding color receptacle on the same XT-60 connector, and then insert the other half of the broken toothpick.

For extra safety, I would wrap some masking tape around the wires at the XT-60 connector to prevent them from falling or being pulled out and shorting the connection. Just be very careful not to trip on the cable and yank it accidentally while it is plugged in and charging.

If the charger turns red after plugging it into the wall, then obviously you are able to charge that 1/2 of the battery.

Disconnect the charger from the wall when 1/2 of the battery is charged first before repeating the process for the other connector, and when you are finished charging both connectors or halves of the battery.

If both charge to green, then you know the charger is NOT the fault. Unfortunately, you'll have to keep using this method to charge your battery until you can figure out what the problem is with the internals. I would METICULOUSLY reseat ALL the connectors to the boards and between the wires before replacing the boards.

Please let us know how it goes. There are a lot of Z-10s out there in the wild, and they are still being sold new on eBay, so we need to keep our knowledge base up to date.

Edited February 18, 2023 by litewave
clarity