V8 troubleshooting: plastic cover on one of the leads melted into the motherboard. Wheel still working. Should I replace it?

[The_Dude]

I'm not an expert, so if there are inaccuracies, please correct me: earlier today, after riding up a steep slope, the power to the gyro (I think) started fluctuating, resulting in what I can only describe as noisy fits and starts (as if the wheel was repeatedly trying and failing to balance). I opened it up and found that the plastic cover over the yellow lead had melted into the mobo (see attachments). I removed the burnt plastic cover and reconnected the lead. That fixed the issue with the gyro and I managed to ride the unit down the same slope without issue.

1. Should / can I replace the unit? I bought it from InMotion USA in July, so I still have warranty.

2. Is it safe to ride? The connection is loose compared to the other leads, but it seems like the circuitry is intact.

[Chriull]

8 hours ago, The_Dude said:

I'm not an expert, so if there are inaccuracies, please correct me: earlier today, after riding up a steep slope, the power to the gyro (I think) started fluctuating, resulting in what I can only describe as noisy fits and starts (as if the wheel was repeatedly trying and failing to balance). I opened it up and found that the plastic cover over the yellow lead had melted into the mobo (see attachments). I removed the burnt plastic cover and reconnected the lead. That fixed the issue with the gyro and I managed to ride the unit down the same slope without issue.

1. Should / can I replace the unit? I bought it from InMotion USA in July, so I still have warranty.

I'd say yes - but it's hard to say if some components on the mainboard got destroyed/"insulted" by this overheating.

8 hours ago, The_Dude said:

2. Is it safe to ride? The connection is loose compared to the other leads, but it seems like the circuitry is intact.

The burnt component is the connector of the yellow motor cable? Seems that it had problems from the beginning (beeing loose and not having "perfect" contact - so beeing the weakest part in the chain) -> nothing one should (can) repair oneself so no future problems would occur.

Should be an "easy" fix for Inmotion USA - just a swap of the motherboard!

[Smoother]

Yes. It's under warranty and its a a factory fault.  There's no telling what damage that heat has done to surrounding components.  Also, all that charring will prevent a good clean contact in the future, without a lot of elbow grease on your part to clean the contact AND the plug on the yellow lead.  That yellow connector is the factory fault i.e. it was a loose connection and the assembler did not correct the problem. A loose connection causes poor electrical flow, and as a result massive amounts of amps build up it that area trying to push the volts across the gap, hence the heat.

Even with a new board you will still have to assure a good solid clean contact in that burnt yellow plug.  Which will be hard to do.  It really needs a new plug soldered on that lead too, or the same thing will happen again.

Personally I think these critical,. high current joints should not rely on basic spade connectors.  I have two wheels, on one the motor wires are soldered directly to the board, and on the other the wires are screwed onto solid brass studs, on the board.

 

[Mono]

The boards probably all look somewhat burned at this very same place, though maybe not the extreme. Mine has similar marks and IIRC I have seen others that do too. Still, I also would consider it as a warranty case, though based on a design failure that won't go away.

[Smoother]

9 minutes ago, Mono said:

The boards probably all look somewhat burned at this very same place, though maybe not the extreme. Mine has similar marks and IIRC I have seen others that do too. Still, I also would consider it as a warranty case, though based on a design failure that won't go away.

There is a way to make it go away, but it would void the warranty.  Pull back each rubber boot and solder the plug to the terminal.  One would need to be competent enough not to overheat the board, as this might have un-beneficial side effects

[The_Dude]

Thanks everyone! I'll try to get a replacement board. Are there any EUC brands / models that don't have this design flaw? If the mainboard's bound to burn every few months ( @Mono, how often do you see this?), I might as well get a car.

[Mono]

11 hours ago, The_Dude said:

Thanks everyone! I'll try to get a replacement board. Are there any EUC brands / models that don't have this design flaw? If the mainboard's bound to burn every few months ( @Mono, how often do you see this?), I might as well get a car.

I think usually it is just a cosmetic problem and does affect the function. I never changed the board.

[Smoother]

21 hours ago, The_Dude said:

Thanks everyone! I'll try to get a replacement board. Are there any EUC brands / models that don't have this design flaw? If the mainboard's bound to burn every few months ( @Mono, how often do you see this?), I might as well get a car.

 Which ever way you go, you need to make sure all three of these connections are clean and tight.  They look like spade connectors.  I loose spade connector can be tightned by gently squeezing both of the curled edges together so that the gap between the curl and the "spade" is smaller.  If you re use the board and/or plug, get in there with some fine sand paper and clean off all that carbon build up until you have bright metal. A clean spade connector is difficult to achieve.  Better to reeplace it if you're up to it.

As I said KS and Got don't do this at the mother board, but there are often plugs of some sort further down the wiring.