Explosion

[NDOH]

Dear All EUCers,

This is my first post on the forum but hope this helps as a warning to all EUC riders, especially to those who purchased E+ in or before 2015 through a reseller, because apparently Segway will not care or investigate further into the case if it's not bought directly through them. Also, simply because Ninebot product lines have obtained UL2272 certification, this does not guarantee that it will not explode. I have been writing the similar content over and over, this time I will copy and paste what I sent to Segway last Wednesday (minor edits due to Personally Identifiable Information) to save some time...

Thank you,

Andy

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HZY4f_JJRP7TIymvoEtlwnwjcESeQbi_

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Dear Segway,

This is my second attempt to reach out to you. Hope you can respond as soon as possible. Below is the original text I submitted on Sunday through your technical support page. Please read and respond as soon as you can (screenshot of pictures below).

Hope to hear from you soon,

Andy

--

Hi,

I have been riding Ninebot One E+ to work everyday on it for the past 3.5 years in San Francisco Bay Area, and even take it to nearby beaches such as Half Moon Bay, Monterey or Big Sur when it's sunny here in Northern California. Today has been a very traumatizing and sad day for me as I lost my beloved 3 year old Ninebot One E+. Ninebot One was more than a leisurely device, but a major companion allowing me to live a smaller carbon footprint (don't have a car) lifestyle, my main mode of transportation and identity among my family, friends and neighbors. When it suddenly exploded and burnt in a vicious fire during non-energized state, I was luckily to be more than 5 feet away from it. I was extremely lucky and no one was hurt. This could have been much, much worse. I could have lost my right leg, I could have died or the entire apartment could have burnt down causing even more casualties. Please read on.

It was a typical weekend--sleeping in and getting up pretty late. At around 11 AM, I took shower and had a breakfast. At around 11:45, I started hearing popping noise. Thinking it was coming from outside, I opened the door and saw but there was nothing. A few more minutes later, another pop. Then every minute or two, I started hearing the noise at a regular cadence. Then, my sensors became much more sensitive and started smelling something acrid. This is when I realized the sound--and potentially the smell too--was coming from my beloved 3 year long friend. My instinct now as sharp as blade, I knew I needed to do so something.

12:01PM (film available)

• 1) Before making any action, I felt strong need to document every single detail. I filmed 36-second long video to capture one more "pop" sound.
• 2) Being super safe, I first went to the power strip and turned it off,
• 3) then unplugged the cord from the power strip,
• 4) and then unplugged from the unit.

~12:03PM

• 5) I raised the handle bar and tried to grab it from the end of the handle bar as usual, but I didn't.
• 6) Instead, I grabbed the center of the handle and supported with my left hand under the foot pedal so I don't accidentally agitate the unit too much and trigger it to explode. (VERY RISKY)
• 7) (STILL FEELING VERY RISKY) I took it outside and leaned it against the immediate exterior wall I was able to get access to.

~12:05PM

• 8) then I started thinking about what to do (take it in? repair myself? don't ride and let it sit for a few days? disassemble and recycle properly?

~12:09PM

• 9) before I finished my thoughts--and my front door still wide open, I heard a bam and a small fire. Then one or two more KABOOMs with much larger fire, creating fizzing sound and burning everything the battery was wrapped in violently. This lasted for a minute.

12:10PM (photo available)

• 10) when the fire was weakening, the property manager luckily was outside and who saw this happening ran towards me to aid and grabbed the  fire extinguisher. I knew I had to document this.

I am thankful that there was no bodily injury to anyone involved in this incident; however, I'm still scared and extremely frustrated due to the life-threatening and traumatizing experience. Also, because of inhalation of toxic fluoride gases from burning Li-ion batteries, I am in distress and deeply concerned about my health. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/MMG/MMG.asp?id=1142&tid=250

For that reason, I am having to evacuate the unit and arrange temporary stay which is costly and inconvenient. Please give me a call at 510 634 9390 ASAP. I would like to share more in detail and discuss further.

Thank you,

Andy

one more image

[NDOH]

Below is further correspondences with Segway.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feb 27, 2019, 3:07 PM

Dear Andy,

We have received your email. Can you please send us the serial number? Do you recall who it was purchased through or do you have a copy of the proof of purchase?

Technical Support
Consumer Products
Segway Inc.

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Feb 28, 2019, 12:15 AM

Thank you Segway for the response. The serial number is N2OEA1525A2071, as seen in the photo of the original manual that was inside the original box. It's been over three years and I do not have the proof of purchase. Hope to address this issue as soon as possible and not waste anyone's time including mine. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

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Feb 28, 2019, 1:03 PM

Dear Andy,

Based on the serial number, your One E+ was not distributed or sold through Segway. This office can only support Ninebot product that was distributed or sold by Segway. We recommend that you contact the original seller for this matter.

Technical Support
Consumer Products
Segway Inc.

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Mar 1, 2019, 2:15 PM

Hi,

 

This is absurd. I'm still traumatized and it's disheartening to see the first question to ask is not about the rider's safety but the serial number and the proof of purchase. Please escalate to Roxanne Lamonde--the Director of Risk Management & HR--directly and her legal team. Ninebot One E+ on your website clearly shows that the product in the US is marketed under Segway branding and still is a product under Segway's ownership and control in terms of liability and warranty, after Ninebot's acquisition of Segway. As a reminder, the explosion from the battery that blasted through the hard plastic shell caused an extremely violent fire, and I experienced a near-death situation. Your product is UL2272 certified and SHOULD NOT explode during daily use or idling. For your information, I have already submitted a complaints to CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) as this is threatening public's safety, especially everyone in the EUC community in the US.

 

Consider the following scenarios and put yourself in my shoe:

• If it exploded while I was riding, it would have exploded my right leg—life as an amputee.
• If it exploded while I was carrying it outside, it would have exploded on my face and arteries—possibly dead. 
• If it happened when I was asleep, I would have burnt to death if not intoxicated to death first from the fumes including hydrogen fluoride gas.
• If it blew up when I was outside without taking it with me, the whole apartment would have burnt down. Massive and irreplaceable life & property damage can be visualized.
• If it blew up at my workplace: my career, others lives, Apple's business would have been damaged.

Andy

[EUCMania]

Hi @NDOH I feel bad for what happened to you.

NB1E+ 's battery pack wrapper is not well protected against vibrations and scratches.  The battery housing has some plastic piece protruding from below. It will cut into the wrapper or even more to cause damage to the battery.  Have you put a foam piece underneath the pack to protect it?

[Sidewalk Enforcer]

It sucks that this happened to you Andy, glad to hear that you did not suffer serious injury from a situation that could have been a lot worse. From a manufacturer's perspective, particularly in a litigious-happy society like the USA, I can understand why they would seek any out-clause they have available to them to distance themselves from liability.

What I can take from this tale is that it is a sobering reminder that Li-battery powered devices have a small but non-zero probability of spontaneously self-combusting. I mean, the interwebs are full of videos of hover-boards, mobile phones, laptops etc. bursting in to flame.

Never leave them on charge unattended, or overnight while asleep in the next room - which as a new EUC owner, I have done on occasion. But not after seeing this!

Thank you for sharing.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Sidewalk Enforcer

[Afeez Kay]

3 hours ago, EUCMania said:

Hi @NDOH I feel bad for what happened to you.

NB1E+ 's battery pack wrapper is not well protected against vibrations and scratches.  The battery housing has some plastic piece protruding from below. It will cut into the wrapper or even more to cause damage to the battery.  Have you put a foam piece underneath the pack to protect it?

Foam to protect what???? Can’t you see from the photos that the wheel has burnt to a crisp? Bloody hell.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Afeez Kay

[Alexander Pavlyuk]

1 hour ago, Afeez Kay said:

Foam to protect what???? Can’t you see from the photos that the wheel has burnt to a crisp? Bloody hell.

He means BEFORE the accident. Was there a protective foam under the battery?

[Joy Narical]

5 hours ago, EUCMania said:

NB1E+ 's battery pack wrapper is not well protected against vibrations and scratches.  The battery housing has some plastic piece protruding from below. It will cut into the wrapper or even more to cause damage to the battery.  Have you put a foam piece underneath the pack to protect it?

Where can I find more info? Is that well-known among Ninebot One E+ users?

[null]

@Afeez Kay: You could have spared us the agressive and condescending tone, especially as you’re the one who didn’t understand.

@EUCmania: having a E+ i’m interested as well. Mine had some light foam strips as I recall, but nothing major. 

Edited March 2, 2019 by Mimolette

[esaj]

 

No idea if this has anything to do with this battery fire, but shouldn't hurt to do the mod.

[enaon]

the battery comes with sticky tape on both sides. I recommend using that tape to glue the battery to the cover.  Just take care to leave a space of about 1.5 cm near the bottom to allow for the clips to get into position. 

 

 

[null]

Thanks @esaj and @enaon for the good info, will go over the E+ as soon as the occasion is there.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Mimolette

[EUCMania]

7 hours ago, esaj said:

 

 

I would like to suggest to forum moderators to put topics about these preventive mods always on top inside the subforum for each brand/model.

We have to take good care of battery packs. NB1E+'s battery pack is inside one of the square-ish gray cover touching your calf when riding. Open it. You can see that the inside of the cover has plastic pieces protruding out. They scratch the battery wrapper hard when riding, especially those pieces underneath the pack. Put some foam to cover those pieces. put the battery pack back. Inspect the pack every time you inflate tire.

There are much more electric bikes than EUCs. We seldom hear burning ebikes, but we see some exploding EUCs photos. I guess one of  reasons is that EUCs battery pack is not protected as well as that for ebikes. Ebike battery packs are in dedicated hard sealed cases.

 

@Afeez Kay, We are here to share our experiences and knowledge about EUCs so that we can enjoy them better without getting into accidents such as this fire. If you have some anger management issues, keep that to yourself or find a doctor. If you cannot read my last post, find an English teacher.

Edited March 2, 2019 by EUCMania

[Afeez Kay]

15 hours ago, Alexander Pavlyuk said:

He means BEFORE the accident. Was there a protective foam under the battery?

I believe his question was HAVE you and not DID you which would have indicated past tense.

 

20 hours ago, EUCMania said:

Have you put a foam piece underneath the pack to protect it?

Here.. he clearly said ‘HAVE’ you? Should have been DID you, indicating before the explosions.. hence my reply.. just felt sorry for the guy that lost his wheel, that’s all.  No anger problems doctor needed as indicated in the above statement, all good here  

Edited March 3, 2019 by Afeez Kay

[Chriull]

Hi @NDOH,

Good that you did not get injured by this incident! 

Sorry to bother you with quite some questions:

On 3/2/2019 at 2:09 AM, NDOH said:

• 2) Being super safe, I first went to the power strip and turned it off,
• 3) then unplugged the cord from the power strip,
• 4) and then unplugged from the unit.

You had your ninebot charging, when this happened?

For how long?

I'd assume you did not swap the batteries - this had still the first original pack?

Did you already notice less range and performance from the batteries?

Did they still charge to 100% - or better full voltage, if you looked at such "details"?

The "small burning thing" on your pictures aside the ninebot was the battery pack?

[Kilian]

Hi, 

I also had a NineBot E+ for several years. I absolutely loved it, and didn't notice anything wrong until two nights ago it spontaneously combusted while my family and I were asleep. The combustion caused a small fire in our house, which luckily stopped eventually when (according to the fire fighters) it ran out of oxygen because the mudroom it was in was very small. Attached are pictures of the NB1E+ and the mudroom. We are still dealing with the aftermath, but the incident was absolutely terrifying. The house will probably smell for months but we can count ourselves lucky that we are still alive. 

-Kilian

[Afeez Kay]

6 minutes ago, Kilian said:

Hi, 

I also had a NineBot E+ for several years. I absolutely loved it, and didn't notice anything wrong until two nights ago it spontaneously combusted while my family and I were asleep. The combustion caused a small fire in our house, which luckily stopped eventually when (according to the fire fighters) it ran out of oxygen because the mudroom it was in was very small. Attached are pictures of the NB1E+ and the mudroom. We are still dealing with the aftermath, but the incident was absolutely terrifying. The house will probably smell for months but we can count ourselves lucky that we are still alive. 

-Kilian

Sorry for your loss .. Were  you charging it when this fire happened?

[who_the]

Shocking images and documentation. Sadly dismissive corporate response. Regardless of whether they officially "support" a sold item due to its distribution, as manufacturer they hold specific liability and apparently need a reminder of that. I wonder if OP @NDOH has any uodates on his scary situation? 

[Kilian]

6 hours ago, Afeez Kay said:

Sorry for your loss .. Were  you charging it when this fire happened?

Yes I had it charge overnight.

The firefighters gave the recommendation to never do that. I just ordered a bunch of timed outlets that will shut off automatically after a few hours for my other battery powered appliances. 

Kilian

[null]

The E+ also have an issue with the battery rubbing on some structural ribs of the cover. I could clearly see it on mine after 1500km. The opening around the cable clip can let gravel in, who will also be tearing at the battery. I’d suggest all E+ users to check their battery pack if they have used it over longer time, as well as doing some small modifications to minimise the risk.