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My 84-volt Nikola Triumphs, Tribulations, and Failures


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2 hours ago, Lucas Alexander Oliver said:

Considering the sheer number of nikolas out there and the fact that so far yours are the only MOSFETS that have blown and they blew only with some manufacturing errors and under extreme conditions .. I like to think that the nikola is  pretty damn tough. And that the blown ones were kinda a fluke.     Maybe the bigger MOSFETS would be better but the hundreds or thousand out there seem to be doing fine so far.  So all in all I think it’s safe to say the nikola is pretty damn bad ass.   I love it. And may buy the plus version when Jason gets them in so my wife will ride the 84 v and I’ll ride the 100v.    They are great wheels. All around.       Great design great power. Wonderful comfortable feel. And as long as you buy them from @Jason McNeil and ewheels you can be confident that you’ll be taken care of no matter what happens .   I can’t stress enough how important that customer service is when dealing with this tech.   Don’t find out the hard way. buy from a reputable dealer who will stand by their sale.  Jason at Ewheels.com !!   Just my two cents for the day! 

Couldn’t agree more!  Marty has a bum board on the Nikola and it becomes a second rate wheel?!?   Not sure why you wouldn’t love this wheel, except maybe for looks.  It’s been absolutely amazing at everything I’ve thrown at it and it rides like a dream.  Every day I love the wheel more!

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24 minutes ago, Dzlchef said:

Couldn’t agree more!  Marty has a bum board on the Nikola and it becomes a second rate wheel?!?   Not sure why you wouldn’t love this wheel, except maybe for looks.  It’s been absolutely amazing at everything I’ve thrown at it and it rides like a dream.  Every day I love the wheel more!

I like the sound of that. Planning on ordering one!

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31 minutes ago, IRK said:

I like the sound of that. Planning on ordering one!

Right on @IRK you won’t be sorry.  It is a fabulous extremely capable wheel that is well balanced ,comfortable and glides smooth as a baby’s butt.  I’d still recommend it to anyone. .

Edited by Lucas Alexander Oliver
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7 hours ago, IRK said:

I like the sound of that. Planning on ordering one!

Too bad you’re not able to make Sunday’s ride.  I’d let you take the Nikola for a spin. It’s one of those wheels that I had mixed feelings regarding the looks and general girth but that all that fades to memory when you experience the ride. It doesn’t make sense that it should be so agile and graceful. 

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1 hour ago, Dzlchef said:

Too bad you’re not able to make Sunday’s ride.  I’d let you take the Nikola for a spin. It’s one of those wheels that I had mixed feelings regarding the looks and general girth but that all that fades to memory when you experience the ride. It doesn’t make sense that it should be so agile and graceful. 

:D  It really does appear that my perceived Nikola hyperbole is not perceived as such with you :thumbup:

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5 hours ago, Chriull said:

You are really sure about the impossibility? I am with you that one cannot make a 100% non destructive visual inspection, but as the fotos looked like, one can check one mosfet row quite thouroughly, and the second row "hidden" inside between pcb and heatsink maybe just a little bit by peeking inside?

Ps.: It's really astonishing how long and strong believes abnd convictions can survive "against" facts... A plastic foil between the mosfet and a heatsink is a death sentence.(1) Period.

Thanks @Michael Tucker for pronouncing the difference of the two problems!

As #2 (smaller mosfets, possible the temperature sensor perfectly cooled, high currents _reported_) is only an assumption till now - there is enough reasoning behind to discuss it and stay prepared, but no real world proove till now.

 

(1) ... Of course only if the heatsink is not only for "optical" reasons and the mosfet handles the burden without, too. But for power electronics, operating under borderline conditions like in EUCs it just leads to an imminent 100% failure rate...

The thing is, this plastic is very thin. There was still some stuck to the thermal transfer sheet and even having full access to it in my hands, it's difficult to see. You're correct that there may be a possibility of detecting something on the outside row, but not a chance on the inside row. And in my case, it was the inside row.

I just wouldn't have any confidence of a safe wheel based on a visual inspection.

I'll post a follow-up when I do get the new board.

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6 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

The thing is, this plastic is very thin

My assumption is, that the heat transfer pad - some ?silicone? Is more or less " amorph, the plastic foil reflective. So with some flashlight differences should be seen. But just a theory....

Ps.: And the plastic foil could be forgotten between the pcb and the thermal pad..:(

Edited by Chriull
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8 hours ago, Dzlchef said:

Too bad you’re not able to make Sunday’s ride.  I’d let you take the Nikola for a spin. It’s one of those wheels that I had mixed feelings regarding the looks and general girth but that all that fades to memory when you experience the ride. It doesn’t make sense that it should be so agile and graceful. 

Yep bummer. Would love to try it. 

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2 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said:

WTF?

:D

This is deja vu all over again (me and the MSuper V3s+ firmware bug).

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4 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

:D

This is deja vu all over again (me and the MSuper V3s+ firmware bug).

So long story short, is it fixable? 

And how does this affect the trust in the wheel? 

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question for the electronic gurus here

in theory: if you can get the to247 mosfets and get rid of all that hot glue residue, do you guys think it's possible to change the mosfets myself to the 247 ones?? I know a guy who is an expert in soldering, would not be a problem for him to change the mosfets... but I'm not sure if everything will work if you only change them? of course I will go for a lot better heatsink as well... 

what do you guys think about? 

 

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2 hours ago, Lukas83 said:

question for the electronic gurus here

in theory: if you can get the to247 mosfets and get rid of all that hot glue residue, do you guys think it's possible to change the mosfets myself to the 247 ones?? I know a guy who is an expert in soldering, would not be a problem for him to change the mosfets... but I'm not sure if everything will work if you only change them? of course I will go for a lot better heatsink as well... 

what do you guys think about? 

 

The exact mosfet device if available in that style of case with the same pin out should be swappable but physically may not be mountable on that heatsink??? But then you said you would improve that too. 

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