cgi Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 Ok I just did some googling for the KS-14SMD board. I have found a picture of version 1.1 of the board, here: (https://ecodrift.ru/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Monokoleso-Kingsong-KS-14M-4.JPGand https://ecodrift.ru/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Monokoleso-Kingsong-KS-14M-3.JPG) On that board, the charger connector is 180 degrees rotated, which would make it the correct polarity again. So this might confirm that there was an error in assembly on the board that they sent me, and the connector was put on the wrong way round. Here is another picture of my board, you can see that it is the opposite way: And just so that it's very clear. This is me holding the plug the way round that it SHOULD go, but it can't because the connector on the board is reversed: I really could do with someone who fully understands this basic problem to explain to KingSong clearly in Chinese and have them understand that is is their fault. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgi Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 @Jason McNeil I've been advised to draw your attention to this in case you have visibility of these KS-14SMD boards and can see what way round the charger connector is for given versions, or perhaps be able to assist with explaining the issue to KingSong. I understand you may be quite busy with some Gotway issue, though. Any help much appreciated. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgi Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 Ok, finally, FINALLY I seem to have been able to effectively communicate the problem and I'm hopefully getting a new board sent out. I will pay close attention to that charger connector... Watch this space! Not hard word yet if they're going to try to extract some money for it. The story seems to be that one engineer designed the original KS-14S board in 2017, and since left. Then, someone else came along and designed a new universal board (the "SMD" board) and made some "improvements". Now it might well be that they decided for some daft reason to swap that charger connector polarity, which is fine if you're also constructing the whole wheel and have made a decision to swap the plug polarity also. But I'm starting to believe more that it's just the one board they sent out to me had it swapped in error. But time will tell. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 15 hours ago, cgi said: You say you can't speed up the process, but can you communicate with them in a more effective language than English? If so then that could be a great help as they might just be having difficulty understanding the problem when it is written in English. NO, Sorry, i also use english…. 15 hours ago, cgi said: Either way there is only two possible explanations: 1. They have changed the polarity of the internal charger connector on newer wheels, and failed to mention this, or 2. The board they sent had been poorly constructed and the connector was placed on it the wrong way round. Both of these issues are KingSong's fault and so I would not expect to have to pay for another replacement board. You are totally Right, and my Point was just to bring up, that it -probably- is not caused by changing polarity. Nonetheless, Sure, KS somehow messed it up and it should be not your fault and so you should not pay. And i totally hope this gets well for you. Unfortuantly i have Nothing "to say" or any advise Rights or something like that, so it is just a Thing between your seller and KS.. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgi Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, US69 said: Nonetheless, Sure, KS somehow messed it up and it should be not your fault and so you should not pay. And i totally hope this gets well for you. I just posted before you to say that they're now sending a new board. I hope I don't have to pay but quite honestly at this point I'm really done with this, and just getting the wheel working again is the main thing. Summer is so short here in Finland that I really need to make the most of it while I can! (I don't ride the wheel in the snow and ice, I have found that moisture gets inside the wheel bearing). Thanks for the help and advice. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgi Posted July 10, 2019 Author Share Posted July 10, 2019 Latest: Board is finally on its way and hopefully will arrive next week. It took a further week of hassling them to get them to actually send it, I get the impression that they're a little grumpy about the whole thing. I also bought a new actively cooled Wate charger from AliExpress that was recommended to me in another thread which is due to arrive this week. KingSong weren't interested in replacing the blown up charger for free and I was not interested in wasting any more time arguing about it. I'll be checking over the new board and charger very carefully to make sure polarities are correct. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgi Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 Seems that the shipment arriving this week is actually the new board. Two days from HK to Finland via DHL. That's quite impressive. Hopefully I'll be able to get it later today or tomorrow, I just did the customs declaration and DHL have it now. Annoying I don't have a functioning charger until some time next week though, perhaps I can borrow one locally. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post cgi Posted July 12, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2019 And finally, it arrived. As you can see, the connector is the right way round this time! So, it seems the board they sent before was a "Friday afternoon" (or "Monday" for those that prefer) piece where whoever assembled it made a mega screw-up. Board version etc is the the same. So, a word of caution to those replacing boards in their KingSongs - make sure that the connectors have been put on the correct way round. This time the package I received had a Q.C. sticker on it... I have also managed to borrow a charger from the local reseller. Now, on to the re-assembly. Wish me luck... 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post cgi Posted July 12, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2019 (edited) It works! It charges! Phew. What a fscking carry on that was. I still need to mess around with the app to unlock the speed then go out and ride it hard to make sure it isn't going to throw me off (or if so, at least be prepared for it). One of the LEDs in one of the LED strips is knackered now probably from all the manhandling, but I really don't care about that. The Bluetooth audio works properly on this board, it sounds just as terrible as it should. One thing I noticed was the charger connector on the board I got has actually been rotated 180 degrees AFTER the conformal coating was put on. So, either a batch of boards were manufactured incorrectly and they've gone back and fixed it, OR, they now have the connector the other way on new wheels and swapped it around just for me... EDIT: Went out, it rides just great. Edited July 12, 2019 by cgi Ride update 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgi Posted July 18, 2019 Author Share Posted July 18, 2019 This arrived today, so that concludes everything. The charger I borrowed wasn't charging the wheel fully, it seems its output voltage was a bit low. This nice Wate one is right on spec! I verified the polarity is correct but I've not plugged it into the wheel yet. I'll do that later, hopefully without any unwelcome fireworks displays. I've ridden the wheel frequently and also quite hard since changing the board, including finally attending a local group meet, and so far there's been no issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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