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WARNING: Gotway Nikola production (assembly) issue [Solved]


Chriull

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51 minutes ago, Mrd777 said:

Finally opened up my 100v, interesting where they placed the board. The larger fets look fairly clean against the heat sink, so I’m not going to lift out the board. I’m replacing the speaker tomorrow..

I might fit some balsa wood where the void is where the 84 boards are, just so the shell doesn’t creek (cave in) in when I apply extra pressure.

206FCEB9-5FBA-4D00-B1F5-A1EC82FA8D1C.jpeg

F368613D-9779-42A7-9E11-D86141D32FB9.jpeg

Fascinating. The board isn't under the handle! Sometimes you wonder how Gotway decides to build wheels.

BTW, can you tell us if the thermal transfer sheet is one large piece that covers both rows for MOSFETs or is it an individual strip for each row?

And could you post a better picture of the entire board. I'm curious to see how it compares to the new 84-volt board.

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1 hour ago, Mrd777 said:

Finally opened up my 100v, interesting where they placed the board. The larger fets look fairly clean against the heat sink, so I’m not going to lift out the board. I’m replacing the speaker tomorrow..

I might fit some balsa wood where the void is where the 84 boards are, just so the shell doesn’t creek (cave in) in when I apply extra pressure.

206FCEB9-5FBA-4D00-B1F5-A1EC82FA8D1C.jpeg

F368613D-9779-42A7-9E11-D86141D32FB9.jpeg

Is this the 1845wh?

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2 minutes ago, Rudy Sijnke said:

Is this the 1845wh?

1230WH 

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1 minute ago, Mrd777 said:

Marty, it looks like the thermal sheet is one large sheet that covers 3/4 of the board. I noticed their is a tiny cut under one of the fets. Yes, it’s the 1230wh version

6478BFF4-B15F-4134-9AF9-808ADCF41E27.jpeg

Fantastic. So it looks like Gotway has been using the large thermal sheets for all the large MOSFET boards and for some reason they went with the small strips for the 84-volt version, thus requiring the glue. I certainly concur that there's no reason for you to look further.

And this is certainly a different design from the new 84-volt board. Just another data point.

Thanks!

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On 7/7/2019 at 11:46 PM, Marty Backe said:

I think it's less than 1-percent, but statistics are hard to come by. This isn't the first case I've read about, but it's rarely reported. I think if it was 1 out of 100 we would see more cases reported here.

I bought the Nikola recently (with the old board) and have been using it everyday since I got it. I think it's been a little over 8 days and I already have put 180 miles on it (mileage on the app tells me 293km or so). 

No problems so far and smooth sailing, although I did set the tiltback on the app to 37km / h or so (~22mph), so maybe I haven't really "stressed" the wheel. I have gone uphill and on steep ramps and bridges, but no beeping or issues so far either.

Would it be worthwhile to install the new board, since it is being offered to me?

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What the F? They build that huge cavernous board space and then don't even use it?! And put the board where it should always have been?

Two ways to explain this:

  • They build the 1845Wh like this (extra battery on top) and then just kept doing it for all 100V Nikolas
  • They just went crazy.

Thanks for the pictures. The Nikola and all its variants sure is an interesting wheel to follow.

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32 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Fantastic. So it looks like Gotway has been using the large thermal sheets for all the large MOSFET boards and for some reason they went with the small strips for the 84-volt version, thus requiring the glue. I certainly concur that there's no reason for you to look further.

And this is certainly a different design from the new 84-volt board. Just another data point.

Thanks!

I understand this is still the Nikola though so the chronology still checks out - first 84V versions used the two smaller thermal pads while the later 100V boards and the updated 84V boards uses one large thermal pad covering both rows of MOSFETs. I'm not well versed enough in Gotways to know the previous status - did all larger Gotway MOSFET boards such as the MSX one use one large thermal pad as well?

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9 minutes ago, NYC_Frutips said:

I bought the Nikola recently (with the old board) and have been using it everyday since I got it. I think it's been a little over 8 days and I already have put 180 miles on it (mileage on the app tells me 293km or so). 

No problems so far and smooth sailing, although I did set the tiltback on the app to 37km / h or so (~22mph), so maybe I haven't really "stressed" the wheel. I have gone uphill and on steep ramps and bridges, but no beeping or issues so far either.

Would it be worthwhile to install the new board, since it is being offered to me?

It's a slightly tedious process, but very simple to do as wheel operations go. Why not eliminate any doubt, and you'll have a better wheel? Then at your leisure, fix your existing board as @Phil McLaughlin did so you have spare.

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8 minutes ago, Nils said:

I understand this is still the Nikola though so the chronology still checks out - first 84V versions used the two smaller thermal pads while the later 100V boards and the updated 84V boards uses one large thermal pad covering both rows of MOSFETs. I'm not well versed enough in Gotways to know the previous status - did all larger Gotway MOSFET boards such as the MSX one use one large thermal pad as well?

We need to try and find a closeup picture of an installed MSX board. We might be able to tell how the MOSFETs are mounted.

EDIT: I've found pictures of the 100-volt MSX board and it looks nearly identical to the 100-volt Nikola board above, including the large thermal pad.

Just need to find the 84-volt version.

Edited by Marty Backe
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6 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

It's a slightly tedious process, but very simple to do as wheel operations go. Why not eliminate any doubt, and you'll have a better wheel? Then at your leisure, fix your existing board as @Phil McLaughlin did so you have spare.

Thanks - I will be doing just that - guess I will also swap out the speaker too while I'm at it. 

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4 minutes ago, NYC_Frutips said:

Thanks - I will be doing just that - guess I will also swap out the speaker too while I'm at it. 

Good.

I'm doing my speaker mod this Friday. I'll post a video for those who may be interested. All the parts should be arriving tomorrow.

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7 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said:

YES!!!

If you have glue (did you look?), it's only a question of time before the wheel fails you mid-ride!

If you don't have glue, you still get a much better board.

Did you buy from ewheels?

Replace that old board quickly!

Good advise I'd say, since there's no way to know apart from actually taking your board apart and inspecting it, and if you're going to do that and have a beefier board available already then what's the use? Inspect and install the beefier board if so, and if it's the seller that will install it for your then let them.  I'd like to say that anyone that has put some serious load on their Nikola already without adverse effects would be safe(r) as my impression is that the failure cases we've seen so far have been for wheels without too much load prior to their fatal over-loading -  but as other have said earlier perhaps you just have a small amount of glue on it and it will cause a degradation over time causing the wheel to fail X months in the future.. :(

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37 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

It's a slightly tedious process, but very simple to do as wheel operations go. Why not eliminate any doubt, and you'll have a better wheel? Then at your leisure, fix your existing board as @Phil McLaughlin did so you have spare.

Are you being purposefully sarcastic here? ;) Just asking since I read you're earlier post about changing the boards and it did not seem straightforward, to put it mildly. Asking since I'll be receiving my replacement board at sometime in the future and might put it in, but given your previous posts I'd really like to see some docs on the connections.

24 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Good.

I'm doing my speaker mod this Friday. I'll post a video for those who may be interested. All the parts should be arriving tomorrow.

Presumably this will include a new board then, or will you perform the speaker mod first and then replace the board?

Edited by Nils
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24 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

It's a slightly tedious process, but very simple to do as wheel operations go. Why not eliminate any doubt, and you'll have a better wheel? Then at your leisure, fix your existing board as @Phil McLaughlin did so you have spare.

+1 (but personally I wouldn't go for the mica wafers but individual TO-220 pads - the mica pads as used by Phil are definitely better but not better to a degree that I would invest in the work.. :P)

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18 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

I'm doing my speaker mod this Friday. I'll post a video for those who may be interested. All the parts should be arriving tomorrow.

What is this speaker mod everyone is talking about?  Please tell me is a volume control for the damn buzzer 

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2 minutes ago, Jim Martin said:

What is this speaker mod everyone is talking about?  Please tell me is a volume control for the damn buzzer 

See the Mods section of the Forum. @Dzlchef posted his speaker mod. I'm adding a layer of water protection on mine.

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2 minutes ago, Jim Martin said:

What is this speaker mod everyone is talking about?  Please tell me is a volume control for the damn buzzer 

If by the damn buzzer you mean the atrocious startup beep then by the goods yes I hope you're right.. :)

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2 minutes ago, Nils said:

If by the damn buzzer you mean the atrocious startup beep then by the goods yes I hope you're right.. :)

There is no volume control. But I've heard the startup sound with the new speakers and it's no longer ear piercing. Much more mellow - something easier to live with.

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1 hour ago, Nils said:

Are you being purposefully sarcastic here? ;) Just asking since I read you're earlier post about changing the boards and it did not seem straightforward, to put it mildly. Asking since I'll be receiving my replacement board at sometime in the future and might put it in, but given your previous posts I'd really like to see some docs on the connections.

Presumably this will include a new board then, or will you perform the speaker mod first and then replace the board?

I'm still down and out regarding the control board. Hoping Jason eventually sends me a new one.

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