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Gotway Nikola lights won't come on


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Hey guys,

I've been away for the past week and just came home to my wheel. I turned it on and everything seemed fine so I turned it back off. I turn it on again a few min later to move the wheel and I noticed that the Gotway jingle didn't play. Next I noticed that none of the lights are coming on and that when I press the power button to turn on the headlight, that doesn't work either. I've tried power cycling the wheel several times to no avail. The wheel still connects to wheellog and the gotway app. Both show the wheel at 100% battery and the voltage seems ok. Do you have any idea what's going on? I've already reached out to Jason at ewheels and waiting to hear back from him. A couple people I know who have a Nikola have the same issue. I don't want to risk riding it, so I haven't tried that yet. Thanks for your help, hopefully we can get to the bottom of this

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3 hours ago, an5vf said:

Hey guys,

I've been away for the past week and just came home to my wheel. I turned it on and everything seemed fine so I turned it back off. I turn it on again a few min later to move the wheel and I noticed that the Gotway jingle didn't play. Next I noticed that none of the lights are coming on and that when I press the power button to turn on the headlight, that doesn't work either. I've tried power cycling the wheel several times to no avail. The wheel still connects to wheellog and the gotway app. Both show the wheel at 100% battery and the voltage seems ok. Do you have any idea what's going on? I've already reached out to Jason at ewheels and waiting to hear back from him. A couple people I know who have a Nikola have the same issue. I don't want to risk riding it, so I haven't tried that yet. Thanks for your help, hopefully we can get to the bottom of this

At least 3 guys had this problem currently in NYC, one guy rode his over 300 miles with this condition and it rides perfectly. 

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3 hours ago, an5vf said:

Thanks for the response @Ben Kim I'm wondering if @Nils or @Marty Backe have heard/ come across this issue?

I already responded on Facebook. No clue, but I think opening the wheel would provide useful insight if you know how to probe the internals of a wheel.

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46 minutes ago, Scully said:

I've lost the left side light ring. 
A new (updated) motherboard didn't cure it

Just buy new led strip and replace. It’s pretty cheap. For example: 
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/4JhUUroU

You need 60 led density.

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12 hours ago, panatar said:

I have this problem as well. Its 5v dc-dc converter failure. GotWay responded its engineering design problem and should be fixed first by making changes to motherboard.

I see, thanks for the update. So Gotway will update the controller and send new ones out to distributors to pass along?

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6 hours ago, an5vf said:

I see, thanks for the update. So Gotway will update the controller and send new ones out to distributors to pass along?

It’s not confirmed yet, but my seller responded, that GotWay toldl him so.

Edited by panatar
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On 8/31/2019 at 9:20 PM, an5vf said:

Hey guys,

I've been away for the past week and just came home to my wheel. I turned it on and everything seemed fine so I turned it back off. I turn it on again a few min later to move the wheel and I noticed that the Gotway jingle didn't play. Next I noticed that none of the lights are coming on and that when I press the power button to turn on the headlight, that doesn't work either. I've tried power cycling the wheel several times to no avail. The wheel still connects to wheellog and the gotway app. Both show the wheel at 100% battery and the voltage seems ok. Do you have any idea what's going on? I've already reached out to Jason at ewheels and waiting to hear back from him. A couple people I know who have a Nikola have the same issue. I don't want to risk riding it, so I haven't tried that yet. Thanks for your help, hopefully we can get to the bottom of this

From what my friend told me today it could be shorted due to people having the chargers plugged straight into the wall and unplugging it without a fuse between(such as an extension cord). 

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  • 8 months later...

Hi all

I have a similar, but quite opposed issue with my Nikola.

In fact, on mine lights, LEDs, speakers and fan won't turn off ! Have any idea why?

The wheel otherwise runs fine, no problem, but I have to physically unplugged the battery wires every evening, and that's annoying

 

Thanks for any clues!

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...
On 9/10/2019 at 3:05 PM, panatar said:

So we have new controller design for nikola plus 100v with potential fix for our problem.

Old controller: 

Old-Controller.jpg

New controller:

New-controller.jpg


I know this is a old thread but any idea of the exact component I could test with DMM. I just had all my lights stop working on a Nikola plus 100

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  • 1 year later...

Apologies for the Necro, however this thread was a top search result for me while looking for a resolution to the same problem. I believe I can identify the cause and resolution for anyone who stumbles across this thread in the future.

Note: There are multiple revisions of the Nikola's boards, so some of this advice may not be helpful depending on the age of your Nik. The following however should apply to more recent Nikola+ wheels.

My relatively new (late 2021-early 2022 production) eWheels Nikola+ encountered the same lights and speakers failure this past month. There was no clear cause I could infer; my lights simply stopped working while riding normally on street one evening at about 15 MPH with 75 percent charge. A quick power reset did temporarily bring at least my side lights back on, however they would sporadically fail, perform their boot-up pattern, then work for a few seconds before failing again. After getting my wheel home and recharging it, I checked again, however this time no lights or Bluetooth speakers would work at all.

After talking with a local EUC rider with Begode repair experience, and later eWheels Jason, we identified premature failure/fault of the Auxiliary (DC Converter) Board as the likely cause. This Aux Board is installed on the Nikola+ heat sink alongside the Main Board, and as it's name suggests, provides DC power to all non-critical (non-motive) features on the wheel. These features include all lights (head, side, tail), voltage readout, Bluetooth speakers, and cooling fan. If all these features fail roughly simultaneously on you, however your Nikola will still power-on, beep, balance, and allow spin-kill (all critical functionalities of the Main Board), then the cause is likely to be a premature Aux Board failure.

Thankfully, if this appears to be the case for you, Aux Board replacement is a reasonably straight-forward process (on later Nik models at least), however you should still perform the following Troubleshooting steps to verify Aux Board failure/fault.

Troubleshooting Options

  • Perform forwards and backwards Free Spin to Overspeed tests, allowing wheel to cut out and reset at least twice without power cycling

If Free Spin test has no effect, then internal inspection and battery-disconnect reset is the next option:

  • Remove right side shell cover.
  • Look for any loose or disconnected wires and plugs attached to the Main, Aux boards.
    • Take photos of your boards for version identification and wiring reference
  • Disconnect battery power to the Main Board and discharge the caps (hold Power button for at least 10 seconds)
    • If any wires or their plugs were disconnected, reconnect them now.
  • Reconnect battery power to the Main Board (initial spark is normal for non-Spark Suppressing XT90 connectors)
  • Power On and check if DC features work

If you've exhausted these Troubleshooting options, then its likely time to start looking for a replacement Aux Board. Check if your wheel is still covered under your distributor's warranty before purchasing.

Hopefully some of this advice helps anyone who stops by in the future.

Edited by Catch
Added missing Youtube video hyperlink
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