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Tesla froze then smoked. Fried cables inside.


Benoît Brummer

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Today my Gotway Tesla froze seconds after I started my ride (with a fully charged battery), sending me on the pavement. It then stayed turned on but without stabilization, and would not respond to the power switch. The EUC quickly started smoking and that went on scarily for about 5 minutes. Eventually it made a popping sound and turned off.

When I tried to turn it on afterwards it would make a little popping noise and the sideways alarm (and luckily it responded to the turn-off switch).

I contacted the Aliexpress seller but they won't get back to me until at least April 7th due to coronavirus. I took it apart to look for any apparent damage and what I found is a couple of burned connectors going to the motherboard. The green wire looks burned, and I didn't take out the wrapper around the 3 cables to see if there was a short circuit. As far as I can tell the motherboard looks normal but I don't really know what to look for.

Any idea what happened and/or what I should do?

IMG-20200404-WA0005.jpg

IMG-20200404-WA0006.jpg

 

 

Edited by Benoît Brummer
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3 hours ago, Benoît Brummer said:

Today my Gotway Tesla froze seconds after I started my ride (with a fully charged battery), sending me on the pavement. It then stayed turned on but without stabilization, and would not respond to the power switch. The EUC quickly started smoking and that went on scarily for about 5 minutes. Eventually it made a popping sound and turned off.

When I tried to turn it on afterwards it would make a little popping noise and the sideways alarm (and luckily it responded to the turn-off switch).

I contacted the Aliexpress seller but they won't get back to me until at least April 7th due to coronavirus. I took it apart to look for any apparent damage and what I found is a couple of burned connectors going to the motherboard. The green wire looks burned, and I didn't take out the wrapper around the 3 cables to see if there was a short circuit. As far as I can tell the motherboard looks normal but I don't really know what to look for.

Any idea what happened and/or what I should do?

All of your symptoms are that of a blown control board. The popping sound was from MOSFET's burning up. And the smoke of course.

You'll need a new control board at a minimum.

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Thank you all for your responses, it's reassuring even though the board is likely fried.

The tire moved freely when it was smoking / not responding, and when it's off. I did not check when it would turn on and beep afterwards, I just turned it right back off and I was in a hurry to disconnect the batteries because I was worried they would blow up.

I got this wheel in September and it has about 2000 km (can't tell exactly because it had a weird bug about 1000 km ago where everything reset including the odometer) so the warranty should cover it.

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9 hours ago, Topkek said:

The Tesla v2 I sold exploded, maybe the above occurred with added water ingress possibly made worse.  If it’s the same seller they will ask it to be returned.

Exploded how? That sounds violently scary. Was the user ok?

21 hours ago, Meserias said:

if you down on this one please keep us informed (if you want of course) what it was and how was resolved in the end....

Will do. I'm still waiting to hear back from the seller and/or factory.

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14 hours ago, Benoît Brummer said:

Exploded how? That sounds violently scary. Was the user ok?

Will do. I'm still waiting to hear back from the seller and/or factory.

It was the silver speaker.  Probably same as above just different conditions; not sure.  
 

I couldn’t claim for refund because I sold it.  Still trying with aliexpress though as the third buyer was reimbursed.  Wasn’t going to post anything about it but fed up with being messed about by the seller and Ali for recourse. 
 

I think they made some alteration possibly when they went to the red speaker.  It rode like a dream, effortlessly; just preferred my msx for long rides.  

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  • 1 month later...

@Benoît Brummer This Gotway representative has last visited the forum in 2017. Don't expect a reply. There are no Gotway representatives here as far as I know.

Check Gotways website (kebye.com) or their Facebook pages for contact info. Maybe you'll find help. Make it short and in very simple, unambiguous English. Do NOT expect them to read a thread like this.

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11 minutes ago, Benoît Brummer said:

I emailed Gotway and was told that they don't provide support for Aliexpress bought EUCs

Sounds familiar and unfortunate. I'm sure others have shared your pain. I've purchased 3rd party wheels, hell, they could be ali wheels too? I dunno, ks serials registered, but I honestly expect NIL for help. Usually after 1 mile, its a done deal. Sorry to hear about this, for both the seller and buyer. With luck, parts are at least available. Keep us posted!

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21 minutes ago, Benoît Brummer said:

I emailed Gotway and was told that they don't provide support for Aliexpress bought EUCs

 

7 minutes ago, ShanesPlanet said:

Sounds familiar and unfortunate. I'm sure others have shared your pain. I've purchased 3rd party wheels, hell, they could be ali wheels too? I dunno, ks serials registered, but I honestly expect NIL for help. Usually after 1 mile, its a done deal. Sorry to hear about this, for both the seller and buyer. With luck, parts are at least available. Keep us posted!

It's unfortionate but afaik warranty resposibilty is with the reseller and not with the manufacturer. And warranty claims against aliexpress resellers seem to be based solely on their good will :(

Edited by Chriull
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  • 2 months later...

I ended up replacing the motherboard and motor to be on the safe side.

No support from the Aliexpress seller "Airecho Store" who claims 6-months warranty (I can't leave a review after 30 days so I guess that's how long I can expect support). The new motor (from "green and fashion travaling shop") unexpectedly came with a tire and the cables plug directly into the motherboard so that simplified the process greatly.

It's great to be back on my wheel.

Edited by Benoît Brummer
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@Benoît Brummer Do you mind sharing the "Airecho Store" link from on Aliexpress? For some reason I can't find it and would like to have the link as reference to stay clear of in the future. Sorry it took so long for you to get back on your wheel.  

Edited by RedSpectreNine
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  • 1 month later...

Hello everyone. I don't know if this is a proper reply to this topic, I beg your pardon if I'm doing wrong. I'm getting some infos about 16" wheels to buy a new one. Tesla v2 is of course a really interesting wheel, simple design, but with a great battery, 84V circuit ad powerful motor, at an interesting price. However I'm reading many comments and feedback about problems with electronic components. Scaring stuff. Is it to be considered a good wheel, but not so reliable? Are these problems (like mosfets burning, mainboard faults...and so on) related to poor quality components or they can occur only in particular conditions that put the electronic on heavy stress (heavy riders, high speed, many hills)? Thank you, and have a nice ride guys!

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28 minutes ago, agronick said:

I saw a Nikola do this. After it smoked parts on the motherboard exploded and it sounded like a bomb went off. Batteries apparently looked fine. For some reason they guy it happened to doesn't want to go public.

Damn! What I'm wondering is....Gotway is well known for high performance machines, I also know it is possible to make some modifications to the hardware. Is it possible that these kind of accidents occur in particular conditions? Or does these Gotway wheels lack from quality about components and manufacturing?

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