Dead InMotion V10F? Only 100 miles on it :(

[Glitched]

I'm the original owner and am unfortunately out of warranty - purchased in November 2018, from the InMotion/EUCO US branch. The wheel hasn't suffered any serious accidents nor gone through rain or puddles. ~120 miles have been put on it over the past year.

The failure occurred on what was supposed to my 4th & final short trip (~1.5 miles), on 4/17, to and from work, having not ridden the wheel since December or January.  I turned it on but then it immediately blinked right off, with a quick audio flicker, and hasn't shown any signs of life since.  The charger shows green when plugged into the outlet, then red when plugged into the V10F, but 2 hours of charging later and still no life at all from the wheel. The battery indicator won't turn on at all when charging either. Also, the wheel spins freely on its side, both forward and backward, with no strange accompanying sounds, of course powered off (it's only state right now).

I suspect failing to charge my wheel as long as ~3-5 months, despite it showing a high battery life up through 4/17 on the LED battery indicator, caused this failure.   By that I mean the battery indicator was only missing 2 bars at the top. I should also note that I thought the wheel somehow gained back a bar on the 4/17 ride, which is also suspicious and probably related to this issue. 

I emailed InMotion US and they said it could be anything from the battery, to the control board or even connections, and quoted me 899 for replacement batteries, 300 for a control board, and 100/hr labor. Oh and shipping both ways. A little high, right?? 

Shipping the wheel back to them for any work is practically the cost of a replacement V10F, so I don't see any other option but to try to repair the wheel myself.

What do you think the issue could be? Is there any damage I can check for on the control board or battery pack? I seriously hope this isn't a fire hazard, as I live in a tall apartment building. 

Thanks for your guys' help.  I've not worked on an ewheel before, at all, or do any engineering work as a job/hobby, but I figure I can follow instructions as best I can. It's that or chucking a $1250 purchase after having barely used it.    

 

[.....]

Test batteries first... knowing almost nothing, THAT would be my very first thing to keep me busy. Going to have to open it anyhow, and checking batteries is probably easy enough with just a multimeter. Of course, do a visual inspection of the board and other connections BEFORE diving in too deep, but i suspect a battery. I wouldnt thinkk that a control board just goes bad by sitting for a short period. Maybe check the charger too. Hard to check amperage, but you can at least verify voltage output. Be careful and surely you wont lose ALL $1250. If nothing else, you will learn from it. Not being a smartass, its just how I justify opening shit to find Im not capable o fixing it. At least I dont have to wonder...  Was the charger warm after being on with red light for 2 hours? It should have been, as electricity doesnt just vanish. I tried lion battery in a motocycle once. It didnt last the first winter(room temp indoors), as I forgot to keep it maintained for 2-3 months and it never did work after. Lead acid takes the abuse, these fancy cells.. not so much.

 

Edited April 24, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[yuweng]

Nowadays anything i ask youtube first then only google 

[.....]

2 minutes ago, yuweng said:

Nowadays anything i ask youtube first then only google 

I have to ask google, as streaming doesnt work very efficiently... THEN I shop youtube. Google DOES reference this place quite well at least.

Edited April 24, 2020 by ShanesPlanet

[DWOTR]

First off, I will say that I have not done anything with an EUC specifically. But I do quite a lot at work with various electrical issues. I don't know that I would check each cell to start. I would start with the question "is the right voltage being supplied to the board? Is it making it to the fuse (and is it making it past the fuse?) I really have never thought of it- but according to this post here, there is a fuse that can cause a short on the 8's at least...

 

If you are comfortable looking at the electronics and have a multi meter, then proceed. If not, look for an expert (no not an EUC expert.) I have a few places around that I use for electronic problems at work. You don't want an "appliance repair man", but there are individuals and companies who have specialty tools and an extensive enough knowledge of electronics that they can work on just about anything...

 

Something like a "Radwell" or a "Providence industrial Electronics repair"... Only on a smaller scale. I did do a really quick google search and did not turn up much in DC. But searching "industrial electronic" or "commercial electronic" repair will likely turn up somebody local if you take some time...

 

On the other hand, it could be batteries... But your description would not have me starting there (though again, I'm talking experience with industrial electric and electronic issues and not EUC's.) Also, I would hope that somebody could help with your description of the charger status. I don't know the route to charge (can the battery pack be unplugged and still charge?)

 

Good luck.

[Glitched]

Alright guys this just took a really strange turn. Out of sheer laziness and technical ineptitude I left the wheel alone and hadn't opened it up yet. Tonight I hit the power button, just to see what it would do (hopefully not blow up) and it turned on, behaving totally normally! I quickly put it on its side and ran the InMotion app diagnostic, but it said everything is in good condition. The battery said it was at 92%, which may be reasonable considering it was in the low 80's during my last 3 rides, before it died and was subsequently charged ~2 hours in my attempt to revive it.  The charger stayed red throughout that charge attempt, by the way, but the wheel showed no signs of charging etc..

So after this random power on attempt today that worked, I plugged it back into the charger for another hour until the charger turned green, and unplugged it. So the charger started charging it today with a red light, then turned green after an hour. I uploaded the diagnostic data log and asked InMotion USA to look into this. What the heck caused my wheel to brick for a few weeks? I don't know how safe it is to ride now?  Thanks y'all.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Glitched

[RockyTop]

I don't have enough information but after reading the post again it sounds like the batteries got to low. Several failed charges resulted in enough of a charge to get things back in order. When you plugged the charger in it turned green then red.  That usually means that the charger looked at the battery and decided, Nope I ain't doing it.  I would see if it charges fully to 100% then see if it discharges at a normal rate. I if it won't charge to 100% or if it discharges faster than normal, you likely have a battery problem. 

[Glitched]

4 minutes ago, RockyTop said:

I don't have enough information but after reading the post again it sounds like the batteries got to low. Several failed charges resulted in enough of a charge to get things back in order. When you plugged the charger in it turned green then red.  That usually means that the charger looked at the battery and decided, Nope I ain't doing it.  I would see if it charges fully to 100% then see if it discharges at a normal rate. I if it won't charge to 100% or if it discharges faster than normal, you likely have a battery problem. 

Sorry I edited my last post to be clearer. After it turned back on, this evening, I plugged it back in to charge, and the charger light turned red. After about an hour or so it turned green before I unplugged it again. 

[mike_bike_kite]

12 hours ago, Glitched said:

What the heck caused my wheel to brick for a few weeks? I don't know how safe it is to ride now?  Thanks y'all.

Maybe you just forgot how to turn it on?

With such a long gap between rides it's easy to do something silly. I have an old Royal Enfield motorcycle in the garage and, with the virus, haven't ridden it for a couple of months. I actually needed to look at my notes for how to kick start it! In my defence I have a lot of bikes in the garage and I'm hoping it's not a case of early senility!

[Glitched]

2 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

Maybe you just forgot how to turn it on?

With such a long gap between rides it's easy to do something silly. I have an old Royal Enfield motorcycle in the garage and, with the virus, haven't ridden it for a couple of months. I actually needed to look at my notes for how to kick start it! In my defence I have a lot of bikes in the garage and I'm hoping it's not a case of early senility!

Thanks but nope I guarantee you I was pressing, pressing and holding etc. the power button just fine on what would have been my 4th ride the day the wheel stopped working, last month. There's a technical reason for this happening.

[scotchtape]

Maybe it's the switch?