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My 18XL Needs Some Viagra (aka Lift Sensor Problem)


FTW

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My 18XL is less than two weeks old, and it’s already having problems “getting it up”, thus the need for some “EUC Viagra”. When I’m riding and come to a stop, at least half the time it will disengage the gyros/wheel and go “limp” on me, and I’ve also noticed that when I lift it up and set it back down, the gyros don’t reengage like they are supposed to 90% of the time. I’ve isolated the problem to the lift/handle sensor, because if I toggle off the ‘handle’ option in the KS app (figured this out thanks to @The Moo’s recent post on a similar problem with his new 16X), the gyros engage as they are supposed to.

Any idea what might be causing this and how I can fix it myself (aside from leaving the ‘handle’ option turned off, which I’d rather not do because I know my stupid ass is going to lift that thing at least 2-3 times every ride and leave skid marks on my shins that I’ll have a lovely time explaining to the wife, who hasn’t stopped staring at me funny for the past two months since I first proposed getting an electric unicycle)? If it’s the handle sensors inside the wheel, what might be causing them to be misbehaving? Dirt? Banging the wheel about on off-road rides? Cuddling my new wheel too tightly in bed at night (more funny stares from the wife for that one as well... not sure what her problem is)? Is it likely that I’ll need to replace the sensors, or is it possible it’s just a bad connection?

The weird thing is that occasionally if I pick the wheel up enough times and set it down, or tilt it sideways and back, or lift the trolley handle up and down multiple times, the gyros will kick back in and I can start riding again without having to restart the wheel (which is nice because it means I can continue to blare Britney Spears out of the bluetooth speakers without interruption... it’s such a drag to cut power to the wheel right in the middle of Britney busting out “hit me baby one more time”). This would suggest that the sensors are still intact and working, but clearly wonky or possessed.

Any help diagnosing and fixing my wheel’s erectile dysfunction would be greatly appreciated. Any help diagnosing and fixing the wife would also be appreciated, but that’s obviously a secondary concern. I mount the former much more often than the latter. 😁 

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Honestly. I've found that jamming the handle down hard is the easiest way to deal with the gyro issue. I haven't had any major issues with it in the past few days (fingers crossed), so I'm hoping that a small spec of something fell out of the lift sensor. If worst comes to worst, take off the case and hopefully you'll be able to clean the gap where the lift sensor is.

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This is fairly common on new 18XLs. You likely need to calibrate the lift sensor. It is not a switch. It actually calculates by weight like a scale. The option to celibate the lift switch should be in the Kingsong app. I had to do the same to mine almost two years ago. I don’t remember all the app details. 

Edited by RockyTop
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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got my 18xl over a month ago and same issue. Spoke to a few kingsong reps and basically it's a combination of motherboard and trolly sensors. Been told that motherboard would need replacing ideally but, in all honesty I won't wait a few months without using the 18xl for a motherboard swap. What I can say is turn off the trolly handle sensor in the app settings .. you don't want to be on the road waiting for the light to turn green only to fall over as the Euc went limp.

 

But it won't ever cut out as you ride.. even pressing down the power button as you move won't cut it off... Just push the wheel using the trolly handle if you don't beleive me.

 

But it's no sweat. Yes it would be nice if it works but that's they way it is for some of us

Edited by Neon EUC
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On 6/13/2020 at 4:45 PM, Neon EUC said:

Just got my 18xl over a month ago and same issue. Spoke to a few kingsong reps and basically it's a combination of motherboard and trolly sensors. Been told that motherboard would need replacing ideally but, in all honesty I won't wait a few months without using the 18xl for a motherboard swap. What I can say is turn off the trolly handle sensor in the app settings .. you don't want to be on the road waiting for the light to turn green only to fall over as the Euc went limp.

@Neon EUC Thanks for the heads up, as I’ve been tempted to open up my wheel and take a look at the trolley sensors to see if they were dirty or loose. Sounds like it may be something I just have to put up with, and while it sucks to have to keep the trolley sensor disabled (especially since I run into plenty of cases in my rides where it would be much easier to just pick the wheel up to deal with obstacles), I agree that it’s a better option than waiting months for a motherboard replacement, which I doubt I could get my Taobao seller to honor anyway. And when the wheel started going limp at stoplights the second week I had it, I missed plenty of green lights before I realized I could just disable the trolley sensor in the app!

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Glad it helped mate. It's a common issue with all the first batch of kingsong. I done a 30 mile ride the other week all in one day lasting about 4 hours. Plenty of stops and starts and not once did it go limp. If I had the trolly handle sensor on... It would have done lots of times lol I just struggle with wheel wobbling at high speeds now and then tho lol

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This was a major problem on my 18L. I tried to use the lift sensors twice since I had it, and both times it caused the problem you described (and other problems like not turning off when I wanted it too...lifting up stairs). Once I disabled the lift sensor and accepted the fact it does not work well, I was happy with my ride otherwise. They need to design some kind of double redundancy in that system IMHO...like;

IF the handle is lifted AND the sensors are detecting it is engaged THEN disable to wheel. Not just a simple sensor sample.

Also, I used to have the app reporting a "defective" sensor, which seemed to cause lots of problems. Last time I checked , it was no longer reporting "defective". Strange, but best just to shut the thing off.

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On 6/16/2020 at 11:02 AM, FTW said:

@Neon EUC Thanks for the heads up, as I’ve been tempted to open up my wheel and take a look at the trolley sensors to see if they were dirty or loose. Sounds like it may be something I just have to put up with, and while it sucks to have to keep the trolley sensor disabled (especially since I run into plenty of cases in my rides where it would be much easier to just pick the wheel up to deal with obstacles), I agree that it’s a better option than waiting months for a motherboard replacement, which I doubt I could get my Taobao seller to honor anyway. And when the wheel started going limp at stoplights the second week I had it, I missed plenty of green lights before I realized I could just disable the trolley sensor in the app!

ATX? Yo!

 

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5 hours ago, Circuitmage said:

This was a major problem on my 18L. I tried to use the lift sensors twice since I had it, and both times it caused the problem you described (and other problems like not turning off when I wanted it too...lifting up stairs). Once I disabled the lift sensor and accepted the fact it does not work well, I was happy with my ride otherwise. They need to design some kind of double redundancy in that system IMHO...like;

IF the handle is lifted AND the sensors are detecting it is engaged THEN disable to wheel. Not just a simple sensor sample.

Also, I used to have the app reporting a "defective" sensor, which seemed to cause lots of problems. Last time I checked , it was no longer reporting "defective". Strange, but best just to shut the thing off.

Thanks @Circuitmage, it appears this is a fairly common problem, and surprisingly one that KS hasn’t fixed on newer iterations of the 18L/18XL (given that I just got mine very recently, as did Neon EUC and The Moo as stated above). I was hoping someone would post on this forum who had managed to “fix” the problem on their wheel, even if it involved taking the wheel apart and cleaning the sensor, which I’m willing to do with mine, but only if I know it worked for somebody else. In other words, I don’t want my wheel to be the guinea pig... 😁 

And yes, I’m in ATX also. You should join our group rides that we post on the ‘Texas Electric Unicycle Riders’ Facebook group (assuming you haven’t already, but I don’t remember anyone with an 18L, just several 18XL riders).

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@FTW yup, i'm on the group. not much into group rides but know several of the peeps on them. I ride to work everyday, around my hood and most weekends though.

Maybe one of these days....

I can't state how much I hate the lift switch set up. I'm glad they tried, but it almost killed my enjoyment of this wheel. Not using the lift sensor makes my wheel usable.

 

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