Help, S18 not refusing to turn off, over-voltage warning

[dantaylr]

I recently rode my s18 in a bit of snow. It rode fine but it recently refused to completely shut off. The tail lights would keep blinking back on and the front light would strobe. It also beeped frequently. More recently I was able to connect to the unit’s Bluetooth even while it was shut off to which I got the error code 223 mentioning that charging was over current or over voltage. I just turned it on now and it seems to be behaving normally with a normal temperature. I’m a little scared to plug it in and might wait a day. I’d prefer it doesn’t set my apartment on fire or something. 
 

Has anyone experienced this? Is there any way to fully force the unit to shut off in case of an emergency?

Also, given that it’s working right now, is it safe to ride?

Edited February 16, 2021 by dantaylr

[Tawpie]

This is a very gray area... it may have been acting strangely because water got into the wheel when the snow melted and caused a 'minor' malfunction. (keeping it completely upright in a stand is advised). Now that the water is gone, it might be back to normal. But the water might have damaged something too, you won't be able to tell. Opening it up and inspecting is a good first step, look for evidence of water. If you see evidence, take pictures. They may inform your subsequent actions.

Because it thought it was overcharged, I would try to ride it very carefully for a while and run the battery down quite a ways (50%?) before plugging it in again. Assume it's going to suddenly quit at any instant. If it seems to ride properly, then I'd charge it outdoors for a little bit while I was watching the reported battery voltage to see that it's not doing strange things, being ready to unplug it if sizzles or smells are noted or the voltage jumps wildly. Make it earn your trust—be careful with everything.

If you want to be safest contact your seller for advice. If it were to start on fire or have something go badly wrong during charging, there's not much you can do to save the wheel.

[dantaylr]

11 hours ago, Tawpie said:

This is a very gray area... it may have been acting strangely because water got into the wheel when the snow melted and caused a 'minor' malfunction. (keeping it completely upright in a stand is advised). Now that the water is gone, it might be back to normal. But the water might have damaged something too, you won't be able to tell. Opening it up and inspecting is a good first step, look for evidence of water. If you see evidence, take pictures. They may inform your subsequent actions.

Because it thought it was overcharged, I would try to ride it very carefully for a while and run the battery down quite a ways (50%?) before plugging it in again. Assume it's going to suddenly quit at any instant. If it seems to ride properly, then I'd charge it outdoors for a little bit while I was watching the reported battery voltage to see that it's not doing strange things, being ready to unplug it if sizzles or smells are noted or the voltage jumps wildly. Make it earn your trust—be careful with everything.

If you want to be safest contact your seller for advice. If it were to start on fire or have something go badly wrong during charging, there's not much you can do to save the wheel.

Thanks for the thoughts. I started it up yesterday and it started jittering a lot to stay balanced. This reminds me of when I fried the control board in my z10. I think I did something to the board. I’ve contacted the reseller and they’re sending the diagnostics to Kingsong. I think Kingsong needs more Seattle-based product testing. We’ll tell you if your product is actually “water resistant”. 

Edited February 18, 2021 by dantaylr

[Tawpie]

56 minutes ago, dantaylr said:

We’ll tell you if your product is actually “water resistant”. 

Haha, sign me up. But we already know that answer is "nope". My 16XS's user manual says "Do not ride in bleak winter conditions" and "Do not ride on wet, slippery surfaces, especially snowy roads". Oddly, it doesn't advise against riding in the actual rain? I'm not the best at directions, so I've ridden my toy on snowy roads and trails in Eastern WA. I ride here after the rain and avoid puddles because they hide potholes, not because of the water. So far I'm ok but do accept that I'm dancing with the devil. Maybe the snow didn't get me because the sun was out, making the conditions not exactly "bleak"… even though it was winter? I couldn't ride in the last snow (I did try), it was too slushy and heavy.

I think the two things that have been effective for me is to always always always keep the wheel upright (on its stand) after it's packed with snow or been out in the wet, and using the roll.nz cover (which does you no good, I'm sorry). I do believe the wetsuit keeps most water from getting in through the shell joints just because it slows it down so it doesn't drip drip or get wind driven into the openings. I stuck some saran wrap between roll.nz and the headlight/power/light sensor panel and the sub woofer (documented ingress points) in an effort to slow down the water. I'm probably delusional and my time will come, but it's so damp around here if I let that keep me indoors the wheel might as well be a museum piece. Battery state of charge would of course, be at ~50%.

Post repair, it's probably worth examining the wheel and looking for the obvious places for water to get in and goober them up with silicone or weather proof tape. I haven't seen any threads on the S18 specifically, but at least for my wheel there are a couple of pretty complete exposés (the 16X had its share of water problems early on).

Edited February 18, 2021 by Tawpie