Brand new MTen3, charging first time IN MY HOUSE, started smoking, burst into flames...

[Magnusanti]

4 hours ago, Tawpie said:

That’s odd, my new mTen from eWheels arrived in transportation mode that I had to disable. There was even a tag on the handle with instructions for disabling transportation lock. And I re-enabled it for re-shipment (when enabled, wheel powers up but doesn’t balance).

Mine also came with a note for disabling the transportation lock.  But then they told me via email that there was no transportation lock on the mTen, which leads me to believe it was an older one, before Gotway added the transportation lock.  Just a theory.

[Tawpie]

@Magnusanti curious because I have a new one and while I’ve charged it successfully several times I’m a bit concerned based on your experience… was yours an 84v or 67v? Mine is a black 67v which is a bit unusual since they haven’t produced the 67v in black before.

[Camenbert]

When i received my MCM5 brand new, after 4 weeks transit, it was fully charged or so.
Was it not the case here to plug the charger ?

How come the charger (84V too, right) burned as well, as the mten finally end burning after been moved away ?

I want to understand what happen..

[RagingGrandpa]

59 minutes ago, Camenbert said:

How come the charger burned as well?

From the video, it's apparent that the owner snatched up the wheel and still-connected charger brick and threw it all outside...

[Camenbert]

ok, seen.

with some luck, once burned cable removed, you can still, with all required care, test it with a multi-meter.
I'm really interested in the result

[Camenbert]

On 5/20/2021 at 5:09 PM, conecones said:

Apparently the OP could not get the unit to self-balance upon taking it out of the box and turning it on. After sending a video of the issue to EUCO, they advised that there is no transportation lock on the MTEN3 and instead to charge it as the battery indicator looked low. After about 3 hrs on the charger, it exploded. The OP did connect the wheel to an APP prior to charging but does not recall the voltage reading.

Euh, that's bad news. So low battery on brand new wheel should have made them suspicious IMO. They are the professionals.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Camenbert
"Low battery" more explicite

[shellac]

22 hours ago, Roadpower said:

I'm of the unpopular opinion that we in the EUC community really need to get more vocal in telling people to not purchase Gotway/Begode products. Yes I own a wheel by them but knowing what I have learned in the last year I would not purchase one again. They keep coming up on the very troublesome company list in a range of areas.

PS: I bought two fire extinguishers two months ago for just this reason. Fire is nothing to fool around with.

I’m not sure how unpopular your opinion is, but I’m certainly on board with a Gotway boycott at this point. After the ewheels fire and other fires they released a letter saying they will fix the problem. Clearly nothing was done and even older wheels like the mten3 which were thought to be fine are going up in flames. 

Add to that board failures like what happened to @ThaBlackCobra which gave him a very serious injury and I think a boycott makes sense.

I know ewheels is working on sourcing their own batteries so I would maybe make an exception for them once they get that going. 

It’s not easy for me to advocate a boycott as I really like my RS. It’s a fun wheel but I’ll have to dissuade anyone from getting a Gotway/Begode wheel from here on out. I hope Sherman eventually does fully replaces Gotway because a boycott does leave a gap in the performance category of EUC.

A community wide boycott would be more effective but I recognize that would be like herding cats. 

[Planemo]

I would like to know what Veteran are doing differently to GW/Begode, specifically around batteries, as there really are so many similarities between the wheels.

I would love to know why two similar manufacturers are having such different tallys in the flare-up side of things.

[Chriull]

25 minutes ago, Planemo said:

I would like to know what Veteran are doing differently to GW/Begode, specifically around batteries, as there really are so many similarities between the wheels.

I would love to know why two similar manufacturers are having such different tallys in the flare-up side of things.

Imho there are two main differences - if i got and remember the teardown photos correctly:

Veteran have fuses, Begode non - in case of short curcuit a big difference.

Begode has motor wires mosfets and capacitors on the motherboard just beside/below the li ion cells.

Veteran has the cells below the motherboard.

So Veteran happens to fry their board too, but this has no chance to ignite the batteries. "Serious" short circuits trigger the fuses and let the li Ion cells survive.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by Chriull

[.....]

6 hours ago, shellac said:

I’m not sure how unpopular your opinion is, but I’m certainly on board with a Gotway boycott at this point. After the ewheels fire and other fires they released a letter saying they will fix the problem. Clearly nothing was done and even older wheels like the mten3 which were thought to be fine are going up in flames. 

Add to that board failures like what happened to @ThaBlackCobra which gave him a very serious injury and I think a boycott makes sense.

I know ewheels is working on sourcing their own batteries so I would maybe make an exception for them once they get that going. 

It’s not easy for me to advocate a boycott as I really like my RS. It’s a fun wheel but I’ll have to dissuade anyone from getting a Gotway/Begode wheel from here on out. I hope Sherman eventually does fully replaces Gotway because a boycott does leave a gap in the performance category of EUC.

A community wide boycott would be more effective but I recognize that would be like herding cats. 

I wish we knew WHY this was happening. I also wish we knew if its a Gotway thing, or if its just SEEMS to be a gotway thing. Maybe its the manufacturer of the battery packs? Maybe Gotway IS designing the perfect storm of murphy's law? Maybe ALL the brands have the same similar supply chain and problems?

If we boycott Gotway, I get to feel like a total ass for enjoying my mtens (boards located above the batteries btw). What happens if we boycott, only to realize its a problem with a 3rd party that multiple euc companies share? I am not a big gotway fan, as I recognize some BIG corners cut on their 'top of the line' models. Same reason I don't own a high powered rifle made from tin cans. Yeah, its performance is great, WHEN it doesnt blow itself up haha. Even so, I don't think a company wide boycott is in order, UNTIL we determine what is exactly the issue. If catching fire IS the only requirement to issue boycott, shoudlnt we boycott ALL the brands? I personally have no desire to buy a larger gotway wheel. I also am not in the market for rolling the dice on another new mten either. Its not a boycott, its just that I aint buying for now. Gotway keeps getting further and further off my radar. Aint no skin off my back, I have a Sherman. Maybe its flawed also, but for now, its just gna have to do. I think we need demand proper testing and demand quality chargers. It truly does sadden me that even a wheel as small in spec and simple as an mten, is also too hard for gotway to reliably make. Makes ya feel REAL comfy about stepping on a 60lb 40mph gotway doesnt it? Don't forget, theres wheels like these, parked in HUGE multi-dwelling apartments in inner cities. How much fire does it take, to turn California into a volcano again?

Edited May 21, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[Planemo]

8 hours ago, ShanesPlanet said:

If we boycott Gotway, I get to feel like a total ass for enjoying my mtens (boards located above the batteries btw).

Yeah I'm not convinced board location has anything to do with the fires personally. I do think the fires are starting within the packs/BMS's. But why now? There has been a huge amount of Gotways supplied historically, with very few fires. The 'old' Sanyo GA 18650 packs were amazing. Is it a Begode thing? Did other things change within Gotway when the name changed..? Change of cell/BMS supplier? All I know is that I have zero concerns of my MSX going up, but theres no way I would buy any new Gotway/Begode wheel at the moment (nor a hollow bore either but thats another matter).

[Camenbert]

8 hours ago, ShanesPlanet said:

I don't think a company wide boycott is in order, UNTIL we determine what is exactly the issue.

Spot on

 

9 hours ago, Chriull said:

Begode has motor wires mosfets and capacitors on the motherboard just beside/below the li ion cells.

This mten burned after 3h charging, nothing to do with MB location.
If adding a fuse is a must, search for ANL fuse holder, should be possible to add on any wheel (but 60A 100V for example is 6kw, a lot before it melt anyway...)

That mten arrived with a dead battery, nothing to do with the brand it-self (or water damage) - except if a flaw in the MB can drain below safe level the battery pack. Except this possibility, it's related to BMS/CELLS/ASSEMBLY of the battery pack. Can be a (new) supplier...

[Chriull]

33 minutes ago, Camenbert said:

This mten burned after 3h charging, nothing to do with MB location.

I know - my post was an answer to the question of the difference between begode and veteran "fire behaviour". So concerning the burning msp/rs/...

But this was already discussed a year ago and nothing happened but some more fires?

Quote

If adding a fuse is a must, search for ANL fuse holder, should be possible to add on any wheel (but 60A 100V for example is 6kw, a lot before it melt anyway...)

Hopefully there will never drop 100V over the fuse

Quote

That mten arrived with a dead battery, nothing to do with the brand it-self (or water damage) - except if a flaw in the MB can drain below safe level the battery pack. Except this possibility, it's related to BMS/CELLS/ASSEMBLY of the battery pack. Can be a (new) supplier...

+1

This special case most likely has not too much to do with gw. It's just "normal" bad quality control and/or some transport damage.

Edit: Or the other manufacturers git their qc in order?

Was already in the past that big resellers did not list gw in because of especially bad qc.

Edited May 22, 2021 by Chriull

[Camenbert]

MSP, RS, MSX are already old design, boycotting Begode is a new idea

For those M Super models, there is competition (Sherman..) or even the EX.N,
the rule of the market will play if there are better wheel, no need to call for a boycott.
 

[OldFartRides]

I had been toying with the idea of buying a wheel as a gift for a friend (family of six) who have a working farm. Thought it would be useful and fun. Imagine the horror if it burned their house down.Pretty much nips that idea in the bud.

[Roadpower]

7 minutes ago, OldFartRides said:

I had been toying with the idea of buying a wheel as a gift for a friend (family of six) who have a working farm. Thought it would be useful and fun. Imagine the horror if it burned their house down.Pretty much nips that idea in the bud.

My perspective on this is one of a user that uses the wheel to expedite my work. I could have continued to use my motorcycle to commute or the public transit system (Which actually works extremely well for me in terms of time and convenience, the downfall of the subways is noise in the form of brainwashing/lying PSA's (which I took to wearing earplugs to combat) and filth in terms of vagrants not being removed to an appropriate setting.) but instead I moved to the EUC because it is overall a much better means of transport for my needs.

I can't put a motorcycle or bicycle or a large scooter on a truck seat and be rolling in moments. That is how the EUC changed everything for me, the portability is unassailable. So going out on a limb of conjecture; On a farm I imagine that they might be using propane which might mean that they have an outdoor area or cage to keep the propane tanks in. If this were true they would then be familiar with why such a safety precaution is in order and thus part of their routine.

Okay so why am I going through all of this? Because since I started using the wheel it has radically altered my work abilities in a very positive way. It is much less expensive, overall faster and opened up possibilities that did not exist prior, I can even carry a bag or two of groceries home while riding.

This is my ambassadorial message to people who have not considered a EUC. Your friends might have a great thing available to them but they would need to be vigilant for where the wheel/s get stored and charged.

You are quite right to have strong concerns here but I don't think it is a write off just yet if everyone is aware going in what must be done.

[Mr Dilkington]

Your initial Reddit post was enough to push me to switch my daughter’s wheel. She’s had an mTen3 (84v) for 6 months now, and it’s been a good wheel, but the lack of safeguards and the reputation of poor build quality has always been concerning, and that video was really unsettling. I know that anything with Li batteries presents a risk, but she’s up and running on a v8f now. Thanks for posting your experience.

[meepmeepmayer]

41 minutes ago, Mr Dilkington said:

She’s had an mTen3 (84v) for 6 months now

Any wheel that has been working perfectly for 6 months is unlikely to suddenly fail. This fire was an mten3 that was bad from the factory, which seems to be the case for nearly all serious failures.

But of course better safe than sorry.

[Camenbert]

1 minute ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Any wheel that has been working perfectly for 6 months is unlikely to suddenly fail

The sweet spot is between 3 month & 3 years, after battery degradation might be a thing (not fire but sag, so cutoff).

[Mr Dilkington]

21 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Any wheel that has been working perfectly for 6 months is unlikely to suddenly fail. This fire was an mten3 that was bad from the factory, which seems to be the case for nearly all serious failures.

But of course better safe than sorry.

I do agree with you. Which is why I would feel comfortable selling it. It’s more about the “better safe than sorry” thing at this point for me. I think having watched a few teardown videos of the Mten3, and seeing the haphazard assembly first-hand when I had to open it up for a tire change, and the fact that an 11 year-old was riding it — those were all considerations.