KS16X not charging, headlamp just flashing

[Pezmc]

I went to ride my 16X today and it kept repeating "your device has low battery, please charge it", which is odd since I'm sure it was about 80% charged yesterday.

When I plug it into the charger, the headlamp flashes on/off constantly, and the charger blinks a very feint red/green, which I've never seen before. The app reports 0% charge.

Video of wheel turned off but plugged in: https://c.pez.io/X6uAzRJE

Video of wheel turned on and plugged in: https://c.pez.io/04u2KQeW

Any idea what's going on?

 

[Tawpie]

Yikes! That's an unhappy wheel. Did you check the device error codes in the app? Also, see what the measured battery voltage is.

As a precaution, I wouldn't keep it connected to the charger and would find a place where it's not going to burn anything down—this is in case something has gone wrong with the battery. Since you were charged yesterday and seem to be not charged and not chargeable today, my spidey sense is thinking something with the battery or battery management system is kaput.

Oh... get in touch with your reseller. They may be able to translate the (disturbing, but very cool) lighting sequence.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Tawpie

[Pezmc]

It's definitely confused!

 

[Tawpie]

The motherboard thinks the batteries are at 45.34V, which is too low to charge and too low to turn on. You'll want to open her up, disconnect both batteries and use a multimeter to see what the actual voltage of each pack is. If your motherboard is 'good' and you have a bad battery, one of the pack's open circuit voltage will be very very different than the other. If both packs measure the same within a tenth of a volt or two (with a multimeter, while disconnected) and that measurement is something greater than 67V, then I'd suspect your motherboard's voltage measurerererer has gone nutz and you'll be fixed right up with a new motherboard. If the packs do measure differently, you're looking at a battery problem. 

Hopefully you're still in warranty.

Reporting 259 total km over 4 days of operation would mean you are an exceptionally skilled rider, able to balance without moving. Making the assumption you haven't actually been averaging 4km/hr, I do think your motherboard is broken.

If you're out of warranty and the batteries seem to be ok, I might try upgrading the firmware with SoftTuner to either 2.03 or 2.07 just to see if maybe your firmware has gotten corrupted. It's possible attempting to upgrade the firmware will brick the wheel further (for instance, if the computer was borked), but in that case you're still needing a new motherboard.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Tawpie

[Pezmc]

Hi Tawpie,

Truly appreciate the further thoughts here, I've been trying to get in touch with my reseller but no luck so far, and KS themselves just say "speak to retailer". 

I should be well within warranty, so hopefully it'll be a swap/repair job via the retailer.

I've no idea why it thinks I've been riding for 4 days...

[Wgm]

I just had same problem as when you charge the 16x and unplug without turning on and off.  The Bluetooth stays in and drains the battery over days/weeks I didnt use it.  It was zero when I turned it on and would not charge with the 1.5a included charger.  I added my ks s18 2.5a charger to the other port and that fixed it and now it's charging.  Miracle!