inmotion v8 cut out for no reason

[Steve Evans]

folks, 

i am new to riding. my v8 is the only unicycle i have ever ridden (only had for a couple weeks). i bought it from a friend who has had it since new.

this morning, on an almost full charge, rode it out of garage and it just cut out. i face planted on my driveway.

turned it back on and it seems to operating normally. i bounced it around and it seems fine.

i am now scared to get back on it.

any suggestions on finding root cause?

thanks a lot in advance,

steve

 

[meepmeepmayer]

What temperature was the garage where it was stored? Did you go over any bump when it cut out? What's your approximate weight?

[Steve Evans]

temp would be about 85f.

no bump, absolutely flat. doing about 4mph, not accelerating. i weigh about 200lbs

thanks,

steve

[Chriull]

2 hours ago, evans036 said:

on an almost full charge

Does it still charge full? Not only percentage wise but also to full voltage?

[Steve Evans]

i just checked. it charges to 84.4 volts.

i seem to be getting good range on the wheel. probably 14 miles with 55% of battery remaining.

thanks,

steve

 

[RockyTop]

The V8 is not very powerful. Is it possible that you over powered it om take off? Did you take off aggressively?

[Steve Evans]

no...i was barely at walking speed maneuvering around my car on my driveway

[Menace]

2 hours ago, evans036 said:

no...i was barely at walking speed maneuvering around my car on my driveway

EUCs shut off if tilted to their side beyond a certain point. If you turned really sharply going around the car you may have tilted it past that point. You can test it by turning the EUC on and slowly tilting it over until it shuts off. If the pedal hits the ground before it cuts off this probably is not your culprit, but if it shuts off before then it could be the cause and I would recommend adjusting the angle at which it shuts off (if possible). You may be able to adjust the angle through the app. The only other thing I could think of would be a loose wire (which seems very unlikely considering that it works now) or some sort of ultra rare glitch (which is also extremely unlikely, I have never heard of a glitch like that).

[Zopper]

Inmotion app allows you to send a diagnostic info to the company. Like a black box. AFAIK it works like this: you upload the logs and get in touch with the company (probably indirectly through your seller) with info about what happened, when, and what’s the serial number. And Inmotion engineers will look at the logs to diagnose it.

Unfortunately it doesn’t allow us to see that info. So for our own diagnosis we have to proactively collect it with an app like EUC.World, Darknessbot, WheelLog, etc. If you have any of these apps running and logging the ride (power, speed, inclination in both axes, voltage, …), you can usually find what did happen.

I’ve seen multiple cases of people being absolutely sure they were going slow, that it couldn’t be an overlean (overpower), just for their stats to tell it was, in fact, just that. :-)

[Zopper]

1 hour ago, Menace said:

EUCs shut off if tilted to their side beyond a certain point. If you turned really sharply going around the car you may have tilted it past that point. You can test it by turning the EUC on and slowly tilting it over until it shuts off. If the pedal hits the ground before it cuts off this probably is not your culprit, but if it shuts off before then it could be the cause and I would recommend adjusting the angle at which it shuts off (if possible). You may be able to adjust the angle through the app. The only other thing I could think of would be a loose wire (which seems very unlikely considering that it works now) or some sort of ultra rare glitch (which is also extremely unlikely, I have never heard of a glitch like that).

Yes, side tilt might be a plausible cause if doing slow maneuvers. Unfortunately, Inmo doesn’t allow side tilt cut-off change in any wheel as far as I know.

Unless the new V8 has “free spin detection” like V11. If there is a toggle in the app like that (not the cut-off button switch), then that would be my prime suspect. My V11 has a few scars from me doing dime-turns with this detection enabled (it’s a real lifesaver in other cases - like when hurrying up some stairs and not grabbing the wheel correctly, so the cut off button doesn’t engage. 😀)

Edited July 25, 2021 by Zopper

[Steve Evans]

thankyou all for your insights.

i will play around with the wheel moving it from side-to-side to see if lateral angle could be a reason for the cutoff.

i will also look into getting logging info to inmotion.

one other data-point that just occurred to me: i have noticed on two other occasions when off the wheel it turned itself off within seconds of it being stationary.

i heard the power-button will not turn power off if the wheel is in motion. in your opinions, is it possible the power button is a little flakey such that it engages randomly but only turns the wheel off when not in motion? i thought this might be relevant because i was going so slow when it cut out.

again, thanks heaps for all you help so far,

steve

[Menace]

I don’t think so, it is something in the firmware that prevents the power button from turning the wheel off while moving (and walking speed should be fast enough), a flakey button shouldn’t affect that. But if your button is activating randomly I would replace that because it is unsafe (wheel could turn off at a stop light or something like that). Although I personally would try a firmware update before buying a new button just to see if it is a firmware glitch that is responsible. What do you think @Zopper ?
My bet would be on the side tilt or the free-spin detection that @Zopper mentioned. He seems to know a lot more about inmotion than me. Logging the data seems like a good idea. It could just be an overpower like zopper said.

 

[Steve Evans]

due to my lack of riding expertise, when i ride slow, i ride in a very jerky manner. so much so that i think the wheel actually stops during sharp 'swivel' turns getting out of my garage (and around my car on the driveway).

i tested the power button on my wheel while moving it with my hand and it would power down when it moved slow enough.

hence, i thought the cutout might have been related to that power button.

btw, i did test the wheel tilt and the wheel stayed powered up during those tilts.

as always, thanks for the help.

steve  

[Menace]

Ok, good! I would replace that power switch if it randomly shuts the EUC off, they can't be terribly expensive, and maybe even just check that the connector is plugged in all the way. That's about all the advice I can give. Good luck.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Menace
clarification

[Zopper]

12 hours ago, Menace said:

I don’t think so, it is something in the firmware that prevents the power button from turning the wheel off while moving (and walking speed should be fast enough), a flakey button shouldn’t affect that. But if your button is activating randomly I would replace that because it is unsafe (wheel could turn off at a stop light or something like that). Although I personally would try a firmware update before buying a new button just to see if it is a firmware glitch that is responsible. What do you think @Zopper ?
My bet would be on the side tilt or the free-spin detection that @Zopper mentioned. He seems to know a lot more about inmotion than me. Logging the data seems like a good idea. It could just be an overpower like zopper said.

 

Yep, I agree, the buttons work only when (almost) stationary. If the wheel is riding even at the speed of walk, it should not engage.

@evans036Btw, were there any lights on after the incident? E.g. the battery indicator? Or was it completely turned off?

9 hours ago, evans036 said:

when i ride slow, i ride in a very jerky manner. so much so that i think the wheel actually stops during sharp 'swivel' turns

This makes me think of the free spin detection (the turns) or overpower (the jerky moves). But in both cases the wheel should stay on. It would just disengage the motor until back in the correct position (and maybe cycling the cut-off switch under the handle).

And just to be sure: I assume you do NOT use any tether/leash. If you do, that would be a crucial information and an answer in itself.

[Steve Evans]

in answer to your question: the lights were completely off and the wheel powered off after the incident. pressing the power button turned the wheel on as per usual.

and correct, no tether/leash

btw, i plucked up the courage to ride it again. at first very slowly on my driveway and street (which has no thru traffic). after 30 mins or so i took it for a 12 mile ride with no incident.

at least this re-affirmed to always were protection regardless of how tame i am riding.

so i guess i will keep riding it. i will replace the power switch since its so cheap

as always, thanks for you collective helps.

steve

 

[Zopper]

Glad to hear.  Keep an app with logs running, just in case it happens again. 

[Steve Evans]

@zopper, what is the best way of doing that? i have an android phone. is that something done via the EUC World app?

any pointers to doc/steps?

thanks,

steve

[Steve Evans]

i think i found the logging option in EUC World under settings->Data Logging.

i will be sure to have this running all the time.

thanks, 

dteve

[omuretsu]

I know I'm a bit late on this, but as far as figuring out why it turned off, if it was due to a faulty power button then you should have heard the distinctive power-off sound that plays when you intentionally turn the wheel off with the power button. It's a pretty loud and distinctive sound, at least on the V10F.

[Steve Evans]

On 7/30/2021 at 3:38 AM, omuretsu said:

I know I'm a bit late on this, but as far as figuring out why it turned off, if it was due to a faulty power button then you should have heard the distinctive power-off sound that plays when you intentionally turn the wheel off with the power button. It's a pretty loud and distinctive sound, at least on the V10F.

that's a really good thought. unfortunately, being the idiot i am, i had the volume turned down way low so those system sounds were not audible.

i have since turned the volume back up.

thanks again,

steve

[Zopper]

@evans036 You can make your own sounds using the official app. Just make sure to not override speed/power warnings with silence.  But if just you delete those sounds, it will beep instead of speaking, which some people (like me) prefer.

Edited August 1, 2021 by Zopper

[Steve Evans]

12 hours ago, Zopper said:

@evans036 You can make your own sounds using the official app. Just make sure to not override speed/power warnings with silence.  But if just you delete those sounds, it will beep instead of speaking, which some people (like me) prefer.

if my wheel tells me to 'be careful' one more time, i think my head will explode.

so thanks for the tip. maybe i will delete the spoken warnings.

i too would much prefer beeps.

thanks for the tip

steve