New ET Max owners - Check your tire valve stem! (and other new-wheel woes)

[Skyblaze103]

I recently purchased an ET Max as an upgrade from my v11y after putting 2000 miles on it over 3 months. The wheel is amazing and I'm loving it, when it's in commission, but a good amount of 1st week issues. 

First was when I flashed the firmware for the first time - I successfully updated the BMS firmware and got a little check mark in the app, and then proceeded to the motherboard firmware. It flashed to 100% and powered off, but I didn't get a checkmark so I figured it wouldn't hurt to just try it again. This caused the motherboard to go into a faulted state that was constantly blaring the buzzer and refused to turn off with any combinations of button pressing/holding. I also could connect to the wheel but couldn't control it or update firmware again through the Begode app or EUC world. I am on an Android (Samsung A52). Didn't have the right Allen wrenches to open up the motherboard casing and they don't come with the wheel so I had to tape over the buzzer and run to Walmart to buy a pack of Allen wrenches, open up the top cover, and unplug all the battery cables. Once it was off I was able to power it back on again. It remained in a faulted state but I was able to connect to it and reflash firmware again (it took 3 attempts with it failing to update firmware in the first 2 stopping at like 15-20% done), and it seems to be fine now.

The 2nd big issue I had was the tire tube popping 50 miles in - luckily this was at low speed on a trail and I barely felt it until I started feeling weird bumps, the wheel was more squirely, and I could definitely tell something was wrong. The fill valve stem had completely sheared off the rubber tube right at the point they connected, and I believe this had something to do with how the tube was installed - when I first received the wheel, after unboxing it and other setup I went to fill the tire, but couldn't get any of my pumps around the stem because instead of a 45 degree bent valve, it just looked like a straight out 180 degree one. I figured this was a problem but the tire seemed filled and I just wanted to start riding my new wheel so I figured it'd be fine until I could ask someone about it on a group ride. 

Unfortunately replacing the tube took me a total of 10 hours. I used this video (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MEJIehox2Gs) to do the 'quickest way', and in general it was a good method but they mention that it should take 15-20min. May in a world where you have all the right tools and have had plenty of practice taking apart this particular wheel, but not me. I've taken apart a good amount of devices before and work on cars but there's just too many screws and no videos cover every part of the process (for example how to reassemble the suspension after disassembly (tip: make sure you've let all the air out of the gas chamber and completely loosen the spring preload)), and I only had Allen keys. I included a picture of all the parts I had to take off below. When putting everything back together I did take a bit of time to add new thread locker to all the screws, and also idk if there's a secret method or I'm just weak but I was never going to get the tire off of the rim without tire irons/levers, unless you've done this before without them I'd probably recommend you get them as well.

Another complication around the tube - I decided to just purchase a 90/100-14 tube off of Amazon to replace the popped one, which I probably wouldn't advise for anyone not trying to get this fixed overnight. I really wanted it fixed overnight. I couldn't find a good tube that had a 45 degree bend in the stem - you probably can if you ask an EUC dealer or the original manufacturer, but I tried to make a straight valve stem work, and did make it "work" by purchasing a flexible stem extender to make the tight turn away from the hub motor. This meant that I didn't have a way to press on the valve to open it, but you can still fill the tire by just having higher positive air pressure on the "outside of the valve" side, and air will still enter the tire. This just has the side effects of not being able to properly know the pressure inside the tire, and you can't ever deflate it without popping it probably. This was a sacrifice I was willing to make, and it's running fine (I've put 100 miles on the new tube now and it feels great), but just wanted to retell my experience with that and why I wouldn't recommend it if you've got time.

Final small issue with my new ET Max - when I went to pull off the tape I had put on the speaker to cover up the buzzer issue I had with the first issue, I didn't even pull on it that hard but the speaker ripped out of the underside of the motherboard tray - it looked like it was just held on by hot glue or something.

I want to reiterate I'm absolutely loving the performance and feel of my new ET Max, but I've had some annoying/time consuming quality assurance and firmware issues in the past week - the firmware update one is probably avoidable if you just make sure to update the motherboard firmware once and just trust that it worked even though you don't get a green check mark, and if you don't tape up your speaker you probably won't pull it out of the housing. I'm not sure how much I could have done to fix the tire tube fill vavle stem issue pre-emptively, but I imagine if I had been able to get the cap open and deflated it (difficult because it was that close to the hub motor) I could have tried to re-position it and pull out the valve stem from being shoved into the inside of the rim.

[Reloy]

You didn't mention what tire pressure you were running when the valve sheered off the tube on the trail. When this happens, it's typically caused by riding with low air pressure. Even though the tire feels extremely tight on the rim, if it's not properly inflated then the rim can spin within the tire, and the tube is caught between the two. 

The terrain may also be a factor. If you're climbing steep hills, even briefly, then the rim is more likely to turn within the tire.

How did you wind up with a tube in there anyway? Did your ET Max not ship with a tubeless setup? Maybe that depends on where you order it from?