Xima Lhotz Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Hello. So i opened my Lhotz to see how it was put together (battery, control board etc and this is what i found. I have about 250 km on this wheel, non rain riding mostly. Im glad i did it because of the massive amounts of dust and dirt inside of the battery and controlboard sides. The problem is that in the bottom of the wheel there are "massive" openings so every piece of dust that the wheel lifts of the ground gets thrown in this opening. And it all ends up inside of the wheel. And here there are open circuitboards. I thought that the electronics an battery compartments where vented by the grills on the side of the wheel but that is not the case. Looking at the dust trail it seems that they have no use at allt. So my plan is now to seal all of the open plastic (gaps) in the bottom of the wheel and put mini scoops in front of the grills instead to make them work properly. I used to own a X8 and that when did not have this problem at all. I am a bit disappointed actually considering this is a premium wheel marketed as an offroad compatible device, which, clearly its not suited for at all. Riding in dust, water, damp conditions will not be good for this wheel in the long run. Example of mini scoop vent. Wish i had a 3D printer.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fat Unicyclist Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Hi @Xima Lhotz. So do the side "vents" actually do anything? From your photos it looks like they might allow (some?) airflow across the heatsink, but it's hard to know without opening my 191. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xima Lhotz Posted May 24, 2016 Author Share Posted May 24, 2016 6 hours ago, The Fat Unicyclist said: So do the side "vents" actually do anything? From your photos it looks like they might allow (some?) airflow across the heatsink, but it's hard to know without opening my 191. From what i can see i my case (reading the dust patterns) they don't do so much. They might do something but the majority of air comes from the openings i the bottom of the wheel. Otherwise it wouldn't be so dusty inside, i think. A have never ridden in a massive dust clouds so there is no way the dust came in through the vents so the majority of ventilation must come from the other openings in the wheel. To me that reveals the vents are not doing their job properly, a overpressure of air through the vents should force the air out in the bottom of the wheel if it was done right (i think). But it might also be that if i had covered the vents i would have had 10 times the amount of dust :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fat Unicyclist Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 2 hours ago, Xima Lhotz said: To me that reveals the vents are not doing their job properly, a overpressure of air through the vents should force the air out in the bottom of the wheel if it was done right (i think). Or would air flowing through the vents (in and out) lower the air pressure, causing a vacuum effect and sucking dust up from below? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xima Lhotz Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 On 24 maj 2016 at 7:51 PM, The Fat Unicyclist said: Or would air flowing through the vents (in and out) lower the air pressure, causing a vacuum effect and sucking dust up from below? Very possible alternative. Well I'll start with blocking the gaps in the bottom and see what happens. There should be enough ventilation with the side vents if I add a small scoop to the "front" of the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurgen Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 The rotation of the wheel throws up dust in air so it seems normal that there is dust in the wheel. The IP rating seems to be ok (although maybe not 60), as so far I haven't heard of a wheel shortcutting because of humidity or riding in the rain, which means plugging gaps might fix something that isn't broken. Overheating however is a real problem with some wheels when pushing it hard for a long time. Just know that you're venturing in uncharted territory. I'm not aware of IPS, or any other EUC manufacturer for that matter, performing airtunnel testing to optimise the airflow around and inside the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checho Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 It is called "passive cooling" it is done that way to avoid the use of a fan and to provide air circulation, in this case it will be mostly to provide air circulation. The principle used in passive cooling is that hot air goes up, the front air intakes probably help when the wheel is moving and the ones at the bottom when on but not moving. The purpose of the vents is to cool, closing the vents will have an impact on the cooling efficiency, between dust and heat dust is the lesser evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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