Michael Vu Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 So I ordered my ACM back in Mid March and I now got my ACM with trolley today. Who knew a damn trolly could cause such a delay.... and the end solution isn't the best which I'll get into later. It is very slick to look at in person. The padding is very soft and thick which is the perfect type of padding to use for our legs. The pedals are the same pedals used on the MCM4. Being in the US, my batteries were shipped separately so I had to open up the shell to install them myself. Well like other people have mentioned, the screws used are weak..... I broke off one of the heads of a screw by accident and I'm scared to others breaking too. I'm going to go to the hardware store and look for stronger screws but it sucks that I have to do that in the first place..... John Eucist made a post about the ACMs new 12 MOSFET design, however mine only have 6. I figured I'll get this updated design since I waited so long anyways. Now the question is, should I be concerned with having only 6 MOFETs? I really don't want to have to wait some more if it really doesn't make that big of a difference. The trolly is a unique design that requires screwing 8 holes directly into the shell. I noticed that the screws near the bottom get very close to touching the tire. I might have to get shorter screws to give me a peace of mind. Now how about the actual performance of riding this beast? I must say it is completely phenomenal how much power this guy has. It is very smooth (just like the MCM4) and it feels like nothing to be able to cruise at 18-19 mph. I'm still hesitant to go any faster but I will test that out once I'm properly padded up. But so far so good. What is not so good is that both my headlight and rear color LED lights went out simultaneously after riding for 15 minutes. I'm hoping maybe the connecting to the light came loose or something but I won't know until I open it back up. But now my entire Gotway family is complete minus the unique rare gotway models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TremF Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Congratulations It looks like you've got the same board as mine. Maybe yours has been in transit a while otherwise surely you'd have the same as John Eucist BUT also it looks like you have the same rubber grips on the pedals as mine too... these are not good and wear VERY quickly. The new rubber grips are said to be red and to be more durable. Be careful with your screws too. Unless it was just 1 bad batch then 3 of us, so far, have reported the heads of the screws snapping off leaving the rest in the case. Kevin Grandon has 4 - 6 snapped screws meaning he could be needing a whole new case soon as there may be too few to hold the side panels adequately. With how small and thin the screws are they are hard to get out with people advising melting the plastic! I'm not keen on that idea so have replaced the screws I can with stronger ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Sweet collection of Gotways! I wonder whether there's a better way to secure connectors and components to the board as all that grey silicone stuff looks like a mess, and doesn't it make doing work on the board more difficult as you'd have to remove all of that to even unplug a cable. Aren't there automotive or aircraft grade connectors or something that they can use to make sure electrical connectors are resilient to survive vibrations and water? It just looks like a 5 year old squished a tube of silicone sealer everwhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEC Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 16 minutes ago, HunkaHunkaBurningLove said: I wonder whether there's a better way to secure connectors and components to the board as all that grey silicone stuff looks like a mess, and doesn't it make doing work on the board more difficult as you'd have to remove all of that to even unplug a cable. Aren't there automotive or aircraft grade connectors or something that they can use to make sure electrical connectors are resilient to survive vibrations and water? It just looks like a 5 year old squished a tube of silicone sealer everwhere. Totally agree! Look yucky They shall be using plugs with security latches or with loops to use the small tie strips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Having built 2 experimental helicopters in the past, one of which took Grand Champion at Oshkosh , the anchoring of the wiring and other components in the ACM is absolutely horrendous! I would have been ground by the FAA for stupidity! And the broken screw episodes is another joke! Sorry to be so negative but it appears some EUC manufacturers don't believe in customer satisfaction. It would be nice if they followed this forum and occasionally chimed in to discuss the negative/safety issues being discussed. The distributors need to stand up against the manufacturers and flex their muscles in favor of the consumer. I would love to see the wiring inside a $200 EUC. I bet it looks far superior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 And i thought i have been bad on a Silicon pistol when i have to glue something... Thats really looking like the work of a 5 year old....to hear your front light and rear LED went out after about 15 minutes of riding ....Congrats! I would have bet that they would last only 5 minutes ;-) Also it would have been easy to screw the downside of the trolley against something metallic under the plastic, but that would have cost 50 Cent more..... And hey..thats their Top Notch Product?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefork Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 Oh my, this is the stuff of nightmares! For comparison, have a look at this disassembly video of the Inmotion V5: Edit: changed to direct link to video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 @thefork OMG...such a 180 degree comparison between the 2 companies on how wiring and components should be properly assembled! And add to their professionalism they produce this high quality informative video for their customers. Nothing is lost in translation. Clear and precise. Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEC Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 1 hour ago, Rehab1 said: Having built 2 experimental helicopters in the past, one of which took Grand Champion at Oshkosh ... Sorry for a bot of off-topic but ever since watching (and then re-watching multiply times after) the A chopper is born show this is one of the items on my "bucket list" - so big "envy" from my side And indeed congrats on Oshkosh! Back to topic - I do agree that the build "quality" of most of the EUC is way bellow sub-standard for the devices expected to suffer abuse under various harsh conditions. Poorly secured plugs, crappy screws, unprotected battery packs (see another threads on this here in forums) and list keeps going and going. I'll soon strip out my newly acquired KS16 and do some preventive "maintenance" securing all the vital bits and bobs to avoid early / premature demise of any of the components. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 6 minutes ago, HEC said: I'll soon strip out my newly acquired KS16 and do some preventive "maintenance" securing all the vital bits and bobs to avoid early / premature demise of any of the components. Nice idea! Don't forget to upload pics and/or video to help the rest of us (KS16 owners)....please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 14 minutes ago, DS said: Nice idea! Don't forget to upload pics and/or video to help the rest of us (KS16 owners)....please I dont have Pictures...but i have seen my KS16 open, and i can say that the controlboard and the stripping for sure looked way more professional ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEC Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 6 minutes ago, KingSong69 said: I dont have Pictures...but i have seen my KS16 open, and i can say that the controlboard and the stripping for sure looked way more professional ! Agree! Though battery packs will still do with some extra foam paddings to avoid damaging of the shrink wraps from the hard knocks against plastic shells during rides. Also few cables here and there could be secured a tiny bit better, but nothing really major in that department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 @DS Yes please post some photos after your wiring mods. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 On 6/30/2016 at 2:51 PM, TremF said: It looks like you've got the same board as mine. Maybe yours has been in transit a while otherwise surely you'd have the same as John Eucist BUT also it looks like you have the same rubber grips on the pedals as mine too... these are not good and wear VERY quickly. The new rubber grips are said to be red and to be more durable. Funny you should mention this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmethvin Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 1 hour ago, John Eucist said: Funny you should mention this... Nice, now we have a real-world tester! Also you won't mix up right and left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Vu Posted June 30, 2016 Author Share Posted June 30, 2016 10 hours ago, TremF said: It looks like you've got the same board as mine. Maybe yours has been in transit a while otherwise surely you'd have the same as John Eucist BUT also it looks like you have the same rubber grips on the pedals as mine too... these are not good and wear VERY quickly. The new rubber grips are said to be red and to be more durable. What the difference between the red and black grips? The black ones look to be exactly the same as on the MCM4 and so far they have held up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TremF Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 3 minutes ago, Michael Vu said: What the difference between the red and black grips? The black ones look to be exactly the same as on the MCM4 and so far they have held up. Maybe yours has a newer type of the black ones but my ACM and others suffered with the black rubber grips wearing within hours of starting to ride whereas my 9 month old Ninebot's grips are still perfect. Also, on facebook, Jane said they were using the red ones after receiving complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 3 hours ago, Rehab1 said: @DS Yes please post some photos after your wiring mods. Thanks! I'm not sure what you mean here. Have I said somewhere that I'll do wiring mods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TremF Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 4 hours ago, Rehab1 said: @DS Yes please post some photos after your wiring mods. Thanks! 23 minutes ago, DS said: I'm not sure what you mean here. Have I said somewhere that I'll do wiring mods? I think Rehab may have got confused with the replies but it was @HEC that mentioned the preventative maintenance and DS asked for pics and/or video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 @HEC @DS Oops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted June 30, 2016 Share Posted June 30, 2016 I think most EUC's run with 6 MOSFETs, but I'm not sure if the higher powered ones benefit more from having 12. Doesn't the KS18 only have 6? I think it's becoming more common as others adopt the 12 MOSFET design to help distribute and minimize heat among the components. Doing a quick Google search there do appear to be some options for high vibration situations for connectors: http://www.staubli.com/en/connectors/quick-couplings/electrical-connectors/power-connector-motorsports-ceb/ http://www.molex.com/molex/products/group?key=sealed_connectors&channel=products I wonder if it's a good idea to encase the controller in a box like what IPS does to help make it waterproof and have external waterproof / vibration-proof connectors plug into it. That way they might not need to apply the goop everywhere. I bet they probably could make these EUC's completely submersible in water if they wanted to which probably isn't too bad of an idea considering the various weather conditions people ride through. Most cars have their PC boards encased in plastic weatherproof shells as dust and water get everywhere during use. Maybe it's not a bad idea to take a bit from the automotive industry and apply the principles to EUCs. @Rehab1 what are the electronic connectors and printed circuit boards like in helicopters? They must have to have 100% reliable connections to resist various vibrations from the rotor. I noticed even with the Ecostar everything vibrates quite a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 @HunkaHunkaBurningLove Printed circuit boards... Yah right...bubble gum and tape. The avionics have pc boards but empirically piston powered helis are simple machine with a bunch of mechanical linkages. Turbines on the other hand are much more sophisticated in terms of circuitry. I have never owned, flown or worked on a turbine. Soo expensive. I used mostly terminal blocks and male/female connectors during my build..and shrink wrap for every solder connection. Main rotor vbrations should be .3 ips (inches per sec) or lower so there was never any issues of wire disconnects with me. Pre flight checks are a must. It is no fun flying with a high vibration rate. Unfortunately you cannot rent a balancer from Home Depot. The cost per hour to fly was ridiculous so i gave it up (few other factors as well) Both experimentals crashed at one point. One engine related and the other rotor speed gauge malfunction. Survived both. My Safari helicopter delicted in the photo chased in Czech Republic in 2013 killing both the pilot snd passenger. Pilot error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Vu Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 An update..... So I opened the shell back up and didn't see anything obvious as to why my lights aren't working anymore. Jane said she will be sending me a new control board.... Also after you guys talked about the cheap rubber on the pedal rubbing off, I took a look at mine and noticed that the rubber is coming off of them also..... and this is after just 30 minutes of riding! I can easily rub off the rubber with my fingers..... For comparison, here's my pedals on my MCM4 which I've had for 5 months now... Between this, the cheap weak screws, messy wiring, an awkward trolley system, it seems that Gotway has chosen to use cheaper hardware for their newer wheels. This is really unacceptable and really makes me question what other cheap hardware are they also using for the ACM? The tire? Inner tube? Jane initially told me "No" when I asked for the better (ie. MCM4) pedal but when I mentioned you guys she then agreed to send me the "red pedal". I really loved what Gotway has done by setting the standard with the MCM models and the Msuper, and really the performance from the ACM is still top notch so far. But their decision to use cheap parts for their newest model has me concerned about what direction they are going in. And really makes me hesitant on ever getting the new Msuper V3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TremF Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 9 minutes ago, Michael Vu said: An update..... So I opened the shell back up and didn't see anything obvious as to why my lights aren't working anymore. Jane said she will be sending me a new control board.... Also after you guys talked about the cheap rubber on the pedal rubbing off, I took a look at mine and noticed that the rubber is coming off of them also..... and this is after just 30 minutes of riding! I can easily rub off the rubber with my fingers..... For comparison, here's my pedals on my MCM4 which I've had for 5 months now... Between this, the cheap weak screws, messy wiring, an awkward trolley system, it seems that Gotway has chosen to use cheaper hardware for their newer wheels. This is really unacceptable and really makes me question what other cheap hardware are they also using for the ACM? The tire? Inner tube? Jane initially told me "No" when I asked for the better (ie. MCM4) pedal but when I mentioned you guys she then agreed to send me the "red pedal". I really loved what Gotway has done by setting the standard with the MCM models and the Msuper, and really the performance from the ACM is still top notch so far. But their decision to use cheap parts for their newest model has me concerned about what direction they are going in. And really makes me hesitant on ever getting the new Msuper V3. When I jumped on board the ACM train I was hoping to have missed all the issues seeing as they had already changed the board, wiring, heatsink, possibly casing and firmware but as you've seen we've been hit with all the things you mentioned plus a dodgy looking trolley handle fixture and mine drops on me randomly when first setting off. Hopefully soon I will have a replacement board and rubber grips. Once I am sure it's not going to drop on me again I will purchase a new casing because seeing scratches on it when it's your fault is one thing but so new and out of my control the scratches just frustrate me. When friends and colleagues have asked to see my new EUC, after seeing me zip about, they notice the scratches and comment - oh you've fallen off already? so my response - Erm no it's dropped on me instead of moving. Then, although I know it's very stable when it works they are querying the safety and saying how they would take it back... not a good advertisement for the EUC's but hopefully I can change their thinking once mine is sorted. I already say how good Gotway and my local distributor have been at trying to sort the issues ASAP. In a way I feel good that I get to help find any issues that need sorting so the ACM can be made better and safer quickly but on the other hand I have put around £1000 into it and extras and want it to work and not see if all scratched up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 17 hours ago, thefork said: For comparison, have a look at this disassembly video of the Inmotion V5 Elegant! Beautiful! I took apart that IPS121 of mine that was run over by a truck and found it to be very elegant inside also. Very clean, neat, intelligently organized, and my favorite feature is the essential electronics enclosed in a metal box. As I mentioned at the time, the fact that it was still operational after the truck's wheels rolled directly over it demonstrates the tank-like construction quality of the IPS121. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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