Anatomy of a Monster

[Merrittous MonoWheel]

So my Monster took a bit of a beating this weekend.  I had a goal to make it to a radio tower at the top of a mountain behind my place.  This is a 400m meter climb over some questionable roads but I had it in mind that we would do it (that is me and the Monster).  I had tried to get there last weekend but ran into to much snow so ended up turning around.  When I returned I found my rear lights no longer worked.  As I didn't have time and the Monster was still functional I left it.  So this weekend I took the Monster for another assault at the hill.  This time success. 10km and 400m very few tumbles for both of us and 28 minutes to success.  It was a nice sunny day so I figured I would I tackle the next level take the mountain bike trails back.  I wish I had filmed it as it was a series of tumbles and nail bitting down hills.  At times I was leaning so far back to slow down  that my heals were hitting the ground behind me.  I managed to run an couple of freshets and cross a few swamps.  Both my self and the Monster were covered in mud and I am not sure what else by the time we hit the bottom an hour and a half later.  So I went to shut the EUC down for a well deserved rest and scrub down but it didn't want to shut off.  I didn't matter how many times I pushed the power button the Monster had turned into the energizer bunny and it just kept on going.  Eventually I just lifted it up and let it free wheel until it auto shut off.

So then it was time to dissect and investigate.  It turns out that water is able to enter the Monster from many cracks and crevices.  I am sure that that was the cause of the shut off issue as I found droplets of water throughout the inside of unit.  I have since dried everything, reassembled and taped off all seams.  Rear lights still don't work (dealer is working on that with me) but I was very happy with the assembly of my unit (Dec 22 2016 run).  All cables and connections were tight and no indication of overheating.  One cable had been pinched but this was an easy fix.   Anyway some of the pictures are below for those that may be interested:

 

[Marty Backe]

I would be very nervous about riding my Monster down such steep hills. With other wheels, not such a problem if you lose control. But with the Monster, it weights so much and is not constructed out of the most toughest of plastics, it doesn't do well when it hits the ground hard.

Thanks for the pictures.

From a previous crash where the plastic insert in the handle popped out, and the light panel is loose, I need to remove the outer shell to see how I can re-secure things.

Do you have any advice for separating the two halves of the shell? Just remove the visible screws and that's it?

[meepmeepmayer]

It appears the battery/board compartments and the top compartment (containing the lights, USB, power switch, charge port) are separated besides some cable holes?

Did water only get into the top one, or also the side ones and you luckily avoided a shorted wheel and a cut out?

Anyways, I can fully understand the urge to force your wheel through snow/slush and up and down hills, exactly what I did once and it was the most fun I've had with the wheel yet.

[Merrittous MonoWheel]

3 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

I would be very nervous about riding my Monster down such steep hills. With other wheels, not such a problem if you lose control. But with the Monster, it weights so much and is not constructed out of the most toughest of plastics, it doesn't do well when it hits the ground hard.

Thanks for the pictures.

From a previous crash where the plastic insert in the handle popped out, and the light panel is loose, I need to remove the outer shell to see how I can re-secure things.

Do you have any advice for separating the two halves of the shell? Just remove the visible screws and that's it?

My handle also broke on an impact in a similar spot as you said it is not the most robust case.  There are no hidden screws as such.  I just removed the side panels, unplugged the batteries (too much unbridled energy to free by accident) and removed them.  It is not really necessary to pull the batteries if they are glued down but it does make it easier to deal with.  There are screws on both sides of the top handle that need to be removed and I pulled the inner case on the none control board side ( there are a pile of screws holding it on the pedal but they are easy to get at.  The two halves slide together and are easy to slide apart.  Removing the little corner tabs gave more access to the inside of the handle.  It took me a couple of hours from start to finish as I was looking for any signs of faults in connections and wires.  Have fun

[Merrittous MonoWheel]

3 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

It appears the battery/board compartments and the top compartment (containing the lights, USB, power switch, charge port) are separated besides some cable holes?

Did water only get into the top one, or also the side ones and you luckily avoided a shorted wheel and a cut out?

Anyways, I can fully understand the urge to force your wheel through snow/slush and up and down hills, exactly what I did once and it was the most fun I've had with the wheel yet.

I bought the Monster because I was told it is a good off road unit.  It is and it isn't but that could be said for any machine.  On the road it is smooth and delightful to ride and will handle any standard hill engineered to drive on.  Off road in steep terrain I have found a couple of spots that it just didn't cut it and it wasn't able to climb.  I haven't given up just yet as I am not entirely sure if it is the Monster's weakness or my ability to ride it. Downhill, I did try it down some hills that I had to use my hands (and almost knees) to crawl up.  Any steeper and they would have been free fall  (which I did unintentionally try for short distances:-)  The Monster is pretty good at downhill.  In mud and soft terrain the Monster is probably better than any other EUC out there but it is still point loaded on one wheel.  Unless you go really fast, you can sink really deep:-) Did you notice that the Monster is heavy?  Try pulling it out of the mud.  

Anyway, the top section is hollow and mostly isolated from the remainder of the wheel.  The components seem to be hot glued but I doubt that is very effective.  The inside of the handle was almost entirely dry.  It appears that the sides are where most of the water gains access.  I had water all over my control board, so yes I feel very lucky I didn't face plant even more often. The board appears to silicon coated or something similar.  I was surprised to see the water coming in through the sides as I had ridden the Monster in fairly heavy rain 15km each way every day for a week when I was in Vancouver and had no issues.  I think what happens is that the case flexes under duress and has a different modulus of elasticity then the side panels.  This in turn will slightly open and close little gaps around the panels which if timed poorly allow water to get in.  This is my theory anyway.  

My inability to turn off the unit is probably from water in the switch which doesn't seem very water tight.  Once it dried all was well.

I ended up taping around all of the joints to ensure I have a better seal going forward.  I would say the Monster is mostly splash proof now as long as I stay away from the power button.  I may tape some cellophane over it later to help that out.

I do really like this EUC and hope that it survives my trials.

[Marty Backe]

26 minutes ago, Merrittous MonoWheel said:

My handle also broke on an impact in a similar spot as you said it is not the most robust case.  There are no hidden screws as such.  I just removed the side panels, unplugged the batteries (too much unbridled energy to free by accident) and removed them.  It is not really necessary to pull the batteries if they are glued down but it does make it easier to deal with.  There are screws on both sides of the top handle that need to be removed and I pulled the inner case on the none control board side ( there are a pile of screws holding it on the pedal but they are easy to get at.  The two halves slide together and are easy to slide apart.  Removing the little corner tabs gave more access to the inside of the handle.  It took me a couple of hours from start to finish as I was looking for any signs of faults in connections and wires.  Have fun

Thanks. I'll give it a shot soon. I'm not really interested in a full tear-down like you did, I just want to try and get the handle pieces secured again. They don't look like they are broken, but I suspect some of the screws were pulled out, stripping their threads in the process.

[Marty Backe]

Good to know about the ineffectiveness of the Monster water sealing. Fortunately it rains rarely where I live, therefore when it does rain I'm not inclined to go outside. I'm a fair weather rider 

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Maybe ask @Chris Westland where he got his silicon power button covers...

 

[Jrkline "Wheel Whisperer"]

On 4/9/2017 at 8:19 PM, Merrittous MonoWheel said:

I had a goal to make it to a radio tower at the top of a mountain behind my place.  

Are you a ham?

[Chris Westland]

9 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Maybe ask @Chris Westland where he got his silicon power button covers...

 

Amazon ... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0147XEH4K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Merrittous MonoWheel]

9 hours ago, jrkline said:

Are you a ham?

@jrkline no I'm not a ham (although my wife would probably argue differently) but it is on my hit list of things to do:-)  I should have said Cell tower.  I used to be a radio tech many, many (did I say many) years ago and had to service broken equipment on similar towers. I guess old habits die hard which is why I referred to it as a radio tower.

[US69]

12 hours ago, Merrittous MonoWheel said:

yes I feel very lucky I didn't face plant even more often. The board appears to silicon coated or something similar.  I was surprised to see the water coming in through the sides as I had ridden the Monster in fairly heavy rain 15km each way every day for a week when I was in Vancouver and had no issues.  I think what happens is that the case flexes under duress and has a different modulus of elasticity then the side panels.  This in turn will slightly open and close little gaps around the panels which if timed poorly allow water to get in.  This is my theory anyway.  

Some known spots for water to come in:

The Motherboard is screwed onto the plastic Shell with the heatsink directing to the wheel/tyre side,  a Silicon lip "should" protect the heatsink/board from getting water into the Shell.

 

But there are two known ways water can get in:

First is when a screw of the heatsink gets loose, then the Silicon lip will not be squeezed enough anymore

Second is when the heatsink gets that hot that it warms/deforms the Silicon lip, so that it is not waterproof anymore.

Take a look or take care there also.

 

That the powerbutton,when getting wet, will not let you power off the wheel is a known Symptome also.

Better as otherwise, if it would power off when wet is much worse :-)

You can shut off the wheel by laying it just on it's side, not needed to let it run into a cut-off :-)

[Merrittous MonoWheel]

11 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Thanks. I'll give it a shot soon. I'm not really interested in a full tear-down like you did, I just want to try and get the handle pieces secured again. They don't look like they are broken, but I suspect some of the screws were pulled out, stripping their threads in the process.

@Marty Backe when my handle separated I was able to just loosen the top screws on both sides and gently coax the two sides apart until things snapped back into place.  Although the shell feels pretty solid when everything is locked together, experience shows that under duress there is flexibility.  The is a good thing is it allow things to move instead of break.  Something about a blade of grass bending in the wind versus a tree branch that resists and breaks...sorry about that my sleep deprivation is kicking in:-)

[Merrittous MonoWheel]

1 minute ago, KingSong69 said:

Some other known spots for water to come in:

The Motherboard is screwed onto the plastic Shell with the heatsink directing to the wheel/tyre side,  a Silicon lip "should" protect the heatsink/board from getting water into the Shell.

 

But there are two known ways water can get in:

First is when a screw of the heatsink gets loose, then the Silicon lip will not be squeezed enough anymore

Second is when the heatsink gets that hot that it warms/deforms the Silicon lip, so that it is not waterproof anymore.

Take a look or take care there also.

 

That the powerbutton,when getting wet, will not let you power off the wheel is a known Symptome also.

Better as otherwise, if it would power off when wet is much worse :-)

You can shut off the wheel by laying it just on it's side, not needed to let it run into a cut-off :-)

Awesome tips!  I wondered about the control board as I can see the heat sink exposed on the backside.  I fully agree with the power button failing on as the other option is falling off:-)  Laying the Monster on its side would have been a bit easier than wrangling and angry spinning wheel until it goes to sleep

[Merrittous MonoWheel]

37 minutes ago, Chris Westland said:

Amazon ... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0147XEH4K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

@Chris Westland thanks for the link.  I will look into these.

[Marty Backe]

43 minutes ago, Merrittous MonoWheel said:

@Marty Backe when my handle separated I was able to just loosen the top screws on both sides and gently coax the two sides apart until things snapped back into place.  Although the shell feels pretty solid when everything is locked together, experience shows that under duress there is flexibility.  The is a good thing is it allow things to move instead of break.  Something about a blade of grass bending in the wind versus a tree branch that resists and breaks...sorry about that my sleep deprivation is kicking in:-)

Thanks. I'll try that first before I do more disassembly.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

8 hours ago, Merrittous MonoWheel said:

... Something about a blade of grass bending in the wind versus a tree branch that resists and breaks...sorry about that my sleep deprivation is kicking in:-)

“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.”

― Confucius must have ridden a Gotway

[steve454]

9 hours ago, KingSong69 said:

You can shut off the wheel by laying it just on it's side, not needed to let it run into a cut-off :-)

I never knew that, tried it just now with the Ninebot, laid it on it's side, it started beeping and the lights were flashing red, when I stood it up the power was shut off.  Great tip, thanks!

[US69]

10 minutes ago, steve454 said:

I never knew that, tried it just now with the Ninebot, laid it on it's side, it started beeping and the lights were flashing red, when I stood it up the power was shut off.  Great tip, thanks!

GW and KS behave like this:

Lay them on the side...they beep sometimes....and then go into a "break", power off...when you stood them up again...they automatically will power up again :-)

[Jrkline "Wheel Whisperer"]

9 hours ago, Merrittous MonoWheel said:

@jrkline no I'm not a ham (although my wife would probably argue differently) but it is on my hit list of things to do:-)  I should have said Cell tower.  I used to be a radio tech many, many (did I say many) years ago and had to service broken equipment on similar towers. I guess old habits die hard which is why I referred to it as a radio tower.

Well if you ever get a license,let me know and we can do some DX'in. KI6IER is my callsign.

[steve454]

18 minutes ago, KingSong69 said:

GW and KS behave like this:

Lay them on the side...they beep sometimes....and then go into a "break", power off...when you stood them up again...they automatically will power up again :-)

Thanks, just tried it again, the Ninebot will automatically power up again unless it lays on it's side for a longer time, like 20-21 beeps.  Then when stood up, it still is off.  If I leave it on it's side for 29 beeps, it goes bebeep, and shuts off while on it's side laying down.  Now I know what to do if the power button stops working.

Apparently, it didn't shut off completely, it just went to sleep mode.  It just now beeped twice like it does when it is leaning against the wall with the power on and it shuts off after about 5 minutes of inactivity.

[Merrittous MonoWheel]

4 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

“The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.”

― Confucius must have ridden a Gotway

Awesome, Awesome, awesome!  Before I had the lesson now I have the lesson plan.  Thank you.