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My Wife's KS16S Gets a Silicone Job


Rehab1

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My wife's new KS 16S arrived yesterday and it is beautiful. I love the silver! So once again it is now time to protect it so she feels comfortable riding it. 

I am in the beginning stages of applying the silicone protection. I first changed out the little black rubber bumper that was stuck to the pedals to prevent them from destroying the plastic shell when closed. I replaced it with a 3/8" clear self adhesive molding strip by Cowles. 

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Next I decided to add protection to the bottom of the pedals using the same thin silicone sheet material that was used on my wife's waterlogged KS14C. After the silicone template was cut out and ground smooth I heated it in an oven and then attached it to the pedal using double faced tape. The Kingsong logo became embossed on the silicone. I also removed the ugly KS label pasted over the pedals.

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Now onto covering the entire shell in silicone.

 

 

 

 

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From the web site picture I thought the sliver color might look a bit tacky, but from your picture not bad! is the underneath the plastic still white? 

I found this :
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N311P9D?tag=amz-mkt-chr-us-20&ascsubtag=1ba00-01000-a0049-win81-other-nomod-us000-pcomp-feature-scomp-wm-4

is almost same thing? 

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19 minutes ago, techflyjy said:

From the web site picture I thought the sliver color might look a bit tacky, but from your picture not bad! is the underneath the plastic still white? 

I found this :
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N311P9D?tag=amz-mkt-chr-us-20&ascsubtag=1ba00-01000-a0049-win81-other-nomod-us000-pcomp-feature-scomp-wm-4

is almost same thing? 

The whole shell, both top and bottom are silver. 

I can't tell from your picture but the description says the material is white. We purchase our material from a prosthetic supply company and we can heat to mold it.

There is another topic of mine that decribes the entire process for covering a wheel in silicone.

http://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/7343-create-a-custom-silicone-cover-for-any-euc/

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1 hour ago, Rehab1 said:

My wife's new KS 16S arrived yesterday and it is beautiful. I love the silver!

It's like I'm following the same exact path with my EUC purchases...first the KS-14C from Will, now the KS-16S?  Mine arrives today!

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29 minutes ago, Maximus said:

It's like I'm following the same exact path with my EUC purchases...first the KS-14C from Will, now the KS-16S?  Mine arrives today!

Congratulations! Hopefully your KS14C did not end up at the bottom of the lake too!

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3 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

Congratulations! Hopefully your KS14C did not end up at the bottom of the lake too!

Haha, no, but I almost threw it in a lake when it originally cut out on me :)

It's been smooth sailing ever since replacing the mother board, though.  In fact, the wheel has been so good that it ultimately influenced my next purchase to be the KS-16S!  Pretty sure that the only thing holding the 16S back from being an ACM/Gotway killer is the range and a little bit of speed.  I guess that's not such a small thing, but so many positives for this wheel, can't wait to go on my first ride!

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1 hour ago, Maximus said:

ultimately influenced my next purchase to be the KS-16S!  Pretty sure that the only thing holding the 16S back from being an ACM/Gotway killer is the range and a little bit of speed.  I guess that's not such a small thing, but so many positives for this wheel, can't wait to go on my first ride!

Just wait until you see the aesthetic lines and perfect fit of the plastic shells. The wheel is a thing of beauty! The first drop and ding will be emotional. :crying:

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Mywife's silicone job is progressing. I  covered both sides of the body today. The cover should be complete on Monday. I still have grinding and straps to apply. If anyone has any questions on the process that is not covered in the original video please let me know and I will try and help out. Thanks!

Here are some photos. Lots of contours to deal with on the KS16S.

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2 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

Mywife's silicone job is progressing. I  covered both sides of the body today. The cover should be complete on Monday. I still have grinding and straps to apply. If anyone has any questions on the process that is not covered in the original video please let me know and I will try and help out. Thanks!

So jealous!  My only question is how much will it cost me for you to whip up a second one and ship to Maine :)

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13 minutes ago, Maximus said:

So jealous!  My only question is how much will it cost me for you to whip up a second one and ship to Maine :)

The material is very expensive. $150 per sheet.  We wasted half a sheet today because of all the contours. My techs hate me right now! I can ask them but given the amount of time to get this far was 2 hours plus materials=  $300. Then there is another 1 1/2 - 2 hours hours in grinding, finishing, straps  and cutting out the holes for the lights and speakers. Not really worth paying that much for a cover. You can purchase silicone material on Amazon but you need a large enough oven. Each sheet was approximately 18" x 24". I will guide you though the fabrication process if you want to try it.

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2 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

I will guide you though the fabrication process if you want to try it.

haha, no I'm good.  The cover is awesome and makes me wish I had one, but you are absolutely correct, probably not worth the expense unless you have talents (and equipment) like yours to do it and make it look so nice :) 

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1 hour ago, Rehab1 said:

The material is very expensive. $150 per sheet.  We wasted half a sheet today because of all the contours. My techs hate me right now! I can ask them but given the amount of time to get this far was 2 hours plus materials=  $300. Then there is another 1 1/2 - 2 hours hours in grinding, finishing, straps  and cutting out the holes for the lights and speakers. Not really worth paying that much for a cover. You can purchase silicone material on Amazon but you need a large enough oven. Each sheet was approximately 18" x 24". I will guide you though the fabrication process if you want to try it.

@Rehab1 likes to tease us by showing us 'tech' that we can never have ourselves :crying:   Just kidding - I love to see the things that you do even though I will never pursue them myself, mostly.

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2 hours ago, Maximus said:

haha, no I'm good.  The cover is awesome and makes me wish I had one, but you are absolutely correct, probably not worth the expense unless you have talents (and equipment) like yours to do it and make it look so nice :) 

If I were riding the KS16S I would just add some molding strips to protect the wear areas. Being my wife is just learning to ride she is going to be tough on the wheel and I did not want her becoming paranoid of dropping it. She hates getting a small scratch on her car so a big ding or scratch on her new KS would really affect her. She also wants a strap that she can loop through the KS handle and her belt to assist in grabbing the wheel before it tumbles.

 

46 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

@Rehab1 likes to tease us by showing us 'tech' that we can never have ourselves :crying:   Just kidding - I love to see the things that you do even though I will never pursue them myself, mostly.

Oh it is not rocket science. I can easily teach someone the technique.

When heated in an oven the silicone becomes like taffy and you just drape mold it over the wheel's outer shell while forming the contours with gloved hands. You do need to spray the entire wheel with a silicone release agent. Once you are done with the first side you simply mark and trim the silicone with scissors , flip the wheel over and do the other side. All of the holes for the speakers and lights can easily be cut out using a utility knife. You can then use self stick Velcro that is available almost everywhere that will hold the silicone cover in place.

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2 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

Oh it is not rocket science. I can easily teach someone the technique.

When heated the silicone is like taffy and you just drape mold it over the shell while forming the contours with gloved hands. You do need to spray the entire wheel with a silicone release agent. Once you are done with the first side you simply mark trim the silicone with scissors , flip the wheel over and do the other side. All of the holes for the speakers and lights can easily be cut out using a utility knife. You can then use self stick Velcro that is available almost everywhere that will hold the silicone cover in place.

I'll admit, you made that sound pretty easy :whistling:

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6 minutes ago, Maximus said:

I'll admit, you made that sound pretty easy :whistling:

Just think of wrapping the sides of your wheel with a big sheet of play dough. Once you apply it just  gently start smoothing the material around the contours of the shell,  including the leg pads, using your hands and fingers while wearing gloves. It's fun. It does take 2 people to handle the silicone sheet as it becomes very flexible when heated up.

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38 minutes ago, Rehab1 said:

If I were riding the KS16S I would just add some molding strips to protect the wear areas. Being my wife is just learning to ride she is going to be tough on the wheel and I did not want her becoming paranoid of dropping it. She hates getting a small scratch on her car so a big ding or scratch on her new KS would really affect her. She also wants a strap that she can loop through the KS handle and her belt to assist in grabbing the wheel before it tumbles.

 

Oh it is not rocket science. I can easily teach someone the technique.

When heated in an oven the silicone becomes like taffy and you just drape mold it over the wheel's outer shell while forming the contours with gloved hands. You do need to spray the entire wheel with a silicone release agent. Once you are done with the first side you simply mark and trim the silicone with scissors , flip the wheel over and do the other side. All of the holes for the speakers and lights can easily be cut out using a utility knife. You can then use self stick Velcro that is available almost everywhere that will hold the silicone cover in place.

There's the small detail of that oven ;)

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30 minutes ago, charlesrg said:

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy new cover once the cover is scratched ?

I think you're on to something...

:thumbup:

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2 hours ago, charlesrg said:

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy new cover once the cover is scratched ?

They should ship these things with two shells.  The one mounted on the wheel would be the training shell.  Could be roughly/cheaply finished.  Wouldn't need to be translucent because who cares about the LED show when you are dumping the wheel on the regular.  Might even include some extra material to protect the legs of the newbie rider.  Second shell would be sleek.  

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On 7/18/2017 at 7:36 PM, Rehab1 said:

I first changed out the little black rubber bumper that was stuck to the pedals to prevent them from destroying the plastic shell when closed.

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I just moved the original pieces to the sides of the shell instead of the pedals, so they aren't in the way of my foot.

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