Jump to content

Solowheel Xtreme -- partial take down / disassembly


Daan

Recommended Posts

I wanted to install my bike computer more permanently with a nicely hidden wire, so I opened up my Solowheel Xtreme partially; here is how to take it apart.

(Disclaimer: this may void your warranty and/or break your wheel. Do it at your own risk!!  Also, I just tried this out -- there may be a better way or order to it)

1. Unscrew the top handle and the screw in the rubber charger connector; after this you can remove the top black padding by shifting it upward (and slightly pressing in). (and ignore the bike computer :rolleyes:)

Solowheel-1.thumb.jpg.26401d78747e9a3927

2. In the picture below, the red circles show where the black padding hooks went in. When putting it back, be careful not to catch any wires.  Wow, very neat wire arrangement, even with markings. Most wires were also neatly attached with 'heat glue'. It may help to have a heat glue device yourself to re-attach if necessary (about $8,-). And we see the advantage of a double shell: the wires are on the outside and there are no holes exposed where dirt and water can come in (from the inside). Below, I also unscrewed the blue and red displays -- and unplugged the charger wire (part of it is in the black shell).

Solowheel-4.thumb.jpg.69be181ebcdec73bfe

3. unscrew the 5 shell screws on the sides; I used a piece of tape to remember where each screw belongs. Note, only unscrew one side -- see next why. Actually, In the above photo I turned the wheel around which is not necessary. And you need to turn it again, such that the "CE" marked wheel pad is up. But first unscrew on both sides the 7 big screws on the vertical bars above the pads. Actually, if you only need access to the tire, then you should not remove the shell that contains the control wire and can leave in the 7 big screws on that side (the side that does not have CE label pad).

Solowheel-5.thumb.jpg.dc700852754a2119e3

4. Now, carefully turn the wheel as the shell is loose now. Make sure the "CE" marked pad is up. Then carefully turn the top shell around the top of the wheel.Solowheel-5a.thumb.jpg.42aad8d6dd7238263

5. Again, note how I use tape to remember where all screws came from. Such neat design: the inside shell is completely dust/water proof -- no holes are exposed. Because we unscrewed only one side of the shell in the beginning, the square metal bars are now attached to one side of the shells:Solowheel-5b.thumb.jpg.b659cb80946761219 

If we would have screwed off both sides, the bars would all come loose.

6. Now we are ready to remove the wheel -- but the other side has the thick wire that controls the wheel motor inside the wheel. Actually, this step should only be done if necessary since you must be very careful not to twist or bend the wire. Don't do this side if you are not comfortable with it.  Anyway, we need to remove it carefully and not pull, twist or bend the control wire . The wire sits in a cutout in the shell and can be slowly extended; here is a view underneath the wheel:

Solowheel-6.thumb.jpg.a845c53d624de399bd

once you see it, you can slowly turn the wheel to its side and pull the wire out of the cutout (marked in red).Solowheel-7.thumb.jpg.e07cf4374c213be1ab

and that is it. I must say I was tempted to open inner compartments and look at the battery and mainboard but in the end decided not to do it -- I enjoy my wheel too much at the moment and didn't want to break anything. This must wait for another time :D  Putting it back is doing everything in reverse and being careful not to catch any wires. Also, when re-attaching the 7 screws on each vertical bar do this slowly and evenly such that they all go in lightly and are well-aligned. Only then tighten them up. Finally, don't forget to re-attach the charging wire when attaching the black padding again -- and make 100% sure red goes to red, and black to black!!!! Also, don't overtighten the two screws in the handle -- if you strip the screws you are without a handle...

I did all of this to get the bike computer neatly tucked away; I'll show that in the next post B)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, here is how I installed the bike computer... First, I glued the sensor at just the right spot. I already tried this out when the wheel was assembled to ensure it is orthogonal to the magnet on the wheel and close enough; moreover, it has to be on the opposite side of the valve or otherwise there is not enough clearance. The bike computer is a CatEye Velo 9 (about $30,-) which is wired since wireless ones don't work due to RF interference. The sensor is glued using Amazing goop -- I tried super-glue before but these are too hard and brittle and break when doing off-road or curbs. The goop is more flexible and I hope it will stay on -- it did until now :D  Then I used heat glue ($10) to neatly attach the wire on the inside of the shell.

(as an aside: installing a bike computer may prove useless when the new blu-tooth app comes out but I wanted to have an odo meter right from the start; also, you can easily use tape too to attach the wire without doing any disassembly of the wheel: see the topic here)

Solowheel-Sensor-2a.thumb.jpg.e502b0707e

I drilled a tiny hole in the cutout for the wires for the blue 'display' on the Xtreme where I put the wire through  (I removed the mounting station as shown later)

Solowheel-Sensor-2.thumb.jpg.1cd611ed41d

Removing the mounting station: you need to lift the little contacts such that the 'prongs' come out of the wire underneath. After that you can install the wheel again and cut the wire just to the right length.I still left it a little too long and tucked away some wire underneath the blue display.

Solowheel-Sensor-4.thumb.jpg.b8a35eddd50Solowheel-Sensor-5.thumb.jpg.a9a6dfec3bd

Also, I messed up and ended up soldering the wire to the prongs in the end:

Solowheel-Sensor-5a.thumb.jpg.390657804e

Then, I drilled two tiny holes on the side of the mount, and attached it to the handle using a small tie-rip.

Solowheel-Sensor-6.thumb.jpg.2e722209283

Here is how the sensor sits:

Solowheel-Sensor-7.thumb.jpg.1e2cd7064ba

 

Anyway, I  hope this helps; enjoy B)

@admins: I guess this topic should be in 'mods & repairs' -- can you move it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Daan,

GREAT Write-up!! 
You are a quick learner I notice :)  You're really getting comfortable with the XTreme.

Yuu didn't by any change take any pictures of the battery compartment and the battery itself did you?

I am still curious on what the real world effective range of the Xtreme is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GREAT Write-up!! 
...

Yuu didn't by any change take any pictures of the battery compartment and the battery itself did you?

I am still curious on what the real world effective range of the Xtreme is.

Thanks Maarten B)  No, I didn't want to open the compartments after all as I was worried to damage something -- don't fix something that works :)  I am curious too though...

Thanks sharing Daan. What's you impression of the water-resistance of the XTreme? The top panels seem to cover the panel seems, which is good?

I think it is very water/dust resistant; Only the compartments need to stay dry -- on the inside are the flat gray panels that seem pretty water/dust resistant on the seams. I cannot tell how much since I didn't unscrew those but it looks very solid. The only other place where stuff can get in is on the outside of the shells in the holes where the wires come from. Those holes are underneath the black top 'padding' -- it would be hard for water or dust to get there; The top-seam is covered by the colored panels/displays but that is not so important as there is nothing underneath the seam; just the wheel. :)  

The one part that worried me is the wheel control wire bundle which seems a bit banged up -- I'll post a picture later. (that has nothing to do with dust/water resistance though)

Oh, you did not mention magnet, did you goop or hotglue to wheel, it really needs screwed on/epoxy ... Hotglue will only work for short while, and lose it...

Ah, right. I used super glue as that was a metal-metal bond and it seems to hold just fine.  The sensor was attached with 'amazing goop' which is actually a very strong glue so I hope it will hold. B) I agree -- you can certainly not use hotglue for that!!  If it still doesn't hold I guess I need to resort to epoxy although I am not sure if that doesn't get brittle also?

I think hotglue is ok for the wire though as that is so small and light.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...