Ninebot S1 melted wires - repair advice?

[Michael Lutge]

Hey guys, the other day I was doing some practicing in my place on my Ninebot S1 and I noticed a hot electronics smell. I had been doing a lot of quick back and forth movements practicing balance and riding backwards when I smelled something. I then started riding straight for a little ways and that's when the wheel just cut out on me and wouldn't turn back on. On inspection I saw that I had some melted wiring (see pic). This is my first wheel and as I was learning I took some hard spills where the case at times would get knocked a little loose. I just kind of pushed it back on. I'm wondering if I could have pinched some wiring between the housing and the plastic cover and maybe that's what led to the meltdown? Or could it have been a buildup of heat due to my quick back and forth practice?

Anyways, I'm not experienced dealing with wiring or repairs of this type. Can you guys offer any advice on the best way to get this repaired? What type of wiring, splicing, connectors would I need etc?

Thanks!

[houseofjob]

Pendulums are one of the most power demanding tasks for an EUC, creating the greatest current. Doing so aggressively enough might create an overpower cutout, as the S1 is not the strongest of EUC motors.

Definitely contact your distributor. If you are handy, I would cut off that black wrap to investigate if anything underneath has melted.

[Michael Lutge]

2 minutes ago, houseofjob said:

Pendulums are one of the most power demanding tasks for an EUC, creating the greatest current. Doing so aggressively enough might create an overpower cutout, as the S1 is not the strongest of EUC motors.

Definitely contact your distributor. If you are handy, I would cut off that black wrap to investigate if anything underneath has melted.

Pendulums - thanks for defining that move for me! I'll take a look under the wrap and see what's up. Yes, I've been pushing this little wheel pretty hard lately I'm not surprised I hit it's limits. About to pull the trigger on a new wheel soon.

Thanks for the feedback!

[meepmeepmayer]

Oh God I'm having flashbacks! Didn't know the Ninebot wires could melt, too.

Pretty sure the reason is simply the wires are too thin for the high currents you can produce, so they heat up and melt their insulation and finally short together (it does not look like something got disconnected, so a short is probably what stopped the wheel). You can also see that from the bullet connectors (the thick parts that melted down) that melted their plastic covering (but didn't fail = disconnect). The wires and connectors just got very hot. The places where the cables and connector coverings touched each other or something else is where the heat damage appears first.

You likely need a new board, if the short fried it. Also, either a new motor, or you fix those cables somehow (attach new cable "below" the bad spots and attach new bullet connectors). Sorry, can't help with how to do that. @Rehab1 did a lot of this stuff.

Do the wires say what their diameter is (AWG rating or such, like 16AWG)? Both the ones from the board and the ones from the motor (which look thinner).

Anyways, contact your dealer. Should be a warranty thing. Even if not, ask them what to do exactly.

Also, not too much penduluming in the future, it appears the wheel just can't take such high currents for long. It seems to be inherent, not something that can be fixed.

And if your wheels smells like burnt electronics, stop riding immediately

--

For reference, I did this to my Gotway ACM by going up a long, steep hill (high current) and had the exact same thing (because the cables are too thin). Then later, I got the melty connector issue too.

Cables melting their insulation and shorting together: (you can also see the AWG rating printed on the cable, but the more interesting rating is the thinner-cable motor side, not the board side which is usually thicker)

I needed a new board and motor after that. Your mileage may vary. @Marty Backe had the same thing, as have some others.

Melty connector: (it melted where it touched the shell, the others were hangin in free air and were okay, but they obviously all got hotter than they should ever be)

[steve454]

You can call the repair center, and have them fix it for you.  They won't send you a mainboard anyway, although I think other places will sell you one, but then there's the melted wires and who knows what else might need replacing.  They are on the east coast, so might be closed for the day.

http://www.ninebotrepair.com/

 

 

[meepmeepmayer]

Yep, he's right, I forgot Ninebot won't let you do your own repairs. Since you probably need a new board, you can't do it yourself.

[Michael Lutge]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Bummed that I might need a new board. If I shipped the wheel out to ninebot repair and it needed a new board would I be looking at around $300 for all of that? Wondering at what point I cut my loses and just get a bigger wheel.

[steve454]

3 hours ago, Michael Lutge said:

Thanks for the feedback guys. Bummed that I might need a new board. If I shipped the wheel out to ninebot repair and it needed a new board would I be looking at around $300 for all of that? Wondering at what point I cut my loses and just get a bigger wheel.

@Rehab1 had the board replaced on a ninebot and said it was less than $200 including shipping, but with the further distance and wire damage, you may be right,  might be time for a bigger wheel.