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I've owned my MiniPro for three months now, riding it about 5 days a week. I ride it to and from work each day, which is 2 miles there and 2 miles back over flat terrain.

When I get back home (after 4 miles) I've got one bar left of the battery, and will have actually been at that level for the last half-mile of my commute with reduced speed. I suspect I could go maybe 1 more mile on the battery before it died. Next time I go out I'll try to get a screenshot from the ninebot app confirming the exact battery %.

Since it does get me to work and back each day (which is why I got it) I haven't felt the need to complain. I just assumed that advertised range of 14 miles by ninebot was some hypothetical maximum achieved by a 80-pound person going downhill in a vacuum, and being a 190-pound person I should expect less range. But this seems like a lot less. But looking around on the internet is seems that other people of comparable weight are going up and down hills and still getting a much further range out of their miniPro.

So what gives? Should I file a warranty claim for a faulty battery, or is this to be expected? I have tried out the charger from More4Mini and it does get me maybe a mile extra range, enough so that I'm not stuck at a reduced speed for a chunk of my commute. But if there is something wrong with my battery, I'd like to know.

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19 minutes ago, Seastan said:

I've owned my MiniPro for three months now, riding it about 5 days a week. I ride it to and from work each day, which is 2 miles there and 2 miles back over flat terrain.

When I get back home (after 4 miles) I've got one bar left of the battery, and will have actually been at that level for the last half-mile of my commute with reduced speed. I suspect I could go maybe 1 more mile on the battery before it died. Next time I go out I'll try to get a screenshot from the ninebot app confirming the exact battery %.

Since it does get me to work and back each day (which is why I got it) I haven't felt the need to complain. I just assumed that advertised range of 14 miles by ninebot was some hypothetical maximum achieved by a 80-pound person going downhill in a vacuum, and being a 190-pound person I should expect less range. But this seems like a lot less. But looking around on the internet is seems that other people of comparable weight are going up and down hills and still getting a much further range out of their miniPro.

So what gives? Should I file a warranty claim for a faulty battery, or is this to be expected? I have tried out the charger from More4Mini and it does get me maybe a mile extra range, enough so that I'm not stuck at a reduced speed for a chunk of my commute. But if there is something wrong with my battery, I'd like to know.

I know very little about the MiniPro, but 4-miles seems unusually short to me. Hopefully one of our MiniPro experts will chime in here.

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@Seastan Sounds like a bad battery/cells. 4 miles is not even in the ballpark of what it should be. With the normal EU-type adapter (63v, or More4Mini one), you should get around 20 miles in warm weather.

There were quite a few reports about DOA MiniPro batteries lately so chances that you've got a lemon are pretty high.

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a few thoughts:

batteries get less useful over time, but 4 miles at 3 months is too fast

My minipro has been my daily commuter for over 1 year (190lb ), and I'm probably at 6-8 miles for realistic use. I've heard people mention if you like to fast accelerate, you'll eat more power.

the battery gauge is not always entirely accurate. it seems to burn down faster after continuous rides. sometimes I'll be at 1 bar, then many hours later when powering it up and using it later, it'll go to 2 or 3.

 

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Thanks for the replies so far. I have some screenshots of my commute this morning:

Fully charged:

Screenshot_2018-01-22-09-15-06.thumb.png.7aca2d316c6923f2f3a3169229ecc416.png

After 3.8 km:

Screenshot_2018-01-22-09-34-47.thumb.png.9e63851bcaa7a429debc7bf6c947b65b.png

Screenshot_2018-01-22-09-35-11.thumb.png.6003fd59d4dfe1dedddbe29bea468fe8.png

 

44 minutes ago, icom said:

batteries get less useful over time, but 4 miles at 3 months is too fast

I do recall getting a bit better range the first week I had it - maybe 6 miles with the stock charger? I recall it going completely dead in the middle of a longer commute I made in that first week, around the 5 mile mark. Though part of that commute was uphill.

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1 hour ago, Seastan said:

Thanks for the replies so far. I have some screenshots of my commute this morning:

Fully charged:

Screenshot_2018-01-22-09-15-06.thumb.png.7aca2d316c6923f2f3a3169229ecc416.png

After 3.8 km:

Screenshot_2018-01-22-09-34-47.thumb.png.9e63851bcaa7a429debc7bf6c947b65b.png

Screenshot_2018-01-22-09-35-11.thumb.png.6003fd59d4dfe1dedddbe29bea468fe8.png

 

I do recall getting a bit better range the first week I had it - maybe 6 miles with the stock charger? I recall it going completely dead in the middle of a longer commute I made in that first week, around the 5 mile mark. Though part of that commute was uphill.

That's some drastic remaining mileage drop after just 3.8 km and 15 minutes ride! A am getting around 30 km/19 miles stated mileage and got more than  32km real range last summer (at +25C):

 

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What was the temperture during that last recorded trip? And show the battery info screen at the start.  Certainly with the 63V charger you should be getting more than 4-5 miles, but maybe not if it is cold. Also what is your tire pressure?

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As a data point. This weekend at about 40°F, i got 9.1km with 37%/2137mAh remaining on basically flat trip with 1 good hill. I started with 87%/4977mAh capacity.  Battery started at 16°C and ended at 19°C.   This is probably typical for me, hard to say since i didn't start with a full battery as i normally would.  

If the mileage shown on yours is all that has been done on that battery, then it seems to be underperforming, but i would not rule out tire pressure.

Edited by FreeRide
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7 hours ago, FreeRide said:

What was the temperture during that last recorded trip? And show the battery info screen at the start.  Certainly with the 63V charger you should be getting more than 4-5 miles, but maybe not if it is cold. Also what is your tire pressure?

Even in cold weather it's not what it should be. Good point with the tire pressure though as all of mine MiniPro's were delivered to me with too low tire pressure.

Edited by Vik's
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15 hours ago, FreeRide said:

What was the temperature during that last recorded trip? And show the battery info screen at the start.  Certainly with the 63V charger you should be getting more than 4-5 miles, but maybe not if it is cold. Also what is your tire pressure?

I don't have a pressure gauge but I checked them with my hands and they feel pretty low. I'll pump them up and see if it helps any. Thanks for the tip! Unsure if it will double my expected range though...

The coldest temperatures I ride in are around 10 C.

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8 hours ago, Seastan said:

I don't have a pressure gauge but I checked them with my hands and they feel pretty low. I'll pump them up and see if it helps any. Thanks for the tip! Unsure if it will double my expected range though...

The coldest temperatures I ride in are around 10 C.

If you can feel the tires with your hands as low (slightly squishy), then they're REALLY low. Wouldn't surprise me if they're in the 15-20 psi range. That will absolutely TANK your mileage. As icom stated, pump them to 45 PSI. 

Edited by WilliamG
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On 1/22/2018 at 6:15 PM, FreeRide said:

What was the temperature during that last recorded trip? And show the battery info screen at the start.  Certainly with the 63V charger you should be getting more than 4-5 miles, but maybe not if it is cold. Also what is your tire pressure?

 

On 1/23/2018 at 1:25 AM, Vik's said:

Even in cold weather it's not what it should be. Good point with the tire pressure though as all of mine MiniPro's were delivered to me with too low tire pressure.

 

On 1/23/2018 at 10:50 AM, icom said:

45 psi recommended,

 

16 hours ago, WilliamG said:

If you can feel the tires with your hands as low (slightly squishy), then they're REALLY low. Wouldn't surprise me if they're in the 15-20 psi range. That will absolutely TANK your mileage. As icom stated, pump them to 45 PSI. 

 

THANK YOU everyone! I just checked with a pressure gauge and as you suspected, my air pressure was INSANELY low, like 10 psi low. I feel really dumb for not thinking to check this, but I guess the pressure must have been that low when I received the miniPRO and I just assumed they came properly filled.

I pumped them up to 45 psi this morning and rode it to work, and WOW. It's like I have a whole new device. Faster acceleration/stopping, and it also fixed an annoying clicking noise I was getting with the right wheel. But most of all the range - I burned only 10% of my battery over the 2 mile commute. Which is about 5 times better range than what I was getting before. Crazy, but when I think about how much harder riding a bike is with flat tires, it makes sense.

I guess I will cancel that warranty claim I sent in to Segway...

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YAY! Glad to hear that solved your issue. 10 psi is... wow... insane.  I always check my pressures before every ride. Because these are tubeless, a little air will always be escaping as the seal is between the tire and the metal only. 

Enjoy riding! :)

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1 hour ago, icom said:

I can't imagine what riding around at 10 psi feels like. wouldn't you be riding almost tire against metal..

Yep, I also suspect it's the reason I lost all my red screw covers within the first week, because the flattened tire must have popped them off.

1 hour ago, icom said:

another tip.. I use my minipro as a daily commuter, I check tire pressure every 2 weeks, tend to lose around 3-5 psi

i used to do 1x weekly, but you really don't need to.

Thanks, I'll be sure to do a biweekly check from here on out.

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12 hours ago, FreeRide said:

Nice to have it all solved.  My tires keep their pressure pretty well, i can't remember if i used green-goo or not, but i might have. 

Ditto. I am checking the tire pressure like once in a couple of month and they keep the pressure alright.

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  • 9 months later...

 I routinely get 17 miles range when riding on fairly level Terrain, and because I am 6'4" and 280 + lb when I go over incline's or hilly Terrain my mileage decreases dramatically I've owned mine now for 3 weeks  and was only getting around 10 miles  per charge one thing I did to increase my range was to inflate the tires to 65 PSI I do not recommend this as Tire failure may occur so try this at your own risk, it works for me the ride is somewhat rough but the benefit of the extended range outweighs the drawbacks in my opinion I only have 57 miles on it will keep you informed about my range as my total mileage increases

Edited by Segway Sam
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  • 4 years later...

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