Using a Heat-Gun Makes Tire Change a Breeze

[Jason McNeil]

Over the past several years, I've probably done well over 50 tire changes. For me, the most difficult part is removing the tire from the motor rim, especially on the smaller 14" Wheels. I had the brilliant idea of using a heat gun to preheat the tire, the difference is day & night, wanted to share this trick with you guys on the forum. Here's a step-by-step guide for changing the tire on a 14D.

https://www.ewheels.com/techniques-taking-14d-tire-change-20-minutes/ 

Techniques for Taking on a 14D Tire Change in Under 20 Minutes

Getting a flat tire on an Electric Unicycle can a pain to replace, depending on the model of Wheel you own, it can can take upwards of an hour-and-a-half. In our experience, over 95% of case of flat tires that we’ve seen are the direct result of not having sufficient pressure in the tire, causing premature wear when the innertube rubs against the inside of tire. To reduce the chances of getting a flat, it’s advisable to periodically check the pressure & inflate it appropriately for your weight, for more information on this topic, please refer to this blog post https://www.ewheels.com/guide-tires-appropriate-pressures-electric-unicycle/

This short step-by-step guide will try to help you get on the road with the minimal amount of downtime; although it applies to the King song 14D/14S, the same principles may be applicable for other models as well:

Step 1: Removing Motor Screws from Right Side

Rather than taking the Wheel completely apart, it’s much easier to simply remove the five large screws (on the right side) that secure the motor to the shell, which are revealed by removing the lower pad, held in place with a double-sided adhesive—the right-side is relative to power button positioned in on the front-right.

Step 2: Taking the Left Panel Off

The other side is somewhat more time consuming. The first step here is to use a flat-head screwdriver to pry/unclip the LED strip from it’s encasement & remove the four screws on either side. Next remove the lower pad, similar to the left side, you’ll then remove the five motor screws, along with the four other screws on either side of these. Pull away the upper pad & unscrew the remaining top four screws—these screws are slight longer than than the others, so keep separately for reassembly.

You’ll then use the flat-head screwdriver & slide it from the lower-left to right side, which will unclip the outer panel to the innershell.

Step 3: Removing the Motor

Now that outer panel has been removed, disconnect the Motor power cable connect & the adjoining smaller one with the five fine wires.

Lift the inner-shell & pull the motor out away from you; please be careful during the removal not to shred or fray these delicate wires.

Step 4: Apply heat to the tire 

It can extremely arduous to remove the tire from the rim; to help the process, use either a heat-gun or hairdryer (if you don’t have the former) to increase the temperature of the rubber—warm to the touch, but don’t overdo it— which will make the tire compound a lot more malleable & easier to work with.

Step 5: Install the Innertube with the 90° Valve Stem Facing Right

The orientation of the valve stem is important; if it’s installed on the left-facing direction, there will not be enough clearance between the shell & the valve, which will result in a knocking or scrapping whenever the wheel is rotated.

Step 6: Reassemble the Wheel

Should you have difficulty refitting the tire, use the same tire preheating technique. It’s recommended to inflate the tire before reinstalling, so that you can see if there’s any irregularities in the form. When reinstalling the motor, run the wires through the slots in the shell first, then rescrew everything back into place. With a powertool, such as the gyroscopic DeWalt screwdriver, the whole operation can be completed in about 20 minutes.

Edited February 12, 2018 by Jason McNeil

[Mono]

You don't use liquid soap or something alike to get the tire off and on the rim?

[Marty Backe]

6 hours ago, Jason McNeil said:

Over the past several years, I've probably done well over 50 tire changes. For me, the most difficult part is removing the tire from the motor rim, especially on the smaller 14" Wheels. I had the brilliant idea of using a heat gun to preheat the tire, the difference is day & night, wanted to share this trick with you guys on the forum. Here's a step-by-step guide for changing the tire on a 14D.

https://www.ewheels.com/techniques-taking-14d-tire-change-20-minutes/ 

Techniques for Taking on a 14D Tire Change in Under 20 Minutes

Getting a flat tire on an Electric Unicycle can a pain to replace, depending on the model of Wheel you own, it can can take upwards of an hour-and-a-half. In our experience, over 95% of case of flat tires that we’ve seen are the direct result of not having sufficient pressure in the tire, causing premature wear when the innertube rubs against the inside of tire. To reduce the chances of getting a flat, it’s advisable to periodically check the pressure & inflate it appropriately for your weight, for more information on this topic, please refer to this blog post https://www.ewheels.com/guide-tires-appropriate-pressures-electric-unicycle/

This short step-by-step guide will try to help you get on the road with the minimal amount of downtime; although it applies to the King song 14D/14S, the same principles may be applicable for other models as well:

Step 1: Removing Motor Screws from Right Side

Rather than taking the Wheel completely apart, it’s much easier to simply remove the five large screws (on the right side) that secure the motor to the shell, which are revealed by removing the lower pad, held in place with a double-sided adhesive—the right-side is relative to power button positioned in on the front-right.

 

Step 2: Taking the Left Panel Off

The other side is somewhat more time consuming. The first step here is to use a flat-head screwdriver to pry/unclip the LED strip from it’s encasement & remove the four screws on either side. Next remove the lower pad, similar to the left side, you’ll then remove the five motor screws, along with the four other screws on either side of these. Pull away the upper pad & unscrew the remaining top four screws—these screws are slight longer than than the others, so keep separately for reassembly.

 

You’ll then use the flat-head screwdriver & slide it from the lower-left to right side, which will unclip the outer panel to the innershell.

 

Step 3: Removing the Motor

Now that outer panel has been removed, disconnect the Motor power cable connect & the adjoining smaller one with the five fine wires.

 

Lift the inner-shell & pull the motor out away from you; please be careful during the removal not to shred or fray these delicate wires.

 

Step 4: Apply heat to the tire 

It can extremely arduous to remove the tire from the rim; to help the process, use either a heat-gun or hairdryer (if you don’t have the former) to increase the temperature of the rubber—warm to the touch, but don’t overdo it— which will make the tire compound a lot more malleable & easier to work with.

 

Step 5: Install the Innertube with the 90° Valve Stem Facing Right

The orientation of the valve stem is important; if it’s installed on the left-facing direction, there will not be enough clearance between the shell & the valve, which will result in a knocking or scrapping whenever the wheel is rotated.

 

Step 6: Reassemble the Wheel

Should you have difficulty refitting the tire, use the same tire preheating technique. It’s recommended to inflate the tire before reinstalling, so that you can see if there’s any irregularities in the form. When reinstalling the motor, run the wires through the slots in the shell first, then rescrew everything back into place. With a powertool, such as the gyroscopic DeWalt screwdriver, the whole operation can be completed in about 20 minutes.

Great info Jason. I'm filing this in my KS14S folder. Hopefully I won't need to replace the tube, but if I do ...

[Daniel589]

Thanks for the information! Just do not quite understand the 4 points.

 

Tell me what is the necessary temperature on the hair dryer or heat gun? Any suitable? Bought just such a heat gun Appliance Master HG is it suitable for this? How to understand that everything turned out? I'm new, don't get angry, just try to figure it out.

 

If you give a useful guide to read, I will be grateful.

[Rywokast]

hmmm.. wish i would have thought of that lol.. done about 10 tire changes.. first one i discovered that you definitely cannot use household items and broke many spoons.. second try with some cheapo walmart tire levers.. no go, broke one and the rest just bent like crazy.. okay amazon got some metal ones and now i can do a tire change without much trouble but it does take a great deal of struggling with it, and the smaller the more difficult.. havent tried soap and water because it seems too messy but i do have a hair dryer and a heat gun so i will definitely try that next time  and ps. for anyone changing the tire on an inmotion v5f they actually have the valve stem facing the opposite way, they have it facing the same direction that the tire is rotating, whereas every other euc ive seen does the valve stem facing away from the tire rotation direction for obvious reasons... i found this out the hard way, changed a v5f tire, rode it... constant knocking noise, wtf.. could tell it was the valve stem, got annoyed and pulled it apart the same day switched it to the opposite and zero noise, i have actually seen pictures of factory installed v5f tires with it facing towards the rotation of the tire as well so it seems they have done it this way intentionally for some weird reason

[Mono]

8 hours ago, Daniel589 said:

Thanks for the information! Just do not quite understand the 4 points.

I use bicycle tire levers (though more robust ones than those in the vid) and soap on the rim where the tire needs to pass it.

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by Mono

[.....]

Laying tires and or plastic parts out in the sun on black asphalt before installing or repairing, has always been an easy goto. For those interested in changing tires, do yourself a favor and just buy some decent metal irons made for motorcycles. Longer irons = more leverage = less muscle = more muscle leftover to do beer curls...    Old milk jugs cut down, make dandy rim protectors.   Thread resurrection successful!