Mini PLUS glove compartment/trunk falls off + fix

[Boogieman]

I have only ridden my plus maybe 5-10 times ouside and allready my "trunk" (as indicated on the small compartment) has fallen off, forcing me to drive back and look for it. Luckily i have found it both times in one piece and in both cases my remote was in the trunk, lickily the rubbery band still held it in place both times...pure luck :-)

So today i thought i would disassemble and look for improvements.

1.I removed the two screws holding the latch

2. Took out the latch mechanism and found a rubber boot over the pin that is pushed by the button (preventing dust from outside i Guess), but the boot was a bit damaged/deformed due to the construction and maybe a assembly error.

3. Removed the lid on the small mechanism and found a spring loaded latch that looks like this when taken apart. GodGood thing the important parts are in metal.

4. Bad part...no grease or lubricant was present so I added some PTFE spray on the surfaces of the metallic latch and a very thin  layer on the plastic push button (drying of residues) and resembled everything. When assembling the latch assembly on the final position (compartment lid) i made sure to push the mechanism as far up (toward edge of compartment) as possible to make the latch catch as deep as possible, before tightening the screws holding it in place.

5. It seemed to do the trick, because now i can push the lid into place without having to push the button (before it got "stuck" forcing me to push the button to fit it). That makes it a lot easier to hear the click when it locks into place. Maybe it have not done that properly before and thus fallen off. Its a very tight fit and even just the remote string can prevent it from locking properly.

 

So make sure to always pull a bit on the compartment after locking to make sure it is properly latched (or you might end up loosing it and whatever is inside)

If you don't want to go through the hastle of disassembly and just want to lubricate, it would have the biggest effect doing this on the latch pin, spray close to the plastic walls of the latch. Then also press down the button and give a short spray between button and chassis walls and wipe of residues.make sure to use palstic friendly spray like ptfe or silicone. I don't know how well the plastic handles mineral based sprays lile wd40 or 5-56 which is the equivalent in Europe.

You can also loosen the two screws holding the latch and press it toward the edge (there is some hole play that allows a tiny bit of adjustment) and tighten it but make sure not to overtighten since that will break the plastic threads.

 

Of course you do everything on your own risk

[Boogieman]

Video of latch clicking in place after the "fix". As you hear the first "click" this is just the compartment reaching the bottom, but NOT LOCKED. I then have to push a bit sideways (sometimes) to get a lock, so might check the "hole" for the latch next if that can accept a bit more sideway offset and still lock

(Resson: not enough storage in one message)

VID_20180402_220557.mp4

[Boogieman]

Found one more issue with the compartment that prevented proper lock, especially since i had to lift up the rubber boot to remove the latch.

The rubber boot inside the compartment is not properly adhered at the lock mechanism, so it protrudes and acts as a resistance when push-locking the compartment.

There is a tiny piece of adhesive tape but it matches the hollow part where the is some nr in the plastic, so adhesion is close to zero.

I removed the tape, cleaned the rubbery boot with isopropanol and then added a larger piece with cut outs for the screws (to maximize adhesion area).

I also added a piece on the vertical edge to help keep the boot"down" and minimize the lifting force of the"lip". Don't put it like i did, put it on the plastic (i did that after the photo) since it will slide of the boot as you press it down and make a messy adhesion point.

The boot gives really bad grip on adhesive tape (i use a very good type, similar to 3M) so careful cleaning and pressure after application is important, but the end result was a lip that was in the correct place and less force needed in the end of the"lock-push", meaning less risk for accidental compartment fall-off.

Still there is some resistance, but i think that is from the rubber seal around the edges of the compartment (no perfect fit) as i can see the rubber seal indented at the top curve, while untouched on the rest of the area.

This also means the compartment is likely not sealed good enough to prevent water from entering if spraying right at it, so dont keep water sensitive gear there like remote if you plan to wash it off with a garden hose, though this is not recomended either way since the ninebot is not ip67 and i read somewhere in the manual that you should never hose it off with water, just use a damp cloth.