The Charger Melted!

The charging light started blinking red/green, flashing 2 seconds at a time. It wasn't until later that I recalled this has happened to my Cruzin Cooler before. The charger was just broken. Battery unharmed. I just got a replacement charger and everything was fine. 

The hoverboard charger though got extremely hot. Too hot to touch. I snapped my hand back after touching it gently to check. This was just after 45 minutes of charging this evening. Just before unplugging it as a precaution, I looked at the charger brick and noticed it melted!!!!!

Yes, really. First day. Here's the label on the back. The charger actually feels and looks more heavy duty than the other ones I've used for other products. Apparently it was no match for the faulty electronics inside. 

What to do now? 

I'm going to reach out to my ebike forum for electronics and see what they say. They're more of the experts than I am. 

Wish me luck. 

Initial Ownership Experience

The initial order got held up at customs in Hong Kong. The vendor offered to ship me one from New Jersey, but I'd have to pick another color. They don't have it in white. Thought about it for 25 minutes and agreed to have them ship me a silver one. Due to the sketchiness and the legality of the product, I guessed there's a chance the one in HK may never get out of the port.

I was promised the NJ one would take 3-4 days to ship. More like 5 working days, but that included processing time and half days don't really count. I had my conversation with the vendor in China on 12/5/15 Pacific Time a Saturday late night and it arrived not that Monday, but the following one.

12/14/15:
The box arrived with "SMART BALANCE WHEEL" plastered on it. Not good! Glad I had this shipped to my parent's office and not left outside on a doorstep! They did end up requiring a signature despite what the vendor told me about it not needing one, so I suppose it wouldn't have gotten snatched from my house, but I was paranoid. I'd been waiting for this moment for 5 years and wasn't about to let some criminal rob me of my experience.

The thing is heavy. People say 25lbs. The manual says 20lbs, but it feels like 27lbs. I'll have to weigh it, but for now, this thing needs to be ridden. Ride now, weigh later.

Opened the cardboard box and inside was the manufacturer's box. I was happy to find that it looked unlike any other box I've seen online. All the boxes I've seen that aren't run by a US company are black with a maroon colored 1st generation hoverboard photo on it. Mine was white and blue with the actual photo of the 4th generation model on the side.

Starting to look more legit.

Opened the box one of the screws had come out from under the Hoverboard. Even today, I can't seem to get it back on. I mentioned it to the vendor but no response. No time to wait. Time to ride.

This time it took me about 10-12 times getting on and off to get very comfortable with it. Not much space in my tiny living room surrounded by rugs and other junk laying around. Yes, I went backwards and even spun around like a ballerina even with my hands in the air like a little girl. I couldn't help myself. Even though my wife was out and my kid was asleep, this is too much fun.

12/15/15:
I recalled this model has three modes: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. I rewatched the Miberitech Youtube video and learned how to toggle between the settings and found that out of the box, it came in the Beginner mode which was what I had been riding. I may not notice much of a difference with Intermediate, so I skipped straight to Advanced just to see what it's like.

And what a difference it was! It's much quicker. I can do 3x the number of ballerina turns on Advanced mode in the same time I can do 1. That' exaggerating, but it's seriously a very noticeable difference. I don't see myself using Advanced mode as my default setting for quite some time.

I've yet to take it outside. That should be a ton more fun. Day Light Savings time and the horrible weather isn't helping.

Initial Hoverboard Experience

SEEING IT ON THE INTERNET FOR THE FIRST TIME: 

Rewind to before my experience. As a fanatic of all weird vehicles, I naturally came across the device called the Hovertrax during my online browsing. It may have gone by a different name, but it was the one invented at Inventist. I recall it being priced over $2,000 at the time. Though less than 1/2 the cost of an actual Segway, it was still very pricy. I didn't think much of it.

When I "discovered" this thing on the Internet, I realized not many people knew about it. Surely it solved the issue that the Segway had with true portability, but the pricetag was just way too out there to be practical. It would never be in the mainstream. Just some one-off product that's built to order for anyone crazy enough to fork over the money. 

Fast forward about 5 years....

SEEING IT IN SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE FIRST TIME:

I vaguely remember seeing it on Instagram. Celebrities were riding it. The device looked a lot different. Not as sleek, much bulkier. I figured the a knockoff company was giving these away to celebrities for promotion like they do clothes. 

Then I saw it popping up everywhere and all over Youtube. Once I saw photos of "regular" people riding these, I realized it's no longer a $2,000 piece of equipment. It was getting mainstream. I expected a lot of vendors on Ebay, but was shocked when I saw how many were available from various vendors on Amazon. Then we started seeing it on tv in the news. 

SEEING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME: 

It was at a BBQ when I learned from the host that there was a "smart balance wheel" directly behind the bench I was sitting at in his backyard. 

I turned around and by eyes bulged out. 

I couldn't believe the gadget I had been eying for so many years was right there. It was when my friend invited me to try it that I think I almost wet myself. 

Yes, yes, yes, I'm getting on that thing! 

RIDING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME: 

My friend was BBQ'ing, so I was at this alone. After one foot set on it, I got freaked out. Although I failed at an attempt to learn how to unicycle, I figured my experience with various sports gave me an edge on dropping the learning curve. 

Nope. 

Getting that second foot on there was freaky. And even after successfully landing both feet on what the media is now referring to as the "hoverboard," I was still not comfortable on that thing. Determined to actually get this rolling, I continued and took my friend's advice to take it out to the asphalt where it was smoother and more predictable than in the backyard filled with uneven tiles. 

5 minutes later, I got it! 10 minutes later, I was able to get to the top speed. It started shaking. Ugh oh. I don't recall if I jumped off or not. My friend recommended that I try a little hill climbing, so I went for it and it definitely gets slower, but it does manage to go up his neighbor's driveway. 

Bingo. I did it. I learned to ride in around 15 minutes. Time to get one? 

Should you get one even if they don't explode?

I'm sure it will be a lot more fun when I get a chance to play with this more than in the 10 linear feet I have in our tiny living room, but I can't imagine riding this purely for fun. It may get boring quickly for most people who aren't personal vehicle addicts. 

You really have to be a fanatic to ride this for pure fun without any place to actually travel to. 

You can't expect your peers to have a hoverboard. So you'll either ride it for functionality down the street to your local grocery market or to across campus to your next class. 

The hoverboard isn't common yet. That means you're either:

1. Riding it up and down the block or in circles. 

2. Or maybe you've made some sort of obstacle course. But if you get that far, you're categorized as a crazy fanatic and not just showing casual interest. 

3. You can only take turns riding it in circles with your friends for so long before the fun factor wears out. Can you imagine ice skating in a rink for the first time with a group of friends but only one of you has skates? 

It's suppose to be a personal vehicle so best suited for those who actually have somewhere to go. 

If I was in college, riding around campus from class to class would be perfect. That would by far, be the ideal riding scenario. I'd find someway to deal with the extra 25lbs on top of my books. 

For 90% of people, it's probably not worth the money, risk and space. If you're not jumping all over it and the only question you have is where and when to get one, it might be better to have a friend or crazy relative and ride his. 

As much as I'd love for friends and family to join me as a hoverboarder, I'm not holding my breath. 

Response to exploding hoverboards

To potential hoverboard buyers regarding the explosions you’ve been seeing in the media,  

Going through Youtube last night, I watched a ton of videos of exploding hoverboards (investigation/assessment is ongoing) and here are my key takeaways: 

• I rewatched Miberitech’s video on the 4th generation model: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmlOtkyVNA and he references that this model is a response to the “battery and charging problem” of the previous generations. Although he doesn’t elaborate on what type of “problem,” I take it to mean that there were defects or at the very least, there was a lot of room for improvement on the product. Note the upload date of the video was 10/10/15, way before the reported incidences of exploding hoverboards in the US and UK. An email from Miberitech on 11/19/15 in response to my attempt to buy the 4th gen model indicated that there was a motor controller stability issue. This appears to be separate from the battery problem we’ve been witnessing. In my eagerness to buy the hoverboard and not waiting for Miberitech’s response on why they can’t sell me the hoverboard, I placed my order from another vendor on 11/17/15 and am still confident that the battery issue less likely on current generation hoverboards. 
• I do wonder why this 4th generation model is taking so long to be publicized compared to the first 2nd and 3rd generation models. Perhaps Miberitech is not the only one shying away from selling the 4th generation model for the same motor controller stability issue or are there other unreported issues? 

• Yes, exploding hoverboards are a real concern. Although some reports of exploding hover boards had done so while charging, 2 of the 6 videos I saw on Youtube last night of different hoverboards exploding had done so while the rider was on it. That’s a major concern. One of these incidences was claimed by someone who said that they had only recently bought it and that the ride just before the explosion was after only the first time the battery was charged. Quality lithium ion batteries can overcharge, but it usually does so over time. I’ve mentioned that my personal LifoPo4 battery from my electric bike conversion started bulging, but only after a couple of years of regular charging. Mine even had a device on it that “prevented” it from overcharging. I had cells replaced in the USA by an American living in San Francisco who runs a company called Hightekbikes. The battery stopped working so I never got a chance to see if it would bulge again.

• 100% of the reported exploding hoverboards are the first generation models. 
• I have yet to see a video or report in the media of any other type exploding. Granted the other models are a lot less common, we can expect that much lower of a number of reported exploding boards. In the coming weeks/months, I’d like to keep an eye out and see if more exploding ones are also first generation models. If nothing comes up for newer ones, I’d be a lot less concerned. I’m pulling these numbers out of my butt, but I’m thinking at least 85% of the ones being purchased in the US are the first generation models. Most people don’t even now there are 4 generations of hoverboards available. If there are only 11 reported explosions of hover boards and eBay report is accurate about selling one every 12 seconds in recent weeks, then it may be quite some time before we hear about other generations having the same issue, if at all. 

• Of the 6 videos I watched of exploding hover boards, only 2 reported the source of where they purchased it from. 2 of the 2 were Amazon. 1 of those we know was bought from a seller called Fit Turbo. We can expect they are long gone, but most likely will return to sell their remaining stock under a different name. Although I wouldn’t necessarily come to the conclusion of avoiding Amazon as a place to buy “safe” ones, particularly since Amazon claims to have requested hoverboard dealers to show proof of their product meeting safety standards, this news does suggest that paying a premium for a hoverboard sold through Amazon with the mindset of them acting as another level of security to oversee standards is completely false. They didn’t oversee standards until just a few days ago. Amazon sells a lot of knockoff products and I doubt they’re requesting proof of safety standards for those. Remember those $1.50 iphone chargers you received in the mail from Amazon w/o a retail box? 

• Notice that the rim of the wheel of the hover boards have various designs. I’m going to make up some names based on how they look like: 
• Clover: 2 of the 6 youtube videos I saw of different hover boards exploding have this design. 
• Clover star: 1 of the 6 
• Mercedes: 3 of the 6  
• Fan: This design is less common so I would expect that there are fewer if any boards reported that exploded have this particular look to them. 

Although IO Hawk and branded hover boards have rim designs unique to their company, other less known vendors like the ones we see in mall kiosks will sell ones with various designs on them so we cannot conclude necessarily at this point that particular rim designs are a giveaway of which ones to avoid. I haven’t come to that conclusion. There are a lot of variables: 

• Vendors may get shipments from different factories. 
• Resellers may think they’re resellers buying wholesale from the manufacturer to sell retail but in fact there may have already been a middleman before they got the product to sell. This can’t really be determined w/any level of accuracy unless we have in-depth knowledge of factories which we can only obtain by going oversees or know people in the factories themselves I presume. I would just like to continue to take notice of the rim design for future reports of exploding hover boards and add it to the list and perhaps a meaningful pattern may emerge. 

Companies like Phunkeeduck and IO Hawk who have their boards on late night shows and other talk shows are making a ton of money on their hoverboards. They’re not going to want to let their customer base slip away, so I suspect that they are more likely to perform tests and will do everything in their power to make sure that no one reports to the public about one of “their” hover boards exploding. If anything, this exploding hoverboard issue may give them a boost in sales being that people may start to recognize that branded boards may be the way to go if you’re going to get one at all. Having said that, paying $1,495 and up for a board is quite a hefty price tag. On the other hand, does safety have a price tag? Based on what we can observe of customer responses, the answer is yes. 

If reports of exploding hoverboards had surfaced earlier, would I have still bought the 4th generation hoverboard? 

• I suppose it doesn’t really matter to think back, but I suppose I would still buy it. 
• I suspect the price of ones deemed as “safe” may be around $400-500 after tax and shipping in a few months once the US Consumer Product Safety Commission releases their report. This will only scare people away from buying the cheap ones and therefore increase the prices overall. $500 would’ve been my personal limit. At that price, it’s too high and I wouldn’t buy it. Better to get it now and risk an exploding hoverboard to save $263 difference from the price I had ultimately paid. Yes, I did say that. I don’t know if it’s more hope than factual, but I’ve done enough research to convince myself that the likelihood of my 4th generation hoverboard exploding under my feet is so minimal and perhaps close to negligible, that it’s worth it. Just “to be safe,” I will only charge it in plain sight meaning I will not be charging it overnight either. Maximum is 2 hours. 
• New news on Mark Cuban. He had partnered with Chen, the inventor of the Hovertrax (original hoverboard from Inventist) a few months ago, but recently discontinued his partnership and was attempting to start his own brand instead. Not sure how the legality of that makes sense, but in any event, I’m al to less worried about lawsuits and patent infringements affecting the availability of the hoverboards than I was a few weeks ago. 

Smart balance board, Segway thingy, Hoverboard

I have a lot to say and didn't know where to post, and since some are calling this new device a "balance scooter," I figured I may as well post it here in my scooter blog. 

I just spent forever (a few days ago) putting something together for my uncle who’s going to buy a hoverboard for his kid, so I figured with all that time spent, I may as well share my research with the masses. In case you’re considering buying one of these.

The most comprehensive information regarding hover boards never existed until just now and you have one of the first copies. Have fun.

WHY I BOUGHT IT ASAP:

Mark Cuban bought the license for it and is sending cease and desist letters to companies. RadioShack got scared. So did Best Buy, Target and Walmart who originally wanted to sell this hot item as a Christmas thing, but they all chickened out. Bed Bath and Beyond is selling it though. Go figure. I’m worried that eventually some overseas factories/sellers may get scared too and either stop selling or it’ll be a lot tougher to get (e.g. getting held up at customs, etc). I just didn’t want to risk not being able to get one, so I ordered one. 

WHERE I GOT MINE: 

I did hours upon hours of research and at the end of it, I purchased from: 

• An Alibaba vendor (not Aliexpress) but bought it privately outside of the website/app. Paypalled them directly.
• Company name is Shenzhen Leyixing Electronic Co. 
• Sale’s rep is Linda Liu: Linda@chinae-health.com. She responds via text from the Alibaba website. 
• http://chinaehealth.en.alibaba.com/, but I found them through Alibaba. 
• $277 shipped from China, but UPS was holding it and there was a delay, so they shipped me another one (different color) from NJ in the USA which they normally sell for $291 shipped. 

A BIT ABOUT THE HOVERBOARDS:

• Inventist was the original inventor. Japanese guy. Selling price when I saw these things years ago was over $2,000. Segway is suing him for using his technology. Phunkyduck is the first hottest reseller and sold these for $1,800. Other people came into the scene and sold it for $700-800. Went down to $400-500 from some sellers and now they’re sold on Craigslist/Ebay/Malls for less than $400. Direct from China is $250-300 shipped. 
• How it got so popular: http://www.wired.com/2015/06/the-weird-story-of-the-viral-chinese-scooter-phunkeeduck-io-hawk/
• Yes, they’re all pretty much made from the same 5-7 factories from what I understand. 
• Some indeed claim LG or Samsung branded batteries which are supposed to be more reliable. 
• They come in differences wheel sizes: 
• kid’s size which is below 6” all the way up to 10” diameter. The larger, the easier to go over bumps. But also heavier. 

• There are various models: Click link for photo of each.
• The standard one you see everywhere. 
• 2nd Generation (Transformer): Sharp edges. Triangular 
• 3rd Generation (I don’t know the name): Swoopy, Curvy. 
• 4th Generation (Batman): The one I got. Mine is 6.5”. I can’t say for the others, but this one I’m expecting to have a standard, intermediate and advanced sport mode which adjust the speed and sensitivity. Don’t know if this feature is really on it nor do I know if the earlier models have it. I suspect not. 
• SUV: 
• Childrens sizes: 
• The boards sell either as a base model or with a bluetooth remote lock, bluetooth speakers, and bag options. 

• Don’t bother looking up the specs. I think they’re all crap. They claim various degrees of angles that it can climb and all have various motor wattage specs that have discrepancies within their own listing. 
• The pricing will be different for the exact same thing from the same vendors. That gets annoying fast. 

HOW DO YOU PICK A VENDOR? it was tough. 

• Is there really a difference in quality of the ones available? Yes, I believe there are, but it’s tough to tell who has what. I you literally will just have to buy one and open it up. A youtube seller of Phunkyduck did just that, but there’s no way I’m paying $1,800 of a “better quality” one vs a $300. The quality’s not going to be that much better. I’d rather buy the $300 one and buy another 5 and take my chances.
• Amazon is attractive b/c it comes in a few days and Amazon backs you for returns supposedly but they’re a bit pricier in the 350-400 dollar range. 
• Ebay some people just straight up don’t trust because there are from what I’ve seen, at least 52 resellers everywhere. Hard to know who to trust. 
• There are a about 4 US companies that sell these in a physical store at a mall. Don’t for a second believe that they manufacture them in the US no matter what they say. UCruze is one of the companies.  I don’t trust them b/c what the kiosk dealer told me at the mall is different from what their website says as far as manufacturing and their so-called warranty. Also Uscoot.co which advertises at college campuses in the Bay Area.
• If you type in hoverboard or smart board or smart balance board or smart balance scooter review on google, you get a bunch of websites that are just promoting their own brand but appear to be legit review sites. I don’t believe it for a second. 
• Youtube buyers reference dealers they used and trusted. But I haven’t found a common dealer that many Youtubers back. 
• Aliexpress may be preferable over Alibaba b/c at Aliexpress, you can buy in eaches rather than in bulk, but the secret is that some Alibaba sellers will still sell retail to you in single units if you ask. 

MY VENDORS OF CHOICE: 

Some updates since my last post. New content in green text: 

1. Landbirdboard.com They sell  UL charger which works. Doesn't melt and no fires yet. They address the fire concern directly rather than ignoring it. 

2. Swagtron. In response to the fires, Swagway developed a new model called the Swagtron. It has all the features the original one should have had. 

1. http://chinaehealth.en.alibaba.com/ As mentioned above, this is where I got it. The price was good. They have the LG battery model. They have the Batman style I wanted. Correspondence is great. Via text, Linda responds in minutes and sometimes seconds if she’s awake in China. My original purchase came with a free bag, but since I ultimately got a delivery from the US, it does NOT come with a bag. I bought one separately from Aliexpress (backpack version as opposed to the more popular duffle bag version). Correspondence for me is very important in case I have trouble later. They also claim to have a factory and manufacture these themselves as opposed to being a reseller. I did get a Fedex tracking number. No signature though. It’s going to my dad’s office so it doesn’t get swiped off my doorstep.
2. http://smart-balancewheel.com/ This guy I found from Youtube. He admits he’s new to the scene and claims to have bought a factory and improved the product. Not sure I believe him, but he genuinely seems excited about the product and isn’t just trying to make a buck. Totally subjective reading of him. I noticed just now, for some reason they’re not selling the boards for the next two weeks. This company also makes LED lights unrelated to the hoverboard.
3. http://sunvgo.en.alibaba.com/product/60364456235-802183178/New_Design_self_balancing_electric_scooter_2_wheels_Hover_board_hoverboard_smart_balance_wheel.html These guys replied to my email inquiry and their prices are good. The price you see on the website does NOT include shipping so don’t get excited about the $170 you see there. These guys are one of the few that sell the Batman style. 

Good-bye Vino 125

After plans to have a baby, the scooter's been sold to a dear friend who hopefully is enjoying it almost as much as I did. Unfortunately, this is the end of the blog. There will be no more posts regarding the my beloved modded Vino 125. She will be missed.