How to tell if a CE or UL Listing is fake

Sad but true. CE which normally stands for “Conformité Européenne” or “European Conformity” (European equivalent of UL Listing for the US) shows up on electronics from China but in fact stand for "China Export." So so so sad. They use the same logo but claim it stands for something other than what it is known to be defined as. 

How to tell if a UL listing logo is fake:
http://ul.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/marapr2004.pdf

How to tell if a CE logo is fake:
http://blog.asiaqualityfocus.com/official-ce-logo-and-fake-laboratory-ce-certificate/

This tells me that the logo that came with my charger isn't real. Look closely and you'll see that the C is not a complete half circle. It's slightly ovular.

Same with the one that's being sent to me that's supposedly "their best one." 

New Vendor?

I have a theory. 

Vendors will want to stand out amongst the rest by talking about how safe their hoverboards are now that the public is scared of them blowing up under their feet or in their homes. 

It's no longer just fancy colors, bluetooth speakers, security remotes and free bags that make each hoverbaord better than the next. It's that they won't explode! What a selling point, eh? 

China will feel the heat, realize the US is demanding safer products and they'll have no choice but to up their game with better quality products. Yeah right. Not exactly. Perhaps companies would sell replacement batteries and replacement chargers to those that already have hoverboards. 

Instead of selling aftermarket accessories, they'll focus on owners since they're already in the ecosystem. What beats excitement is fear. Fear sells. And instead of accessories, it's the guts of the hoverboard. 

After a quick 10 minute search, I already located a company that sells "safer" chargers. Zooming into the photo of it, the UL listing was still missing. Next. 

Then I came across landbirdboards.com. Seems very legit. The company points out in a lot more detail than any other site I've come across regarding the source of the fires and what the solutions are. Of course they sell these solutions which happen to be batteries, chargers and even a new motherboard. 

Very tempted to buy the UL listed charger. I reached out to my vendor at Chinae Health for the hoverboard I have and asked for photos of the charger they plan on sending me. Within minutes, she sent me these: 

No UL listing and if you look closely, there are typos in the text. 

Back to landbirdboard: http://www.landbirdboard.com/blogs/news/81281030-how-can-you-know-if-a-hoverboard-charger-is-safe-and-qualified 

They go into so much detail. Surely everything they're posting could be a complete lie, but why draw attention to themselves? If they're not actually selling UL listed chargers and not actually selling hoverboards with LG and Samsung batteries, making everyone aware of a lie and selling junk would ruin their reputation a bit too quickly. 

The site flat out says to ignore the label on the battery. The label needs to be changed when shipped internationally anyway, so it's not the source of confirming whether the battery is really brand named or not. The only way to really know is to rip open the battery packaging and look at the actual cell. More detail on the website, but the point is that I'm trusting these guys more than the other sites I've seen, including Miberitech. No one else has responded to the exploding hoverboards as much as these guys. 

Contacted the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

3:41pm: I just contacted them to offer to send them my melted charger as a contribution to their testing and investigation. We'll see what they say. I don't mind sending it in on my dime. Hopefully it helps.

Hoverboard Fire News

I'll use this blog as a news update as well regarding the recent media attention on hoverboards exploding. I will also post updates from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. They have yet to recommend discarding the product. While hoverboards are still under investigation, they've so far (as of 6 hours ago from the time of this post), have only recommended not charging the unit over night.

----

NEWS STARTS HERE: As of a couple days ago, 12/29/15 there are now 22 reported fires from the 11 we heard about just a couple weeks ago. It's a bit frustrating that all the news reports omit the discussion of where the hoverboard was purchased and what "brand" it was if any. All that info is crucial for the rest of us. Instead, the media just feeds us with the photos and videos to get attention. We need information!!!! Ugh. 

As of 1/20/16, there have been 40 incidences of fires across 19 states. Unless mentioned otherwise below, all incidences have occurred with 1st generation models. After over one month of research, I have yet to see an instance of a 4th generation hoverboard catching on fire. Good for me. 

Not all fires make it to the news. Plenty of boards from Youtube.

This is the most violent one I've seen to date:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PlEPCjMdbM

Date unknown: Even more rare incident of a third generation hoverboard blowing up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgmxGhlR_p8&ebc=ANyPxKqxIcr2NDjblM9NieNRJMaFgSdtO9_NNl_zpc80wKHDcgWTknRYhpcckG9Vla1PNd9zRzEhIPdkMa1dvGgoMfBMiCCsgQ

Date unknown: Rare incident of a second generation hoverboard blowing up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZpSF590Jo&ebc=ANyPxKqxIcr2NDjblM9NieNRJMaFgSdtO9_NNl_zpc80wKHDcgWTknRYhpcckG9Vla1PNd9zRzEhIPdkMa1dvGgoMfBMiCCsgQ

• 1/8/16 http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Hoverboard-Catches-Fire-in-Fox-River-Grove-House-364721841.html
  Another first gen fire. Victims were living under a rock somewhere in River Grove where they charged this thing overnight and didn't discover the fire until it woke them up at 5am. No other details of course. Shame shame Trina Orlando.
• 2/9/16 http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/02/09/hoverboard-blamed-destroying-1-million-home/80064580/
  First generation style fire. Congratulations Natalie and Jordan! You got the name of the board! "Fiturbo F1." Their website doesn't state the address. That's quite the red flag. This time, a board destroys a million dollar home. This is the first of this magnitude. 4,000 square feet. This incident was quite a bit more serious as the two kids had to jump out of windows to safety.
• 2/16/16  http://abc7chicago.com/news/hoverboard-explodes-in-orland-park-home/1201230/
  5 foot flames. Smart kid knows to grab a fire extinguisher that happened to be nearby, probably an A rated one. Ohio incident. Again, no real useful info.
• This time on a 2nd generation model! Referred to as the "Transformer" style by some. Do any of the articles disclose where the board was purchased? Of course not! That would be too responsible of a question to ask. We know it happened in Illinois. Jessica who wrote the article above only says that the "manufacturer" is under investigation by the CPSC, meaning she knows who the manufacturer is but decides to leave that little tidbit out of the story! Ugh, when will they start giving us useful information? Does the fact that she mentions that Amazon offers full refunds while discussing other incidences suggest that this particular one was purchased from Amazon? Luckily these guys confirmed it's from Amazon: Luckily these guys confirmed it's from Amazon. But even then, we know there are a ton of sellers on Amazon. That's like saying they got it, "at a store." Yeah, "Duh!" Does no one any good to hear that yet another fire started while a hoverboard is being charged. We know this one was owned for 3-4 days according to another article. The board bursted into flames after being charged for 15 minutes. Sounds familiar. 

• 1/25/16 http://www.thv11.com/story/news/local/2016/01/25/first-hoverboard-explosion-arkansas/79317316/
  
  Charged for 1.5 hours before it blew up. End of story. You're not supposed to charge these things for more than an hour! 45 minutes to be safe. 1.5 hours? Come on! Come out from under your rock.
  
  Amazon seller. Which seller? Of course the article doesn't mention it b/c simply, "Amazon" is good enough. Brand? They made an attempt but perhaps the journalist just isn't savvy enough to know that "Smart Balance Wheel" is not a brand. It's pretty much what every China vendor calls their hoverboard.
• 1/29/16 http://bringmethenews.com/2016/01/29/hoverboard-explodes-causes-fire-in-wisconsin-home/
  
  Monorover fire! This article actually mentions the brand too! Good job Shaymus McLaughlin! Monorover for all who aren't aware is one of the brands that are looked highly upon. Or at least had been. 

• 1/27/16 http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-f-south-whitehall-hoverboard-fire-20160127-story.html
  
  I hate to say it like this, but this appears to be the only smart family to have fallen victim to a hoverboard fire and finally, an article that discloses the brand. This fire came from a Swagway X1. They even have the model number. Good job Matt Coughlin and Manuel Gamiz Jr. Thank you for actually completely the article with useful information. This is one of the most comprehensive reports of a hoverboard fire incident. I wish these two had reported all the other incidences. If that were true, we'd have so much more valuable information to work with. All reporters should look up to these two guys to know how to conduct some journalism.
  
  This one burst into flames while it was being ridden, not while charging. Kids had owned it for about a month. This is news b/c most of the fires happened with boards when they were days or a week new.
  
  Parents were hesitant to buy the hoverboards b/c of the fires. Rightfully so. They put strict rules on the kids to charge only 45 minutes and never charge it overnight. Good rules. Yet, even then, it burst into flames. The parents aren't the only smart ones. After the mom threw water on it which only caused the fire to get bigger, the daughter suggested putting flour on it. That worked, at least momentarily. The dad took the hoverboard out into the snow and there another battery cell popped.
• Another Petaluma fire: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5128974-181/hoverboard-burns-in-petaluma-home
  
  This one ignited while charging like the others. Model description was disclosed as Mini Smart Self balancing 2 Wheel Electric Scooter with LED light which doesn't say much but at least it's something. 

• 2/4/16 http://www.petaluma360.com/news/5167811-181/hoverboard-started-exploding-in-petaluma
  
  Petaluma fire. Article says it's from Amazon, but of course it doesn't say which of the 50+ sellers it's from. Reporters really have to stop taking, "Amazon" for an answer w/o asking any more questions. This incident is another example of how this type of fire can reignite after being "extinguished."

• 2/4/16 http://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/hoverboard-catches-fire-inside-mckean-township-home
  
  This is a scary one. This is the second incident where a hoverboard had bursted into flames while just sitting there. This time instead of in a box at a mall being held by a vendor, it had bursted into flames while sitting in a garaged car! I can only assume it was not being charged. Imagine waking up to a fire in your car. The car is toast and the hoverboard to say the least, is useless. Did the author of this article reporting this incident mention where the hoverboard was purchased? Nope, of course not. She probably failed to ask b/c that piece of information just really isn't that important. Ugh!

• 1/30/16 http://www.willitsnews.com/general-news/20160205/fire-safety-hoverboard-risks
  
  Are we supposed to clap for this guy? There's literally once sentence in this article that talks about the actual incident. The rest is a bullet point outline of what's already in the CPSC website. Of course they left out the most important piece of information yet again. Where did the folks buy the hoverboard???? Ugh, so frustrating. That's all people care about, yet the info is missing.
  
  Another writer took the time to ask where the board was purchased, but of course took the answer and didn't ask for anymore details. http://abc7news.com/news/hoverboard-likely-sparked-bay-area-house-fire-that-killed-dogs/1166917/ It was from Amazon. But what seller? Come on. That's like saying you got something on Ebay! There are at least 50 sellers of hoverboards on Amazon.

• 2/3/16 http://www.whio.com/news/news/local/hoverboard-while-charging-starts-a-house-fire/nqJSh/
  
  Another useless article giving us no information on where a flaming hoverboard was purchased nor the brand name. Is the media that stupid? The most important info is omitted? What good does it serve the public to hear about another damaged family home? Do your job media! Give us useful information we can use! No info on where the family got the hoverboard and no brand name given.  We just know this as another reported fire of a hoverboard while charging. That tells us nothing other than the people it's happening to who are complaining of damaged homes aren't watching the news about how "not to charge it indoors and how you absolutely need to keep an eye on it."

• 1/18/15 Another hoverboard fire on a first generation model. You can't even see the shell since it burned up in flames, but the rims give it away as to which model it is: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3405267/Exploding-hoverboard-nearly-killed-three-children-set-fire-house-charged.html The board only started to light up AFTER the charger was removed. Source of this hoverboard? Costco!

• 1/16/16 Guy gets robbed at gunpoint for his hoverboard. http://www.khou.com/story/news/crime/2016/01/17/man-robbed-gunpoint-hoverboard/78934424/ I was worried about this with Segways being $5,000. At $300-500, that's almost like robbing someone for their bicycle. If you can afford a gun, you can afford a hoverboard. Duh!
  
  This guy decides to charge the hoverboard overnight depsite what every media outlet is saying about not to do that. While riding it, the hoverboard bursts into flames: http://www.cnet.com/news/hoverboard-unboxing-video-ends-in-fiery-fail/ He also puts water on it which is a big no no for electrical fires, particularly ones from lithium batteries.

• 12/31/15 fire at Ritz CarltonL http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional/unattended-hoverboard-ignites-sets-ritz-cartlon-ro/npwFD/
  
  It was being charged and unattended.

• 12/29/15 fire from a boxed hoverboard: http://fortune.com/2015/12/29/hoverboard-fire/
  
  We heard about the mall fire in Washington, but more recently a new one in Texas. This was the third one apparently in the state of Texas. This time a witness said that the fire started on a hoverboard that wasn't being ridden. It wasn't even charging. It was sitting in a box! Video shows it. Self combustion! That's the worst kind that all airlines are afraid of. Apparently, the box was being brought to the kiosk from another location.

• 12/28/15 New Jersey fire: http://pix11.com/2015/12/28/hoverboard-bursts-into-flames-in-new-jersey-home/
  
  From Amazon.com. Blew up after just 2 days while being charged in a living room for just 15 minutes. Kid is smart enough to grab a fire extinguisher to put it out while mom calls the fire department. I need to buy a fire extinguisher tomorrow!

Latest reported incident of hoverboard fire. This time in Los Angeles's Koreatown: 
http://ktla.com/2015/12/30/caught-on-video-hoverboard-fire-on-koreatown-sidewalk-prompts-lafd-responds/ What worries me is that this is the third generation model! It's not the first gen as we've seen in 100% of the videos so far in the media. This one also had cost $600 compared to the $200 ones in recent news. 

Read this statement from the CPSC:
http://www.cpsc.gov/en/About-CPSC/Chairman/Kaye-Biography/Chairman-Kayes-Statements/Statements/Statement-from-the-US-CPSC-Chairman-Elliot-F-Kaye-on-the-safety-of-hoverboards/

UC SCHOOLS BAN HOVERBOARDS: 
12/17/15 3:26pm:
I will add update to the top of this page as I become aware of the information.

UC schools have banned them on their college campuses. So much for riding this between classes at UC Davis. https://www.yahoo.com/news/hoverboards-hot-holidays-despite-concerns-015010656.html

AMAZON NEWS:
One of the people I reached out to regarding their opinion on my melting adapter forwarded me an article indicating Amazon is not only pulling vendors off their list on their site, but has emailed customers who had purchased hoverboards to dispose of the product into the closest recycle center and they will be issued a full refund within 3 days: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/amazon-tells-customers-trash-unsafe-hoverboards-offers-full-031507563.html It is unclear whether this is Amazon.com or only Amazon in the UK as far as offering refunds and recommendations to recycle the unit. Amazon all across the board as far as I know though has pulled vendors from their site. 

Update: 3:34pm: This site says it's only the UK where Amazon is offering refunds and encouraging recycling of the hoverboards: http://q13fox.com/2015/12/16/feds-working-non-stop-on-hoverboard-fires/

I guess there is a benefit to buying from Amazon afterall. Still no regrets about not getting it from there. I'm a lot more comfortable with my 4th generation model vs the buying 1st generation ones from Amazon which has an overwhelming number of resellers which we know weren't looked closely at by Amazon before allow them to sell the product on their site.

Having said that, I haven't asked my vendor if they'd be willing to issue a refund. Doubtful as they've already agreed to send me a new charger. I'd have to at least try that and experience a problem before they'd consider. I get it. We'll see.

USPS LIMITING DELIVERIES OF HOVERBOARDS: 
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/12/17/hoverboard-safety-fire-brentwood-consumer-product-safety-commission-usps/ They're still shipping them, but not internationally and by plane. They will only ship by ground.

LG BATTERIES MAY BE ILLEGITIMATE: 
Apart from ripping off the head of the CEO of Swagway and making him look like the bad guy b/c he's rich (which the American media likes to do more often than not), this article contains a quote from the LG battery division spokesperson saying that the hoverboards do not contain LG batteries: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3363005/It-s-like-iPhone-explosions-TV-explosions-refrigerator-explosions-Owner-largest-hoverboard-company-defends-product-keeps-bursting-flames-hides-gated-mansion.html

That's really bad news. Either it's a flat out lie or hoverboard manufacturers are buying LG cells and packing the battery packs themselves. If the latter were the case, they should have LG labels on them necessarily b/c that would suggest that the battery pack itself was assembled by LG. Samsung had no comment so far.

This is really bad news. Ugh!

THE FIRST REPORTED EXPLODING HOVERBOARD NOT SOLD ON AMAZON (THAT I'VE SEEN): 
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-sues-hoverboard-maker-swagway-over-fire-damaged-his-home-n481336 Swagway is so popular that some equate the the term Swagway to the hoverboard like Kleenex is to facial tissue. Swagway is the only brand of hoverboards sold by Modell's Sporting Goods in Indiana.

THIS PHOTOGRAPH ALONE MIGHT MAKE ME TOSS THE HOVERBOARD TONIGHT: 
http://news.sky.com/story/1606795/why-are-death-trap-hoverboards-exploding

WHY THEY ARE EXPLODING: 
http://news.sky.com/story/1606795/why-are-death-trap-hoverboards-exploding Same article above indicates that they are exploding due to "non-compliant UK plugs w/o fuses." This might explain the UK issue, but the same hasn't yet been said of the US versions. This still begs the question of whether it's the charger issue or the hoverboard issue. This is not the first article I've read where it claims the "power cutoff switch failed." This means that the batteries exploding comes from being charged for too long. Unplug it when it's fully charged and everything will be fine? Perhaps, but that's still a safety issue. Companies can't assume that a chargeable device will be unplugged immediately. How many of us sleep with iphones charged? Not me (anymore), but I know a bunch of you do it so you have 100% in the morning.

LIST OF RETAILERS PULLING HOVERBOARDS OFF THEIR SHELVES: (I'll keep updating this list as more information becomes available. Feel free to comment below if I'm missing anything.
Amazon
Overstock.com
Modell's Sporting Goods (I presume)
Target
John Lewis
Argos
Tesco
Retail Ombudsman

Update On Melted Charger

I texted my vendor from Alibaba, "I have some bad news." Less than a minute later, she replied asking me what I was referring to. Quick response time. Can't say correspondence isn't good from Linda over at Chinae Health (not a typo).

She agreed to send me a new replacement charger. This time it would be a smart charger that limits overcharging. Haven't confirmed that's necessarily the issue here, but she shipped it out that night (daytime in China) so no complains as far as that goes. At least I'm getting responses and they're trying to make it right.

In my conversation with her, I was disappointed to learn that the unit I received was not one manufactured by them since it was shipped from NJ. It was actually a sample unit that their company had purchased to test the US market. Not good. The whole reason I bought from Chinae Health is b/c I trusted their company and "their" products. Very disappointing to learn that the unit sent to me wasn't even from them!

WHAT NOW?
I've reached out to some people I consider experts in the field of electronics:

1. modifiedelectricscooters forum 
2. endless-sphere forum 
3. cruzincoolerupgrades owner 

There are particular people I'm hoping will respond to my thread regarding this melting adapter issue. I haven't heard from them yet, so I may reach out to them via Personal Message on the forum to seek their assessment and advice on my situation. 

Until then, I may test ride the hoverboard outdoors just to see if it still works. I'm far from being an expert in electronics, but my understanding is that if the controller is broken or faulty, the hoverboard won't run at all. However, testing hoverboard to see if it runs doesn't verify that the battery is still good. A faulty battery can still operate but be unsafe. 

I'll most likely watch some YouTube videos about taking this thing apart (just the shell) so I can see the battery and the parts inside to note if anything looks out of the ordinary. I've never done this so I'm not sure what I'm looking for other than a bulging battery and/or melted wires. 

I still suspect that the unit is still good (or maybe I'm just hoping) and that it's just a problem with a weak charger. 

CHARGERS MELT ALL THE TIME?

Not necessarily, but in my quick internet search, I came across many Apple laptop chargers melting at the connection point (not the brick itself like in my case). So melting isn't unheard of for even companies as legit as Apple. HP apparently had some instances of melting chargers too. I'm sure there are countless others. 

I read from DOGMAN (a moderator at one of the e-bike forums) about how poor quality soldering inside the charging adapter can cause things to melt. It doesn't do damage to the unit it's charging, but needs to be fixed or replaced. I don't have the expertise or the trust in myself to fix it or even think about that, so definitely replacing it. 

I just need some reassurance from those that know way more about this stuff than I do that it's okay to continue using the hoverboard. 

WORSE CASE SCENARIO: 

I'm buying a 3rd generation hoverboard from Miberitech. 

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.