i167 shutdown
 

I've got an 11-year old Segway i167. The past two weeks I've been getting safety shutdowns. Here are the current symptoms: I get on the Segway and ride. Everything's fine, full power. Within 5 minutes, I get the shutdown warning. It looks like this: sad face, vertical line moving from left to right, no power bars. The screen is not red (last week when this happened, it was red). It happens consistently - within a few minutes of getting on, it happens. If I just put a weight on the mat and lean it against the wall, it'll stay on. It only shuts down when I'm riding (moving).

What I've tried:

First thing I tried thought of was the batteries, even though they are only two years old (in 2012 I got a rebuilt set of NiMHs from MTO). I tried the technique where you lean it against the wall to discharge the batteries, and then charge it up again. Did this a couple of times - this didn't fix it.

Next, the advice from this thread: http://forums.segwaychat.org/showthread.php?t=31598 (e.g., post #4). I removed the batteries, slightly fiddled with the pins, cleaned the contacts, and reseated the batteries. I also removed the control shaft from the control shaft base, disconnected the two plugs, cleaned the contacts, and reseated. No improvement.

Questions:

* I've read that the pattern of the shutdown screen can indicate what the problem is. What does no power bars mean?

* Other discussion have talked about checking the connections in the handlebar. How does one disassemble the handlebar to do that? I couldn't figure that out.

* Any other ideas?

Thanks for any suggestions or information.

Jeff

Hi,

Unfortunately I know very little about what the display bars mean during a shutdown, but perhaps I can help you remove your handlebars so you can inspect your connectors, etc.

Removal of the handlebars is pretty simple. Near the middle of the CSB where the lower section of the handlebar connects to the base of the Segway, you should see a hex nut that holds the handlebar to the base. Loosen this nut with a hex wrench (I believe 5 mm) and once loose, carefully pull up on the lower shaft of the handlebars until you feel it pulling up and out. Once the handlebars are free from the base, you can un-clip the connectors and examine those.

Removal of the upper part of the handlebars will require you to remove the rubber bezel around the display and key port, first. Carefully peel the rubber up starting from the key port side, and work your way over to the display side as you pull it off. If you're like me and can't really get it peeled off any more than about half way, carefully bend/fold it up until you can see another hex nut in the middle of the top of the handlebars. Unscrew this nut with a hex wrench (I can't recall if this is also 5 mm or smaller) until the top of the handlebars becomes loose. Then to remove them completely, you will need to twist the top part of the handlebars about a half-turn, if I recall, until you feel them pop off the rest of the handlebar shaft.

I'm sure several others have explained the process in far better clarity than I, so if that's the case, a brief search of this forum RE: Handlebar Removal should get you some other results.

I also have a crazy idea as to what may be causing the shutdowns... Have you recently adjusted the handlebar height up a little bit? When I got my gently used i167, it would safety shutdown if the handlebars were raised above a certain height, and also sometimes just by hitting bumps along the road. This could explain why the shutdowns only happen while you are riding and not when the Segway is sitting in balance mode - even small bumps and vibrations while riding could possibly be causing it. Maybe try lowering the bars to a lower position (as low as possible, commensurate with safety of course), take it for a glide and see if the shutdowns continue. If they don't, it's possible you have a variation of the same problem my i167 used to have. Let me know if the lower handlebar position solves the problem, and I'll give you a detailed description of how I fixed it on my machine (you can also read a bit about what I did on this thread: http://forums.segwaychat.org/showthread.php?t=33327)

Hope some of that helps.

The question is the answer.
 

Hi Jeff

I think the answer is self evident.
The Segway thinks the batteries are not capable of delivering any power.

Do you have a glide buddy, to swap over batteries to verify ?

Michael

"No power bars" means "Pending empty battery condition".

Page 17 of the Reference Manual.

"In some cases, old, cold, heavily used, or poorly
maintained Battery Packs may develop a high resistance
condition, which could cause the Display to show the
pending empty battery condition even though the Battery
Packs were recently charged. Whenever you see the
pending empty battery condition icon in the Display, you
should come to a controlled stop and safely step off of the
Segway HT prior to commencement of the Safety
Shutdown."

See also information starting at Page 26.

http://www.segway.com/segway-resourc...nce_Manual.pdf

Thanks for pointing that out - I skimmed through the manual too quickly, I guess. That's surprising - the MTO batteries worked so well, and they're only two years old. I've been pretty diligent about my maintenance too.

Nope. There's one other Segway user in Santa Cruz that I know off, but they have a gen 2 machine. And the local rental place is all gen 2 as well.

Did you update to version 12 of the software? There would be a yellow sticker underneath the mats if you have.

Version 12 can use Li-Ion on a 167.

jeff

I think you need Version 14 to be able to use LiONs on a gen 1

There is a quick and rapid check to see if your Gen 1 seg has the software upgrade that allows use of either Li-ion or NiMH. Listen to the sounds when you use your key to start the Seg. Software for NiMH only batteries makes a single beep. Versions of the software which would allow use of either NiMH or Li-ion make a four note set of beeps. Da Da Daaaaa Da.

I have version 12 of the software. These are NIMH batteries, so I should be okay, right?