Say Hello to my Little Friend....Sergio
 

Sergio arrived by Fedex on Wednesday. He was born March 2007 and has logged 3900 miles on the original batteries....still going strong. I added a taillight, buzzer, headlight and detailed the entire machine and fabricated a kickstand out of some scrap aluminum.

During my first 3 mile glide, I noticed that the speed pulsates as I approach an indicated 11mph.This causes the Segway to rock a little which creates an uneasy feeling.
Do I have to stay under 11 mph to stop this?

I live in a gated community which allows Sergio to get some good exercise.

A couple things come to mind... All of them guesses.

1. Perhaps the tires have developed a flat spot, or are out of round. This can happen during storage or shipping. (Of course, first check air pressure, and be sure both tires have the same)

I might deflate the tires a bit, and then inspect the bead seat, then re inflate them. Take it for a glide.

If your symptoms change, even that the same feeling comes as a different speed, then you are onto the solution, and need to try again, and find a combo that will work.

Also, if there is a flat spot, the best solution is to glide for a bunch of long trips. That will re-round the tires. (especially if warm, or on warm pavement)

2. At some point in the past, a wheel may have gone out of flat, or is not flat, or is warped, whatever you want to call it. (1 above was about the rubber tire, this one is about the plastic wheel)

This is pretty easy to see, just look down at the wheels as you glide. they should stay in the same plane.

IF your wheels are wobbling, and the bolts are not loose, then you may want to remove the nuts, and rotate the wheel on the wobbly side one third. Again, there are threads on this kind of a repair. I use a sharpie, and mark all bolts a,b,and c. I also mark the holes in the wheel a, b, and c. Then when i put the wheel back on, I make it a point to put hole a on bolt b.

Then take it for a glide or two or ten. If I like the glide better, then I am done. IF not so much, then I do it again, but put the hole a onto bolt c. Glide some more. Do the other wheel, and glide some more. you get the idea.

3. Elastomers may be starting to go. These can be replaced pretty easily, and there are lots of threads on it.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the reply. The tires are well worn, and the tire pressure is correct. In watching the tires during travel I see no wobble.

I get the sense that this is something to do with speed control/sensors or both. It acts like it is at the max speed (it starts at 11 mph) and cutting out momentarily to control the speed. My Think golf car does the same thing when it reaches the preset max speed.
What do other Segs do when you reach max speed?

The handlebar itself will push back toward you. As you know, you accelerate forward by leaning forward, so when it leans itself back, you will slow down.

We often call this speed limiter, or even push back.

I find that if I go too fast, my segway will speed limit me a little at first, but if I try to push against the handlebar, it will be more aggressive in push back, and will actually seem to slow me down more.

Kind of like if I ease up when I first get the signal, it is okay. If I do not respond, it will penalize me by going slower 10.5 to 11 mph for several seconds before allowing me up to 12 mph again.

You should also know that the segway will not go full speed down hills very often. It does this because it generates power down hill, and does not like to over charge itself. Because of this, your speed limiter will engage at much slower speeds down hill...

After another glide, I think what I am feeling is the push back you speak of.
Its occurring at 11 mph instead of 12 and fluctuates on and off. Guess i live with it or stay under 11 mph. It gets up to 11mph very easily.

Has anyone hacked the controller and increased the top speed? I set my Think to 35 from the standard 25.

There's no way to "hack" the controller.
But if you hold down the top right button when on the total mileage screen, it'll take you into a menu to program the top/turtle speeds up to the maximum of 12.5mph

I'm not sure where your "indicated" 11 MPH is coming from. If it's the infokey there is probably a limit set as mentioned above. If you are using a stand alone GPS or something, you might have a unit that started life as an X2.

The X2 -> i2 conversion by changing fenders, wheels and tires leads to a slower unit because the Segways counts motor RPM not actual speed. Smaller wheels means slower speed.

jeff

The infokey is set for 12.5 mph, so if I am getting push back at 11 mph, it must be a firmware issue that I will have to live with. I am retired and no longer in a hurry.