Battery Charging Problem i180

[canthackit]

I've had my first i180 (Li-ion) since November of last year. Had problems right off the bat with the rear battery never charging up, even though the light showed it was. Sent it back to Segway twice in January. They fixed it but sent it back and forgot to take it out of a factory test mode so it wouldn't start-up. Sent it right back to them and then it was fixed and has worked fine since then.

That is until this weekend. Ran my batteries down to about half and put it on the charger. Checked back later and noticed charging lights weren't on. I reseated my power plug, still no lights. Just for the heck of it took a volt meter and checked the end of the power plug just to make sure I had line voltage. Everything normal. I then tried to start it while plugged into the wall, usually it will not start-up, but it does now. So it seems the unit is not charging. It's still in warranty but I hate to send it back again and be without for six weeks and pay for shipping. Any ideas?

Luckily I just received my second i180 Friday so I'm not completly without but this has messed up my plans of family gliding.

[Stan671]

Have you tried different power cords to see if some other ones may fit better?

[wwhopper]

One is taking the power cord - Not Plugged in of course and cut back the shoulders of the part that goes into the Segway. Some of the I-180's the port is longer than the cord is, and there is no connection between the power cord and the Segway. This makes the cord seat better in the charging port.

On the battery, take the batteries off the other machine, and place them on this machine, and then use the batteries in question on the new machine. That way you will know if it is a battery problem or the older Segway problem.

What happens sometimes is that some of the I-180's run down the rear battery if not plugged in for a long time. Then the battery gets to a place where it will not fully recharge, it will try, get hot, and just never go into the final phases of the charge. If that is the case, then it is time to send that battery back and get a replacement one.

Hope that helps.

[BringOnI2]

If you have an old Commodore 64 lying around with the 1541 disk drive, the powercord for the drive fits into the segway :)
Anyone know if this is deliberate?

[gbrandwood]

This thought might not help much as swapping batteries is a drag, but you could always charge them using your second seg. Get both sets fully charged then go for your glide. I take it you've tried the cable that came with your 2nd seg?