Computer board losing components

[zigimir]

Hello,

I'm a new member to the forum and I'm so happy to have found this space.
My situation briefly, I recently acquired 2 early model Segs. I have no history about these units. I plugged them in (120v) one responded with a red light, which stayed on for days but did not charge the other one was DOA. I've have a good sense for troubleshooting and fixing things, so naturally, I took the unit apart, down to the computer board level - looking for something obviously broken (strictly by intuition of course).
I discover several of the capacitors on the mother board were loose to the point of falling off. The capacitors do not appear to be hard solder to the board, but rather just make contact on the boards surface and use a glue to hold them in place.
Does anyone have any information about this kind of situation and even better, a suggested workaround? Much obliged to any feedback, thank you.
Best Regards
Terri

[SegNerd]

There are not many people outside of INC who are capable of working on the insides of a Segway. I admit I'm not very "handy" myself, but if you weren't able to figure it out, you would have to find a serious "wizard" to take it from there.

The red light means the battery/batteries are bad, so you would also at least have to get them rebuilt through someone like MTO.

If you couldn't find someone to fix it (and it would be pretty tough to find anyone), I would guess that sending it in for repair would be at least $2,000 - and if MTO couldn't rebuild the batteries, replacing them would be another $2,000.

I hate to say this, but I'm inclined to think that at this point you might want to consider just buying a new one. If you sent it in for repair, they would probably replace the majority of the components anyway, and it would cost almost as much as buying a new one - but sending it in takes three months, whereas just buying one could be a lot faster.

I hope it works out for you. If you have really good luck with finding other people to work on it, you might get it fixed for cheaper, but there aren't many folks out there who work on Segways.

[KSagal]

Originally Posted by zigimir

Hello,

I'm a new member to the forum and I'm so happy to have found this space.
My situation briefly, I recently acquired 2 early model Segs. I have no history about these units. I plugged them in (120v) one responded with a red light, which stayed on for days but did not charge the other one was DOA. I've have a good sense for troubleshooting and fixing things, so naturally, I took the unit apart, down to the computer board level - looking for something obviously broken (strictly by intuition of course).
I discover several of the capacitors on the mother board were loose to the point of falling off. The capacitors do not appear to be hard solder to the board, but rather just make contact on the boards surface and use a glue to hold them in place.
Does anyone have any information about this kind of situation and even better, a suggested workaround? Much obliged to any feedback, thank you.
Best Regards
Terri

The advice in post # 2 is sound.

There are some basics you need to learn about that you may or may not know about segways. The batteries are very high tech, but with a fatal flaw. If you leave them unplugged for too long, they will discharge themselves beyond the ability for the machine charge to restore them. If the batteries are too far gone, you cannot supply enough power to the machine to start it up. So, first things first, it may not be productive to try to fix what may or may not be wrong with a machine until you can put reasonable batteries on it. You may find yourself chasing shadows.

Now, there are more than one way to check out your batteries, but if I were you, that is where I would start. (you can look around this forum for ideas on the batteries) Once you get one set of reasonable batteries, then you can start to diagnose other needs. By my saying reasonable I am not saying good or new batteries, but ones that operate within the expected voltage ranges that the on board monitoring system can tolerate. Old batteries will typically work but will give less range. Again, if I were you, before I spent a lot of money on rebuilding or buying new batteries, I would get one set of reasonable ones to test the two machines, and then assess from there.

Good luck. I am available and not too far away if you have questions that I may be able to assist with. (I have never tried to repair a segway circuit board, but I have never heard of gluing a capacitor to a board, even though I have worked with electronics for may years, I do know there is a lot I do not know.)

Keep us posted.

[Amimoto]

Originally Posted by zigimir

Hello,

I'm a new member to the forum and I'm so happy to have found this space.
My situation briefly, I recently acquired 2 early model Segs. I have no history about these units. I plugged them in (120v) one responded with a red light, which stayed on for days but did not charge the other one was DOA. I've have a good sense for troubleshooting and fixing things, so naturally, I took the unit apart, down to the computer board level - looking for something obviously broken (strictly by intuition of course).
I discover several of the capacitors on the mother board were loose to the point of falling off. The capacitors do not appear to be hard solder to the board, but rather just make contact on the boards surface and use a glue to hold them in place.
Does anyone have any information about this kind of situation and even better, a suggested workaround? Much obliged to any feedback, thank you.
Best Regards
Terri

Post some photos would be very helpful.
The capacitors can be replaced easily, and capacitor does have a working life too, it should be soldered onto the Main Board and support with white plastic clips with a steel wire to stabilized the movement.

The Batteries are Dead, and Battery repair is different story and please let the professional handle the rebuild, as the Energy store in the cells are able to deliver very high current, it is capable to move 200 pounds of weight over the distance of 25 miles, that is a lot of energy, it really need some tender loving hands who know the safe way and proper safety procedure to handle them.

if you not able to post photos to forum, you can visit my photo album and quote the parts in question
http://forums.segwaychat.org/album.p...&pictureid=518
http://forums.segwaychat.org/album.p...&pictureid=517
http://forums.segwaychat.org/album.p...&pictureid=510
http://forums.segwaychat.org/album.p...&pictureid=509
http://forums.segwaychat.org/album.p...&pictureid=530

[MTOBATTERY]

Originally Posted by SegNerd

If you couldn't find someone to fix it (and it would be pretty tough to find anyone), I would guess that sending it in for repair would be at least $2,000 - and if MTO couldn't rebuild the batteries, replacing them would be another $2,000.

I hate to say this, but I'm inclined to think that at this point you might want to consider just buying a new one. If you sent it in for repair, they would probably replace the majority of the components anyway, and it would cost almost as much as buying a new one - but sending it in takes three months, whereas just buying one could be a lot faster.

I hope it works out for you. If you have really good luck with finding other people to work on it, you might get it fixed for cheaper, but there aren't many folks out there who work on Segways.

FWIW, I have been told that leaving an overdischarged battery attached to the CSB can potentially cause damage to the CSB. I have not personally confirmed this but am offering it as unconfirmed information. Amimoto is a great resource for tech repair guidance. I hope he is able to further assist you in your repairs!

Our battery rebuilds are approximately $300/battery less expensive than purchasing new. I also have cores that can be offered from time to time. I'm uncertain what the three month timeframe quotation is based upon but most orders are received and shipped from our facility in 1-2 weeks. If you experienced excessive lead times please contact me and let me know so I can address the issue.

[KSagal]

Originally Posted by MTOBATTERY

FWIW, I have been told that leaving an overdischarged battery attached to the CSB can potentially cause damage to the CSB. I have not personally confirmed this but am offering it as unconfirmed information. Amimoto is a great resource for tech repair guidance. I hope he is able to further assist you in your repairs!

Our battery rebuilds are approximately $300/battery less expensive than purchasing new. I also have cores that can be offered from time to time. I'm uncertain what the three month timeframe quotation is based upon but most orders are received and shipped from our facility in 1-2 weeks. If you experienced excessive lead times please contact me and let me know so I can address the issue.

Jason,

My read of the quote was a 3 month expectation of a repair from the mothership for the segway board and base, not so much the repair from you for the batteries.

For what it's worth, your rep for repair and information on your aftermarket repairs of segway related components is far better than segway itself. At least in my understanding.

[MTOBATTERY]

That could very well be Karl. I didn't read it that way at first but agree now that I read it again.

Thank you for the kind words. We try very hard here to provide quality products/services in a timely manner. I just wanted to make sure an order didn't slip through the cracks that I wasn't aware of. Have a good one!

[SegNerd]

Yes, I was talking about sending it back to INC... and speaking from experience.

The OP may have a marginal advantage since he/she is apparently located in New Hampshire, but I don't think shipping times are the real problem.

[MTOBATTERY]

Sorry to hear that is the case....I would have thought their lead times would have been shorter. Maybe under new management that will be rectified. I look forward to positive changes with Segway Inc.

[SegNerd]

Thanks. The backlog for repair seems to be about two months, and depending on your dealer, you may have to play up to one month of the game called "Where the heck is my Segway?"

I don't mean that they literally lose it, but in some cases you may find that there just doesn't seem to be anybody interested in helping you get your Segway back (possibly at INC, your dealer, or both).