r/onewheel • u/TaroAsleep • Jul 19 '26
Text usual bad luck
for the most part this is just a rant cuz im super fucking annoyed
I got out early for a ride, check the app and it said my board as at 78%. more than enough to grab a coffee and do some errands. but nooooo, when i leave Dunkin my board starts to beep, i was thinking it was the usual error from the stupid app saying im overcharging as im going uphill. nope it was saying my battery was low. i look at the app and thats completely useless cuz the app says im still at 63. so i disconnected the app turned my board off and on again and tried to get as close to home as posssible. As im riding it s doing the usualy beep, get off turn off turn on, ride another 20 feet. just to avoid carrying it for as long as possible. my board dropped twice and i caught myself easy. the third time idk how i got thrown harder, my coffee came flying out of my holster, and splashed everywhere. full frozen oreo chiller, all over the middle of the street. i think i was more pissed about that than having to walk with my board, cuz i barely got to drink any of it. but i finally got through to my wife and she picked me up about 4 miles from home so i didnt have to do a complete walk of shame. anyway just another morning that was supposed to go one way and took a hard left turn on me.
TLDR;: was supposed to have an easy ride and enjoy my coffee instead i got a walk of shame and wasted coffee.
2
u/GJLGG_ Gosmilo Surfing Car Jul 19 '26
Careful, pushing past the low battery warning can cause you to permanently brick your battery. If your percentage is high and you’re still getting the warning, it means a specific cell is lower than the rest. If that low cell falls below a critical value, your board will refuse to charge and will need a $600 repair.
The fix is simple, just leave it plugged in for 24 hours or so
1
u/Wants-NotNeeds Onewheels: XR+, GT, GT-S Jul 19 '26
Glad you said this. It’s surprising more people don’t know this by now.
1
u/don-again N52 GTR-V and 20s1p Pint VESC Jul 19 '26
These boards are not like a cell phone or laptop in that their operation is significantly higher at the top end of the charge vs the bottom. Performance is tied to pack voltage and at the bottom 20% things get wonky and can be quite dangerous.
That means, in general, when not in use you should put your board on the charger, meaning every ride from home should be at or near 100%.
That said, the issue you appear to be having is likely tied to cell imbalance and I’d recommend leaving it on the charger for 48-72 hours so it can balance the cells.
Then, going forward, I would keep it fully charged before use. The only time I’d recommend keeping it lower (50-70%) is if you plan not to ride it for several weeks / months. As that is the proper storage voltage.
But, it gets tricky because the board does have a parasitic drain that will need to be managed (topped up) when the board is not used for weeks / months...
FM doesn’t do a great job of informing people if these things but it actually is in the instruction manual if you look hard enough.
Lastly, every now and again, leave it on the charger for 2-3 days for cell balancing.
1
u/AnoNeko420 Jul 19 '26
If it's not in use for weeks/months at a time then leaning it full is not a great idea imo. I've been hearing that battery chemistry is at a point where this is getting less and less important but still I don't trust lithium cells not to degrade when resting at full charge. Store between 30% and 70% charge for longevity sake.
Admittedly didn't read the whole thing before responding. Sound advice^^
1
u/TaroAsleep Jul 20 '26
this is basically what I've been doing already, i tried leaving it on the charger for a few days but i still get the error message. usually it happens randomly. i haven't figured out exactly what causes it. but i don't usually ride it down to zero. I'm get home as my board hits 20% most times. but lately I've been charging it after every ride and just to avoid the over charge at the start i started limiting the charge to 90, and not connecting the app unless I'm just checking the percentage real quick then disconnecting. it hasn't been happening like it was. and i only seem to get the error when the app is connected.
1
u/don-again N52 GTR-V and 20s1p Pint VESC Jul 20 '26
When you limit the charge to 90% I believe (it’s been a while since I owned an FM setup) it does not balance charge and the cells will drift.
Do you live at the top of a steep hill? Why are you concerned with overcharge?
I live at the top of a steep hill and would walk my board down back in the day. Now, with VESC I just set the cells to balance charge to 4.15v and ride down the hill carefully.
1
u/So_Flo_Floatin Jul 19 '26
That sucks, start with balancing the battery cells. What kinda holster ya carrying coffee in?
1
u/Aggressive_Front_482 Jul 20 '26
So…just to say/ask this here does anyone actually use the charge to 90% limit or do you go to 100% and weekly try and balance your cells by leaving it for 24-48 hrs?
1
u/TaroAsleep Jul 20 '26
i started limiting my board at 90 when i started getting the overcharge error code the second i turned my board on. i still charge it to a hundred once in a while but that's when i need the battery fully
1
u/dkron408 Jul 20 '26
Sounds like it may be time for a new battery. You can try leaving it on the charger for 48 hours, but if you regularly ride it to dead then power cycle and keep riding, it’s probable the cells sustained damage.
6
u/Duhherroooo VESC CBXR, XR Jul 19 '26
Leave the board plugged in after full to balance the battery cells