Fixing a Onewheel Battery | ChiBattery Quart Rebuild (Pint Upgrade) 

That means a lot. Thank you!

Yes, you're right. I knew that, but for some reason I had the XR cell in my head and that's what came out. Definitely a brain fart. Thanks for pointing it out. 🙏

I recommend the KWeld. There's nothing like it in that price range, it's one of the best values available. The quality and consistency of welds is very high, and if you decide you won't build any more batteries, you can sell it very easily.

Thank you. I'm not sure about that one. It's not the most enjoyable build, but I may have to do it anyway.

I'm not entirely sure...might have been 180mm I think. I'll have to check and then make a note in the build article. Li-Ion Wholesale has the P42a in stock right now for a great price. A big shipment hit the US a week or so ago and most of them sold out from the usual sellers. But Li-Ion Wholesale has some, I ordered a few hundred from them and got them quickly and cheaply. Best of luck.

The idea of "safe" is kind of tenuous when it comes to larger lithium ion batteries. None of them are actually safe. And when you see the words "safer" or "safest", really what it means is "less dangerous" or "least dangerous". The Onewheel's battery was designed to fit in a box, accomodating for the space of wiring, a cell holder frame, and insulation. The space between cells and the box is the primary safety for failure. Extended battery mods remove that safety, and so they're inherently less safe, or more dangerous. The actual level of danger is unknown, since objective testing isn't ever done. And likely won't be, because not only is it difficult and time consuming, but it doesn't do well for hype, marketing and sales. Science in practice is boring. People prefer hype, easy answers, and brand loyalty. It's an imperfect situation, but I've chosen to manage imperfections rather than deny them. And at least, try to be realistic about it.

Do you like the range increase? :D I really want a new battery for my pint, my stock battery now gets 5miles after 1500 miles. I use to get 8-10 miles when my onewheel was brand new. I’m 200lbs. I wonder if I messed up my battery prematurely by leaving it in the winter cold in my car over night many time, rip

It is indeed reversed. I'll add that to my blog post. The post has detailed photos of the rebuild, and I'm currently working on the balance connector pin out. It'll be updated on the blog later today.

No idea... There isn't a lot of data on what kind of failures happen when and with what. The reports are scattered, companies tend to avoid transparency with products, etc. So, I've given up trying to find all that stuff out and just vlog about the projects I find myself working on.

It wasn't the BMS, it still functions normally with the stock battery. I haven't broken down the pack entirely, which is the only way I currently have to fully test the cells. The owner requested I close up the battery and rewrap it so it can be rewired and used to power something else, so I unfortunately won't be able to fully check what happened.

A common problem is cell balance fault. Many people know you should not overcharge your battery, or leave it at full charge for extended periods. But many people don't know that the BMS only performs the very important cell balancing task at the end of charging, essentially when the charger light is green. So you need to charge it until green, then leave it charging on green for a couple more hours. This should not be done every charge cycle, but every 10 charge cycles is fine. Unless the battery capacity has recently dropped, in which case you can do some "forced balancing" by riding it until low (under 40% charge) then charge to green and stay green for 2 hours. And do this for 3 or 4 rides/charge cycles in a row to fix it. Normal cell degradation occurs slowly over hundreds of charge cycles, so if it gets worse over a few weeks that is most commonly a cell balance issue. Sometimes you get a bad cell, but normally that goes real bad real quick, and doesn't show improvement after a few forced balance cycles.

It was not a cell imbalance, all cells show similar voltage, with a Delta of only about 0.03-5 volts. I drained and charged the pack fully twice, and the voltages didn't deviate further. Could be a bad cell, or a bad batch of cells. The owner of the pack is well aware of proper battery use and care (we talk all the time, so they never hear the end of it). The unfortunate reality is that when it comes to prioritizing time and effort, this was the best option. He only paid for parts, I was able to make this content and information available, and he ended up with a more robust and better built pack with new and tested cells. I don't yet have the resources to fully test batteries unless they're broken down into individual groups. One day I may, but I'm still a small channel with limited capital. So this was overall what I thought was the best route to go.

TrendBox Black Hot Melt Glue. It's fantastic: amzn.to/3oAeqYo

JW Batteries has a mod chip that addresses it, however it's fairly expensive, and I'm unsure if they'd loan one for review.

@@TheBoardGarage thank you ! I’ve heard of this, unfortunately I haven’t seen any reviews nor videos talking about it. I would love to find out what people think of it before investing into it

I'll reach out at some point and see if they'd be willing to loan or donate one for review. I'm sure if viewers expressed their interest in an independent review also, it may help. However, I don't think they're having any trouble selling them, and in cases of high demand products, it's not often that a maker would do much for promotion or something. But I don't know, I'm just guessing.

@@TheBoardGarage understood, I guess if they’re not having issues selling them and there aren’t complaints (yet) it must be working well, I guess time will tell on this matter so I’ll have to wait. Either way, thanks for the reply Mario! Keep up the great content !

The firmware is locked down

There aren't really any mods for speed, other than changing tire size.

I use a KWeld, running off of a car battery that's on a constant float charge from a bench power supply. I didn't use the balance wires because I just wanted to redo it and see how it would be to manually make all of those crimps.

@@TheBoardGarage been trying to get a hold of the us rep but no luck

I've ordered from their EU site and it works fine.

Even on my stock fairly new Onewheel+ XR this happens when looking at the diagnostic page while the battery has reached 100% the regenerated number continues to rise for a while. it does eventually stop increasing. I have heard that the battery percentage is a bit of a guess and is complex to work out correctly, so it is probably just a fluctuation or miss calculation while charging.

pint og is 2700mah （vtc5d）this one is 4200mah（p42a）

I do. I'm going to offer a small batch of these kinds of batteries next month, and after that I'll make a few more power banks.

I do not. I'm planning a video on building one, but I don't make them to sell.

@@TheBoardGarage Cant wait to see what you do.

I struggle with anxiety generally, so a lot of the battery stuff I do is to alleviate my own worry.

They have a longer cycle life, and a bit less sag comparatively for similar current draw. For this, I used new wiring and thermistors. It took me a while, in fairness I took my time. It also takes longer to do things while filming a video and taking notes and photos.

@@TheBoardGarage Obvious you took your time, it looks very clean! Thanks for the quick response. I checked out your website parts list, I didn't find the thermistor listed. Do you happen to remember which part you used?

@@jessea9448 I measured the stock pint battery pack thermistors and I got a reading of 9.6k so I think they’re 10k thermistors.

There are a couple in Florida. WitzWheel I believe is in your state, he's a big name. I'd check there first.

I found a pin out on Google

I'll try to remember to update the article with the pinout.

@@TheBoardGarage Great! Looking forward to it!

@@TheBoardGarage Thank you so much for this fantastic video! I'm currently at the point to solder the balance wires. Can you please post the pinout?

Unfortunately no, I don’t touch other people’s or factory’s batteries anymore, and I’ve since stopped working on Future Motion Onewheels at the shop. Sorry.

@@TheBoardGarage Thanks for the content either way. Any recommendations?

I do work on scooters, yes. Some aren't easy to work on so it depends on the scooter model.

It is.

@@TheBoardGarage Thanks for reply. I'm sorry to bother, but other people might have the same questions. Are there some specific thermistors (they're not included in parts list)? And the connector pinout is the same for the XR as well? Thanks in advance

@@tomastraxler8585 NTCLE413E2103F102L is the part number of the thermistors

I'll be offering a batch of these next month, along with a more detailed build video.

@@TheBoardGarage please keep me in the loop because I would definitely want one if your price is reasonable.

Probably $300-325 shipped.

@@TheBoardGarage Hey Mario! Is there a place to sign up or something? I'd really love to have one. Also, something weird and CSS related is happening to the store part of your website, I think: imgur.com/GJg6qFE

I bought a quart from chi, didn't work with my pint...

Wait really? I thought current version was still functional. What hardware/firmware version do you have?

@@TheBoardGarage I honestly don't know how to tell but I just bought it last month... From Chi: "If you bought a newer OneWheel Pint, you have the newer hardware/firmware. Unfortunately what that means is that FM has put in a block that limits using higher capacity batteries. When you powered down the board and turned it back on and got it to go nowhere, that is what is considered a power cycle and that confirms our suspicion of this block. What that means for you, is that you can still use our battery, but you will only be able to enjoy an increase in torque, but not the full range of the battery, and are limited to the stock range of the Pint."

Oh wow. Can you please look in the app and find the hardware and software versions?

@@TheBoardGarage 5314/ Gemini 5059

@@discombobulated2003 Thank you. So indeed...newer firmware. The mods seem to work with 5050 firmware and earlier.

Battery building? Mostly from the esk8news forum and Lee Wright.

Only the GT has that bricking behavior. Other Onewheels don't, far as I know.

I will not. It's not really a build I LOVE doing, and the cells needed are scarce currently. These kinds of things I do mostly for locals I know personally.

Originally they were Samsung 40t cells. They then changed to the P42a.

​@@TheBoardGarage Do you think a 15s2p configuration with p42a 21700 cells would be better (not range wise) than the 18650 15s3p they have in the CBXR? You should do a video talking about the best possible battery for an XR and build it

@@legolasgleaf good question. And if 3P is fine what should we use? Ncr18650ga is fine or we should look for something else?

@@andrzejz8316 The better way to go should be maybe something like 20s2p, but then the BMS will not work... so need some kind of VESC. And I am talking in the original unmodified XR

@@legolasgleaf I assume we are talking XR controller here. Ofc vesc seem to be the way, but I don't think I have the time to be early adopter. Community has some enough knowledge to build up (motor overheating?) and some ready to use parts (e.g. rigid waterproof battery box) available. Probably going there next year.

I'm making a small batch of them. Feel free to reach out on Instagram if you'd like one.

Yea, I want to see the article too.

me too

It’s been republished.

@@TheBoardGarage Thanks Mario, much appreciated. I'm going to use P45b cells for mine, have you used these for anything yet?

I'll be building a small batch of these next month, they'll be priced pretty low, likely about $325 shipped. I'll have an updated build guide and video published as well.

Yes, in July I'll be making a small batch, likely about $325.

If Trotter/Magwheel were willing to loan a review unit, I'd be happy to check it out and do a review.

@@TheBoardGarage ok because I trust you and I want to get one but don’t want to make a mistake

I'll probably have some next month, I'll publish a video on that with info.

Thank you

I'll be making a batch later this month.

I'm making a small batch of these later this month. I'll post a video about it.

@@TheBoardGarage ok cool...i have a pint, and wouldn't mind having your battery already just incase.

Come at me, bro! ;) But since I ripped open the original battery...technically I re...built...it. Because #science