Fixing a Onewheel Battery | ChiBattery Quart Rebuild (Pint Upgrade)
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- For a more detailed write-up: www.theboardgarage.com/articl...
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In this video we take a look inside a ChiBattery Quart battery upgrade for the Onewheel Pint. Then, we rebuild it from scratch and make it better.
Some say that this thing will give a Pint the range of a Onewheel XR. But that's not the focus of this video. I'm only putting that there so I can use XR in the description and add more keywords.
00:00 - Intro
00:58 - Cutting Open the Quart
04:35 - Ride Break & Thank Yous
07:10 - Rebuilding From Scratch
08:51 - Crimping Tips For The Worst Crimping Experience Ever
12:00 - Balance Wiring & Temperature Sensors
12:29 - Finishing Tapes
13:38 - Shrink Wrap
14:01 - Closing
Dude, you’ve made onewheel pint upgrades worlds more accessible with this one. I am very grateful!
Nice to see someone taking so much care and effort to supply this pack out to the community.
Mario is a Class act and Battery GURU!
I have had the pleasure of meeting him and having him do some work for me. Cant say enough good things about him and his vast knowledge of onewheels and their makeup.
You Rock Mario!!!
While the chi battery wasn't built horribly (I've seen much much worse), yours definitely goes above and beyond to hit almost every possible safety point.
Every time I wear my "Don't Fall" shirt I think, "Oh geez, this is the day, I am tempting fate with this shirt." So far, so good though. About 7000 miles since the last crash.
first time ive seen a tear down of the batt, gave me the confidence to dust off the 'ol plus and rejuvenate the battery! Thanks!
This is so awesome to watch. I wish he would have filmed it in a more "how to tutorial" style where he shows more detail into how he does what he does so I have more of an idea of how to do my own.
Too bad i missed the preorder for the battery packs. Im totally subscribing for more content now.
lol, thanks a lot, I finally know how to crimp wire, great tutorial!
Thanks so much for making this video, this has inspired me to build my own battery pack
That's a lot of work Mario, awesome job!
thats some craftsmanship
Battery pack building should be an art form. Then again, what on this channel hasn't been such a thing?
That means a lot. Thank you!
Your Teaching shines through on this one. Im proud of you. Im finally on Mission setting and feeling safe on the Onewheel. Your Videos have helped me decide not to sell it. Thank you @Mario Contino
Very entertaining, great info.
been waiting for this video.. great stuff!!
Thank you for crimp tip haven't ben able to use mine i will definitely try this method 😀
You sound like Robert Stack narrating an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries” episode during the ride break. Lol. Love you man. 🤙
Our man did a Ride Break ❤️
I’m looking and doing a float wheel kit, I think I’ll make my own battery pack for it after watching this, thanks
I liken your videos to being in a classroom and I'm desperately trying to hear every word and some Donkey in the back of the class is blasting a stereo!
Finally 😄👌🏻, been waiting for this, great video, thank you. i was wondering about the temperature wire sensor. Where to put and goes, thanks.
YT should have suggested this channel to me a long time ago. Sometimes I wonder what their real motivations are.
This is going to come off as a backhanded compliment but, I initially did not like you. However I find this video very impressive and also respect your knowledge of batteries and how they're comprised. Nice video 👍
Awesome content very informative 👌 helped me build mine last week. What is your mileage like with the quart battery installed ?. I'm using P42 moli but I'm not seeing a massive difference with the increase of range I'm using the treaded Hoozirr tyre if that makes a difference I have no idea
Awesome job, I will be attempting my first battery build for my vesc pint. What are the pinouts for the balance connector?
Love your work. Any current upgrades? And do yo uoffer an outright replacement battery for the Pint? Thank you for your time
Great video and blog write-up. One note: OEM Pint packs use the VTC5D, not the VTC6. I’ve torn 15 of them apart and they were all 5D cells. Way more C rating and a little less than 6Ah.
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. 🙏
Great work. Thanks for sharing! XR battery upgrade/rebuild next? 🙂
Thank you. I'm not sure about that one. It's not the most enjoyable build, but I may have to do it anyway.
How much more torque do you get on the pint with your battery? Thanks for the great vid.
What type of thermistors are needed? I am building my own battery and I am only missing the thermistors.
Hi Mario. I'm glad you made this video! I've had the exact same issue on my Quart battery. I'm seriously interested in building a battery for myself like yours, but I'm curious about one thing. Sense ChiBatterySystems upgraded to the P42A, is there an even better cell you recommend? Additinally with their new updated cell do you think its not as bad of a design minus lack of quality construction?
How do I get more range out of my floatwheel? The quart and the floatwheel have the same size batteries 220w, but the floatwheel is notoriously undervolted. How do I go about fixing this? I want 15mph for at least 15mi
great video, i want to do one of these myself. Is there a specific Thermistor you used ??? Cant find the part listed or mentioned anywhere. Also do you think the pint can take advantage of the extra amps of a p45b instead???
So only cells and wiring? You don’t need to add a new BMS? Great video!!
@Mario Contino, which battery would be good to replace the Pint X?
I've never built a battery pack before. I just watched some other videos on spot welding nickel strips, so what spot welder do you recommend? Currently, I only plan on building two of these Quart replacements, so I don't want to go all-out on a pricey machine.
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.
I'm not confident enough to build a battery myself, can you recommend any safe batteries to extend the range of the OG pint?
This is my kind of ocd, nice battery.
the anxiety I have seeing those balance cables crossing each other, the sharp nickel and no paper between the cell and the nickel.. oh man
I struggle with anxiety generally, so a lot of the battery stuff I do is to alleviate my own worry.
Hey man, great video as always! Quick question regarding the write-up on your blog. You mention that you believe batteries using this configuration to be unsafe, I am curious how dangerous you think it is? I have a Quart installed on my pint and wondering Is there an increased risk of fire while charging or is it more risk of the cells failing while riding? Thanks!
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
One of my one wheel pint battery cells is falling out of line. Do you know of a way to fix or replace a battery cell within the battery?
Just wondering what size pvc heat shrink you used I don't want to order the wrong size. I'm currently collecting parts and waiting for batteries to come in stock
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.
Did you diagnose the deffective battery, was it a bad cell, deffective BMS or simply weared out ?
I was curious to know Wh capacity and internal resistance if the battery pack before/after.
Nice craftmanship !
Thanks for sharing with us.
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.
Love you content. Would you do a video on the solutions for newer firmware? I just bought a pint less than a month ago with the intention of upgrading the battery but now with firmware 5050 and newer as I have 5059 it seems like VnR and battery upgrades are not available for us. What can we do ?
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 !
Are any schematics available for this build. Mainly balance connector and xt60, it seems reverse or am I crazy?
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.
I bought a Onewheel plus with a bad battery. What's your recommended fix?
Hey Mario - Just discovered your channel, and I'm extremely impressed. Looking forward to giving this kind of build a try. Have you attempted any modifications to increase the top speed on the pint? I understand that it uses the same motor as the XR (I could be wrong there), but it's just tuned to lower speeds.
The firmware is locked down
There aren't really any mods for speed, other than changing tire size.
This was entertaining thanks Mario. Are there any other reports of the quart battery failing so soon?
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.
Create tutorial! I have a couple questions for you.
1) You mentioned that the cells you used are "better". What's better about them?
2) did you reuse the thermistors or use new ones?
3) How long did this take you? Trying to judge how long it would take me...
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.
What type of hot snot glue are you using?
TrendBox Black Hot Melt Glue. It's fantastic: amzn.to/3oAeqYo
still better than tiller
Dang I was considering rebuilding mine but I didn't realize how weird of a cell arrangement was and I'm not really confident in my nickl abilities
What is the mah of this pack verses the stock pint bat?
pint og is 2700mah （vtc5d）this one is 4200mah（p42a）
man. i was going to buy a pack from chibattery systems. I think ill wait until someone offers a build like yours.
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...
Do you make a long range battery for the XR?
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.
Great channel, I just subscribed. I've been with Onewheel since the start and have owned the original, the Plus and now the XR. I haven't purchased the Gt yet.
The company is not going in the right direction and I'm not supporting that. I live in Orlando area and need a repair shop for my XR. Any ideas?
There are a couple in Florida. WitzWheel I believe is in your state, he's a big name. I'd check there first.
Are you going to do another run of these batteries anytime soon?
Do you plan to make more custom battery packs? They are sold out on your website .
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.
Thanks for the video. Really sorry to hear about this failure. I've had the Chi Battery Quart since Xmas 2020, couldn't be happier. One thing I noticed early on is that the battery is still doing something long after the Pint charger indicates that the charge is complete. If you watch, in Diagnostics, the Regenerated Amp hours number will continue increasing for a long time. I have been letting my Pint continue charging until this number stops changing. Do you have any knowledge of what this is? Is it still balancing after getting to full charge?
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.
Just curious what battery welder you use and why wonder why you didn’t use the original BMS leads
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.
How much did that all cost? Batteries included
Could someone please explain to me which pins to use for what on the connector for the balance harness?
Much appreciated!
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?
Hi I know you are the battery guy. Future motion says it's safe to use your hypercharger everyday on my gt and doesn't degrade the battery. Is this true? I only have the hypercharger but not the regular.
I have a onewheel gt with 1000 miles. Has been running strong but recently I ran it too low and it now wont charge. I believe the bcm is good but battery is showing 10v.
Can I send the battery to you for rebuild?
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?
Hi Mario do you fix electric scooter batteries, I noticed mine is not holding charge as it use to.
I do work on scooters, yes. Some aren't easy to work on so it depends on the scooter model.
Is the balance connector same as the one in XR?
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
Damn it, I think my comment with questions is getting caught on the spam filter or something.
I bought a quart from Chi. It didn't end up working because my version of pint is too new and not compatible... So bummed. Have you found a workaround?
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.
So, will you be selling these?
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.
How do you do this without bricking the unit?
Only the GT has that bricking behavior. Other Onewheels don't, far as I know.
Could you please let us know which were the original cells in the quart battery?
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.
So where did you learn about this?
Battery building? Mostly from the esk8news forum and Lee Wright.
👏🏾👍🏾🙏🏾
Do you sell this? I’ll be super interested to order one if you do
I'm making a small batch of them. Feel free to reach out on Instagram if you'd like one.
Where in NY are you located?
Would you be able to work on my onewheel?
How much to build one?
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.
You should try the magwheel Max 1500 it’s literally better than the onewheel and is cheaper
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
Would u build another and sell it? If so how much???
Yes, in July I'll be making a small batch, likely about $325.
the written article is not available anymore? :(
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?
How much for the Pint Extended Battery 🔋 from You???? @Mario Contino
I'll probably have some next month, I'll publish a video on that with info.
Thank you
Fancy knife
Could you make me a battery for my pint?
I'll be making a batch later this month.
so rather than a how to rebuild a quart upgrade battery its how to build your own better quart battery
Wow! Can u make me a battery🔋? 🙄😮😲
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.
The 15 minutes of video could have bin more helpful if you were showing how to build it.. the key points were missing..
So, which parts of the original quart battery did you reuse? New cells, new balance wires and connector...it's a completely new battery, not a rebuild 😂
Come at me, bro! ;) But since I ripped open the original battery...technically I re...built...it. Because #science
what company type of temp sensors did you buy do you have a link and does amazon carry the JST ZPDR-26V-S Connector
JST SZPD-002T-P0.3 Crimps
@theboardgarage