"Red Wrench" shutdowns only in morning

[lars-ss]

Hi folks. I have been using my i-180 for about 18 months now for a daily 6.4 mile one-way commute in Phoenix. I have also taken it to Texas in the wintertime, and have ridden it in temperature extremes from about 25 degrees up to 117 degrees. I don't think my current issue has anything to do with temp.

Recently, I have been experiencing a strange problem, but only in the MORNING commute. I leave the house around 5:15 A.M. in the dark, and just for additional information, the temps lately have been 55-70 degrees in the mornings. My Seg is charged in the garage, which is probably about 10 degrees warmer than outside.

At about the 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile mark, I have been getting a red wrench shutdown while cruising along (red key) the sidewalk as I usually do - nothing to do with the surface of the sidewalk, or the position of my feet, or anything that I can patternize like that.

It's never at exactly the same place on the sidewalk, but the recent red wrenches have been within a couple or three hundred feet of each other. This shuts me down, and then I immediately restart and continue on my commute. Then, about 1-2 minutes later, it "red wrenches" me a second time. After restarting after this shutdown, the Segway will be fine the rest of the way.

I have not had this problem occur in the afternoon commute at all - only in the mornings.

The Segway is out of warranty or I would just take it in and have them check it out.

Any ideas from any experts out there as to what might be the cause of this strange behavior? I'm kind of at a loss. I searched these forums and found no one else having reported a similar problem.

Thanks folks !!

[macgeek]

try a different route, MAYBE there is a power station / magnetic field and you pass it and it screws with your segway (segs are prone to magnetic fields)

Reverse your batteries, (front in back, back in front) see if the symptoms change

Try covering your seg with a blanket, so its warmer over night

and last but not least Try pouring a cup of coffee in the CS base.,
it may JUST be sleepy :) :p ;)

Jonathan

[wwhopper]

Run it through the upgrade computer and call the mothership for the logs.

That will tell you what the problem is.

That is the best way to know what the problems are.

[bystander]

Re: Strange behavior,

Exactly which "red wrench" shutdown are you getting? There are six that can occur while in balance mode. (see pages 35, 36 of reference manual)

Four of these are true "red wrench" modes, meaning the wrench icon appears, along with other segments that indicate the approximate location of the error.

If the frowning face appears without a wrench on a red background, that's not really a "wrench" fault, it's a critical system fault, which could mean a number of things.

Since you problem is happening at the time of day when there may be dew present, (and high humidity), there's an outside chance that some dust has collected on the handlebar and the key port and the high moisture content is making it conductive enough to allow a small current to flow between the contacts and the ground shielding of the handlebar.

You may already be aware that this is a known way to induce shutdown mode in a PT.

Could use some more clues. Which type of battery, NiMH or Saphion? (the different batteries have different low-temperature characteristics). Is dew visible on the ground when experiencing the problem? Has the PT gone through any puddles shortly before prior to the shutdown event? Sidewalk is smooth or bumpy? Any hilly terrain? Any gusty or high winds that could be lowering the temperature of a wet surface? Is the shutdown preceded by reduced performance mode (flat face), and / or stick shake? When you are cruising along, are you going at nearly top speed? Removed / replaced the batteries recently and didn't double check that the fasteners were still tight after riding a few miles? Could there be moisture trapped inside the CS or power base, causing intermittent operation? Are the CS cables in good condition?

The biggest question I would have is what is your packs' internal resistance at the time of the shutdown and how close is it to the PT's safety margin limit. This cannot be easily ascertained by the end-user. But a dump of the log files may give some indication, so that's why you were advised to get the software upgrade re-done at a dealer.

Another thing you can try on your own is to borrow someone else's batteries and see if the symptoms persist.

[polo_pro]

Just pray it's not the BSA...I hear about those going too often on i180's. And they're damn expensive to fix. If you continue to get swarms of red wrenches, and then the swarms start coming more frequently, get worried.

[lars-ss]

Thanks for all the good tips folks. I think the tip I like is to go to the dealer and get a upgrade and have them check the logs. I will get that done soon and report back. Thanks again everybody !!!

[DarthSegVator]

1) Check to make sure the batteries are seated properly, tightened and that all the screws are there for each battery.

2) Disconnect and reconnect the control shaft wire connections.

3) Upon initial start-up, let the machine sit leaning against something for about (30) thirty seconds before mounting. This will allow it time to complete the self-test. If the self-test is interrupted it can sometimes cause reduced power mode and maybe some other things you are experiencing.

Hope this helps!