An Intro to Electric Scooter Replacement Parts and Maintenance

After the record high inflation in Europe, many residents had to “tighten their belts.” The increased cost of living also revealed our ability to adapt and look for flexible solutions in everyday life. And to make it even easier to save, our experts’ team shares some tips on identifying when’s the time to order electric scooter replacement parts and how to change the worn out part to a brand new one.

Although electric scooters have been on the city streets for several years, this two (and sometimes three) wheeled helper is considered a relatively new form of transportation compared to traditional vehicles. Like cars or bikes, electric scooters are subject to wear and tear.

However, the failures are often minor, and such a device’s operation pays back the investment in less than a year and a half since it costs approximately 10 cents to charge the scooter’s battery.

Familiarize yourself with the most common malfunctions of electric scooters and find out how to eliminate them without much effort at home while saving some bucks on sweet electric scooter accessories:

• Electric scooter tubes, tires, and their maintenance>>
• Electric scooter errors and error codes>>
• Why does the electric scooter not turn on after the cold season?>>
• Reduced acceleration — time to check for electric scooter replacement parts?>>
• Electric scooter brake failures>>
• Unbalanced electric scooter and unusual vibration>>

Electric scooter tubes, tires, and their maintenance

If you’ve been riding your electric scooter for a few seasons already, you’ve probably encountered the unpleasant situation of a flat tire due to uneven road surfaces. Although when you see a flat tire, you often think that you cannot avoid professional services, there is a challenge you can take at home. Changing the tire is fairly simple and quick if your e scooter is over two inches tall. And if your scooter is two inches tall or less, you’re up for a hard challenge.

Here is one of the situations that our customers had to deal with — after the tire tube of the electric scooter was punctured, the customer decided to try his hand and change it himself. After purchasing a new cam, removing the wheel mounts, and removing the wheel, everything seems to be going according to plan. However, the first challenge they encountered was removing the tire. Once one side is removed, while trying to remove the other, the tire pops back on the rim, and the tire is filled with rubber chips. After many attempts, they finally managed to change the tire, but the entire rim was scratched due to the wrong tools. And due to mistakes made in the replacement process, it is likely that the tire tube will be punctured again and will need to be replaced with a new one after a week or two.

So, the most common question is related to changing the tire tube — why does the tire get a puncture, and how to avoid buying electric scooter replacement parts like the tire so often?

The origin of the problem — appropriate tire pressure is not maintained, which should be four or more bars. Due to under inflation, the inner part of the tire and the rubber layer begin to wear, forming rubber chips. Opening the tire skeleton, also known as the cord, damages the tube, eventually puncturing the tire.

So even after replacing a worn tire, with rubber chips remaining, you will face a flat tire again sooner than you might expect.

How to avoid frequently changing electric scooter tires?

• Check the tire pressure regularly and maintain an appropriate pressure of at least 4 BAR (atmospheres).
• When a tire is punctured, replace not only the tire but also its inner tube.
• Use an air pump that does not have an air leak. Since the volume of the tire is very small, after removing the pump, some of the air may let off from the tire instantly, so we advised using a pump or a pump accessory that prevents air leakage. We recommend using this valve adapter.
  
• Replace air filled tires with comb, solid tires. Electric scooter solid tyres are one of the most popular electric scooter replacement parts, even if the current tires are not worn out. They are durable and withstand various environmental factors for at least 3 5 years and can help you save up to 100 euros that you spend on tire replacement and repairs. However, when replacing pneumatic tires with solid tires, you should expect to feel more vibration when riding your scooter, which can loosen various screws of the electric scooter. To avoid this, we suggest lubricating them with reliable screw glue.
  

It is important to remember that poorly maintained tires and faulty performed repairs of the electric scooter can force a visit to professionals, so it is always necessary to carefully follow all the required steps when changing a tire.

• Choosing 10 inch inflatable tires is probably the best solution to avoid frequent tire changes. Here are some reasons why we recommend our customers replace their original tires to 10 inch ones:

• The higher tire profile provides a “softer” ride, reduces vibrations and protects the electric scooter from unexpected breakdowns.
• The higher profile of the tire ensures that it will be more resistant to impacts, reducing its sensitivity to the road surface and unevenness compared to the 8.5 inch original tires.
• The probability of tire wear is lower, and the wear of its sidewalls is significantly reduced.
• The taller tire allows you to enjoy the higher speed of the electric scooter.
• The 10 inch tires are easy to change and remove.
• It is possible to use the same tire tubes without changing them.

However, it is essential to remember that these tires also have some cons:

• 10 inch tires are more expensive than 8.5 inch tires.
• An additional mod kit is required. It is necessary to raise the rear mudguard and extend the support leg. Modification can be a real challenge — there is a connector for the rear mudguard light wire at the back of the front wheel, which needs to be glued to the scooter’s frame, or the connector wires can be extended and installed elsewhere.
• When installing the rear 10 inch tire, there is a rather minimal gap between the tire and the frame.

But despite the challenges, in terms of price and quality, 10 inch tires are the best choice for your electric scooter. This can also be confirmed by the most popular manufacturers of electric scooters — Xiaomi PRO 4 scooter comes with 10 inch tires. One of the most durable tires of this type is from the manufacturer Xuancheng Xiaomi 10 inch tires.

Electric scooter errors and error codes

Most electric scooters have fault detection systems and various sensors that instantly detect malfunctions. This useful element was pioneered by market leaders Xiaomi and Ninebot, which helps scooter owners understand the cause of the malfunction. Error detection systems are far from stopping improving. The advanced panels of the electric scooter show speed, battery level, and error codes.

For example, electric scooter models E11 and E15 additionally notify the owner of a malfunction by beeping. The Xiaomi M365 and Essential electric scooter models, which do not have an advanced dashboard, have a similar sound system. Simply put, these models will beep error codes with long and short signals. If the first error signal is long, it identifies the first error code number, followed by short signals indicating the next error code number.

In practice, one long beep and four short beeps identify error code 14.

You can learn more about electric scooter fault codes here.

Why does the electric scooter not turn on after the cold season?

At the beginning of the season, some electric scooter owners face the problem of not turning on after winter sleep. So why does this happen, and when should you look for electric scooter replacement parts?

The majority of electric scooter batteries are made from 18650 type lithium ion cells. For example, the batteries of the electric scooter Xiaomi M365 or 1S are made of 30 lithium ion cells. Each can be charged up to 4.2V, and the safe minimum discharge level is up to 2 3V.

So if your battery reaches the minimum discharge voltage limit, the battery controller, or BMS, shuts down. And when it turns off, it is no longer possible to turn on and use the electric scooter.

The battery BMS boards of all the most popular scooter models have LED indicator lights. If it flashes blue, the battery is fine. If it flashes red there is a fault in the BMS. If it doesn’t flash anything folow next steps.

So what could be the solution to this problem?

Each electric scooter battery has a precharge button in the BMS controller, for example:

After removing the battery from the electric scooter, it is necessary to disassemble it so that the reset button is still accessible. Then, connect the battery conveniently so you can charge and hold the reset button until the indicator lights on the controller light up. It is essential to charge the electric scooter battery fully. Once it is charged and installed back, it should work properly again.

However, if you encounter this problem often or recharging the battery does not help, we recommend visiting a service that performs electric scooter repair and battery fault diagnosis. You can also look for electric scooter replacement parts in the service if you are into getting nitty gritty.

Reduced acceleration — time to check for electric scooter replacement parts?

The shortened driving distance or reduced acceleration of the electric scooter does not always mean it is time to seek professional help. Here are some reasons why your scooter may have lost power:

• Temperature drops and chilliness. An electrochemical reaction occurs in battery cells during energy release. This reaction slows down by 30 to 60% when the temperature drops.
• Worn battery cells. Like all parts of an electric scooter, battery cells also wear out. The wear and tear of just one or two cells can severely reduce the range or acceleration of the electric scooter. Although it is possible to repair an electric scooter battery when the sealed battery is disassembled, it is quite complicated, and it is better to simply replace the battery with a new one.
• Battery management board (BMS) failure. Although most of the time, when the battery control board fails, the electric scooter does not turn on, there are failures when the acceleration is greatly reduced and the distance traveled is shortened. In case of such a failure, you should check the indicator lamp. If it blinks blue, no BMS failure has been detected, and if it blinks red, the battery control board needs to be replaced.

Electric scooter brake failures

One of the most common causes of extended stopping distance is improperly adjusted electric scooter brakes. However, this is not the only reason why the scooter may not brake properly:

• Unadjusted or incorrectly adjusted brakes. When the brakes have not been adjusted, adjusted incorrectly, or the brake pads are minimally worn, the cable should be tensioned. At the same time, you can try to adjust the brake pads properly.
  
• Worn brake pads. If the cable’s tension did not help, the cause of scarce braking may be worn brake pads. You can assess the condition with the naked eye. Check how the new Xiaomi scooter brake pads look like.
• Incorrectly installed brake caliper. Check the brake block if the brakes are adjusted, and the pads are replaced, but the problem persists. To evaluate the brake block, loosen the bolts, press down on the brake to fit the block to the disc, and tighten the bolts. Adjust the cable and pads and make sure these parts are properly adjusted before pressing the brake lever.
  
• Bent brake disc. You may accidentally damage the brake disc when transporting the scooter or carrying it upstairs. Relatively thin and easily dented, fixing a damaged brake disc can become a real challenge. To check the condition of your electric scooter’s brake disc, rotate it and observe. If the brake disc waves around, it is dented, and we recommend replacing it with a new one.

Unbalanced electric scooter and unusual vibration

The reasons for this failure are simple — loose screws or worn out metal parts. To find out why you experience an increased vibration than usual when rolling or why the scooter is out of balance, carefully check the entire body of the scooter. After identifying where the parts feel loose, check the screws holding them. If the screws are loose, apply screw glue and tighten them properly.

If the problem of imbalance or increased vibration persists, the metal parts of the scooter may be worn. One such example can be the folding mechanism of the Xiaomi electric scooter:

If you have decided not to replace the metal folding mechanism, purchasing a rubber gasket can reduce the vibration. There are other electric scooter accessories  that can help you minimize the unpleasant vibrations or even upgrade the looks of your scooter.

Repairing scooter at home — mission (im)possible?

While most electric scooter malfunctions may seem like rocket science initially, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the vehicle’s fault codes, parts, and potential defects. By noticing and solving various malfunctions of the electric scooter in time, you can save money and be sure you will ride safely and comfortably. Also, don’t forget to follow the news of your favorite electric scooter manufacturers — due to the fierce competition in the market, manufacturers release improved models with more durable parts and innovative solutions every year.