Inokim disassembling, fixing and upgrading

Samsonov

1 mW
Joined
May 6, 2015
Messages
10
Hi Endless-sphere and all friendly people!

Scooter overview, the first impression can be found here, but in this topic we would turn to the technical side: inside parts, features and upgrade. I will complement this header and expand it with useful links and disassembling videos.

Preparation before your first ride and on a wet road.
1. Stock up on blue Loctite, not all the screws are treated, but those was loose when scooter came to me:
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2. Prepare some powerful pump (shock pump works perfect) and inflate tires to at least 3 atmospheres. Tires are deflated on arrival and you can't expect to ride from the post office without a pump.
3. You would need extra sealing if you drive in the rain or crossing pools, that's what happened to me - controller box and the battery section are wet and dirty
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Disassembly
1. Battery consists of low current Samsung 18650 ICR 2250 mAh (40 elements) connected 10s4p
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2. Controller (to remove it, unscrew 10 screws, four of them holding steering row and four are on the bottom size and the last two screws holding the plastic corners)
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3. Body and steering rod mount
Steering rod mounts through a three-layer cake of metal 3mm thick each. Top layer - folding mech. steel base, middle level - aluminium body itself and bottom level is a steel front bracket (holding controller inside).
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4. Old model throttle wiring
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Black-White-Red - the trigger (Black general, White - signal, Red - halls power).
Yellow - controller switch
Brown - input to the power button on controller
Green - power indicator input (for display connect to the Yellow)

Useful links:
Here is official Inokim website where you can found a lot of useful stuff. They upgrading it continuously.
Here you can check how to change a tire on a motor-wheel.
Here you can download the latest spare parts catalog
Replacing the battery
 
My own tries and errors

1. Battery fail was the first part i wanted to upgrade because of the low speed and range. And my choice was to build a three parts battery with config 12s5p what would provide me with hight amp draw and would not require a big controller (44.5V VS 36V is not so big difference, was my thinking). My guess was to fill all three sections of the scooter with batteries and could disconnect them when I wanted to without any need to disassemble steering rod and everything else. And this is what I had:
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As you see, my measurement was wrong and the third part easily fitted to the central section if I had cut a bit original side pads.
Battery was very powerful and hight quality but still not enough high voltage to provide at least 22km/h uphills on discharged battery. I needed higher voltage.
2. Motor fail
To find suitable motor was a real problem because of the narrow fork. We have only 115mm to play with, folks... with no way to make it wider. And the first and the only solution I found was this one. And the only positive with this unit was that it came to me in one week from China to Sweden!
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You can't imagine how many hours I spent to make this motor works. Look at the first ride on it and the "beautiful sound" with Infineon (same as with stock controller).
[youtube]K0GpBVaqc_g[/youtube]
Motor deficiencies was not only wry halls but disgusting smell from the tire. But the main problem was its weakness. I could not ride even on flat 5km without overheating it. And here the reason why - only 20 magnets 40mm each is just a little baby trying to carry to much.
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3. Fuse size fail
It was to big and automatic fuse is much more useful.
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Upgrade

Preamble. Upgrade depends on what issues do you have and what do you really need. My need was to replace public transportation (15km to and 15km from my job = 30km) with Inokim all year round 6 days a week. And problems began with first fallen leaves, dirt and folding/unfolding scooter many times in a day.

What problems I've met:
1. Rear disc brake was an issue for me in the last fall. (I see some improvements Inokim have done in their 2015 model)
I had to reassemble and tune this part once a week without any light of a permanent solution (by the way i sent an e-mail to Nimrod Sapir with detailed description of this issue).
There are three forces that affect the brake :
- folding/unfolding scooter (brake rope length changes about 2mm that is enough to lock back wheel, stretch your tuning and result unexpected braking later)
- bending of back wheel due to road humps (rotor bends a lot repeating the wheel and tire deformations)
- dirt and construction deficiencies (most days of the year it is rainy n Stockholm and a lot of dirt presses into the brake system)
I bought the best mechanical break I could found on Amazon (AVID BB7 SL with 140mm rotor) but it did not fit. Check this pictures
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2. Noisy geared motor
Was specially disturbing when I rode uphills and pushed off foot.
3. Lack of both speed and range
It felt worse on discharged battery (last third part of my daily road on both directions) and I had to buy an extra charger because battery held only 18km of 30 needed. I also tired to charge the battery two times a day (10-12 hours charging but less then 1,5 hours using).
4. Speed Indication and cruise
it was back in 2014 and are not any issues anymore with 2015 model coming out.

What do I have installed for today:
  • 16s4p on Panasonic NCR18650PF 2900mAh in two parts
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    400Wt Direct Drive motor (30 magnets 42*12*2.8mm stator 105x41mm)
    From "Changzhou AODUO Motor Factory" provided by official Moscow dealer and manually customised by one Moscow master to fit the narrow Inokim fork
    11kqdzu_thumb.jpeg
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    Mini-E kontroller
    With charging coil and BMS
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    Custom made flexible mudguards.
    That's what I've got with Loctite Power glue + sealant SASCO Silikon made of a piece of gray PVC from the kayak skin.
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    Automatic fuse
    Possibility to turn of the battery power while disassembling parts without any sparks.
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Upgrade advantages:
1. Adjustable & progressive regen control (recuperation) provided by Mini-E (no need for rear brake, brake by button pressing for now) + front v-brake assistance.
2. Top speed on flat is 38km/h (with OVS +7). I don't use that, because it is unlawfully in Europe, unsafe with 10" wheels and energy consuming.
3. Top range is 40 km and possibility to tune power consuming if you want to ride longer but can sacrifice acceleration and overspeed.
5. Challenging really heavy hills like on the video below with summary weight of me + scooter 100kg and keeping almost 20km/h speed:
[youtube]zkSy4z0IAZA[/youtube]
6. I have full control over every battery cell seeing it's status on fly. I can use any charger and charging time is around one hour instead of six.
6. Almost absolutely quiet ride
7. Adjusting every thinkable feature in the controller to tune the motor to be as effective as possible without being loud and overheating.

For those who have struggle with rear brake there are several options without spending money to buy everything new:
- Buy Avid BB7 (or similar hydraulic one) with rotor 160mm, rebuild calliper adapter and cut the mudguard.
- try to fix existing ones
a) Take a look at this video
b) Adjust the internal brake pad (which is on the wheel side) so that it sticks almost to the tangency point
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c) External pad may not even peek out. Rotor is not perfectly flat when screwed to the wheel and you should let it move. Adjust the course of the handle so that the pad moves smoothly

Future plans:
- to have a front disc brake (I need a new wheel then) and enable progressive regen control connected to the front disc brake hand
- change 2014 model throttle with battery indication (not used) to something smaller

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Today ride, first time until it almost stopped (no movement uphills). Power off set on 2.75V for each cell. Menu description here on page 21
Stats.jpgTotalStats.jpgBatka.jpgCharge.jpg
 
In a new series "Inokim - the suffering of the lambs," you going to see:
1. How and why it can be useful to change hall sensors in your hub motor if you have Adapto controller
2. How much effort it takes to set high quality mechanical disk brakes Avid BB7 on the front fork of Inokim
3. What is the proportional regen and how to combine it with the front disc brake
4. And a bonus: the replacement of gray PVC mudguards to the black rubber, wire box printed on a 3D printer, new CST 4PR tires - the secrets of perfectly smooth installation and new buttons and throttle on-board.
 
1.Why do I decided to change the hall sensors? First of all I had some issues with the motor sound and wanted to be sure about what sensors do I actually have. Chinese solders sometimes different halls in the same motor. There were cases when the set of halls was a mix between analog and digital. There is a very important hall characteristic, namely a lower operating voltage. For some it is 4.0-4.2 volts and 2.7 volts for others. And as MiniE has a protective diode on halls output power and a current sense resistor 12 Ohm and a voltage power regulator is 5 volt and not 5.5 volt. So the actual voltage at the the output comes to the halls just near the boundary on 4.2-4.3 volts.
So if the halls installed in the motor works nominally from 4.2V they going crazy, MiniE can't detect and work properly and it leads to the motor overheat, high power consumption, noisy rotation and so on...
It make things even worse when the motor starts to warm up and hall sensors characteristics changes... So re-soldering halls was an attempt to akin the motor and MiniE even more. And it is fully paid off, howling disappeared and the maximum speed to knocking sound on the idling crawled from 45 km/h to 50 km/h. HH SS413A Honeywell (with memory effect). On the photo black is earth, red is power and blue is signal.
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2.New front wheel was found on Tao market and two weeks was spent on rework Inokim's front fork to fit Avid. Of course it was not the daily work and a lot of time was spent to thinking, but still a lot has been done on the mechanics: the V-brake ears removed; old front axle remade with some new bushings and threads; made a new insert between the bearings; bearings replaced; made two prolonging inserts to mount Avid so it fit to the rotor and caliper is still as close as possible to the fork; drilled two new holes in the fork to attach the caliper. Photos:
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3. Smooth proportional regen built on the principle of the analog Hall sensor SS49E.
I had to use two tablet neodymium magnets on the superglue I had to file one of them and glue both in order to extend the area to the moment when the disc brake starts to be active. The whole sensor is covered by shrinkwrapping. It is important to be aware of the polarity of the magnets and the direction of the sensor. The pictures shows a hole in the underside of the handle, the hall sensor and the magnet when the handle is pushed. On the controller screen you will see a little slider below the graph to take care of the released and pushed state of the break. Continue pressing the break handle activate the mechanical front break.
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4. I have not liked the gray mudruards on a black scooter and eventually they became covered with some muck and get dirty. So in connection my upgrade I have spent a lot of time to found a millimeter thin rubber roll with a pleasant relief surface, glued it in two layers and voila!
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The real gentleman from Finland agreed to help me with the hub capsule. He printed it for me and sent for free. Bless God such an open heart. Some painting with five layers black color and here is it. Compare before and after.
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For a long time I wanted to simplify the controlling bar. Finally, all the extra stuff (such as an indicator of the charge and needless switches) is gone and everything become quite simple. Two red buttons, ON and the light on the right and the throttle on the left (so that you can finally scratch your nose, or reset the phone with the right hand, without releasing the gas). And all breaking on both wheels is done by the right break handle (instead of the left plus button). My point with having it on the right was also that the right hand is stronger and that's mean extra inches that can be necessary to save my bones in emergency case.
And finally, the secret installation of tires is disclosed:
1. Release the air fully and push with your fingers on the sides of the tire to detach the tire rubber from the wheel (back fender should be removed of course)
2. Put some YES (washing dishes liquid) + little water (or if you have the special liquid for this purpose use it instead) to every place where the tire touches the disc from the inside on both sides of the wheel. I'm using a brush to smear because the fingers is to thick.
3. Pump the tube to 0,5-1 Atmospheres and standing on the Inokim move it back and forward several times on the floor until the tire is sitting properly and symmetrically.
4. Pump it fully and check the result by rotating the wheel with your hands
5. If it did not help, you can try to turn back to 0.5Atm and find the places where the circle of the tire changes it's perfect line around the wheel disc. Push on that particular place with your thumbs to get it right (liquid should help it to glide).
Enjoy your ride.

And the result was beyond my expectations, new tires gave "Volvo effect" - stability, softness, almost flight effect and confidence in turn. Brake just kicks, everything became simple and effective.
 
Thank you for your posts - this is the only info on the net about myway/inokim repair/modifications.
7 month ago I've bought this scooter , sadly the motor died.
Could not find a rear wheel with motor available on the replacement parts list. Are there any rear wheel with motor available ? I would prefer the original but if there are none then what rear wheel with motor will fit myway?
Thanks!
 
try these guys,
maybe the can sell you one,
https://www.facebook.com/klinikskuter


Samsonov, great write up!

one of my favorite microscooter design.
haven't got a chance to test one out.


I saw this fork/headtube failure on a clone.
hope it's not common.
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=22409&p=326240&hilit=inokim#p1016648
 
O, guys! Excuse me for the late reply. Somehow my subscription to this topic do not trigger any reminder. Will check that later in the evening and try to read carefully and answer for all you've asked.
 
Skywalker30 said:
7 month ago I've bought this scooter , sadly the motor died.
I can afford an original motor for you from Sweden if you are in EU, otherwise TG10 is the one that is nearest to the current Inokim's motor. In the beginning of 2015 I tried to order TG10 but it was impossible to explain to the seller (Tony Zhang <sales@uumotor.com>) what do I want (the item is still unlisted) hope you will have a better luck.

sk8norcal said:
Samsonov, great write up!

I saw this fork/headtube failure on a clone. hope it's not common.
O, thank you!
The problem with steering rode is a common for the clones, cheap details from some "metal-like" powder cause many problems. I'm following russian community and reading many owner reviews.
As I mentioned in the description in my two first posts, I have no problems with mechanics at all and 3000km are already passed by. Yes, I have some gaps because of my offensive driving style but it can easily be fixed by changing "Folding Mech. Top" part to the new one.
 
I have the genuine Inokim quick 2 and find the steering hinge has free play that cannot be tightened or eliminated. The seeler says it is part of the design.
Very poor for such an expensive scooter, especially considering there are other makes with proper bearing head sets. Has any one else noticed the free play and found a way to eliminate it?
I was thinking of using thin copper washer to take out the free play.
 
I've had the same problem.
When the upper part that connects the body and the upper part gets wobley
 
The friend of mine have done some updates shown in this video:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/xoIUlO3BdLY[/youtube]
But it is not the whole picture, two other parts need to be changed, and I still need to find some solution on the other one...
 
Hello all,
I have a question... I have a Myway electric scooter. does anyone knows if i can replace the manual Throttle to a digital one? and how to do it?

thanks!
 
Dear Samsonov
I have a Inokim Light 2 Super with 36V 10.4AH Transmission: 350W motor. According to the homepage it should be running at 33 km/h but only has a max. speed of 20 km/h. I'm sure this is for legal reasons because max. speed allowed is 20 km/h. I have no idea of electric motors but would assume that it should be possible to make the scooter going at a speed of 33 km/h. Any ideas ? Please contact me directly on roger.peter@guycarp.com.
Best regards Roger
 
Hello everybody,
I would also be very interested in increasing the top speed of the Inokim Light 2 Super, since mine is capped at 20 kph as well. I just saw this video, but I won‘t get further than mode 7 (in mode 8, the speed limit may be changed): https://youtu.be/7oP432tlWD4

Any suggestions would be very welcome.

Thanks,
Marc
 
Hi Samsonov and all,

I've personally found this thread exceptionally interesting and useful so thanks to all who've contributed.

All are welcome to join our new subreddit for Inokim users and fans to discuss all things Inokim and e-scooter related!

http://www.reddit.com/r/InokimOwnersClub

Would be amazing to have some of your projects detailed there, I'm sure we could all learn from you Samsonov :bigthumb:
 
Thank you, LDNForestCat.

Time goes by and it is not at all the same Inokim-world now.
I stopped to follow all the development and models and do not even use Inokim at all on winter and fall.

I can't really contribute anything for now but I have plans to rebuild the second Inokim I have with another controller and battery since Adappto is unfortunately dead.

When I come to the upgrade it will be properly described.
 
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