Fly12 Dissasembly

[Comedian]

The micro USB port is busted on my fly12. The pin has broken inside the port, so now I can't charge the unit. Otherwise it's working fine. No idea how it's happened but it's my problem now.

I've talked to CYCLIQ and they say it's out of warranty so the repair charge is $150 plus postage. They have offered a small discount off a new one but it's still a lot of cash. I'm not sure how long these things are going to last.. it's a known unknown.

Has anyone pulled one apart? Would it be possible to fix it myself, or even bodgy some wires with a plug on the end? I don't really need the USB port - I just need to be able to charge the unit.

[AUbicycles]

Cycliq of course don't like people doing this... but it is yours now and if you are fairly confident and take precautions (avoid damaging the battery or shorting) then nothing will stop you.

I havn't seen it disassembled and am not prepared to take apart mine to test. Before starting however, I would look into first getting the part you need - the usb port before taking it apart. Should be fairly easy to locate and may require cutting and trimming before desoldering the old one off and putting the new one in.

A consideration I have is the waterproofing and how easy/difficult it is to remove the existing port and keeping it sealed.

[Comedian]

So last night I managed to lever the pin up.. and it's sort of in place.

If you plug it into the charger... and wiggle the plug it will charge. If you use a rubber band to hold it in that place I actually managed to get a full charge into it. I'll have a bit more of fiddle with it tonight and see if I can do better. Unless it works better than this I'm really not sure whether this is a reasonable option going forward.

The more I think about it I gather the Cycliq people intend to replace the whole board with the plug on it.

For people reading this - let my failure be your lesson. Be bloody careful plugging it in.

[jillybean]

I had a similar problem with my fly6. Ended up with the usb port entirely off the board and rattling around inside the case. Seriously annoyed given the cost.

[Comedian]

I had a similar problem with my fly6. Ended up with the usb port entirely off the board and rattling around inside the case. Seriously annoyed given the cost.

That's no good... that's the takeaway from this. Be gentle plugging these things in for charging.

Today I see pushy's has them for $249 to clear out the old ones before the new ones come!

[eeksll]

I had a similar problem with my fly6. Ended up with the usb port entirely off the board and rattling around inside the case. Seriously annoyed given the cost.

That's no good... that's the takeaway from this. Be gentle plugging these things in for charging.

Today I see pushy's has them for $249 to clear out the old ones before the new ones come!

How do you plug it in roughly ?

I can see how one could break it off the board, but the bent pin ...

[Comedian]

I had a similar problem with my fly6. Ended up with the usb port entirely off the board and rattling around inside the case. Seriously annoyed given the cost.

That's no good... that's the takeaway from this. Be gentle plugging these things in for charging.

Today I see pushy's has them for $249 to clear out the old ones before the new ones come!

How do you plug it in roughly ?

I can see how one could break it off the board, but the bent pin ...

I just don't know.

The learning for me.. is I tended to charge it every day - and I'd try and leave it on the bike.. which is kept in a dark area so it's hard to see. Going forward i'll try and only charge it every couple of days, and remove and charge it in a lite area where I can see what I'm doing.

[li2099]

Today I see pushy's has them for $249 to clear out the old ones before the new ones come!

There's a new one coming?

[Arbuckle23]

Today I see pushy's has them for $249 to clear out the old ones before the new ones come!

There's a new one coming?

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... 12&t=96477

[notnairito]

I had a look at the insides of one that was faulty and basically yes, you have to replace the whole board to replace the usb port. Most of the space inside is taken up by the battery (about 2/3 of it). The usb port is on a small board and the camera/light are on another board on the opposite end.

From my experience repairing computers for a few years, you can buy replacement usb ports but soldering them is a PITA as they can melt really easily, You need a very steady hand and an iron that can regulate temperatures properly. For us it was usually easier to replace the board. It was also cheaper for the client as soldering was charged on an hourly basis, after 1 hour it better be a fancy pants board of it wasn't worth it.

[Comedian]

I had a look at the insides of one that was faulty and basically yes, you have to replace the whole board to replace the usb port. Most of the space inside is taken up by the battery (about 2/3 of it). The usb port is on a small board and the camera/light are on another board on the opposite end.

From my experience repairing computers for a few years, you can buy replacement usb ports but soldering them is a PITA as they can melt really easily, You need a very steady hand and an iron that can regulate temperatures properly. For us it was usually easier to replace the board. It was also cheaper for the client as soldering was charged on an hourly basis, after 1 hour it better be a fancy pants board of it wasn't worth it.

Thank you mate. I thought as much. I just don't have the ability to replace the port. Fortunately it seems to be working at the moment. Thanks and welcome to the forum.