How to Fix a Hoverboard [6 Most Common Problems]

It happens to every self-balancing scooter owner at one point or another. One moment you’re riding happy and free, the next you see that dreaded red light start blinking. Something is wrong with your device, and you want it fixed as fast as possible.

If you don’t feel like paying for the cost of repairs, then there are ways to turn this into a DIY project. This guide will show you how to fix a hoverboard when the red light comes on.

Contents

1 What The Red Light Means
2 Loose Cables
3 Circuit Malfunctions and Balance Sensors
4 Wheel Motors
5 Faulty Battery
6 Replacing Gyroscopes

What The Red Light Means

Simply put, this is a warning light that indicates something is wrong with your board. There are a few issues that might cause this to happen, including:

The cables have come loose, or there is a bad connection
The internal circuits have malfunctioned
The balance sensors need to be recalibrated
Either of the wheel motors needs to be replaced
The battery has gone bad and needs to be replaced
Your gyroscopes have gone bad

The light might also come on if you are testing the hoverboard upside down, in which case turning it back over will solve the problem. Most of these issues are a simple fix. Here’s what you’ll need to do.

Loose Cables

Whether the cables themselves are loose or their connections are bad, you need to reconnect them. Start by unscrewing the bottom of the board, then remove the lower part of the body.

Locate the main circuit board, and start disconnecting and reconnecting the wires. If this doesn’t work, you might need to buy a new motherboard.

Circuit Malfunctions and Balance Sensors

Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix for malfunctioning internal circuits. There are, however, replacement kits you can purchase for your board instead of buying a new one.

This will also cause the board’s balance sensors to stop working. If resetting the device does not solve the problem, then a replacement kit is the only solution.

Wheel Motors

These are tiny little devices that wire from the motherboard feed into the wheels. The red light will blink four times for the motherboard side, and five times for the battery side.

Fixing this problem requires buying a new motor for the bad wheel, then replacing it disconnecting the old motor and reattaching the new one. They come pre-assembled, making this an easy project.

Faulty Battery

Every battery goes bad eventually, including the ones inside of a hoverboard. When yours finally kicks the bucket, all you need to do is purchase a new one and replace it.

Make sure to pick up the battery that works with your model, or a UL2271. The ULs are made by Samsung and considered the safest on the market.

Replacing Gyroscopes

This one is a tricky fix. While you can do it yourself, you need to make sure the gyroscopes are the same kind used by your motherboard. When in doubt, just pick up a full circuit board replacement kit to keep things simple.

That’s all there is to it. Now you can fix your hoverboard like a pro when the red light comes on.