What To Do If Your Hoverboard Won’t Turn On
Today we share 5 common troubleshooting techniques that'll help you fix a hoverboard that won't turn on.
You love your hoverboard, and you take good care of it. However, one day, what if the hoverboard is not turning on? You’re frustrated and worried that you’ll need to scrap the whole thing. Luckily, hoverboard problems have solutions, and through some troubleshooting, you can figure out what’s going on with yours.
Possible Reasons Why A Hoverboard Won’t Turn On
When a hoverboard doesn’t work when you push the power button, there are a handful of possibilities:
- A hoverboard charger problem
- A hoverboard battery problem
- A wiring problem
- A motherboard problem
- Hoverboard is defective
Let’s go through these five self-balancing scooter problems and walk through what to do.
Charger Problems
The reason your hoverboard isn’t turning on might be that it’s not charging properly. This could be the charger’s fault.
How to check for charger problems
- First, connect your charger to the wall and make sure you see a green indicator light.
- Now, connect your charger to your hoverboard.
- What color is the light? It will be red for a little while, even if the battery is full, so give it a few minutes to turn green. If it doesn’t have this brief red time but stays green, the charger might be defective.
- If you have access to another charger (the same make as yours), you can try that one to see what happens. If this new charger does turn red first and then green like it’s supposed to, try turning the hoverboard on once it’s fully charged. If the same thing happens with the new charger, however, it actually isn’t a problem with the charger. It’s the board itself, most likely the battery.
Misaligned charging port
Before moving on to battery problems, there’s another possible issue that’s charger-related.
All hoverboards have a charge port, with a locator tab that’s supposed to keep you from plugging the charger in wrongly. However, sometimes that happens because the charger and charge port don’t quite line up naturally.
Unplug the charger and look at the charge port. It should have three pins and a little plastic plug, where you’ll see the locator tab.
Now, just make sure the slot on the charger cord is lined up with the tab. Plug it in. If the charger light turns red and stays red, the board is now charging properly.
Slow or defective charger
The last charger-related issue: your hoverboard won’t turn on without a charger connected. It is probably because it’s charging very slowly.
This issue is almost always because you’ve been using a defective charger, starting when you first got your hoverboard. Always use the charger the hoverboard came with.
You may want to get a replacement charger if your current one is broken.
Battery Problems
If you determine that the charger isn’t the problem, it could be the battery.
Checking for battery issues
It is fairly simple to check to see if it is the battery at fault.
- With your charger and hoverboard connected, see if the green indicator LED lights stay green.
- Now, turn on the hoverboard.
- If the hoverboard starts flashing orange on the battery indicator, the battery is bad. It needs to be replaced. The battery also needs to be replaced if the fully-charged battery doesn’t have the right amount of volts. You can check this with a voltmeter.
Depleted Battery
Another possible explanation for when a hoverboard won’t turn on or charge is a depleted battery. This is an issue with the battery management system (BMS) on the battery, which is detecting too much amperage during a charge, so it shuts off the power.
To troubleshoot this issue, carefully remove the battery from the hoverboard. You’ll need a screwdriver to take out the little screws, and you’ll need to undo a wire that connects the lights. Once the battery is out, use a voltage meter on the end of the battery’s terminal.
If the voltage is less than 36 (around 33-34 volts), the battery is too low to charge on its own. If it’s actually higher, like over 40, it’s probably an error with the BMS.
In this scenario, it will probably be easiest to take your hoverboard in for repairs and tell them what you’ve learned. You may need to get a new battery.
Wiring Problems
If you’ve determined it’s not a charger or battery issue, it could be the wiring.
If you haven’t yet, take the cover off your faulty hoverboard and look at the wiring. Does everything look okay, with no frays or damage?
Pay special attention to the wiring of the charger port and its connection to the motherboard. Unplug it and plug it back in, and then try charging and turning the board on.
Motherboard Problems
If none of the three hoverboard problems above were the cause of your woes, it might be the motherboard. There isn’t anything specific to do to see if the motherboard is the problem; it’s just a process of elimination.
You can buy replacements from your board’s company, so you don’t need to throw out the entire hoverboard. The specific solution to your issue is best discovered with the manufacturer.
Defective Hoverboard
What if nothing you do seems to work? It could be that the faulty hoverboard is simply defective.
In the manufacturing process, something went wrong, and no troubleshooting will solve the problem.
Check your board model online and see if there were any hoverboard recalls or notices about faulty parts. Even if there aren’t, do call the company and talk to customer service. Explain the situation. You might be able to get a refund or maybe a partial refund, but there’s no guarantee. It’s worth a try, though.
