Hi everyone, I’m a landwheel owner V5 L3x and have just spent a very rewarding hour poring over this thread. Most of the fixes I’ve sort of got to on my own (fairly new to this forum) but its still been a great help. thanks…
I love this drive, it out performs practically everything else out there for a fraction of the cost.
Range has been an issue but with multiple batteries that is not something worth noting, I do love the fact that if you have an even number of batteries you can always get home and don’t get caught out by lying battery indicators (theres always uber)
Mine does cut out under heavy load (and I am a fairly heavy load lol) and being a diyer its perfectly understandable that the bms cuts in to protect the battery when it senses voltage sag (these are small batteries after all), to compensate i just throttle down when attacking hills and the problem doesn’t occur.
I will definitely use the wheel bevelling hack as mine are badly chunking and every replacement has done the same so thanks again!
I took my drive apart after my first ride to check it all out as it was so quick I wanted to be sure It was put together properly and noticed the screw issue so changed them all out with longer from my RC parts bin and they’ve been fine for 4 months and a lot of ks so far but what i did do that was slightly different to you guys was stop the battery rattling in the case. I know from experience that vibration is the biggest cause of mechanical failure and so I used a sheet of adhesive velcro in the case and the battery and it holds it snug with very little movement. Does make it a bit harder to get the battery out but not a real drama.
What i really wanted to know though before this comment turned into war and peace was 4WD?
Is this a factory specific thing or a DIY hack? Can you purchase another drive and sync it to one remote? I tried their website but for some reason I cant access it
Anyway thanks again for such an informative thread and I will keep you posted on any issues that come up as I use this thing very hard and most days and living in Aus all year round too.
It funny that you arrived at the Velcro hack on your own. If you watch my latest video I show what is probably the exact same Velcro hack.
The new PCB shells seem to shrink out of the mold so there is no longer room for the Velcro and the battery is held very tightly.
I’ll be performing some drop tests and other testing on the shells this week. I’m also going to be trying a variety of screw lengths because I too estimate the prevailing screws are too short.
The 4WD is definitely an end user hack. Landwheel has not been successful in synchronizing remotes.
If you watch the various 4WD videos in this thread, you’ll see one method of harnessing the two remotes together. The best double sided tape to use is Acrylic tape for mounting mirrors. You can find it in home depot with other double sided tapes.
I recommend this one: https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.no-more-nails-mounting-tape.1000406813.html
If you use a lesser double sided tape, the remotes can slide around causing one drive to work harder than the other. Then the batteries get out of balance. If the foam tape is strong, the batteries deplete very evenly.
Back to the longer screws… longer screws were of limited help with the ABS shells. In fact longer screws often contributed to the splitting of the posts. So definitely use a Velcro strap to hold things together until you get your new shell. Also inspect below the battery cover frequently to make sure none of the wires have slipped between the ABS shell and the aluminum backing plate. This can happen to the antenna wires or the senor wires and damage to the wires can happen as a result.
Hi Guys. First off, big thanks to pkasanda and the forum for the tips on the wheels and velcro straps! I sanded a profile onto the wheels and it fixed the chunking. Glad I found the video from pkasanda 
I bought my L3-X Unit on the 12th of May. I was told the unit is PC and not ABS after asking them. My batteries both came with no blue stickers. I was told they are the newest and not to worry. As in the video above, without a comparison, its impossible to tell if its a new or old unit.
My issue is range and the safety of the Landwheel. I have been flung off it 3 times already.
The batteries only last less than 2 miles on high mode. They then die and I have to take the battery out, put it back in and restart it. After that I can only ride in low mode without it switching off. At this stage its super slow and I can then get the 5 miles of range. (By slow I mean I could jog faster).
Also, on a few occasions, while in high speed mode, the board had cut out and flung me off! Was flung off today going 19MPH! Fun times…
Is there anyone else having these issues? if so how did you fix them? I would really appreciate any help on this topic as I no longer trust the unit. Feels like I should of bought the Onan, backfire or koowheel instead of the Landwheel… Pity as I want to like and enjoy it.
Hi Byron:
Looks like you’ve got some issues. I’m going to invite you to the beta testers group to see if the collective can help you sort things out.
Awesome, thanks mate.
So inside the beta-testers thread, I left you an absoloutley massive post with a bunch of diagnostics to go through. As I was writting those diagnostics, I came up with the most likely scenarios that would explain your limited range and the 100% brake lock that threw you the board.
First its normal for a brand new L3-x battery to have low capacity that starts off as low as 2 miles. Over a number of charge cycles, that should build to about 4 - 6 miles. However, if you are a very heavy rider, in a neighborhood wiht lots of hills, then 2 miles or so could be a natural limit for a single landwheel. The batteries are small and range depens a great deal on rider weight and temperature. Cold weather knocks the range down to below 2 miles for certain. The best solution for very cold weather or very heavy rider or lots of hills is a 4WD landwheel configuration.
Now back to your brakes locking on you. Every electic skateboard has limits when it comes to down hill braking. Boosted boards and Onewheels can cut-out completely. Most chinese boards will either cut-out completely or lock the brakes to prevent over charge when down hill braking on a full battery. Boosted board and onewheel recommend walking down hill some distance, then traveling up hill to burn off some current before turning around to travel down hill. It works. I’ve tried it on my One wheel. When you get the over charge warning from any board when traveling down hill, its time to stop the board and head up hill. If you don’t do that, you are putting your life at risk.
So when I looked at your post and studied it for a long time and put all the pieces together, I see this:
- Lives at the top of a hill and heads down hill on a full battery
- Might be a heavy rider (assumption due to low range)
- Might be a colder climate (assumption due to low range)
- Travels down hill at very high speed
- Ignores the over charge vibration warning when traveling down hill
So I’m not saying you are foolish. It took me a while to piece all this together. But I’m thinking the BMS is signalling the ESC that the batteries are at risk of overcharge and the ESC is locking the brakes to prevent an explosion.
Sucks for you that you get thrown from the board at high speed. However, the scenaio is avoidable and preventable if you are aware of a few facts:
The landwheel is able to support down hill braking by slightly undercharging the battery. The battery leaves the charger with a limited amount of spare capacity for regen current and down hill braking. When you reach that limit the remote vibrates. Don’t ignore the vibration alert becasue if you do, bad things can happen including damage to the ESC or worse, damage to you. If you are going to head down hill on a freshly charged battery, then do so at very low speed. This will reduce the force of the Regen and give you more time to stop if you get a vibration alert. If you are a very heavy rider and the landwheel brakes can’t limit your down hill speed, then a 4WD configuration will give you the brakes you need for your situation.
See my post in the private forum for more diagnostics and some ideas to make things safe for you given your “top of the hill” environment. If you are not willing to use the walk down, and ride up, before riding down method, then you may need to build a custom board and configuring it to use e-braking (no regen current) Without the regen, you may need a larger battery.
A 4WD landwheel configuration may also help you if indeed you are a heavy rider in a cold climate who lives at the top of a large hill.
Here is a better way to identify the PC shell.
The polycarbonate shrinks alot as it exits the mold. So your battery should fit in the drive very tight with no play. If you have 1 - 2 mm of play front to back then it’s an ABS shell. Also, the PC shell will have two vertical shrink marks that line up with the screw posts on the side of the drive. The shrink marks look like this:
To confirm the battery type, try the wiggle test that is shown in the video.
Hi Paul.
Thanks for taking the time to respond and to help out, really appreciate it! Without your videos I would of bought another board to be honest. The fix for the wheels is just brilliant!
Just had a look at the shades of black and the shrink marks. It is the new polycarbonate shell I have. Might still keep a velcro strap on it, any extra support is good with these hard plastics.
The area above the hole where you have the battery latch, did you put a metal plate over that?
With the battery, I actually did that test already and it seems to be the new ones. Although with the issues I am having, they might have faulty BMS’s I suspect.
I have been thinking about getting one of my batteries redone by a friend who builds custom electric bikes and battries. He could fit in 11 lithium ion Tesla battery’s and a new BMS. As I don’t trust the current battery anymore (Cut out on a full charge going 19MPH on a flat road and flung me off the board), it might be worth doing. These batteries also only last around 1.5 miles on high mode - thereafter you have to unplug them, replug them and ride in the low mode for the remaining 3.5 miles at a max speed of 9mph.
So if your brake lock experience is unrelated to downhill braking then:
- Check for pinched wires as per my post in the beta test forum
- Check that all 6 motor wires are well connected. A single disconnected motor wire will lock the wheel on any electric skateboard. So try to rule out any intermittent connection due to a bad solder or loose connector. Also make sure there is no damage to any of the motor wires from any of the six screws that hold down the ESC cover plate.
If none of the above problems exists I would contact landwheel and request a replacement battery. Assuming you are not extrordinarily heavy, riding near zero temperatures, or climbing and decending hills constanlty then your range shold be in the 4-6 mile range on a landwheel (after 10 - 15 charge cycles).
Be careful mixing the Landwheel ESC with non-L3x batteries. The risk of frying the ESC would be high.
Hi @pkasanda, I am a landwheel owner since the beginning of 2018 and recently I got thrown off the board when the battery is about 75% (3 lights) on a flat ground, do you mind helping me with sending the diagnostic that I need to do? I fell of at 10 mph, not too bad, but got open wound across my arm 
not sure what to do now, a little bit scared to jump back to the board.
Before I was thrown off, I sensed something wrong with the board because the brake didn’t engaged fully. I was riding at 20 km/h, hit the brake, the board slows down (braking) until the speed is +/- 5 km/h and i lose the braking power even though my slider is still at the bottom position causing the board to continue cruising at slow speed. Have you ever experienced similar problem?
It seems like a failing battery. I’ve not had this experience with an L3-x. However, I continue to ride one of my V2 Landwheels combined with V4 battereis. One of those V4 batteries has ample capacity. The second one has difficulty accelerating and often lacks the power to brake. So I’ve stopped using it.
I’ll invite you to the beta testers group. We can discuss your battery further in that forum.
My 4WD has two different clamping systems. The front unit is an earlier design. It consists of a latch plate and a clamping arm. So yes, that unit has a plate similar to a strike plate on a deadbolt.
The second unit is a newer design where the clamping arm doubles as a skid plate. This clamping system has no strike plate.
Here is an improved 4WD remote design (top).
Improvements:
- Longer so its easier to get the USB cable into the rear remote
- Wider slider to enable access hole to front remote power switch
- Extra thumb tab
- Post stopper above the rear remote post. This stops the slider from sinking down and creating friction on the top surface of the rear remote
Note that you need to use a heat gun to curl the slider at the bottom.
The curve prevents friction contact between the slider and the top of the remote.
If you don’t have a precision tip for your heat gun, then use aluminum foil to shield the material on either side of where you need to bend it.
Hi guys,
I have been riding my Landwheel L3X for about a month or so, got two batteries and both have worked fine, switching them on my way back. But today one of them just died on me. And it would not start again. I plugged in my other battery and was able tog et back home, i charged the failing battery until the light turned green, but still same problem. This time it turned on, but as soon as i started rolling it turned of and would not start again. Tested with the functioning battery again, and it still works. Any suggestions or ideas on what to do? Could it just be a warranty case?
best Vilhelm
Batteries do fail from time to time. Sometimes its spontaneous. Other times is seems to be a result of riding the batteries down to the last drop.
I’ve had two batteries fail. Since then I’ve changed my riding habits. I swap in a fresh battery as soon as I hit the last blue dot. Since then I’ve had no battery failures. I’ve also ordered extra batteries so I’m never tempted to streatch out a battery.
I recommend ordering two extra batteries and asking for a warranty replacement on a third.
Yes, of course, I don’t think i have been ever riding them to the last drop, except maybe once.
“I swap in a fresh battery as soon as I hit the last blue dot” So you only ride 50% of the battery? Or do you mean the last red dot? An still just ride about 75% of the battery then?
Hopefully they replace my battery without ordering an extra, two of them has been plenty, as long as they work. I seldom ride longer than 8-10 km so i usually last one battery on the way out and the other on the way back.
One of my hub motor wheels are also starting to feel just a tad bit loose, it is not really loose but it does wiggle a little bit more than the other one. Are they easy to open and tighten? And as a custom build, do you think it is possible to change the back truck on the landwheel? I swapped the front one for a proper longboard truck and the experience is so much nicer, would be fun to try the back one to!
Best V
My tips on battery usage were more to help you get better results in the future. I was not suggesting you had abused the battery.
That said, I now swap in a fresh battery within minutes of dropping to one blue dot lit. I don’t wait for it to flash and I never wait til I hit the red dot only. I also pay attention to the vibrations in the remote. If it vibrates up hill on a reatively full battery, I back off the throttle. If it vibrates on two blue dots then I get ready for a battery swap if it happens a second time.
On the extra batteries, I still suggest you pick up an extra one or two. The beta testers get a special price on batteries. I can invite you to the discussion if you want to know how low that price is.
Loose hub motors are very easy to tighten but there are two different components that may need to be tightened. The simplest is the axle nut. Just remove the hub cap and tighten the axle nut. Its even better to remove the axle nut, apply loctite, then re-torque the axle nut.
If that does not fix your wabble, then remove the four outer lug nuts, then loosen and retorque the inner lug nuts. Tighten them incrementally using quarter turns in an alternating pattern just like the proper method for torquing lug nuts on a car wheel. Then re-insert and re-torque the outer lug nuts.
I do not believe you would be sucessful in swapping the rear trucks unless you have a lathe to turn down the truck to the diameter of the inner bearing and a milling machine to cut a slot for the motor wires.
If you want an effect similar to wider trucks then try doubling up the truck on the rear end. Watch this video for an illustration.
Thanks, i did not think you suggested that either, just wanted to be sure what you ment. Thanks!
And thanks for all the help and advice overall.
V
Hi @pkasanda. Thanks again for the response.
I wanted to do more testing before I replied. Of the 2 batteries I have, the issue is the second battery I purchased from Landwheel. It lasts no longer than 1 mile. For some reason it also causes the board to fling me off. This issue is unrelated to downhill braking or anything related as I am 80kg and I there are no hills here where I did my tests.
I have since emailed land wheel but they are really dragging there feet even after I sent a video of the battery going flat under a mile from a full charge. Its a pity really.
Unrelated to the battery issue, I want to warn people that they need to tighten all the screws/ bolts on there units and wheels periodically. Mine became very very loose. I had to unscrew the housing and re screw down the screws for the power supply and esc board as it all came loose. When I re attached the housing I noticed a screw that holds it down won’t tighten. The housing screws hole is damaged too - kinda falling apart! Think the velcro idea even with the new housing is a must. also, the wheels came loose.
Anyway, hope your are well and not having issues your side. Thanks for the help and information, it has helped out loads.
Hey guys. Anyone else here sliding around on the back urethanes? Mine have no grip at all. I won’t lie, its super fun but just wondering if its just me. I suspect the urethanes won’t last too long.