Wahoo Silent Kickr/Kickr Core Faults

[JhnBssll]

I've just bought a broken Kickr 17 (V3 I believe) and am currently stripping it down to try and repair it. It was pretty quiet and seems mechanically sound but the electronics are dead. I've found a thread on another forum that describes how to repair the PCBA so I'm going to be giving that a go when I get it out I'll update with my progress if I get a chance

 

[CXRAndy]

Post the pictures of the flywheel shaft and bearings. If you discover brown dust around the bearings then you will have a bit of fun.

I've come to the opinion the flywheel isn't properly balanced, over time destroying the bearings.

Wahoo possibly knew of the issue and overtightened the belt, on the hope of eliminating the design flaw.

With your engineering skills access to machining equipment, you could test for imbalance and possible correction

All the best

 

[JhnBssll]

The bearings and shaft are all in excellent condition. I'm not going to strip it down any more than I need to at this point as it was mechanically very smooth before I took it apart, seems its one of the better ones from a balance perspective.

I guess if you make enough of something you get one right eventually Anyway I contacted the turbo trainer doctor (https://www.theturbotrainerdoctor.com/) who will be testing and repairing the PCB for me, I didnt fancy my makeshift soldering skills on such a small board It went off today and he offers a 72 hour turnaround so I'm hoping to have it back by the middle of next week. Once its reassembled I'll give it a try and update For now though its looking a little forlorn in my study...

 

[CXRAndy]

Those photos show perfect flywheel shaft. Looks like they did eventually get the balancing correct. Such a kerfuffle thought with thousands of units returned time and time again. Good luck with PCB repair.

 

[alex_cycles]

I bought a second-hand but not very much used Kickr v5 yesterday and after about 12 minutes of use it started making a clicking noise which I now know is the bearing on the drive side of the flywheel axle. It was a real engineering challenge to remove the pulley. It's made of soft aluminium and there isn't even enough of a gap behind it to shove something substantial in to pry it off.

After about 2 hours of pissing about I came up with a method that slowly worked. Using the bevel of a knife and the Kickr frame as a lever I was able to slowly "wedge" the pulley off without damaging it very much. Very difficult and rather slow, but it worked. After that I was able to get a flat screwdriver in to finish the job.

It seems the v5 has a properly fitting Woodruff key and they used green thread locker on it too. It's a proper b'stard to remove. Bearings are arriving tomorrow. I doubt I will have it finished in time for Tuesday's DRS, so I might have to use my Direto instead. But it's looking hopeful. Still possibly one or two challenges left, but we'll see.

 

[CXRAndy]

I believe they went with contact adhesive to eliminate the very early problem of knocking when pedalling was quickly stopped. You could have tried a bit of heat on the pulley, this would have softened the adhesive and slightly expanded the pulley.

Interested to see if new bearings sort your problem

 

[alex_cycles]

I believe they went with contact adhesive to eliminate the very early problem of knocking when pedalling was quickly stopped. You could have tried a bit of heat on the pulley, this would have softened the adhesive and slightly expanded the pulley.

Interested to see if new bearings sort your problem

Heat was next on my list. I was a bit concerned about damaging the stator or electronics, so was a bit reluctant to get the heatgun out.

 

[CXRAndy]

The bearings and shaft are all in excellent condition. I'm not going to strip it down any more than I need to at this point as it was mechanically very smooth before I took it apart, seems its one of the better ones from a balance perspective.

View attachment 715518

I guess if you make enough of something you get one right eventually Anyway I contacted the turbo trainer doctor (https://www.theturbotrainerdoctor.com/) who will be testing and repairing the PCB for me, I didnt fancy my makeshift soldering skills on such a small board It went off today and he offers a 72 hour turnaround so I'm hoping to have it back by the middle of next week. Once its reassembled I'll give it a try and update For now though its looking a little forlorn in my study...

View attachment 715517

Just realised John, your turbo is the cogged belt drive. That version of the Kickr never had a problem with the bearings

 

[alex_cycles]

Just realised John, your turbo is the cogged belt drive. That version of the Kickr never had a problem with the bearings

I guess they didn't need to tighten the belt as much with a toothed belt?

My project has stalled as I'm struggling to remove the flywheel bearing. Going to try Arctic Freeze Shock it next, but I have a bearing splitter on the way as well. And I'm delighted to see that Turbo Doctor bloke is in Aylesbury, which is about 15 minutes from me.

First things first, though. DRS final round this morning

 

[JhnBssll]

Just realised John, your turbo is the cogged belt drive. That version of the Kickr never had a problem with the bearings

Indeed - and I'm happy to report it's up and running perfectly now. There were actually no faults found with the PCB so I can only imagine the old power supply wasn't providing a steady voltage causing the issues the previous owner encountered before it stopped working entirely. Now it's been stripped, cleaned and rebuilt with a new power supply it's all good, and it's cost me less than a hundred quid in total It was definitely worth that cheeky eBay bid!

My two gripes would be the noise, its much louder than my slightly newer model with the updated belt drive, and the lack of a built in cadence sensor on the older models. I mustn't grumble though, it was a bloomin' bargain

 

[CXRAndy]

I guess they didn't need to tighten the belt as much with a toothed belt?

My project has stalled as I'm struggling to remove the flywheel bearing. Going to try Arctic Freeze Shock it next, but I have a bearing splitter on the way as well. And I'm delighted to see that Turbo Doctor bloke is in Aylesbury, which is about 15 minutes from me.

First things first, though. DRS final round this morning

Has the shaft got a burr on it, or is the bearing just tight?

 

[alex_cycles]

Has the shaft got a burr on it, or is the bearing just tight?

Hard to tell as I can't shift it at all, but there are no obvious visible signs of a burr. The pulley end is in good shape, so hopefully it's been caught in time. I haven't tried "twatting it with a hammer" though, just a bit of leverage. New bearings slide freely down the shaft all the way to the old one, it's just a question of getting it free in the least destructive way (to the shaft) possible.

 

[CXRAndy]

Have careful look to see if the bearing inner race has been Loctite'd onto the shaft. It may need some heat and leverage to break it free. From memory, there is a wavy washer under the bearing on the flywheel side. Can you get anything underneath the bearing to aid leverage.

Something like this if there is a little clearance under bearing

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14490145...5338365712&toolid=20006&customid=EB190116733&

one of the pictures has part numbers for different length tools

 

[alex_cycles]

Have careful look to see if the bearing inner race has been Loctite'd onto the shaft. It may need some heat and leverage to break it free. From memory, there is a wavy washer under the bearing on the flywheel side. Can you get anything underneath the bearing to aid leverage.

Something like this if there is a little clearance under bearing

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/14490145...5338365712&toolid=20006&customid=EB190116733&

one of the pictures has part numbers for different length tools

Looks like a flat washer on a step to stop the bearing going all the way home. I stuck my phone in there for a better look. The clearance is about 2.4mm I've considered many options - even dremelling the bearing, but I wanted DRS out the way first.

I'll try heat and freezing first, but I also have ordered a bearing splitter which I hope will be here in a few days. Also just ordered one of those pullers you linked to (6"). Possibly if the claws are too thick I could grind them a bit.

 

[CXRAndy]

Looks like there is enough clearance for the puller, grinding the claws is a viable option