Hover Board.

Towser

I want to buy one for my son's birthday. As I am not "down" with the kids I know nothing about them.

So what I want to know is:

What is "the" make/brand to buy?
How much are the ball park figures for one of these?
What else should I know about such things?

I noticed they have been in the news quite a bit recently but I am still none the wiser.

Browntoa

Cheap Chinese imports

Fire risks

http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/why-are-hoverboards-exploding-and-catching-fire/

Not street legal so only use on private property (not legal in parks etc either)


http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/12/hoverboards-illegal-pavements-roads-scooters

Already one teenager killed when he lost his balance and fell in the road

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/11/hoverboard-death-in-london-believed-to-be-first-involving-swegway

Towser

Yes, Russell Crows kids were not allowed to put them onto a Virgin Australia flight due to being a fire hazzard.

They may have been doing you a favour, Rusty! Russell Crowe fumes after Virgin Australia bans his kids' new hoverboards from a flight because they're a fire risk - in latest blow for the troubled toy

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3377074/Russell-Crowe-fumes-Virgin-Australia-CANCELS-family-flights-told-not-bring-sons-Segways-board-new-safety-policy.html#ixzz3viJxe6gz
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bacono

My nephew got one of these for Christmas, no idea about price or brand but I do know it's quite limited and is apparently gathering dust already.

sillygoose

The non sensationalised facts...

They are really great fun, I am in my 50's and was gutted to have to hand them over to the kids. I want one.

They are nearly all made in a couple of factories in China and are identical, the parts are even interchangeable - no matter what the 'Brand'.

In most cases a 'branded' one is a trendy sounding sticky label placed on it and a 100% to 300% profit margin mark up.

There are indeed two potential dangers to them:

1. Many were shipped to the UK with a mains cable that had an un-fused 2 pin US plug on it, people have been using them with un-fused US travel adaptors.. Its not appropriate for our electrical system which depends on fuses in the appliance plug. Simply resolved, you can either get a different lead or easier still, cut the original off and fit a standard UK plug (with a 3A fuse to replace the usual 13A). Cost less than £1.
Some UK suppliers have replaced the cables before selling.

2. They contain a powerful 4ah to 5ah 36V Lithium battery. 100's of thousands of the boards have been sold so its inevitable some will have defective parts, unfortunately if its the battery it can catch fire, it contains a lot of energy.

The same applies to MANY products with Lithium batteries from electronic cigarettes to iphones. All of which can and do sometimes have defects, overheat and catch fire except it doesn't even make the news any more. Many couriers, post services and airlines won't even carry any equipment with Lithium batteries in them now.

Sensible precautions are to charge the boards in a garage or shed if possible, if in the house do not leave charging and go out, or go to bed. Unplug when the charger indicates its done (a couple of hours often). Ensure all connectors are plugged in fully. The charging plug has a locating notch that prevents connecting it the wrong way but I wonder how many kids have abused them to the point its possible for them to force the connector in the wrong way which would quite probably cause a fire. If treated with respect its fine.

Legality. Yes its illegal on pavements or roads. Do the Police particularly care? I don't think so, they have far, far more important things to worry about. Of course if you act stupid or annoy others they can't ignore you.
Most come with a special carry bag, any problems with Police apologise politely, pop it in the bag, sling over your shoulder and move away.

Safety. The boards weight a few Kilo and really don't go that fast, if they don't detect someone correctly positioned on them they stop, in fact that is the emergency stop procedure.. just jump off backwards and the board stops dead. Its not going to seriously hurt anyone, if you behave like an idiot you could give someone a bruised shin, exactly same applies to scooters, skates, bikes, skateboards and so on.

Unfortunate accidents, if you ride on a pavement near traffic and lose control or try to cross in front of a car then yes you may get hurt or lose your life. As above exactly the same applies to scooters, skates, bikes, skateboards and so on. Hoverboards are no more or less dangerous.

I got mine direct from a trusted factory source in China and imported directly (so I know how much margins are being made!), changed the plugs.

The better ones are rated for 120kg not 100kg rider weight.

One of the best reputable UK deals I have seen is Ebuyer.com, they have checked they have branded (LG) batteries fitted inside and have UK fused leads and chargers at a sensible £199 with free delivery, check the safety statements on the webpage..

http://www.ebuyer.com/727816-gyro-balancing-board-blue-q3-gyro-board-blue

http://www.ebuyer.com/727815-gyro-balancing-board-white-q3-gyro-board-wh

http://www.ebuyer.com/727814-gyro-balancing-board-black-q3-balance-scooter-black

HTH.

LadyDee

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-35230503

LadyDee

Amazon have removed hover boards from their site, although a couple of Chinese sellers are currently getting round Amazon's ban by describing them as balance boards.

sillygoose

LadyDee wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-35230503

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15932846

...and these are presumed to be of the very highest premium quality. Not a problem restricted to Hoverboards, same issue with ANY Lithium battery device.

even..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15932846
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-34414244
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-28715241

Bexxymum

Whatever you do, dont buy from ic3board.com. My daughter saved her birthday money in October and then asked for money for Christmas too. She paid £250 and has never received it. I have tried every method to contact the company and have got nowhere. Totally gutted for her and can't afford to just buy elsewhere.

Kernow666

try www.funstock.co.uk they have them