What to check after an electric unicycle cutout

1. Do not power it on yet — turn the wheel by hand

With the wheel off, spin the tire by hand. It should turn freely with a slight magnetic cog. If it is stiff, brakes itself or locks, the board's power transistors (MOSFETs) have most likely shorted. Do not turn it on: a shorted board can do more damage.

2. Smell and look

• A burnt-electronics smell from the shell: the board. Leave the wheel outside and do not charge it.
• Swelling, a crack or heat from a side panel: the battery. Put it outside, away from the house, and text a shop.

3. Check what the fall hit

• Pedals: fold them up and down. A pedal that sits at a different angle or moves sideways has a bent hanger.
• Shell: cracks near the pedal mounts and the trolley handle.
• Tire: a cut or a bulge from the landing.

4. If it powers on normally

Check the app for an error, spin the wheel in the air and listen for grinding or stutter, and ride slowly in a parking lot first. Many cutouts come from leaning harder than the motor can push at that speed and battery level — warning beeps and tilt-back are the wheel asking you to slow down.

When it is a bench job

A stiff wheel, a burnt smell, an error that will not clear or a bent pedal hanger. We replace the board with an original one rather than a single transistor, test the motor and hall sensors, check the pedal hangers and the pack connectors, and balance-test the wheel on the stand before it goes back.