Are Hoverboards Safe to Ride?
Hoverboard Recalls: Are Hoverboards Safe to Ride in 2021
Hoverboards were created in 2013, and as soon as these hoverboards hit the market shelves for the general public they became an instant hit. People were dying to get their hands on these hoverboards because people wanted to ride them.
Now, who really invented the hoverboard remains controversial because both China and The USA is involved in the making of these hoverboards. Although there were problems in the initial phase of the launch, it was the safety of the machine which immediately came to attention in everyone’s eye.
This lets retailers like Amazon pull all of the hoverboards from the market.
After the initial recall, hoverboard recalls very becoming a common sight. It happened in 2016 and then in 2017. This begs the question, are hoverboards safe? Is the problem solved that let hoverboard be recalled from the market place?
In this article, you will find the details of the recall, with reasons why it happened and the root causes behind this, on top of that you will know why hoverboards now are safer than before and how to prevent hoverboards from being caught on fire.
Please note that this is not a guide to buying hoverboards. If you want to read buying guides then visit https://hoverboardsworld.com
Timeline Of hoverboard Recalls
Here is the list which contains the timeline of hoverboard recalls found on the CPSC website. Consumer Product Safety Commission is an independent agency with the sole purpose of keeping people safe from dangerous products.
You may notice that the last hoverboard recall happened in November 2017. This is very important if you consider the fact, more than a million hoverboards were recalled from the market in 2016.
July 6, 2016: the first-time hoverboard recalled due to being a fire hazard.
Dec 13, 2017: second-time hoverboard recalled due to fire hazard.
Nov 14, 2017: final time hoverboard recalled due to fire and explosion hazards.
Now a question arises,” are hoverboards safe to use in 2021?” to find the answer to this question please continue to read this article.
Hoverboard Safe in 2021?
Again looking at the CPSC list, you will notice that there is no recall after 14 November 2017, and the year 2018, 2019, 2020 went without a hiccup. This is all because of the efforts of UL, Underwriters Laboratories.
UL is an independent company that specializes in the testing of hoverboards and electric scooters. From its initial launch, no hoverboard could manage to meet the requirements set by UL. This company introduced a certificate UL2272 which required hoverboards to pass through certain tests.
In 2016 UL approved a hoverboard made by Ninebot. You will now see a trend of lots of hoverboards being recalled after 2016. When new safety standers were in full effect not a single brand was able to meet these conditions.
Now a day this has changed significantly, you can find many brands with UL stamp on.
UL Testing.
You may think to yourself what does the Ul test? What actually is the criteria of their testing, well the UL company has several tests that they use. The main parts of the hoverboard that this company focuses on is batteries, charger, wires, any other manufacturing issues.
Batteries
In our findings nearly all hoverboards use Lithium-ion batteries, these batteries are used for their small size, yet the ability to store a lot of power. Unfortunately, these batteries tend to an overhead or even explode in some cases. To test the battery capacity and its durability the UL put these batteries through extreme heating.
Then they deliberately puncture the battery to see if it explodes or not. Do you know a faulty battery of a self-balancing scooter can burn an entire house?
Charger
Hoverboards usually use USB chargers to charge up, but these particular chargers are not safe. Before the Ul give a hoverboard certification the charger is tested in their lab. If you use a non-UL certified charger to charge up your hoverboard you are making a big mistake.
A bad charger can cause your perfectly fine battery to overcharge which will ultimately lead to an explosion, and also these chargers cause your battery to dry out and die. You can find many knock-off chargers in the market. It is best advised that you stay away from these chargers, and only use chargers that come with your UL Certified hoverboard.
Wires
If the manufacturing process is not good it can lead to an abundance of problems. Sometimes brands try to save money by using cheap quality products which ultimately leads to this type of accident. Wiring can cause short circuits resulting in explosions.
Conclusion
By now you should have a very good idea about the hoverboard recalls, further this article contains the reasons why the recalls happened. When buying a hoverboard make sure you find the UL’s Certificate printed on the hoverboard.
It is also recommended that you should take care of your hoverboard battery. You should know when it is fully charged and when it is completely empty.
In the past, we have seen some incidents of hoverboards exploding. But, before buying one for you, check to make sure to read that, Do Hoverboards Still Explode?