Wahoo Kickr Circuit Board Repair
#51
Newbie
Join Date: Jan 2022
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Wahoo Kickr v1
Hello, my Kickr1 is having problems connecting to either ANT+ device, or via bluetooth to my wahoo app on the phone. Wahoo offered standard troubleshooting, forgetting existing linked devices, ensuring there was only one potential thing to connect to, avoiding interference. The connection problem was intermittent, but is now permanent. Has anyone else had this before ? Is there a potential repair ? Wahoo have said I need to buy a new machine !
#52
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: San Francisco, CA and Treasure Island, FL
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I'd check the board on the pictures above. Soldering castellated modules to PCB pads is IMO a pretty sketchy practice. Fine for a one-off on the bench to experiment, but not exactly production stuff. I'd check the solder joints for cracks or other problems. Maybe just resolder (reflow with leaded paste and hot air if possible). The next is to inspect the antenna trace. And check the supply voltages (on the test points).
#54
Randomhead
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
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I always wanted to put an external antenna on my kickr. But I just got a usb extension cable and now the dongle lives a foot away from the kickr on the floor.
#56
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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Bikes: 1980 Masi, 1984 Mondonico, 1984 Trek 610, 1980 Woodrup Giro, 2005 Mondonico Futura Leggera ELOS, 1967 PX10E, 1971 Peugeot UO-8
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Hello, my Kickr1 is having problems connecting to either ANT+ device, or via bluetooth to my wahoo app on the phone. Wahoo offered standard troubleshooting, forgetting existing linked devices, ensuring there was only one potential thing to connect to, avoiding interference. The connection problem was intermittent, but is now permanent. Has anyone else had this before ? Is there a potential repair ? Wahoo have said I need to buy a new machine !
#57
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Join Date: Feb 2022
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Fixed?
I have a Wahoo Kickr with a damaged circuit board. Only one part is damaged and I could replace it if I knew the part number, but the markings on the part (that tell you the part number) were also damaged. If I had a hi-res picture of the circuit board from a working unit, I could recover the part number, buy it and repair the circuit board. Of course, I realize one would have to disassemble their unit sufficiently to access the circuit board to take a picture. But it is just a few fasteners that use standard hand tools. The picture would need to be clear enough to read all of the markings on the specific part. The part in question is marked Q1 in white text on the circuit board. Any help is much appreciated. Thank you.
#58
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Join Date: May 2022
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Sensor damage
Somehow my KICKR Snap 2017 speed/power sensor rubbed against the internal wheel and partially disconnected from the PCB. So I still get connection via BT but no speed or power. IF anyone has a bad board hanging around I'd be glad to buy it from you so I can have the sensor. It's the little board that is connected to the left of the big board.
Thanks for any help. I contacted KICKR and they want me to replace the entire read mechanism for $250. Such a waste and I can't solder this tiny sensor back to the board. Without the sensor there is no resistance so it renders the trainer almost useless.
Thanks for any help. I contacted KICKR and they want me to replace the entire read mechanism for $250. Such a waste and I can't solder this tiny sensor back to the board. Without the sensor there is no resistance so it renders the trainer almost useless.
#60
Randomhead
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
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I would have to see pictures before I fully believed that board couldn't be fixed somehow
#61
Newbie
PCB repair
For those interested, I managed to repair the GEM module in my Kickr Core. For some reason it just had terrible bluetooth connection and it was almost unusable, as well as a fried capacitor so it probably had a power surge at some point. However I still managed to extract the firmware from the nrf52832 GEM2 module, replace this with a nrf52832 dev board from aliexpress, and connect the VCC, GND, Temp, Cadence, LED1, LED2 and brake lines to the corresponding GPIO. dont forget to copy the UCIR area of flash memory as well, the factory settings in this 4kb area of extra storage must match the original chip exactly. Once it was put back together everything is now working great, including all ANT functions and firmware updates. You can extract the firmware with any common SWD programmer eg jlink, stm32, esp32 etc..
I can't post a picture or link as I haven't made 10 posts (??), I just wanted to share that it possible in case someone else was in the same boat
I can't post a picture or link as I haven't made 10 posts (??), I just wanted to share that it possible in case someone else was in the same boat
Likes For rogers2000:
#62
Randomhead
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
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Thanks for telling us it's possible to extract the firmware. You can post pictures in an album in your gallery and we can rescue them for you. Don't forget to hit the upload button before you close the dialog
#63
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 2,300
Bikes: 1981 Holdsworth Special, 1993 C-dale MT3000 & 1996 F700CAD3, 2018 & 2019 Cervelo R3’s & 2022 R5, JustGo Runt, Ridley Oval, Kickr Bike 8-)
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rogers2000 ,
Well done nice fix & nice first post!
Having access to the required tooling is a bit of an issue for most.
Thanks for the post.
Welcome to Bike Forums
Barry
Well done nice fix & nice first post!
Having access to the required tooling is a bit of an issue for most.
Thanks for the post.
Welcome to Bike Forums
Barry
#64
Newbie
Thanks Barry, yea the repair does require some experience. And unfortunately the firmware has the serial number hidden within it so I can't upload mine. I will look to do a write up on GitHub so people who are interested can follow it. I'm also open to doing repairs as long as people have the original chip and are willing to ship the PCB to New Zealand, cheers!
#65
Newbie
Broken CB
I have a Wahoo Kickr Core that is toast! Powers on but no Speed or any readings. I’ve tried all versions of firmware updates/rollbacks and completely disassembled and have pics of circuit board of anyone can take a look. I’ve definitely be up for shipping to NZ for repair!!
#66
Newbie
I have a spare gem2 substitute module that I can put in, provided I can extract the firmware from the old one. If you can upload some pics of the PCB I can have a look and see if there's anything obvious first. I gather it is completely out of warranty / no chance of a return or manufacturer repair?
#67
Newbie
CB Repair
Just tried to upload but says I have to make 10 post because I’m new… so will be busy posting over the next couple days so I can get off probation lol!
Yeah no warranty or return policy available
Yeah no warranty or return policy available
#71
Randomhead
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
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I have a spare gem2 substitute module that I can put in, provided I can extract the firmware from the old one. If you can upload some pics of the PCB I can have a look and see if there's anything obvious first. I gather it is completely out of warranty / no chance of a return or manufacturer repair?
I didn't notice North Pole had a shop. They sell a dev board with multiple modules for $25 https://store.npe-inc.com/gem2-development-kit/
Or the module alone for $10 https://store.npe-inc.com/gem2-oem-module/
Last edited by unterhausen; 08-24-22 at 10:54 AM.
#72
Newbie
Offer for repair
I definitely want to take you up on this offer I’m just not sure how to upload the pictures. I can email them to you as well if that works. I think I’m close to getting all my messages so should be able to up load by tomorrow!!
#74
Randomhead
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
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We don't allow junk posts to get to 10 posts.
Go to your profile (click on your username). On the right there should be something about your albums. Click on "show all albums" and there will be a create album button.
Go to your profile (click on your username). On the right there should be something about your albums. Click on "show all albums" and there will be a create album button.
#75
Newbie
I have put some pics in my album, although I'm nearly at 10 posts now. When I said spare GEM2 module, I was meaning an aliexpress clone that I can put the code onto. I had a look but wasn't able to find the original GEM2 until you posted that link, very interesting to see you can actually buy one. The problem with the Aliexpress module is the pins don't line up, so you need to add wires and make the right connections and provide a way of mounting the module. Either way you will always need an original module to extract the firmware to get the serial number.