Self-balancing scooter/hoverboard is a new sensational toy that you see cool people hovering around in street these days. It has been a delightful gift for last two holiday seasons and I doubt it will change until something even more fascinating shows up in the market.
It has not always been like this, if you are one of the fans for these self-balancing machines then you would know that these scooters have been in limelight for all the wrong reasons. YES, catching fire whenever they felt like.
Hundreds of thousands of these hoverboards have been called back from all around the world because they weren’t safe for roaming around. There has been millions of $ worth of property damage only in the United States.
Note: Hover board on fire caught on Camera.
However, things are changed for better now.These scooters are declared safe for anyone to use. Having said that, it is still very important to keep few “Tips on buying a hoverboard” in mind. CPCS have taken things under control and issues UL 2272 certification for all machines that are safe to buy. But accidents can happen, therefore, these tips will come in handy.
Tips on buying a hoverboard that won’t catch fire.
- First and for more, you should always buy hoverboard from reputed dealer/distributor. Remember when every other hoverboard went “KABOOM”, no one really cared for the reputation from which they were purchased. Those scooters were equipped with sub-standard quality parts.
- Look up for the dealers you are going to purchase it from ( online or store), if they have a presence online with customer reviews then it should be OK, if you don’t find much, keep looking for reliable dealers.
- If you are interested in a specific model of any self-balancing scooter, look up for that model online, read customer reviews and find who is the dealer of that model. Ideally, you need to look up for a local dealer so that you can contact for reliable purchase.
- Once you find a reputed dealer, you should still avoid impulse purchase. The first thing you must check if that machine is UL 2272 certified. Secondly, you can inquire him if they follow certain standards to purchase parts and BATTERY for these scooters. You should also inquire about the warranty of the product.
- You should know that lithium BATTERY was the main culprit in all those ‘fire incidents’. ‘Low quality conscious’ dealers plugged low-quality lithium batteries to make extra bucks that resulted in the conflagration. If it is a ‘genuine lithium battery’, it will last long without any fire hazard.
- Before making a purchase at a store, try to have a test drive. You should make sure the battery is not heating up. If it is heating up unusually, you should right away bring it in the notice of store man. That should help other crazy fans of such scooter who might buy it without reading this guide.
- If you wish to buy self-balancing scooters online, it is recommended to buy it from AMAZON. After all the havoc, Amazon filtered their suppliers and only kept reputed ones to provide us safe machines. The good thing to buy it from there is that you can return with a refund, should anything goes wrong.
- Since I am the biggest fan of self-balancing scooters, I have compiled my research and made a buying guide for best self-balancing scooters. If you haven’t bought one already, you should check this link out. I have done all the hard work and sorted only the best models with best features.
I believe most of the dealers who tried making extra money earlier are gone for good. And buying this self-balancing scooters are safer now than ever. But it doesn’t mean that we get careless and buy these enormously fun machines without being well informed. It is an amazing technology gadget and it should not be a victim of greedy people who valued money more than a safety of others.