Gate Four: Critical project review
Introduction
For this gate we had to document each step of our reassembly process. Much of the work was done in reverse of the diassembly. Unfortunately, the group ran into several difficulties with parts that did not fit into place as they should. As the scooter was not designed for disassembly in the first place, it is easy to see why problems arose when the group tried to piece the parts back together.
Steps for Reassembly
Difficulty Scale
- Difficulty = 1
- Straightforward reassembly
- Minimal force required with or without tool
- Difficulty = 2
- Requires intuition and planning
- Has multiple steps involved to reattach
- Difficulty = 3
- Require excessive force to attach
- Difficult to attach even with tools
- Requires critical thinking to attach
Controller Reassembly
- With four screws reassemble the controller's shell (Difficulty: 1)
- Screw on the top to the middle compartment
- Screw on the bottom to the middle compartment
- Put the controller back in its compartment
- Note: Putting the controller back into its compartment was difficult because the wires were hard to fit in with the controller
- Screw the black component using two screws back into the main frame to hold controller in its housing
Motor Reassembly
- Screw 4 long Phillips head screws into motor (Difficulty: 1)
- Connect motor to the main frame by screwing it on with four screws (Difficulty: 2)
- Run the wire from the motor to the controller box
- Put wire from motor through the base where the battery is housed
- Connect the wire from motor to the control box
- Note: When connecting the motor to the frame, we had to make sure we could fit the chain and chain guard around it as well
Wheel Reassembly
- Front Wheel Reassembly (Difficulty: 2)
- Put the brake disk on the wheel
- Line the three holes on the brake disk with the three holes on the wheel
- Connect the brake disk to wheel by screwing in three screws
- Run axle through front wheel
- Slide the wheel and axle into the the slot on main frame to tighten into place
- Put on the washers
- Connect front wheel to the scooter by screwing in two hex nuts, one on each side
- Put the brake disk on the wheel
- Rear Wheel Reassembly (Difficulty: 3)
- Put the gear onto the rear wheel
- Line the three holes on the gear with the three holes on the wheel
- Connect the gear to wheel by screwing in the three screws
- Run the axle through the rear wheel
- Chain is already over motor
- Put the chain over the gear
- Slide the wheel into the back slot making sure the axle is even on both sides
- Pull back on the wheel in the slot until the chain is taught
- Connect the rear wheel to the scooter by bolting it with two hex nuts one on each sides (making sure the tension in the chain is not too tight or too slack)
- Connect chain guard
- Slide the chain guard through the slot by the motor from the back of the frame
- Screw into frame
- Put the gear onto the rear wheel
Handlebar Reassembly
- Put the horizontal handlebar into the slot on the vertical handlebar (Difficulty: 1)
- Put the clamp over the top of the bar so it lines up with the two holes
- Screw it down with the two screws to hold the horizontal bar in its position
- Slide the reflector onto the horizontal handlebar and screw it in place to prevent from sliding (Difficulty: 1)
- Slide throttle onto the horizontal handlebar (Difficulty: 1)
- Screw throttle onto the horizontal handlebar using an Allen Wrench to tighten
- On the opposite side of the horizontal handlebar, slide the braking device onto the horizontal handlebar (Difficulty: 1)
- Tighten by fitting hex nut into position on one side and screwing the screw on the other side
- Connect handlebar to the scooter (Difficulty: 2)
- Fit the bottom through the hole in the frame by the wheel
- Tighten the bolt using a wrench to keep the handlebar from turning
- Attach the brake pad to the main frame (Difficulty: 2)
- Screw the two hexagonal Phillips head screws into the main frame holes
- Place the steel wire attaching the brake to the pad through the two holder components
- Tighten the screw to hold the steel wire in place
Seat Reassembly
- Reassemble Brace (Difficulty: 2)
- Slide inner clamps into the base
- Put axle through the brace
- Slide outer clamps into the base
- Slightly tighten with the two hex-nuts on both sides
- Insert metal seat post into the brace
- Tighten both hex-nuts all the way
- Put Seat Component onto Main Bar (Difficulty: 1)
- Slide the vertical seat component into base
- Tighten hex nuts to clamp vertical seat component to main frame
- Screw two screws into vertical seat component (Difficulty: 1)
Plastic Covering Reassembly
- Attach the back plastic covering to the frame (Difficulty: 1)
- Screw three Phillips head countersunk screws into frame
- Screw two round-top Phillips head screws into the back-most part of the frame
- Attach the front plastic covering to the frame (Difficulty: 1)
- Slide the flat battery covering into the slots from the back plastic covering
- Screw the Phillips head countersunk screw into to frame
Reassembly Questions
Does the product run the same as it did before you disassembled it?
Before we disassembled the product, it did not run because the battery and charger were not included with the scooter. We did not purchase or construct any sort of battery or charger, so there is still no way to power the scooter. We did not and still do not have any way to test how well the scooter functions. As far as we can tell, the scooter runs exactly the same as it did before.
What were the differences between the disassembly, reassembly processes?
The biggest change is that previously we were careful to make sure we remembered where everything went, but now we were struggling to remember where anything came from. Other than that, the reassembly was, for most components, the disassembly backwards. There were a few tricks, though. The rear wheel, axel, chain, and chain guard system became a puzzle of near-Rubik magnitude. We remembered, for the most part, how the wheel and axel came off, and how the chain guard was on the scooter, but it seemed necessary to put them all on simultaneously in order to get it back to its original condition. We tried 4 different permutations of order of reassembly before we finally found a way to do it.
All the tools used to disassemble the scooter were used to reassemble it, and no additional tools were necessary.
Although we had trouble in some places during reassembly, we managed to get the entire scooter reassembled and back into the condition in which we received it.
