Segway Board

Tips to buy Segways  from a UK Safe Swegways store online

Last years most wanted Christmas present was the Segways or Hoverboard / Safe Segway board / Self Balancing Scooter / Swegways board. 1000’s were sold in the UK from Ebay, Amazon and online stores that suddenly popped up just before Christmas.

Then all the safety fears began as boards started exploding and overheating, the big retailers like Amazon immediately issued product warning notices and instructed all customers that had purchased from them to get the safe cheap Segway boards safely disposed of and issued all customers with a full refund.

Segways Trading standards authorities around the UK reacted and started seizing 1000’s of boards at the ports and from retailers around the UK. Most of the boards seized were not safe and were
subsequently destroyed.

So one year on, are the boards any safer and what should you look for when buying?

The good news is that some of the boards are now fully safe but as a parent you need to make sure you do your checks before you buy, some of the retailers have pages and pages of reports
on their websites but unfortunately most of them are not relevant and do little to guarantee safety of the boards:

So make sure of the following when you are purchasing Segways:

Independently UK Tested Segways

Many of the Segways / Hoverboards sold in the UK are manufactured in China as are most electronic products. Any reputable retailer who cares about consumer
safety will have their boards tested in the UK. There are approved UK test centres that specialize in testing Hoverboards and will independently verify the safety of the board and issue an independent report. To see an example go to www.uksegboards.co.uk/certifications

Batteries – Ensure the batteries are genuine batteries made by a reputable manufacturer such as Samsung. The battery pack has a control board which stops the batteries from
overcharging and catching fire.

Charger – The charger is one of the key parts that adds to the safety of the board, the charger must have a cut off switch. Unfortunately although the charger may carry a CE stamp this does not mean it has a cut off switch. Look out for the UL Logo, UL is an American Safety Standards body which has gone much further to ensure that boards are safe by ensuring that the UL charging does fully cut off. The responsible retailers in the UK now supply UL Chargers.

You can check if a charger is safe by asking for the UL No from the retailer and checking it on www.ul.com to see if it is genuine.

Plug – Make sure the plug is a compliant with BS1363A Standard, this mark should be on the plug, also check the plug has a fuse and is fully moulded. It is important to check the dimensions of the plug are correct as some retailers sell fake UK plugs which are smaller, you can simply compare it to the plug on other household appliances you have.

The above will ensure that you can keep the kids happy and have peace of mind yourself knowing your child’s hoverboard is safe.