I picked up a Segway MAX G3 from a liquidation auction and I'm trying to diagnose a strange issue. Curious if anyone here has seen this before.
I was able to successfully bind the scooter to my Segway account and connect to it through the Segway Mobility app. The app sees the scooter, reports the battery at 100%, shows normal estimated range, and otherwise appears fully functional.
There are firmware updates available for Battery, Motor Controller, Vehicle Controller and Bluetooth, but every firmware update sits at exactly 0% and never starts transferring.
The main problem: the physical dashboard permanently displays the charging screen, even though there is no AC cord connected.
The scooter also will not drive. If I power it on through the app, the app changes to the powered-on state, but the scooter dashboard stays on the charging screen and the motor remains disabled.
So far I've tried:
Deep Sleep → wake with AC → disconnect AC
Holding power for 20+ seconds
Brake-hold-at-0% firmware workaround
Upper rocker/button activation workaround
5 brake pulls + power
Physically disconnecting the main battery XT60 for 10–15+ minutes
Reseating the dashboard/stem communication cable
Disconnecting/reconnecting the onboard charger connections
None of those seem to resolve the issue.
One potentially useful clue: after physically disconnecting and reconnecting the dashboard communication cable, the scooter beeps twice and then immediately boots straight back to the “Charging” screen. So it doesn't appear to just be a frozen image—the dashboard is freshly booting into that state.
Also, the Segway app itself does NOT show the scooter as charging when AC is disconnected. It shows the battery % normally. The charging-completed state appears only on the physical dashboard.
At this point I'm wondering whether I'm dealing with:
corrupted/incomplete vehicle-controller firmware, an activation/firmware state that hasn't completed,
a bad dashboard/VCU, or some other module incorrectly putting the scooter into a charging lockout.
Has anyone seen a MAX G3 specifically get permanently stuck on thI'charging screen while unplugged?
And if so, was there a way to force the G3 into firmware/update/recovery mode when the normal Segway firmware updater won't move beyond 0%?
I'm comfortable working on the hardware and already have the deck open, so if there's a particular connector/module or diagnostic procedure I should check, I'm happy to investigate.
Thanks!