Don’t panic if your Onewheel Pint or GTs battery case is showing signs of discolouring or white corrosion. The new boards use an aluminium lid for the battery compartment that will tarnish when exposed to the elements. If you ride in wet conditions or at the beach with salt coming from the ocean this will happens faster.
The discolouring on the Onewheel battery box is corrosion, aluminum oxide on the surface of the lid, and it doesn’t need to be removed.
It’s possible to clean away and remove the oxidation layer. From a practical point of view, there is no need to do this as the layer actually protects the underlying aluminium from corrosion forming a protective layer. Cleaning will only temporarily remove it and the oxidation will form again after a while. The only way to stop it is to use some type of protective coating or corrosion inhibitor before assembling the board again.
Aluminum Corrosion
Aluminum will in the presence of oxygen form, aluminum oxide, a hard, whitish-coloured surface layer. When all the aluminum atoms have bonded with oxygen the oxidation process stops, forming a protective layer. Scratching this protective layer of oxide exposes bare aluminium, and the process begins again.
On the Onewheel, dirt and sand will get stuck between the footpad and the battery box. While riding the vibration will make the footpad scratch the surface of the lid making it oxidation process start all over again. There have not been any performance problems related to this, it’s only a cosmetic problem of the board that can be seen if you disassemble the rear footpad.
