The Onewheel Posi mod is basically modifying the sensor pad on the board making it into one large sensor instead of two. This modification is most commonly done by trick and trail riders. There are some great benefits but also drawbacks to doing this mod.
If you’re wanting to be doing any tricks seriously, a Posi Sensor is a must.
Why doing the posi mod
The common consensus of the community is that if you’re hitting technical trails or planning on doing tricks, a Posi Sensor modification on your board is the way to go. The biggest benefit is that it allows you to keep riding when your feet get shifted around or you don’t necessarily land with the best foot position.
Benefits of the posi mod
- Easier to do tricks if you miss a landing as only one side needs to be activated.
- Easier to ride on technical trails when your feet get shifted around
Drawbacks of the posi mod
- It’s not possible to do the heel lift dismount anymore.
- It’s easier for the board to ghost if one sensor gets faulty.
How the footpad sensor works
The footpad sensor/pressure sensor works by having two plastic sheets on top of each other. On both sides, top and bottom there are stripes of conductive material.
When applying pressure to the sensor they press together and close the circuit. Both sides use the middle for driving the path and either side for the signal to the controller board. By bridging the signal between both sides, if one is activated both sides will be.
How do you do the posi mod
The idea of the posi mod is to bridge the right and left sensor signals to the controller. this can be done in basically three different ways with all their own benefits and drawbacks.
- If you want to turn on and off posi, get the cable from Karvkraft. The benefits are that you can turn it on and off easily with just a press of a button. The drawback is that it’s another cable that could come loose or pinched.
- Solder the bridge on the footpad sensor, making a Footpad Posi. This makes it reversible if you want to remove it later by simply changing the footpad or just removing the wire that connects the cables. The downside is that if you get a new front footpad, you will need to posi it again.
Bridge the two output signals from the footpad sensor with a small wire and a soldering iron. See the picture above as a reference. - The last option is to Posi the controller. This gives you posi always independently of the footpad. If you want to remove it later then you need to desolder the wire inside. What you need to do is solder a wire between the two sensor pins inside the board.
We recommend going with either option 1 or 2.
Commercial posi mod
There are two commercial alternatives for the Posi mod for the Onewheel, Karvkraft Posi mod and the footpad sensor bridge from Sipperybandit. The Karvkraft got a latching push button that can turn on and off the bridge between the sensor. This is great if you want to switch between the Posi mod and regular riding with the board.
The footpad sensor bridge from SlipperyBandit needs a lite more work to pull out the bridge to deactivate the mod. That’s why we recommend Karvkraft, still, both companies are doing a great job for the community. The SlipperyBandit is cheaper at $23.99 compared to $65.
Diy footpad sensor mod
The other two options will require some DIY soldering to get them working. The main difference is where the bridge is located. You can either put it on the sensor or bridge the contact on the controller side. For the Onewheel Pint these are currently the only two options out there to get the footpad sensor mod.
- Footpad Posi – Remove the sensor and get the connector free, you will need to heat up the glue to access it. Take a small piece of wire and solder it between the first and third pins of the conenctor. This bridges the signal from the two sides to the controller. Cover it with some hot glue and assemble the board.
- Control board Posi – Here you need to solder a wire on the inside of the controller. Bridge the right and left pad signals and you are done.
Disclaimer: Doing any modification of a Onewheel has a risk of both damaging the board, rider, or third party. Fallman.Tech takes no responsibility for any damage done by anyone attempting to posi mod their board.
