or8ital

iTrader: (38)

I fried a brand new Spektrum receiver tonight. Everything was running fine and it just stopped working. My electronics got hot and my receiver has that burnt electronics smell. I assume this would be caused by a short somewhere but I'm stumped where.

My ESC seems fine. It powers up still when not plugged into the receiver (does not when it is plugged in).

So what are the likely culprits? Is it likely my ESC is damaged too?

CarbonJoe

Savox servo? Sounds like it went belly up due to current draw through it?

or8ital

iTrader: (38)

It is a savox servo. I was running a capacitor on the receiver.

Is this a known issue? Wouldn't a capacitor prevent that?

CarbonJoe

Cap wouldn't do anything in this case. The cap is only to prevent loss of Rx due to voltage droop. It seems Savox servos are notorious for large current draws. Maybe the traces on the Rx circuit board can't handle the increased current draw?

That really means that these Savox servos must suck the power, since I've never had any issues even in 1/8 truggy with a JR DS8711 403 oz/in servo. Does the servo still work? Maybe it has a short?

Just get a Futaba BLS551.

or8ital

iTrader: (38)

Im not sure how to test the servo without an RX. hmmmmm

Welcome back to RC for me I guess.

CarbonJoe

Are both channels in the Rx gone? Does the ESC work without the servo connected? You could try the servo on the throttle channel.

or8ital

iTrader: (38)

The receiver seems completely dead. The ESC won't power up when connected to the receiver, only when it isn't.

LOW ET

iTrader: (109)

does the receiver power up, orange light glowing? can you try it with a receiver pack and not hook up the esc?

CarbonJoe

All I can think of next is to try ESC and servo on another system, if you can find someone willing to try it. They do make servo testers that are about $15 - $20.

or8ital

iTrader: (38)

Nope, no glow. Unfortunately I don't have a receiver pack around to try.

I'm gonna go through everything again tomorrow and see what might have caused it.

or8ital

iTrader: (38)

ha ha, Im too scared to hook any of it up to anything else without knowing what might have caused it. Don't wanna damage any more gear.

or8ital

iTrader: (38)

I think I may have figured it out. I turned my receiver upside down and a half inch metal wire fell out. Not sure where it came from, not from me. I assume that could short out the contacts and fry the receiver?

corallyman

iTrader: (101)

I used to have some Spektrum gear, ( I don't have any at the moment) and when I had any issues with their stuff, I found their customer service to be great to deal with.

Steve

Skiddins

I think people underestimate exactly what can end up in their receivers etc.
Remember, pieces of carbon fiber and carbon fiber dust etc are also conductive.

I now take apart my Spektrum's and cover them in a 'conformal coating' like this;
http://uk.farnell.com/electrolube/dc...osol/dp/298293
It prevents it from letting anything make contact with the actual circuits.

I use it to waterproof my receivers and the sensor board's in motors for running in the wet.

CarbonJoe

Of course.

While a good idea for your specific application, it more than likely voids the warranty. And that won't prevent a piece of metal from shorting the servo connector pins, since you can't conformal coat the pins otherwise they won't conduct.