Toh WL

iTrader: (6)

As far I knew Novak gave 120 days warranty for their electronics. However due to major issues they will consider to replace the unit.

I did blew one under normal operations, the car runs sluggishly & the cap bursted with flame. Novak had it replace with an upgraded unit with Lipo support. A new batch of remake model.

Thirtybird

iTrader: (6)

I'm still running the old Tekin G-9 Brushed speedo w/ a 19T in TC running NiMH saddle packs. One day, just before the main, I'm getting my car set up at the transponder table, have the car in my left hand, plug the ESC's positive banana plug in the battery, and then the negative. Wheels start going at full speed, then a burning sensation in the palm of my hand as the solder fuse that ESC uses blew off straight into my hand. I had put the battery in the car backward!

Grabbed a hot iron, replaced the fuse, turned the battery around and made it out for the main, no problems with the speedo...

Toh WL

iTrader: (6)

Your ESC got solder fuse. At least its safer. But sad to say not all ESC has that. I was thinking if anyone do a self made fuse in series. But I do not know how much Amp or Volt for optimum safety.

kn7671

iTrader: (16)

Sssssssssssssss.

Yep, that was about it.

Milkdudd

iTrader: (13)

Tried this on a Maclan specific thread but maybe more people will see it here. MMAX Pro owner with a problem (although I also have a Pico without any problems). Might have done something really stupid. I'm always very careful to connect to my battery correctly. My batteries and cables have red and White markings on them so I can't get them backwards. However after I hooked up my red cable the white cable swung around and touched it and I saw a spark. I know anyone with a brain would trim the cables so they can't possibly reach together. I guess that's not me. Ironically this happened while I was changing receivers so I could use a different transmitter. At first I thought it was a problem getting the ESC to calibrate with the new receiver. So I hooked up the old receiver and it also won't calibrate to that one anymore. I guess my question is does touching both cables to the positive terminal on the battery (even for a fraction of a second) do the same damage as reversing them when you hook them up? It appears to me that yes it does do the same damage. Can anyone please confirm this? I also would like to know if it would be worth it to have it repaired. Thanks

After posting the above I realized this thread has been inactive for 11 years. Makes me feel even dumber if everyone else is too smart do this anymore

simple

iTrader: (2)

Unfortunately, yes.....just a touch can toast an ESC. Its an expensive mistake to make.
Not user repairable.

GT CRUSING

This has happened to me 2 times. Once in 2018 and once in 2019. The worst one happened just before a Main event and everyone in the pits just looks at you like a poor soul, everyone knows that noise.

Since then, i have now used a red and blue shrink wrap on the power cables to easily tell which is which.

I have also color coded the battery its self. Best practice is to simply make it obvious.

I have also now Added a power switch that lets me turn on the car from my radio so that everything is plugged in 5 min before the race and I’m not rushing to turn it on before the race.

Also, I have a spare esc ready to go in my spare parts box just for this predicament.

Also, plug in the negative first and then the positive to avoid getting a spark. If you do it the other way, you’ll always get a spark.

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

I disagree with this. The components aren't grounded to anything so both contacts are floating voltage. It won't matter what order you plug them in. I always get a spark if the power capacitors are discharged and never get a spark when they're charged.

Johnny Wishbone

iTrader: (6)

You may have just popped the power caps...……….try to unsolder them and then try to use the esc again. Not saying its for sure but the caps are right there and are polarity sensitive.

PlayerOne

I was running a Tekin G-10 Brushed speedo. Wired into a car/motor with fully charged pack. I connected the negative wire to the positive battery end. This didn't create a circuit and nothing happened. Kind of a boring story until I moved onto realising the positive wire needed to be connected somewhere. For this, I chose the negative battery end (of the battery pack mentioned in the previous sentence). Once connected the motor drove the wheels at very slow pace, ignoring the throttle input from the radio until I decided, enough was enough. About 20 sec later. Unplugged the battery. No smoke, Solder fuse still intact (saved for a later date when the real stupidity was in force) and speedo kept on winning- ah running. Wow, boring story... Wish I still had that speedo.

IndyRC_Racer

iTrader: (9)

I was running a Novak GTB speed control and was using bullet connections directly to the battery. As I touched the 2nd lead to the battery it sparked and I realized I was plugging in backwards/reverse polarity. I plugged it in correctly, tested, and it seemed to still be working correctly. I thought I was lucky.

I took my car out to the track to practice. First few laps the car ran okay, but then it suddenly gets slower and stops. As I start to walk out to get my car, the body shell is filling with smoke. My mistake shorted out something inside of the speed control. The car had a fresh lipo battery in it, but luckily when the speed control let go it de-soldered/severed the connections to the battery so they were no longer shorted. Luckily it didn't create a fire but it did singe the chassis and receiver that I was using (they both ended up fine).

The part of the story that I left out so far is that the track had just installed brand new carpet a few day prior. I was afraid I was going to burn a hole in the middle of the track in the brand new carpet. Again I got lucky, but I now primarily use dean plugs to connect my batteries to my ESC or if using bullet connectors that the wires are only long enough to go in the correct pole.

Here is a picture of the remains of the burnt Novak GTB speed control.

IndyRC_Racer

iTrader: (9)

The last Tekin GT10-pro that I had ended up getting damaged by a bad servo. I was testing it on the bench and noticed that the servo I was using was getting very warm. By the time I realized this the speed control was already damaged. After I tried different a receiver and servo, the esc let out the magic stinky white smoke that everyone can recognize. It is possible that the receiver was the issue, but it isn't always the battery than can take out a speed control (even if it may have indirectly been the cause).

Bry195

it seems like the bullet connectors could be changed to minimize this mistake. a square rod and a round rod.

GT CRUSING

That is a great pic, we gotta fill this thread with mistake pics...i didnt even take a pic when it happened to me, straight to the trash

but yea, gotta keep an eye out for fire extinguishers at carpet tracks