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Old 05-03-2020 | 01:38 PM
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Default Esc burning up without warning

Running my max 5 1:5 esc on 8s in series. I recently got a new set of 4s lipos and plugged them up for a second run and the whole thing went up in smoke.

i can only imagine it was to much current but idk how when the car didn’t move and I had ran these batteries prior

the only odd symptom the esc gave was it would stop abruptly if I gave it too much throttle to quickly during the beginning of a run and reset it’s self (counting cell count,blinking and what not). This would only happen maybe 6-7 times and after that everything was fine.

anyone ever have an esc go up in smoke without any wrong doing similar to mine?
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Old 05-03-2020 | 01:40 PM
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Quite annoyed cause I liked this esc mainly for the size compared to the flat longer xlx
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Old 05-03-2020 | 02:03 PM
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Originally Posted by illmatic94
the only odd symptom the esc gave was it would stop abruptly if I gave it too much throttle to quickly during the beginning of a run and reset it’s self (counting cell count,blinking and what not)
This is the warning, you ignored it!
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Old 05-03-2020 | 05:55 PM
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what could it have been ? It has to had been a short on the esc
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Old 05-03-2020 | 08:04 PM
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Originally Posted by illmatic94
what could it have been ? It has to had been a short on the esc
Thermal out, maybe he thought lipo were done. installed fresh lipo. That my opinion.
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Old 05-03-2020 | 08:16 PM
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Low rpm with lots of power is difficult on esc’s.
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Old 05-03-2020 | 11:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Bry195
Low rpm with lots of power is difficult on esc’s.
I had only plugged the battery up to the esc when it went up
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Old 05-04-2020 | 12:20 AM
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Sounds like a solder joint overheated and melted, and the loose component was jostled to the side where it caused a short-circuit. Sometimes things are defective. Ask the manufacturer for an exchange.
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Old 05-04-2020 | 01:59 AM
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Originally Posted by illmatic94
what could it have been ? It has to had been a short on the esc
If it was resetting during high current loads on a previous run, the FETs could have been damaged. Electronics can fail randomly and spectacularly after they've been damaged like that.
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Old 05-04-2020 | 09:06 AM
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How do you connect the batteries? Could you have reversed polarity? That is a common mistake which results in the ESC exploding like that.
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Old 05-04-2020 | 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by gigaplex
If it was resetting during high current loads on a previous run, the FETs could have been damaged. Electronics can fail randomly and spectacularly after they've been damaged like that.
hmm only explanation. It always did that. I did change one setting on the esc. I changed the thermal to cut off at a hotter temp because either the thermal or voltage cutoff was activating early at 3.9 -3.8 volts per cell
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Old 05-04-2020 | 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by dan_vector
How do you connect the batteries? Could you have reversed polarity? That is a common mistake which results in the ESC exploding like that.
impossible . I have xt90 connectors and was running In series. I guess I’ll just go with an xlx when they are back in stock
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Old 05-04-2020 | 12:17 PM
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thermal has nothing to due with lvc….lvc was cutting on when you hit the go lever on ur radio. thermal cutoff is totally a different reason...do you know for sure what batterys voltage was?.
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Old 05-04-2020 | 03:48 PM
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Double check everything before hooking up another ESC, if the ESC was hitting thermal cutoff so regularly it could be caused by the gearing or by something binding elsewhere in the vehicle. Take the pinion off and spin the drivertrain, if it doesn't spin freely you may have blown bearing somewhere which can cause a lot of drag and excess heat.

Which 4s packs are you using?
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Old 05-04-2020 | 04:47 PM
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Originally Posted by the rc guy
thermal has nothing to due with lvc….lvc was cutting on when you hit the go lever on ur radio. thermal cutoff is totally a different reason...do you know for sure what batterys voltage was?.
Yes I have voltage meters. What I meant is I wasn’t sure if it was the voltage cut of or thermal. Esc never got to the thermal cut off temp
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