Arrma Spektrum BLX esc

[Xraycer]

Having a weird issue with my stock Granite. I've only had it about a month, but I believe there's something wrong with the esc.
This has occurred with 7 brand new lipo batteries. Everything would work fine for about 10 cycles, then the esc would just not power up with these previous used batteries. When this happens, the fans would slightly spin for a split second, then the power just goes away. No lights on the esc either.
When this first happened with the two brand new 2S(Noovo) I thought it was the batteries, since the 3S(Goldbat)was still working. Amazon sent me 2 Noovo replacements, and it worked fine initially as well. Then the 3S(Goldbat) stopped working, and now both the newest 2S(Noovo) no longer works.
While in the middle of this issue, I had bought a new Slash Ultimate and two new 3S(Zeee) and two new 2S(Goldbat). The Noovo and 3S Goldbat, which no longer works in the Granite, works just fine in the Slash.
I've been using the Zeees in the Granite, but as of yesterday, both no longer works in it. Again, no issues with the Zeees in the Slash.
Any ideas as to what's going on? The only change I've made was replacing the IC5 with Dean's

 

[Xraycer]

Forgot to add:
I balance charge with an Imax BY and I use a voltage checker when I'm in the field. All the batteries are balanced after a full charge.

 

[Doom!]

Wonder if you've got a bad wire connection on the ESC side of the Dean's connector. It would explain intermittently running even with different batteries. Just a guess on my part.

 

[Xraycer]

This was the first thing that came to mind. Unfortunately, it was easily ruled out. I've plugged and unplugged multiple batteries, and once the esc rejects a particular battery, it just won't power up. It now only accepts two of the newest batteries, but it has only run on it a few times each. If the pattern holds, after a few more runs, it'll reject these batteries as well. As I had already mentioned, all these "rejected" batteries works fine in the Slash.
I'm going to have to talk to Horizon Hobby when I find some free time.

 

[Edough13]

Check the solder joints on the connections you replaced. I had issues with some batteries I changed from dean's to Ic5 because the solder joints. Would run for a minute or two and then go to LVC on a full charged pack. Resoldered the connections and they work fine now. Just an idea also is to check what setting the ESC is on for battery make sure it's on Lipo and not NIMH.

 

[tntpoof]

nimh mode in esc will not give this issue
I think either a wire or solder connection is bad.Id replace esc wires from plug to esc if you can.also check esc to receiver for a loose connection to rx. a failing on/off switch can also cause this

 

[Xraycer]

Mystery solved!

The culprit is the cheap Chinese Dean's knock-offs, I've bought more than 10 years ago. I believe whatever cheap metal was used to make the contacts appears to build up some sort of crud with prolong usage.
While at the track today, I had noticed, on the Granite, that the male contacts on the esc side were really dull looking. It dawned on me that this may be what's causing poor conductivity and causing the esc to think that it's at low voltage and shuts down.
I didn't have a file on me, but I had a multi-tool in the car. The multi-tool has a file. I scraped both contacts down to a shiny surface. Plugged in a previously rejected battery, and the esc and fans came to life.
I was psyched! It wasn't the esc. I've been planning to change over to XT90s, so now I have a high priority reason to get it done asap.

 

[Xraycer]

Spent a couple of hours this evening changing all my batteries and several of my vehicles over to XT90 connectors.
Certainly nice to have a much larger surface area to grab onto compared to the small Deans.

 

[Doom!]

That must have taken a while, I have never been a fan of Deans plugs. On all my aircraft I use XT60's, so much better. I still have EC5's on My surface vehicles.

 

[tntpoof]

Ok never ran into this but have had failures with pp to me worst plug I ever used I used dens xt for 10 years never had a issue

 

[Xraycer]

That must have taken a while, I have never been a fan of Deans plugs. On all my aircraft I use XT60's, so much better. I still have EC5's on My surface vehicles.

When I was last in the hobby, 10 years ago, Deans were the preferred choice. I don't even recall the XTs being around.

I really wasn't looking forward to the process of swapping all these connectors over, but it's something I really wanted to do. Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad at all. Thanks mostly to the $17 soldering iron I got off Amazon. This things gets up to 845°F in seconds and rapidly heats up those large gauge wires without much effort. I absolutely love this thing! Also, my trusty, long time professional grade wire stripper help made things go so much quick and smooth.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JSRRW2...abc_K671DN648175GAW5DH8K?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Doom!]

Back in the day, everyone said, switch to Deans their the best, Tried and didn't care for them. They were either to tight or sloppy loose connections. Just my experience, all my buddies loved 'em, I wanted too, but just couldn't.