Catastrophic ESC fail

[godale03]

Hey Guys,

I just put a freshly charged 4600mah NiMh battery into my TC4 and proceeded to take some laps around the driveway. I was in and out of the throttle, but not full on but for more than a few seconds at a time. I stopped the car and noticed smoke billowing out of the car. This is what I found... a burned up and melted speedo..... I have run these cells in this car before... i don't know what happened. It got so hot one of the wires came unsoldered from the ESC. The pack was not overly hot. Anybody know what this happened? Here are a few pics....

Tom

The battery pack....

The ESC.. a Novak GTB

 

[hamz9561]

Nice shots of the carnage!

 

[godale03]

Nice shots of the carnage!

I just wish I knew what the hell caused this to happen!

It smelled some kind of bad too.... the smell of money going up in smoke!

 

[Rolex]

You just answered my question. When I looked at the pics, I wondered what it smelled like. :money:

 

[godale03]

You just answered my question. When I looked at the pics, I wondered what it smelled like. :money:

I just wish I knew what caused it so I didn't burn up another speedo.

 

[godale03]

Hey Guys,

What are the chances that I fried the motor and reciever here?

 

[neobart]

Most likely the ESC took all the brunt of that. Motor maybe, but doubt it would take out the receiver.

 

[Rewired]

The reciever should still b ok, motor might b abit damaged. You could possibly have an exposed earth somewhere thats shorting out the whole system. Dont know much bout electrics.

 

[robmob]

Bummer...but not surprising. I have witnessed 2 GTB's go up in smoke in exactly the same way for no reason.

 

[godale03]

Bummer...but not surprising. I have witnessed 2 GTB's go up in smoke in exactly the same way for no reason.

So I should just chalk this one up to just dumb luck? I just wanted to make sure it is not something I did. You know... so I don't repeat the same mistake. The car ran fine... in fact I didn't notice it smoking until I stopped the car randomly.... it was not exhibiting and issues what so ever.... just smoked it! LOL I have another GTB on the shelf.... should I try it, or should I just go in another direction? Thanks guys.

Tom

 

[robmob]

I'm sure you did nothing wrong. Since you already have a back-up GTB, I would just use it.

 

[godale03]

I'm sure you did nothing wrong. Since you already have a back-up GTB, I would just use it.

Sounds great. Thank you for that info Rob.... I hate just having to accept something. LOL I like to know what happened. What motor ESC combo are you running on the T4 you used to race? Thanks

Tom

 

[robmob]

Both my TC4 and TC5 use the Novak GTB Spread Spectrum Brushless ESC's. The motors I have used are Novak bruhless 4.5R, 13.5R and 17.5R. Never had a problem the entire time I raced them.

 

[godale03]

Both my TC4 and TC5 use the Novak GTB Spread Spectrum Brushless ESC's. The motors I have used are Novak bruhless 4.5R, 13.5R and 17.5R. Never had a problem the entire time I raced them.

I had the 4.5 velocity motor on this one and it ran like a scalded dog! LOL This is the first issue I have with the GTB. Novak electronics are supposed to be top notch. Do you still race any tourning car?

Tom

 

[robmob]

Nope.

Too many forced changes and restrictions forced on the HobbyTown lot I raced at made it no longer fun for me. Track got smaller. You could no longer park next to your pit area. You can't do this. You can't do that. Piss on it. I was done.

 

[godale03]

Nope.

Too many forced changes and restrictions forced on the HobbyTown lot I raced at made it no longer fun for me. Track got smaller. You could no longer park next to your pit area. You can't do this. You can't do that. Piss on it. I was done.

Damn... that sucks. I know what it is like to loose a track. Hey one more quick question.... what type of bearing oil do you use to lube your electric motors?

 

[robmob]

EPIC Royal Oil

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product...IC-Royal-Oil-Super-Thin-Motor-Bearing-Oil-2oz

 

[godale03]

EPIC Royal Oil

http://www.amainhobbies.com/product...IC-Royal-Oil-Super-Thin-Motor-Bearing-Oil-2oz

Thank you my friend!!!


Tom

 

[Lessen]

Nope.

Too many forced changes and restrictions forced on the HobbyTown lot I raced at made it no longer fun for me. Track got smaller. You could no longer park next to your pit area. You can't do this. You can't do that. Piss on it. I was done.

Pardon the derail, but that's a darn shame. I'm havin SOOO much fun racing I can't wait to hit the track in between races. I find myself thinking about my setup and what might help my car all the time. For me, r/c is 100% about racing anymore.

Is that HBT still operating racing or did the club go belly up?

 

[godale03]

Pardon the derail, but that's a darn shame. I'm havin SOOO much fun racing I can't wait to hit the track in between races. I find myself thinking about my setup and what might help my car all the time. For me, r/c is 100% about racing anymore.

Is that HBT still operating racing or did the club go belly up?

I can't answer your question... but I do agree with you. That is what I miss about my LHS closing down. The racing! I couldn't wait until Saturday's rolled around. I worked all week working with different setups trying go faster. It was a completly relaxing way for me to de-stress after a long day at the office. So when you coming over to race guys?