• Welcome to RCTalk! 🚀

    Join the #1 RC community where hobbyists connect, share, and get expert advice on RC cars, trucks, boats, drones, and more!

    • ✓ Friendly & passionate RC enthusiasts
    • ✓ RC tips & troubleshooting
    • ✓ Buy, sell & trade RC gear
    • ✓ Share builds & upgrades

Unidentified Fluid Leak

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
godale03

godale03

Awesomer!! Than Rolex!!
Supporter
Messages
6,742
Reaction score
119
Points
793
Location
Maryland
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
Hey Guys,

I picked up my B44 and noticed a bit of brown mustard colored fluid had collected in the lexan shell that covers the chassis bottom. The fluid has no real strong odor, and it is slightly oily. It appears to have dripped from the top down, but I can't figure out where. The drip is close to, but not directly underneath the capacitor for the speedo. I checked the cap, and it appears to be dry. I am also not sure how long it has been there. I worked on the buggy a few days ago and ran it around the living room just to test the radio and make sure all moved as it should. I had the chassis plate off and there was no fluid then. Any ideas out there guys? Thanks

Tom
 
Hey Guys,

I searched the net, but was unable to find out what that fluid could be from. There was never any food or drink anywhere near the work bench either. This is a mystery for sure.
 
Battery cell leaking?
 
You know.. I am not sure. I will check to see if it was indeed venting. Not to sound stupid... but if it was a cell leaking... that would be bad, right?

Tom
 
Cell would need to be replaced.
 
So I am guessing I should not have stuck my finger in it and put it up to my nose and smelled it then? Yikes!

I thought these were drycells? And they are matched, is it possible to get a new single cell? Could it have been some flux melting off one of the connections? My LHS built the packs so I would assume they were done correctly.
 
How much fluid was there?
 
About a medicine dropper size drop... or maybe a small rain drop.. not much at all.
 
Could be a cell got real hot and made the flux run off the solder joint.

I had a cell do that during heavy discharging on my discharge bar.
 
Last edited:
I am going to check the battery when I get home and if I can get a decent picture I will try and post a picture of said fluid. It is not alot at all, but if I the battery doesn't show signs of a vent, the pic might be helpful. Thanks for helping me out on this Robmob and CoachZ.

Tom
 
If it's a clear brown, no major odor, it's very possibly flux. If it stiffens to the consistency of grease at room temp, then I can almost guarantee it's flux. If, at about 70, it runs, I don't know what it would be.
If you touched it, smelled it and then picked your nose, you're history.
 
You could have hit a small bug with the car when out running? Or perhaps that's a small bit of mud.... Well, not dirt mud, but you get the idea.

Honestly, I've no clue. Cell venting is usually a honey color, and your body would have a hole in it within a few hours.
 
i'm thinking its flux as well. if you changed connections out then maybe you dripped a little and didn't see it. No pictures?
 
Rolex said:
If it's a clear brown, no major odor, it's very possibly flux. If it stiffens to the consistency of grease at room temp, then I can almost guarantee it's flux. If, at about 70, it runs, I don't know what it would be.
If you touched it, smelled it and then picked your nose, you're history.
Click to expand...

Hey Rolex... in fact when I got back home on Friday and checked out th leak... in was in fact was stiff and in the areas where it was thin it was dry and simply wiped off. I did check the batteries and there is an awful lot of clearish brown stuff around the batter bar soldier joints. It almost looks like amber except just a bit more brown.

Heartbreak... See that is where I am confused. It was a honey color... maybe just a bit more brown, but whatever it was it was on the lexan chassis cover for 24 hours and it didn't eat through it. Where there was more fluid it was still a bit liquid, but where it was thinner, it was dried up.

I did everything but pick my nose... So I guess I am in real trouble. It would probably explain the intense headache I have had since then.
 
Last edited:
whew, I'm so glad to hear that you're ok. When you didn't show up for the race, I was afraid that you had picked your nose and we weren't going to hear from you again. Glad to know that you're ok, and good luck with the ID of the brown stuff.
 
Cell leakage will be a honey color, then bleach out to a white powder as it oxidizes (takes a while... like a month or so). The fact that it didn't eat through your body says to me that it is flux. Also sounds like you put just a hair too much on there and it didn't evaporate entirely.

Just wipe it up, and keep it out of your nose... Or we'll be forced to call you "flux head".
 
Actually, it would be more of a transparent brown, darker than normal honey.
I'm glad to see you're back. I thought for sure you had picked your nose and gotten fluxed up.
No problem though, it's not battery leakage.
 
fluxed up... now if I drank beer it would be all over my keyboard. Rolex, you never cease to amaze me, THAT was funny!
 

Similar threads

J
Hpi trophy truggy Diff fluid
Replies
5
Views
261
Jse
J

RC Builds

Back
Top