I think I cooked my ESC...

[hoowahfun]

Took my son's AMP MT down to the beach on vacation last week and after about 5 minutes the truck stopped working. Got splashed a couple of times by the waves since I was trying to stay on the hard sand at the waters edge. Water hasn't been an issue so far at home so was kind of surprised it stopped after getting wet a couple of times (maybe a salt water issue?).

I initially thought the motor just burned out since I could see some of the windings looked a little melted. I was getting voltage on my multimeter from the ESC when I disconnected the motor, so I assumed that was it. Bought a replacement (the stock 20T Dynamite motor) and still getting no movement in the rear wheels. The front wheels turn fine, but nothing on the back end.

When I turn it on I can barely hear faint beeping from the ESC and it's just a solid red light. Not sure what that means and can't remember what it was before hand. Couldn't find anything in the manual about the light color if that means anything or not.

Did I cook the ESC on this thing? Just trying to sort it out before I order another wrong part. Thanks!

 

[Heyitsme]

Hook the motor leads up to a battery to see if it spins if it does the esc is probably toast. I am not a fan of 2 in 1 escs simply because if something goes wrong now your out two components. I would upgrade rather than replace with stock if it can't be replaced by warranty cost will be a little more but you will be better off in the long run.

 

[Biz73]

Salt water is not good for electronics. I have seen it mentioned in the instructions on some waterproof electronics. Yours was already having issues so that may not be the reason, but I would suggest staying out of saltwater in the future.

Also, sometimes they work after letting the electronics dry for a few days. It doesn't work most of the time, but I've seen it happen.

 

[hoowahfun]

So I hooked up the motor to a battery and it worked, both the old and new motor. So it was never really the motor. That was a good suggestion, wish I had thought of it. My local hobby store had a new ESC in stock so I went and bought one this afternoon to replace the stock one. Figured once the two motors I have go out my son can upgrade to a brushless system.

I think that since it got submerged a couple of times by ocean waves then I tried to run it in the sand, I won't try to get a refund or anything on a warranty claim. Just wouldn't feel right since I think it was my fault.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Heyitsme]

If you got it dunked with ocean waves yea it was your fault it was just a suggestion about warranty. Truth be told most escs should be called splashproof and maybe not even that. Most will say don't submerge it but its waterproof.

Glad to see you got it worked out and yep brushless is the way to go.

 

[xlDooM]

If it's any consolation, one of my Amp ESCs failed exactly the same way even before it ever saw a drop of water. They are just junk. I got it replaced under warranty which is nice enough of them, but it's a spare part for my other amp now because I upgraded it to a much more reliable $30 goolrc brushless ESC+motor combo...