Oh no.. SMOKE In my ESC- HELP!!

BriaN

Well-Known Member
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148
I recently installed a budget amazon brushless motor and esc, (60A esc and 4370kv 4 pole motor) and I plugged in my 2S 2 cell lipo. It was working fine, I ran it for about 20 minutes, maybe more. I was doing some fun wheelies and it was going fast on my amp. After 20 minutes, the steering just stopped. The throttle worked, then the throttle cut out as well. I wondered what was happening, I was very confused, i unplugged the esc and replugged it in, the esc started smoking like crazy and the smoke smelled like paint, I held my breath. I have a video that I will link in a minute
 
If you read some reviews those off brand esc's are hit and miss I smoked a Ocday esc when it got wet one off brand esc heated up just bench testing it out the box. Sounds like you got a dud just a factory defective unit. Nothing you did just a defective unit. There are supposed to be thermal, over volt protections and such but unfortunately the cheap stuff sometimes just goes up in smoke due to some faulty internal component.
 
Yeah, I understood that before buying it, but at least, with amazon, you can return it very easily.
Here is the link to the smoke-
 
Ok lol for some reason, some part in my mind thought I could fix it. *facepalm
 
I got 6 or so of the cheapo escs. From 60a to 120a, sensorless and sensored. I run 3s batteries and 8.4nimh (for my 4yr old). Read a review saying the capacitors fry, and sometimes the bec. So all of mine I've soldered on 1 or 2, 35v, 470uf capacitors and installed an external bec. Haven't had an issue on any. Could be I've just gotten lucky with them all, and could just be wasting time, but I may never know. But it wouldn't be a bad idea to add a capacitor to the esc to help it out a little. The bec probably isn't needed if you are running the stock servo. All of my servos are over 300oz, and draw much more then the stock ones do. Think I bought a 50 pack of the caps for like 3 bucks, so they are cheap. But once you solder anything to the esc it's gonna void any warranty.
 

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I’m sticking to the stock Servo, I’m sticking to stock everything besides the battery, motor, and esc until it breaks, then I will upgrade. But by any chance, do you know of a good cheap Servo that is great for the amp?
Also, did you test your esc in water?
 
I have a couple of the ds3218 servos. They are waterproof, cheap ($16), and strong. Only issue is they are a bit bigger than stock so takes some fiddling to install. I believe heyitsme had mention another servo that was even cheaper and plenty strong for our needs. Hopefully he chimes in because I'd recommend his over mine for you. Powerhd makes good servos for the price as well.
That esc in the pic has seen plenty of water. From driving in the wet grass to the hose. Can see a little rust on the case screws if you look close. It still works great.
 
I’m sticking to the stock Servo, I’m sticking to stock everything besides the battery, motor, and esc until it breaks, then I will upgrade. But by any chance, do you know of a good cheap Servo that is great for the amp?
Also, did you test your esc in water?

I use these servos Kyosho Perfex KS5031-09MW they show up on Ebay from different sellers on Ebay from chop shops that take them of RTR R/C's heres a link from one https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kyosho-Per...B0AAOSwB3BaPX4A:sc:USPSFirstClass!36109!US!-1 I got them cheaper different sellers sell them at different prices when they are gone there gone. Another servo I have come to like is this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/FS-15W-15k...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 both are waterproof and metal geared.

I have used Liquid Nails Clear Seal sealant to waterproof escs also messy but can work conformal coating would be better.

IMG_20180727_144359.jpgIMG_20180413_231128.jpg_20180827_16051256.jpg
 
Oh man, I jinxed myself. My servo is fried so I got one of those red nobrand servos off of Amazon that are waterproof and have metal gears, the one that steve G has
 

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