Cormier33's CC Smash Build "TEAM OTTSIX Post Season Build Off" official entry thread

[cormier33]

Billy, you were right. I was honestly taken aback by what Randy did. He said you guys are an amazing group. I look forward to meeting you guys and learning more about the hobby.

Fingers crossed it is sorted out by Sunday. Regardless, you will see me though as I owe Randy money for a new BEC he brought "just in case." Thank goodness he did!

Originally Posted by Billy D

Not sure the lhs are going to be able to help. I am sure we will be able to sort it all out. I told you are group was fantastic and full of people just wanting to help each other out. And we are so proud that he will be representing us all at Nationals. We will try and sort this out so we can see you on Sunday.

[Billy D]

I am glad to see more people getting into this sport. I am the newest member to the group almost 2 years ago and my addiction has gone through the roof ( ask my wife ) lol but yes if it wasn't for them I probably wouldn't of lasted, so for that I am grateful.

[mammoth]

I'm thinking the only issue now is the TX. I'm not that familiar with the spektrum radios so it just be simple as activating a channel. The dead band seemed very small as well so it was hard to calibrate the one esc that cooperated. We will get it sorted one way or another.
As far as lhs's go we have a very experienced one who was there from the start of moas. It is great having someone with that much knowledge and who is willing to help!

[greencrawler]

Sounds like your on the right track. May also try plugging your rear esc into the channel 2 position and make sure you don't have a problem with that esc. I have a pair of those that the rear started acting up on and that's how we tracked it down. Hope you get it all sorted out.

[Billy D]

So where are we at? Did we get it figured out

[winnerone23]

Power to the esc's but still no rear motor.. I gave him some more things/tests to run and connected him with another member that has a dx4..

So hopefully soon, we have some good news!

[cormier33]

Not yet Billy. Lots of help and I've updated my thread under electronics with the newest info. So close I can taste it!

[cormier33]

I decided to send the electronics to Holmes Hobbies to see if they could sort out what is wrong with the one non-working ESC and the BEC. Hoping it's a one off as the parts appear to be of exceptional quality. I can't wait to get this thing finally going. Quite frustrating right now but I am sure it will be quickly forgotten once everything gets sorted out.

[cormier33]

Alright everyone, I just purchased another set of used electronics from Troy that are confirmed to work and in excellent condition as they are coming from one of his rigs. This is to expedite everything while I await my original electronics setup from John at HH.

This thing has got to get going soon!

[cormier33]

Another update:

John at HH contacted me quite quickly and advised me that he is in the middle of testing what may have went wrong with this. Then, just a few short days later, advised that there was an issue with how the BEC was initially wired and that may have led to one of the ESC's having issues. Anyway, he is well on top of it, is replacing the problem ESC and is sending it back to me shortly. As far as I am concerned, that is incredible customer service right there. I am very happy with John/Holmes Hobbies. Thanks again John.

On another note, the other electronics setup I purchased used from Troy (Winnerone23) didn't work!!! The connectors were shipped with male ends (needed female ends from the previous setup I got from him). So, I soldered on the proper ends and as soon as I plugged the battery in (without having hooked up the ESC's to the engine's yet) and there was quick electronic "ticking noise" that seemed to sync with the BEC light, so I unplugged it. Then, I plugged it back in and my battery started smoking and got incredibly hot! Unplugged it, tried once more with another battery and the same thing. I took a quick look at the BEC wiring, it seemed worn and in some places there was exposed wiring but nothing seemed to be bridged or bare wires from one wire touching another. Regardless, I am too worried to try it again and ruin a battery. I'm very disappointed to say the least and honestly, if it wasn't for John's positive words and support with the original electronics, I'd probably get out of this hobby. I'm still on the fence but am hoping I have luck with the electronics that John is sending directly to me.

Anyway, that's the update. I'd appreciate any feedback/suggestions/words of advice, etc.


Adam

[cormier33]

Here's a picture of the used electronics I got from Troy. In the 3rd picture you can see one of the spots where the wire is exposed. Is this enough to cause issues? Troy advised everything was working when he sent it?

[Curcal]

If I were you id solder on new wire leads.
The exposed wires are shorting out on each other that's whats toasting your batteries. Once those shorts are cleared up you'll be fine.

[chevotafun]

One other possibility is that you got the wires crossed when you changed the ends.
Man if it wasn't for bad luck on this build you'd have no luck at all bud.

Keep at it your so close now.

[jollyjeeper]

Don't give up now. Once you get this thing running, you will forget the issues you've had. They're that much fun if you have rocks to run on.

[cormier33]

Originally Posted by chevotafun

One other possibility is that you got the wires crossed when you changed the ends.
Man if it wasn't for bad luck on this build you'd have no luck at all bud.

Keep at it your so close now.

I made sure I soldered them the same way that they were initially hooked up with the male ends. But a good suggestion nonetheless.

As for the luck thing, you're right!

[winnerone23]

I'll try and cover this in a well handled manner. As I have in Every step of this with you Adam.

I'm in sure of the problem with the "initial" wiring of the bec. I can only go by the pics I have.. Which do not show any such problem..





The wires come out both sides, identically the same..
You did tell me "the second one was soldered the same as the first", but did you send the first (my) bec with the smash to Holmes or the one that was done second?
Second off, why would anyone solder wires to the wrong color? Even if the first one was done that way? (We where in communication during the whole process.. You asked lots of questions but not that one?)

On another note.. The second smash, out of My Personnel rig, "didn't work"...
Pretty bold statement when it was on the rocks mins before pulling it out and shipping it to you ASAP, cause I feel bad for all the luck your having..

I did however have 3 male plugs on my smash and you had female's for your motors. Wasn't a thought of mine.. Apologizes good sir..

Another thing that maybe could of been questioned.. If you where goin to change 2 plugs, I would have suggested changing the 2 on the motors, instead soldering on the esc's..

As you have now pointed out the bec wires.. They do look ruff. They could have caught a screw on the way out or changed orientation just simply from taking them out of there snug home..

I'll cover the bec.. Just ship it back and we can get it taken care of. :thumbsup:

Now to get a idea of the esc's.. Unplug the bec and hook ur esc's up.

[cormier33]

Thanks for the reply Troy. I am not trying to be argumentative or accusatory at all. I'm new to the whole crawling scene as everyone is aware. I also said I couldn't quite understand what John had said when he mentioned the BEC appears to be soldered backwards. It may not be those wires at all (the servo ones that I had guessed he meant when he said it appeared to be wired backwards). All I can say is that Randy and I looked at it when he came by to help me fix it and we re-soldered it back the way it came. As it turns out, one of the connections were bridged after all that anyway. I didn't send the original BEC that was sent initially as it wasn't working and I figured I would send one that was working to John.

Also, maybe my bold wording could have been improved if it was taken offensively by you when I stated, "it didn't work." However, I could not get it to work for me when it arrived. I tried, but just couldn't get it to work. Maybe it's me. Quite possibly it's me. I did double-check that the mini-t's were connected properly and I then unplugged the BEC and retried the ESC's as you just suggested. Unfortunately, the ESC's wouldn't work for me and the battery didn't immediately get very hot, but shortly after, expanded quite largely and is no longer safe and had to be discarded (the battery that is). I am guessing that the only way this could happen would be a short somewhere in the ESC's? That's a guess.

I will note that when I soldered on the proper female ends, I was quite careful to ensure the wire's (and by transference, the ESC's) didn't get too hot while I was soldering the plugs on. The reason I soldered on the female ends to the 2nd set of ESC's you sent me, instead of at the motors, was because the original set you sent me that John is looking at and will be sending back, had the female ends as well. So, why would I do that and make swapping electronics that much more difficult and requiring another solder job when the original set comes back. My train of thought was simply, by correcting it this way, I would actually be able to swap out the electronics easily. That is why you sent them in a "plug and play" version to me in the first place, to avoid soldering and making swapping out easy. Or at least, that is how I understood it.

I do appreciate your willingness to exchange the BEC and I will send it back to you so that I can get another. You have been a pleasure to deal with throughout this entire ordeal. I just want to reiterate that. My only frustration has been with the electronics I received not working on both occasions for me. The long and the short of it is that I will and do need help to get this going.

With respect to sending the 2nd set of ESC's back to John at HH, can you contact him the same as before about me sending this 2nd set back. I believe that's what we had to do last time as I don't have the original receipt that is required for warranty service/repair.

Finally, I will be excited to get this thing going. I'm sure the amount of frustration I'm feeling will be quickly forgotten once I am having fun crawling with this rig.

[cormier33]

Hey everyone,

I thought I would provide an update. I received both sets of electronics back from John at HH. Man, I can't say enough about the great customer service from Holmes Hobbies. It's that type of service that made me decide to stick with it when I was getting frustrated.

Now, I ordered a new batch of batteries and threw out the old ones that were damaged. I soldered on some mini-t's and plugged it in while crossing my fingers. Well, the dual ESC's programmed quickly and easily. The DX4R has a preset MOA setup and options for custom mixes as well. Almost everything is working perfectly. When front dig is on, front axle goes back and forth as it should, when rear dig is on, rear axle goes back and forth as it should. My only issue is when I attempt to have both axles spinning, only the rear axle will turn. Now in the scheme of things, this is nothing and I am sure not a hard fix. So, how do I do it?

Also, I should add that when I have rear dig on or both front and rear dig at the same time, the rear axle is making a sound similar to a servo binding while Tx trigger is in neutral position. I thought I would add that in case it is helpful to diagnose.

Oh, and my steering servo isn't working through the existing BEC setup yet. I am sure I will get it going though, one big step closer!

Troy, it's the BEC setup that you initially sent me, All wires from servo going into BEC, all 3 wires going out of servo toward Rx except that I removed the power wire before it goes to the Rx. Is that the right setup? or does something have to be modified?

****EDIT*****
I discovered THR Bias. Added like +68 and it is working excellently....tried more and less but that seems to be a bit of a balance. I'm guessing that in reverse I'm not the only one that notices it's not as smooth?

Alright, just the steering servo via the BEC to fix now!!!!! yay!!!!

****

[Solitaire]

Your setup may be missing the ground from Rx to servo. This is necessary for Spektrum gear. Not sure if Troy has that configured since he doesn't use Spektrum.

So, your connections should be:
Servo - Pos, Neg, Signal
Rx - Neg, Signal
BEC output - Pos, Neg

[cormier33]

Hey Solitaire,

Here is a schematic of my current wiring. Basically, the servo wires go directly through the BEC and into the Rx minus the power wire (it's an inline style solder job) and the BEC is powered direct from the battery (it is actually all smashed into the dual ESC's).

Also, the pictures posted above by Troy may give you another idea of how it is wired through.