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Thread: battery charging, esc, and steering arm problems

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Old 09-21-2008, 09:36 PM   #1
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: traverse city MI/savoonga AK
Posts: 8
Default battery charging, esc, and steering arm problems

all right, i had a major malfunction today, and i dont know what i did or didnt do to cause the problem.

for starters, the truck is an ax-10 with the following electronics:
jr xs-3 radio and rs-310 reciever
jr z670 steering servo's
novak goat esc/motor combo
Zippy-k 1800 lipo 2S
Zippy-k 2250 lipo 2S
ABF 4000 lipo 2S

thunder power 610 charger

i have run all three batteries through the truck on the charge that was in them when i got them. my charger didnt come with leads to charge from, so i finally made some leads today to charge my 3 dead batteries.

i first put the Zippy-k 2250 lipo on the charger, go through the basic set-up and plug the battery in. it says voltage too low, @6.312V. press + to recover. so i press + it goes into recovery mode, in a couple minutes, it is up to 6.4V and goes into initial charge mode. it is charging at 0.5A and goes through its ten minute time limit and starts beeping. it is now up to 6.8V or so. so i press start again, and it goes into initial charge mode, for about 8 minutes, and goes into regular charge mode at 7.0V. it charges up to 7.4 and i expect it to stop, but it keeps going, so i stop it at 7.404V. i think this should be a full charge. i let it sit, while i go get my Zippy-k 1800 and the truck which still has the ABF4000 in it. i put the Zippy-k 1800 on the charger, and it is at 6.35V or so, so i put it into recovery mode, and it is up to 6.4 shortly. i up the charge rate to 0.75A and start the charge. now i take the ABF 4000 out of the truck and strap in the fully charged Zippy-k, and plug in the battery with the goats power switch off. i turn and reach over for my radio, to turn it on, and as i look back, i smell the wonderful smell of smoking electronics. my co-worker tells me it just let a big puff of smoke. as he is telling me this, i am scrambling to unplug the battery from the esc. with it unplugged, i settle down a little, and shut down the battery charger with the Zippy-k 1800 on it. i let the Zippy-k 2250 cool off for a second, as it was getting warm when i unplugged it from the truck. when its cooled down, i put it back on the charger, and it says it is at 4.7V, would i like to recover. i dont know what the hell is going on, how i just lost 2.7V in a cloud of smoke i dont know. so thinking that maybe the goat just couldnt handle the .004 extra volts of the 7.404, i plug my Zippy-k 1800 into the esc with 6.7V and another puff of smoke. WTF! so i flip the truck over, and do it again, this time i see the puff of smoke coming from between the top and bottom covers of the esc. now there is no more smoke, and the esc is showing a red and yellow light. i unplug it again. one more time, and the tires twitch a little, and nothing else happens. no lights, nothing. all this time the power switch was off, and turning it on yields no results. so i put the Zippy-k 1800 on the charger and it shows 2.7V and i dont get the option for recovery. it says voltage error, or reversed polarity. i put the Zippy-k 2250 on the charger and start recovery and it eventually charges from 4.7V back up to 6.4, and is ready for initial charging again.

WTF happened, and why? ive only run the three packs with the "stock" charge, im assuming that ill be needing to order a new esc, unless the problem is the esc's fault. it doesnt seem like an extra .004V should cause catastrophic malfunctions. what did i do wrong, or is it an esc problem? either way i guess im out an esc, and a Zippy-k 1800.

what gives?

also, with my jr Z670 servo's, my stock axial servo arms wont fit well, i had to cram them on, and suck them in with the screw. it didnt take long to strip out. (2.5 half charged packs) i ordered a pair of losi JR style arms, and they dont fit the splines either, which is just as well, since they are too short anyway.

what arms do i need to get them to fit?

thank you for spending time reading all this crap, and all help or advice is appreciated very much.
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Old 09-22-2008, 11:19 AM   #2
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Seattle
Posts: 256
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Quote:
i have run all three batteries through the truck on the charge that was in them when i got them.
That's failure #1. Lipo batteries do not come fully charged generally, sometimes they are as low as 75%. You over discharged your pack, but it sounds like you've wrecked your batteries before you really got a chance to use them.

You also did not allow the battery to fully charge. 8.4V is maximum charge for 2S lipo. Let the charger do the work, you pulled the pack that was charging off before it was done.

Quote:
what gives?
My assumption is you have two unrelated events. You over discharged your lipo packs, and you had the unfortunate event of a ESC go up in smoke. As long as you really are sure nothing was wired backward, I would call it unrelated and unfortunate. When the ESC failed it shorted, drawing a lot of amperage from that lipo. It doesn't take a long time for a small capacity lipo to over discharge at a high rate.

I would send the ESC back for repair or warranty, and try charging the lipo's and see if you can get them to recover. If any of the batteries are being at all sketchy, throw them out.

Quote:
what arms do i need to get them to fit?
Buy one of these ...
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=DYN2536

Most hobbyshops should have a selection of Dynamite Alum servo arms, buy the ones marked "J/A" for JR / Airtronics. If your shop doesn't have it, they can special order one. They come in black, red, blue, and purple.
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