Tapping the fifth cell

[HannibalLecter]

Well I thought I knew what I was doing last night - but the hot wires suggest that I did something wrong. Here's what I did: I cut the red wire from the ESC, then soldered the black wire of a cut servo extension to the side of the fifth cell, and the red wire to the main red wire of the battery pack and connected it to the B slot on my traxxas receiver. When I connected it with the ESC "off", I could control the servos. When I turned the ESC "on", the wires from the battery got real hot. Where did I go wrong?

[microgoat]

You don't ever want to turn the ESC on with a 5th-cell tap. Plugging in the battery should be all the turning-on it needs with the red wire cut. When you turn on the ESC, you get a WTF ground loop (JIA's term).

If you're only using 6 cells you can get away with a 5-cell tap, but it's not the clever idea I thought it was. Instead, it seems to be an express exit for smoke to get out of your electronics.

[EGRESSor]

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showt...ell#post375162

[HannibalLecter]

Just so I understand your post from the other thread, you are saying I should connect the + & - from both servos to the 5th cell tap and then connect the single signal wire to the receiver. Then I use the switch to power on the esc and the receiver - and I'll have to disconnect what ever plug I come up with to cut the power to the servos. Sounds simple enough, and by what you said - it will eliminate the WTF ground loop.

And to tie up all loose ends about this subject (assuming I read your post right), If I do it this way, I do not cut the red esc wire.

[EGRESSor]

yes , dont cut the red wire from your esc , you need it to power your receiver