dead fxr?... what just happened?

[bvrc]

my setup:
wraith
tekin fxr, 35t.
castle bec to my rx, ss, winch, and lights.
fully charged 3s, 3300, 35c

I've been running this current setup for about 2 -3 weeks. Until about a week ago I had always used 5000mah nimh power. But I recently picked up a balance charger and some lipos and have been testing them out. I had a good day and a half of lipo runs, and then...

Last night I plugged my fresh 3s into my ecs/bec harness. I heard a few little pops and crackles, then saw a small amount of smoke before yanking the battery. I had no idea what had just happened so I just left everything alone and went to bed. Today I've looked at it a bit more. first I plugged everything back together and plugged my battery in. My rec was getting power (through my bec) but my fxr will not turn on. I though maybe my little connection harness was faulty, so I de-soldered the harness and inspected the connections. It seemed there was a bad connection in one of the plugs that I had been using (not one that I had soldered one that came with my wraith rtr). I thought to myself "well that's the problem I just need to solder up a new harness." It seems that's not the issue though, because when I plug a 3s battery directly into my fxr, the fxr still does not turn on. So, have I fried this esc? If so, how? What happened? And how can I avoid this in the future?

Also, if I do indeed need to replace the fxr should I replace it? Or go brushless?

Sorry for the long story, Thanks in advance for any input.

[D19er]

sounds like you need a new esc... popping sounds + smoke are never a good sign! Check all your wiring... check it again! Did you plug the battery in backwards? ( ive seen dumber shit happen)!

[bvrc]

yeah I'm researching new esc's and systems now. I want to have my rig ready for a g6 next weekend (i need to order something tonight so I can get it mid-week).

I've double checked all the wiring, and like I mentioned above I think there was that one bad connection in my harness that goes from my battery to both my bec and esc. I'll be certain to make clean connections when I rewire. I guess I'm still confused though about what happened. If I did some how cross wires, why didn't my bec fry too? I'm not the smartest or most experienced with all this, so it wouldn't surprise me to find out I did something wrong... Could it have been something with my lipo? The way I charged it or something? Lipos are new to me, so I worried that had something to do with it...

[hawaiiancrawler]

get a hold of tekin tell them what happened and they will want you to send it in.....not to long ago i had my RX8 go "poof" when i changed my lipo cutoff from 4s to 6s. sent my esc in and they told me there was nothing rhey could do but give a discount on a new one...so i told them to shove it and bought a CASTLE!!!!!!!

[D19er]

Originally Posted by bvrc

yeah I'm researching new esc's and systems now. I want to have my rig ready for a g6 next weekend (i need to order something tonight so I can get it mid-week).

I've double checked all the wiring, and like I mentioned above I think there was that one bad connections in my harness that goes from my battery to both my bec and esc. I'll be certain to make clean connections when I rewire. I guess I'm still confused though about what happened. If I did some how cross wires, why didn't my bec fry too? I'm not the smartest or most experienced with all this, so it wouldn't surprise me to find out I did something wrong... Could it have been something with my lipo? The way I charged it or something? Lipos are new to me, so I worried that had something to do with it...

Do you charge with a lipo balancer? I doubt it was the battery, but you never know... im thinking positive touched negative somehow... Are you using a capacitor on the esc?

[D19er]

Tekin does not replace anything period! They make some of the smoothest esc's but when they break.... your shit out of luck!

[bvrc]

Originally Posted by D19er

Do you charge with a lipo balancer? I doubt it was the battery, but you never know... im thinking positive touched negative somehow... Are you using a capacitor on the esc?

I am charging with a balancer charger. A week or so ago I got a power supply, balance charger, and lipos from hobbyking. That was my new project, to learn about and start using lipos. Then this happened.

I am using the capacitor on the esc. I installed it just as directed in the manual. The esc looks fine, just doesn't turn on.

If I crossed wires somehow, wouldn't my bec have fried as well? maybe I'm not understanding how my bec works?

[D19er]

how is the bec wired in?

[builder]

Originally Posted by hawaiiancrawler

get a hold of tekin tell them what happened and they will want you to send it in.....not to long ago i had my RX8 go "poof" when i changed my lipo cutoff from 4s to 6s. sent my esc in and they told me there was nothing rhey could do but give a discount on a new one...so i told them to shove it and bought a CASTLE!!!!!!!

Does castle creation make a brushed esc? all i see is brushless.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by builder

Does castle creation make a brushed esc? all i see is brushless.

Almost everything Castle makes can run brushed. If the ESC has 3 motor wires, you use 2 for brushed and tape off the 3rd. Then you set the ESC to "brushed".

[OTHGbronco82]

You didn't feed it enough tacos. It sounds like a big problem that is going to end up with you getting a new ESC. Maybe you forgot to change the cut-off and it overloaded.

[bvrc]

Originally Posted by OTHGbronco82

You didn't feed it enough tacos. It sounds like a big problem that is going to end up with you getting a new ESC. Maybe you forgot to change the cut-off and it overloaded.

the cutoff thought is a good one, i thought I had set it properly, but I'm new to lipos, so it's possible i screwed something up there.

I ended up just ordering another fxr. I need something by the end of this work week so I can have a running rig for sunday's g6. Here's a link to the my truck if anyone is curious. http://http://www.rccrawler.com/foru...ith-story.html

[OTHGbronco82]

I would get the hotwire too so you can see what you are setting it at and not just hoping that it blinked the right number of times. I have Castle ESC's with the castle link and I love being able to see the actual setting. That, and the possibility to run a 4s lipo too.

[AddictedtoRC1]

The voltage cutoff has nothing to do with whether or not it fried because you plugged in a 3S battery. The FXR can handle the voltage from a 3S regardless of what the LVC is set to. LVC is to protect the battery not the esc. Chances are somewhere there was a connection between + and -.

[OTHGbronco82]

That's all I could come up with at the time I was typing. Connection between + & - = poof, instant weenie roast.

[Postclanker]

Originally Posted by D19er

Tekin does not replace anything period! They make some of the smoothest esc's but when they break.... your shit out of luck!

I dis-agree....they've replaced two of mine...no questions
Just mailed me a new one...twice

Chances are you fried the BEC also

[bvrc]

Originally Posted by OTHGbronco82

I would get the hotwire too so you can see what you are setting it at and not just hoping that it blinked the right number of times. I have Castle ESC's with the castle link and I love being able to see the actual setting. That, and the possibility to run a 4s lipo too.

i agree, next time i order things, I'll be getting a hotwire...

[bvrc]

Originally Posted by Postclanker

I dis-agree....they've replaced two of mine...no questions
Just mailed me a new one...twice

Chances are you fried the BEC also

BEC and the rest of my electronics are fine... that's why I was confused as to what happened.

[TheAxialNut]

I found out the hard way that while the Tekin FX-r is a fine ESC, it is particularly sensitive to reverseing the polarity and it's BEC can only run a rx, and fan. Plugged in an FX-r(brand new) backwards for about 3-5 seconds and poooffff meltdown....i bet thats what happen to you, the BEC didn't fry cuz its probably not as sensitive, or has a cut off to avoid damage......i would monitor that BEC I have a feeling it might be damaged too but it will be harder to detect, stick a volt meter on it to make sure...i would, dont fry a servo or rx.

I disagree about Tekin's Customer Service, I think they are the best I have never had an issue denied, they are always good to me. Explain what happened and all they can tell you is "No", I would follow all their procedures to return an ESC, and do it......

Good Luck.