Smoked ESC "Literally" HELP

[Fritzn19]

I have not used my Wraith in a few days due to the steering servo being broken. Tonight I randomly decided to turn the truck on and give it a run through in preparation for a local meet. I recently changed from the Tamiya plugs to Deans plugs. I have used the truck in a competition since and it ran flawlessly....

Then tonight I plugged in the battery and switched it on. It immediately started billowing light grey smoke and the smell of sulfur and plastic burning. I immeditaely switched off the truck, but the reaction continued until I was able to un-plug my battery. Upon inspection the board where the wires connected to the ESC had completed melted away. The guts of the ESC were ousing from the seal between the plastic bottom housing and the upper aluminum component. After searching the forum I am still at a loss. Has anyone had this happen?

Novak Goat 2s ESC/Motor

[OH91awd]

The only time I've ever seen that happen was when the battery was plugged in backwards.. But with deans connectors that shouldn't be the case.

[Kylar]

Typical Novak

I had a brushed crawler esc do the same thing out of the blue.

[Valreesio]

Any chance it could have residual water or some condensation in it? Maybe a child with a sippy cup or a wife with a pitcher of water (ruined a battery charger this way)? My ESC did the exact same thing when it got wet.

[Fritzn19]

Thanks for the responses. It definitely could have been residual condensation. It was literally "out of the blue" though. My first thought was crossed or grounded wires, but that ended up not being the case. The motor seems to be fine (fingers crossed) but the esc is definitely done for. I would say condensation if I had used it more recently but its been 3-5 days since the servo went out. I plan on calling Novak tomorrow to see if they have any thoughts. Ill keep everyone posted.

[Hi-Intentionz]

Nop I've owned this esc for 3 years now and no such thing ever happened....why does everyone dog on Novak I honestly never had an issue with any of their electronics. I think it's always how you use your equipment.

[mjc597]

Originally Posted by Kylar

Typical Novak

I had a brushed crawler esc do the same thing out of the blue.

We were at an event last september, and a friend of mine (who swore by novak at the time) had a novak crawler esc (can't remember what one), he plugged it in to check steering endpoints and it went up in smoke for no apparent reason....so he took it out and put a brand new novak esc in it...hooked it up and while we were waiting on the start line for the event to start his new novak went up in smoke also..!! I loved them back on the mid-late 90's...but nowadays I wouldn't touch a Novak esc with a 10' pole..

[FRIZZLEFRY]

I used to love Novak. Just glad it didnt burn the car down.

[OH91awd]

I never had a problem with the older Novak stuff but I've never dealt with the newer products either. It kinda sucks that they seem to have went down hill in the past few years.

[lemonhead]

Originally Posted by OH91awd

The only time I've ever seen that happen was when the battery was plugged in backwards.. But with deans connectors that shouldn't be the case.

it will happen if the OP soldered the + & - on the wrong ends. frome what he wrote that sounds like the problem, recheck the wiring.

[OH91awd]

Originally Posted by lemonhead

it will happen if the OP soldered the + & - on the wrong ends. frome what he wrote that sounds like the problem, recheck the wiring.

That is true. My brother had deans on his drifter and bought a battery from a friend that had deans wired different and didn't check it.. Thank god it only screwed the battery up..

[Fritzn19]

If you read the original post before commenting you will see that the truck worked fine after adding deans plugs.

[FRIZZLEFRY]

Originally Posted by Fritzn19

If you read the original post before commenting ...

That would be asking too much

The one I had shoot fire in that pic above was a couple years old. It was only plugged in for less than a minute. It was sitting still and I noticed a wisp of smoke. I got closer to investigate and fire shot out of the side of it . Went to unplug the battery and the solder on all of the connections was melted and some wires were just burned off.

[Fritzn19]

Originally Posted by FRIZZLEFRY

That would be asking too much

The one I had shoot fire in that pic above was a couple years old. It was only plugged in for less than a minute. It was sitting still and I noticed a wisp of smoke. I got closer to investigate and fire shot out of the side of it . Went to unplug the battery and the solder on all of the connections was melted and some wires were just burned off.

Thats almost exactly what happened with mine. Does anyone have a suggestion for a new brushless combo? Yes, I know this is the wrong thread. I've done my own research, but just curious what you upgraded to.

[FRIZZLEFRY]

All my research led me to a Mamba Max Pro esc and a Tekin Redline 17.5. Been running the setup for over a year in my Wraith on 3s with zero issues

[mark32]

i run a mmp with a tekin pro4 3300 kv it is a monster in my 9lb scx scaler

[Fritzn19]

Thanks for the replies. Thats the esc I have been researching most.

[Lentsnh2012]

I would carry my RC over the rocks before I put a Novak anything in it. Novak is well known for doing weird things like that.


Get a HobbyWing ESC from Hobbypartz.com

[OH91awd]

Originally Posted by Lentsnh2012

I would carry my RC over the rocks before I put a Novak anything in it. Novak is well known for doing weird things like that.


Get a HobbyWing ESC from Hobbypartz.com

maybe the newer novak stuff but ive never had a problem with the old novak stuff i ran...

[Lentsnh2012]

Originally Posted by OH91awd

maybe the newer novak stuff but ive never had a problem with the old novak stuff i ran...

The older stuff may have been a little better than their newer stuff, however, they still had the same burning up issues. I'll stick with Castle and Tekin.