Grumble, grumble, grumble, blew my CC BEC

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I think I accidentally shorted my CC BEC with reversed polarity and blew it's little brains out. At least that's my best guess after reading a couple threads about failed cc bec's...

That's an awesome design that they came up with; BEC fails and just goes full power.

If I hook it up to the Castle link all appears normal, but even when set to 6.6V the output leads are carrying full battery voltage.

My servo sure didn't like seeing 12.6volts.

Now I need a new servo and a new BEC.

Grumble, grumble, grumble, stupid mistakes.

Worst part is, it's my own damn fault for not being more careful when plugging in rig.

I'm going to contact Castle today and see if they'll warranty it, but I'm not expecting much since it seems like operator error..

I think I might splice a switch inline on my next BEC.

[robert@castle]

Unfortunately, that is the normal failure mode for most switching BECs. That design is one of our oldest products we still sell and it doesn't offer much in the way of protection. We added protection in the BEC 2.0 design, but everyone keeps buying the old one because they don't like the price tag on the new one. We had to raise the price in order to fit more parts on the board to protect the output better.

Reversed polarity is not covered under warranty.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

I'm going to contact Castle today and see if they'll warranty it, but I'm not expecting much since it seems like operator error..

I'm glad you admitted wrongdoing, but you shouldn't request a warranty either. Would Honda warrant your Civic if you drove it into a wall? Nope.

Originally Posted by robert@castle

Reversed polarity is not covered under warranty.

Nor should it be.

[Jeepy84]

Just curious, how does one reverse polarity on plugging a battery in? When you're first installing it you wired it wrong or did I miss something?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[mikel81]

Originally Posted by Jeepy84

Just curious, how does one reverse polarity on plugging a battery in? When you're first installing it you wired it wrong or did I miss something?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Some batteries have banana connectors right on the battery. Possibly had one like that.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Originally Posted by robert@castle

Unfortunately, that is the normal failure mode for most switching BECs. That design is one of our oldest products we still sell and it doesn't offer much in the way of protection. We added protection in the BEC 2.0 design, but everyone keeps buying the old one because they don't like the price tag on the new one. We had to raise the price in order to fit more parts on the board to protect the output better.

Reversed polarity is not covered under warranty.

Makes sense, it's good to hear that it is a normal failure mode and an oversight in the design. I know you guys are quite diligent with your manufacturing and design processes, this is the first castle product that has failed me (and I run lots of other products).

Thanks for chiming in, it's always nice to hear something right from the source.

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I'm glad you admitted wrongdoing, but you shouldn't request a warranty either. Would Honda warrant your Civic if you drove it into a wall? Nope.


Nor should it be.

Lol, I like your analogy.

I should have worded my orig post differently. I wouldn't expect them to warranty it, I was more wondering if there is any sort "crash replacement" program or "you did a dumb thing" discount.

Hearing myself talk about now it though, it sounds pretty whiny to even ask those questions. I'll just buck up and spring for a new one..

Originally Posted by Jeepy84

Just curious, how does one reverse polarity on plugging a battery in? When you're first installing it you wired it wrong or did I miss something?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

No, it's wired correctly. It was just not paying attention and the contacts (dean's connectors) just barely touched. It didn't get plugged right in, it wouldn't fit. But it only takes an instant..

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

Lol, I like your analogy.

I should have worded my orig post differently. I wouldn't expect them to warranty it, I was more wondering if there is any sort "crash replacement" program or "you did a dumb thing" discount.

Hearing myself talk about now it though, it sounds pretty whiny to even ask those questions. I'll just buck up and spring for a new one..

I'm glad you didn't take offense to my comment. No offense was meant.

I trade in/upgrade option, similar to Traxxas, would be cool though.

[robert@castle]

There should be a trade in/replacement Tier 2 warranty available for that product. Normally it would be 50-60% MRSP + $5 shipping.

A note to everyone:
Any time you think you may have plugged something in backwards, always isolate the item from all other items before plugging it back in. I've seen plenty of people lose several servos from having a blown BEC. Unplugging it from the receiver and checking the output voltage only takes a few minutes(depending on your setup), but might save you quite a bit of money if it keeps your servos/radio/winch/lightbar from blowing up as well.

A small benchtop power supply like this one:
30V 5A Adjustable Precision Regulated DC Power Supply Digital LED Display F3V3 | eBay
can also be useful because you can power stuff up on a regulated supply and keep it from drawing too much current. With a supply like that, you can see exactly how much current something is using without risking your lipo.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Originally Posted by robert@castle

There should be a trade in/replacement Tier 2 warranty available for that product. Normally it would be 50-60% MRSP + $5 shipping.

A note to everyone:
Any time you think you may have plugged something in backwards, always isolate the item from all other items before plugging it back in. I've seen plenty of people lose several servos from having a blown BEC. Unplugging it from the receiver and checking the output voltage only takes a few minutes(depending on your setup), but might save you quite a bit of money if it keeps your servos/radio/winch/lightbar from blowing up as well.

A small benchtop power supply like this one:
30V 5A Adjustable Precision Regulated DC Power Supply Digital LED Display F3V3 | eBay
can also be useful because you can power stuff up on a regulated supply and keep it from drawing too much current. With a supply like that, you can see exactly how much current something is using without risking your lipo.

Cool, glad to hear about tier 2 warranty being available. I'll call them later today.

Good point about isolating the questionable device, in my case I didn't realize it could create a problem so when the BEC showed it's normal green light I thought all was well.

A power supply like that would be a very handy item to have on the bench. I was just glad that I have a multi-meter so I was able to determine that the I had roasted the BEC.


Thanks again for ringing in on this, it's a pretty awesome resource that you monitor this site.