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Well, time to get the 1/8th Llumar wet last Saturday.
As I stated in my build thread for the boat, it didn't go well as , due to my fault. I didn't have enough of a flat spot on the motor shaft and the coupler slipped. No big deal.
So, that boat being done for the day, I swapped my LiPos to my V-24 for a quick run, same setup as last year. No changes.
Heres a vid of the first part of the run.
Boat was flying and running great.
After about 3 minutes of goofing around a puff of white smoke came out of the taped hatch. I brought it back to shore to see the smoke pouring out of a small burned off section of the tape. Not Good.
I ripped the tape off and took the hatch off (all while the boat is still in the water). Flames shot out about a foot high (LiPo fire). As the hull has full of white smoke and flames, I shoved the boat into the water, lifeted the bow and let water pour in the hull.
I case you don't know, LiPos do burn under water.
After about 45 seconds, it was all over.
Here are some shots of the carnage.
After all is done, $1200 woth of LiPos in the garbage.
The motor is fine after some cleaning,as is the Schultze controller.
The hull is remarkably undamaged other than some smoke reside. A good cleaning will remove and clean everything. (but it sure smells).
As to the cause, i have no idea, same setup as last year where none of the components ever got above ambient temp even on the hottest days.
The only difference is that I sent all 4 packs back for checking and servicing to the manufacturer over the winter. There were a few damaged cells as a result of spending almost 60 minutes underwater when the boat flipped on the last run of the year last October. They replaced several cells and deemed them good for use.
I'm currently in contact with Tanic to see what might have happened.
Anyway, LiPos are great for performance, but when they go bad, just about everything you might have heard about them is true. I know first hand now so please , save the comments on how safe they are. When they go bad, they are worse than any NiCd or NiMh. Period.
I'll still continue to use them though.
As I stated in my build thread for the boat, it didn't go well as , due to my fault. I didn't have enough of a flat spot on the motor shaft and the coupler slipped. No big deal.
So, that boat being done for the day, I swapped my LiPos to my V-24 for a quick run, same setup as last year. No changes.
Heres a vid of the first part of the run.
Boat was flying and running great.
After about 3 minutes of goofing around a puff of white smoke came out of the taped hatch. I brought it back to shore to see the smoke pouring out of a small burned off section of the tape. Not Good.
I ripped the tape off and took the hatch off (all while the boat is still in the water). Flames shot out about a foot high (LiPo fire). As the hull has full of white smoke and flames, I shoved the boat into the water, lifeted the bow and let water pour in the hull.
I case you don't know, LiPos do burn under water.
After about 45 seconds, it was all over.
Here are some shots of the carnage.
After all is done, $1200 woth of LiPos in the garbage.
The motor is fine after some cleaning,as is the Schultze controller.
The hull is remarkably undamaged other than some smoke reside. A good cleaning will remove and clean everything. (but it sure smells).
As to the cause, i have no idea, same setup as last year where none of the components ever got above ambient temp even on the hottest days.
The only difference is that I sent all 4 packs back for checking and servicing to the manufacturer over the winter. There were a few damaged cells as a result of spending almost 60 minutes underwater when the boat flipped on the last run of the year last October. They replaced several cells and deemed them good for use.
I'm currently in contact with Tanic to see what might have happened.
Anyway, LiPos are great for performance, but when they go bad, just about everything you might have heard about them is true. I know first hand now so please , save the comments on how safe they are. When they go bad, they are worse than any NiCd or NiMh. Period.
I'll still continue to use them though.
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