Problems with Caste Creation Hydra 240A?

[znus]

Hi!

So... to make a long story short - I put a 2000kv 4074 in a Arowana hull and fed it with 4s through a CC Hydra 240. It went fine for 6 runs (each about 3 minutes) and on the seventh run the thing suddenly gave all it had without me doing anything on the transmitter. It ended with a broken hull, cooked flexshaft, broken stinger, broken rudder and a broken x442. Not to mention a broken self confidence and the fact that I'm broke..

The esc didn't burn or even smell and today, three days after the incident, I hooked everything up on the kitchen table and it worked fine :confused1: I do NOT want this to happen again and I'm having second thoughts about using this esc in the future.

Anbody else been through this? What could have been the problem? Does it sound like a esc problem or could it just as well be some sort of Rx hiccup?
/z

[b.mcdaniel.2009]

Are you running an am/fm radio?

[Fluid]

Sorry to hear of your problem! This sounds more like a radio problem than an ESC issue, but I am confused. Did the motor start to run after you put the boat in the water but before you touched the transmitter trigger or wheel? What radio do you have? Anyone else running an R/C boat or car in the area? Are you using a receiver battery, external BEC or the Hydra to power the receiver? What is the state of charge of your transmitter batteries? I assume you programmed the ESC to your transmitter.



.

[detox]

Are you using a BEC or receiver battery pack? You mention 4s. Are you using 4s2p or 4s1p?

[znus]

Hi, and thanks for your replies!

bmcdaniel. Im using a HSP 2,4 GHz Rx & Tx

Fluid. It went into the Twilight Zone after about 1 minute of running and was at first alternating between maybe 70% throttle and full gas for a couple of seconds and then it was WOT to the bitter end. Since I'm runing 4s I'm using an external receiver battery. The Rx battery (1600 mah) is fine - I bought it specifically for this setup and all it's done was the previous ~20 minutes of running. I did program the esc with my tx, although the factory setup was fine. If you suspect this might be a tx-rx problem no one is happier than me :smile:

detox. 2s1p in series. Two Turnigy 5200 hardpacks

Oh, and one more thing. When I tried the setup last night, when it all worked, I noticed the esc got a little warm. Not the watercooled part but the "brain" so to speak. Didn't run for very long. A few 3 second bursts and that was it.

/z

[sailr]

Are you using a 4.8V battery pack or 6V? I have learned the hard way (flyaway airplane) that 2.4 radios do NOT like 4.8V battery packs! They are very touchy on voltage. If the pack dips just a little bit the receiver will unbind. I now use only 6V (5 cell) battery packs in everything with a 2.4ghz radio.

Sorry, but what is an HSP radio?

You definitely had a radio problem, not an ESC problem.

[znus]

Are you using a 4.8V battery pack or 6V? I have learned the hard way (flyaway airplane) that 2.4 radios do NOT like 4.8V battery packs! They are very touchy on voltage. If the pack dips just a little bit the receiver will unbind. I now use only 6V (5 cell) battery packs in everything with a 2.4ghz radio.

Sorry, but what is an HSP radio?

You definitely had a radio problem, not an ESC problem.

Hi! It's a 6V 1600 mah pack. I use a standard size servo for the rudder, so it should't suck too much from the Rx acc.

The HSP radio.... well, it might be a re-labeled thing? I live in Sweden and the HSP's a cheap but very good Rx Tx system sold by a known (over here) hobby store. I have three HSP's systems for my boats. It reaches very far as opposed to more known brands I've tried out earlier. The HSP has never failed me before, not to say it's bulletproof in every sense. I might've gotten a lemon this time?

If the reciever unbinds - shouldn't it just turn off, dead in the water?

I'm really glad if this was/is a radioproblem. The system itself is around $100 while the esc is $300. Didn't check for water/moisture in the Rx right after the crash and maybe that was it? On the other hand I've run some other boats with the Rx right in the hull with no protection at all, with no problems. If a drop of water found its way into the Rx it just stopped.

/z

[LuckyDuc]

I had the same thing happen to me with a Castle 240 and a Tactic 2.4 radio. I ran my P-mono into the shore line at full speed. When the castle 240 loses signal from the RX it takes off at WOT. At least mine does.

[m4a1usr]

I had the same thing happen to me with a Castle 240 and a Tactic 2.4 radio. I ran my P-mono into the shore line at full speed. When the castle 240 loses signal from the RX it takes off at WOT. At least mine does.

The same here. Had a Futaba 3PM FM that with a CC240 went WOT. Luckily for me the hull was a rigger and I had steering so I just drove it until it stuffed itself and ended up upside down. By the time I got to the hull it had thermaled and shut down the esc. Needless to say I now stick every inch of antenna possible outside of the hull.

John

[coolmind]

I am sorry for you my friend.Maybe the problem it is in the fail safe of your receiver.I had a problem like that and i solve it by programming the fail safe.Try to do the same,and test it out off the water first.How to test if this is the problem? just give 20% throttle and switch off the transmitter.Be very carefully because it may give 100% throttle by it self,so you have to be near to power off the speed control.Also a friend of mine had the same problem with a proboat miss geico and i did the same and everything it works fine.

[znus]

LuckyDuc & m4a1usr. Ok, then I suppose this is the way CC build their esc's for some wierd reason? I really doesn't make any sense. It's a beefy esc capable of most of the stuff out there but if it loses the signal - waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah (sound of WOT) and into the shore.

coolmind - I'll look into that. Thanks!

Here's a video of last weekends trial and error. First time in the water and trying out different props. Setteled for a X442 as bigger props tried to flip the boat around. I guess the 4074 can handle a 642 or even a 645 when everything else is tuned in? I need to work on angles and install som trim tabs, to straighten it out.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfI0b69h8WA

[m4a1usr]

LuckyDuc & m4a1usr. Ok, then I suppose this is the way CC build their esc's for some wierd reason? I really doesn't make any sense. It's a beefy esc capable of most of the stuff out there but if it loses the signal - waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah (sound of WOT) and into the shore.



I dont see it being the ESC fault. You didnt have steering, which tells me you had radio communication issues. Mine on the other hand was unexplainable. I did have steering but I was running an FM radio. And I still have that one and use that same ESC today. I have been one of those who complain about Castles ESC at times but my 240LV have not been problem children to me. Maybe its my setups but I got a bunch of CC speedos and other then me running one way past its capability to destruction, I am still hooked on them. Lots of other folks do not like them due to bad experiences but not me.

John