Swordfish 240

[BW won]

This is my first thread on OSE, so I would first like to thank the owner, operators, and contributors of this meca of knowledge- and, wholesale priced retailer site- for providing the most informative hangout for FE enthusiasts, like myself.:tiphat:

...So, I just bought this new Swordy 240- my first swordy 240:Praying:... Anyway. I finally got a chance to sit down and drool all over it, when I found a, somewhat, sloppy soldering job on one of the capacitor leads. Take a look.7391673917 I had another member tell me that he has had problems with the swordy (10s torches them) and so have other members that he had talked to. What do you guys think? Are swordies over priced fire hazards ? Does mine look like a fire hazard?:flame42:

Thank you for reading, and I'm looking forward to your replies.

[millzee]

I've got a few swordfish speedo's and they've done me no wrong, I'm no electronic's expert so I can't help with that soldering issue but Drwayne may be able to help you out.

[BW won]

I've got a few swordfish speedo's and they've done me no wrong, I'm no electronic's expert so I can't help with that soldering issue but Drwayne may be able to help you out.

Good to know. Thanks for the reply, millzee!:beerchug:

[Rob DeAngelis]

Lets see what mine looks like when I get it... Sounds like a garage beer drinking time of looking them over... Whats with the 10s up in flames deal??? Do you think the Hydra ice 200 would have been a better choice??? Oh btw wheres my Freekin UL-1 at????? did you get the P-1 yet???? And wheres my Parts dangit!!!!? :bash:

[millzee]

I have a turnigy 240 monster out the shed that's the same under the shrink wrap so I might just take a look too.

[BW won]

Lets see what mine looks like when I get it... Sounds like a garage beer drinking time of looking them over... Whats with the 10s up in flames deal??? Do you think the Hydra ice 200 would have been a better choice??? Oh btw wheres my Freekin UL-1 at????? did you get the P-1 yet???? And wheres my Parts dangit!!!!? :bash:
A fellow OSE member had the 10s problem and wrote he had talked to others who had the same... he later wrote that he had them covered under warranty, though. IDK enough about the hydra ice esc's other than their data logging...The swordy was a steal of a deal, too. As to where the things are: My truck; NO!; and New York! And where the *ell is my beer?!:blah:

[BW won]

I have a turnigy 240 monster out the shed that's the same under the shrink wrap so I might just take a look too. let me know what you find

[Rob DeAngelis]

A fellow OSE member had the 10s problem and wrote he had talked to others who had the same... he later wrote that he had them covered under warranty, though. IDK enough about the hydra ice esc's other than their data logging...The swordy was a steal of a deal, too. As to where the things are: My truck; NO!; and New York! And where the *ell is my beer?!:blah: Its in my GUT already!!!! Its vacation time!!!!!!!

[BW won]

Its in my GUT already!!!! Its vacation time!!!!!!!:beerchug: :rules: your beer belongs to me!:beerchug:

[drwayne]

Welcome to class, boy and girls.

BW Won, put down that can of beer .... show pic#1 again... in focus !
W

[JIM MARCUM]

:laugh::lol:You guys are funny!!! JIM:w00t:

[srislash]

I hafve my 240 right in front of me.

[BW won]

Welcome to class, boy and girls.
W
BW Won, put down that can of beer .... show pic#1 again... in focus ! Yes, Sir. :lol: Okay, this is as focused as she gets- due to the opaque heat-shrink73923 And thank you for the Knowledge, in advance.

[BW won]

I hafve my 240 right in front of me. Does it look like mine?


:laugh::lol:You guys are funny!!! JIM:w00t::thumbup:

[srislash]

So is it the little ring within the glob of solder you are concerned with?

[Chrisg81983]

I had a problem with two of them they were nib and ran them a few times each on 8s and they worked flawlessly I soon tried to run them on 10s I hooked up the lipos and 10 motor beeps came from motor so I taped up hatch and put In the water the second I touched the throttle it lit up into flames I tried to figure out what happened so I tried my older 240's with the two cooling plates and they work fine along with my two castle hydra hv200's the setup was a leo5698 910kv on 8 and 10 cell running a x455 for 10s and a x457 on 8s it is all in a df-41 I have some videos of the setup in YouTube but they are not the greatest quality it was hard to drive and record at the same time all while trying to keep control of my boat
Chris g

[drwayne]

I had a problem with two of them they were nib and ran them a few times each on 8s and they worked flawlessly I soon tried to run them on 10s I hooked up the lipos and 10 motor beeps came from motor so I taped up hatch and put In the water the second I touched the throttle it lit up into flames I tried to figure out what happened so I tried my older 240's with the two cooling plates and they work fine along with my two castle hydra hv200's the setup was a leo5698 910kv on 8 and 10 cell running a x455 for 10s and a x457 on 8s it is all in a df-41 I have some videos of the setup in YouTube but they are not the greatest quality it was hard to drive and record at the same time all while trying to keep control of my boat
Chris g

Their newer SF240 do not run the same firmware as my earlier units.
Hifei have released a firmware update 31-12-2011 to cover this issue.

Here is the firmware file... for the NEW single plate cooler model only

73924

[drwayne]

BW Won, put down that can of beer .... show pic#1 again... in focus ! Yes, Sir. :lol: Okay, this is as focused as she gets- due to the opaque heat-shrink73923 And thank you for the Knowledge, in advance.

And what in particular are you gesticulating towards as poor ?

W

[Chrisg81983]

73924Their newer SF240 do not run the same firmware as my earlier units.Hifei have released a firmware update 31-12-2011 to cover this issue.Here is the firmware files...I had the new firmware in the old ones witch work fine and the two new models were not even a week old I bought one from that motor combo Steve had here on the forum and the other from his site

[srislash]

Does it look like mine?

:thumbup:Looks just like yours as in it appears the solder is joined to the capacitor

[BW won]

So is it the little ring within the glob of solder you are concerned with?
Something like that...the farthest left capacitor lead and how it is different from the farthest right cap lead. It looks to have been re-soldered haphazardly.

[BW won]

And what in particular are you gesticulating towards as poor ?

W how the solder is connecting the large black capacitor to the smaller (what I assume to be) resistor

[Chrisg81983]

Is is straighht from customer support Hello Mr. Chris Geno*!**Thanks very much for purchasing Swordfish ESC. It is great support and trust to us.We will try our best to well deal with the enquiry of after-sales service. *!***!**At present, we do not recall any Swordfish ESC from market.The new version 240A ESC (which with three water-cooling plates) is produced with the same hardware and software with the old version (which with two water-cooling plates) and same workmanship.Were the two burned 240A ESC the new version, were they both burned once when connect ESC to 10s cell? If you have pictures, would you please send me some of them. Thanks*!**Best regards,MichelleChongqing HIFEI Technology Ltd.www.hifei.comTel:+86 23 68626070Skype: hifei-michelle*!**

[Chrisg81983]

That is the side that blew up on both of mine

[srislash]

Mine does not work with the newer software yet.I'm still on V2.I have V4 for my 200's.

BTW BW won,Mine has been flawless for a year now.It is only out so I can experiment with my Castle Ice and props.

[BW won]

That is the side that blew up on both of mine do you have the pictures?

[BW won]

Mine does not work with the newer software yet.I'm still on V2.I have V4 for my 200's.

BTW BW won,Mine has been flawless for a year now.It is only out so I can experiment with my Castle Ice and props. have you run 10s through it?

[srislash]

how the solder is connecting the large black capacitor to the smaller (what I assume to be) resistor I see it now.Mine is not like that.I knew I bought that jewelers magnifying glas for something.

[Chrisg81983]

I have two older models and two newer ones as well plus a coupple 120's that all work perfect for quite some time now that is what made me buy these two so in general they are great products I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea ant think that they are no good the is is just one problem I had with them in years

[srislash]

have you run 10s through it?I have only run 6s.I think I would do something with that extra solder.The little brown square thingy is not connected on mine.

[drwayne]

I see some Ppl are using more cells, with high draw motors, having huge enthusiasm and bravado.. compensating for low efficiency by overpowering everything !

As a general rule of thumb for longevity of gear..
Always use a soft start charge loop ( there's info here at OSE )
Never connect a battery when the on/off control switch is on.
Never trust a 'hot' ESC for auto cell count if you change voltage.
Dockside programmers are cheap gizmos, good to use.

chris81983, delta motors like 56xx Leo need low timing, else :explosion:

BW-W ..warranty on these is excellent... so confident hifei are of their product.

[Chrisg81983]

I am pretty sure that is where the problem is mine are not connected there as well I never checked the two that smoked on me I took it for granted that they would work fine

[srislash]

I see some Ppl are using more cells, with high draw motors, having huge enthusiasm and bravado.. compensating for low efficiency by overpowering everything !

As a general rule of thumb for longevity of gear..
Always use a soft start charge loop ( there's info here at OSE )
Never connect a battery when the on/off control switch is on.
Never trust a 'hot' ESC for auto cell count if you change voltage.
Dockside programmers are cheap gizmos, good to use.

SRISLASH, delta motors like 56xx Leo need low timing, else :explosion:

BW-W ..warranty on these is excellent... so confident hifei are of their product.
How does the subject of D winds and 56xx come up for me?

[BW won]

drwayne,
If you were in my predicament, would you bench test this ESC (It is brand-new), or inquire about a replacement?

[drwayne]

The little black thing is a surface mounted capacitor... it is rare to see the large capacitor lead soldered in such a way it visibly connects to the 'little black thing'.. but this is how it connects under the surface of the board.... so no problems there.
If the solder connected to both side the SMcap, Id have issues.

Connecting large voltage packs to these esc creates that horrendous ZAP that damage the smaller SMcaps.
The softstart resistor loop is a brilliant idea to protect these circuits.

I note many esc have same failure rates when not soft start connected.
W

regs
W

[srislash]

Why don't you ask Steve.I'm sure they would rather touch something up rather than replace.

[drwayne]

How does the subject of D winds and 56xx come up for me?
Sorry :doh: meant chris...83

[drwayne]

drwayne,
If you were in my predicament, would you bench test this ESC (It is brand-new), or inquire about a replacement?

If it concerns you, Id ask Steve for a DOA ( dead on arrival) exchange.

[BW won]

The little black thing is a surface mounted capacitor... it is rare to see the large capacitor lead soldered in such a way it visibly connects to the 'little black thing'.. but this is how it connects under the surface of the board.... so no problems there.
If the solder connected to both side the SMcap, Id have issues.
Very well: I will bench test the unit before I claim to have an issue. Delving deeper, does the careless soldering indicate an attempt of re-soldering, or repair?

[srislash]

Sorry :doh: meant chris...83All is forgiven Doc:lol:

[Chrisg81983]

I would bench test it I just talked to someone else who got one from here as well and he said it works fine drwayne I have a wye motor hooked up to it but thanks for the tip 5698 910 kv on 8 and 10 cell and a 5692 1090kv on 8 s

[drwayne]

I would bench test it I just talked to someone else who got one from here as well and he said it works fine drwayne I have a wye motor hooked up to it but thanks for the tip 5698 910 kv on 8 and 10 cell and a 5692 1090kv on 8 s

6pole Y or D display same timing flaw to hardstart startups.
new scripting from them will solve :flames:
!
W