Castle Creations Hydra HV 180 blew up

[lightning67]

My Hydra HV 180 blew up on me yesterday and took with it both my 4S Lipos (about $600 of hardware gone!).
I have never used this ESC in the boat or run it on the water before this happened.
Basically about the 4th time I plugged in the batteries, the ESC went.
Castle won't replace it because it's over a year old even though I never used it through the entire year (or ever for that matter).

I have an HK Genesis with ARC 36-75-1.5 1130kv motor and 2x4S 4000Mhz in 8S configuration and a Hydra HV 180 ESC.
I've had the ESC for a little over a year sitting out of the boat unused due to other projects.
Last night I assembled everything and tried it out and was having some issues with throttle response. I had plugged it in a couple times while working on it and then the ESC caught fire and took out my two 4S packs along with it.

Called Castle today and they won't replace it because it's over a year old.

I will not be buying Castle Creations ANYTHING ever again.

[Fluid]

I am sorry to hear about your fire. You seem to be having a lot of trouble with your Genesis, first burning up a motor and now an ESC.

Was the HydraHV180 new or purchased second hand? The 180HV is an obsolete controller and has not been sold by Castle for awhile. That said it was the most trouble-free of that generation of HV controllers. The HydraHV240 had far more problems.

Does the motor work with another controller? A bad motor will do exactly what you described. So can a poor soldering job on any of the motor/ESC the connectors.

Did the motor wire connectors ever touch without insulation? Shorting the motor wires will burn out a controller in short order.

You cannot blame Castle for not warrantying your controller. You have had it over a year, which is the usual warranty time. However, if you send in the burnt ESC they will probably give you credit on another one.

I have used Castle products for many years and of the couple dozen I've owned, I have burned up exactly three. All were my fault, abusing the controllers in SAW racing. Others have not had the same experience. I guess I am just one lucky dude......



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[Bduncan]

I just sent a hydra ice 240 back because motor wouldn't start. no note inly my address. They sent me a brand new one without even an email. I think they had some quality issues with them. Try
And see what happens.

[dirtnsnowrider]

Hey Lightning, do you still have the ESC? I have a boat buddy out here who had a 120HV that did pretty much the same thing. Come to find out he had went to connect the positive wire to a negative and some how blanked the settings on the esc by doing that. He plugged in his batteries 2 4s packs and put it on the water only to BBQ the entire inside of the boat. After talking with Castle at great length that is what they came up with.

[Bduncan]

Sounds like a I D 10 T error. Check castle link.

[grsboats]

So I'm another Lucky guy that's been using Castle(Ice 240) for some time with no issues even running only SAW.If you sent the burnt unit to Castle you can get a new one Ice 240 or HV 200 for U$190.They have a great support and I must agree that most of the time is our fault ! Gill