Magic smoke And 2 - 240's

[Eodman]

My son & I took the boats out to play Sunday .... His SV 27, UL1 and Traxxas ran fine.

Me I took my MM and my Thunder Cat(Toysport Jolly) - the mean machine ran real well I put a new set of Hyperion G3 4s into the Jolly, plugged them in and poof the genie appeared --- both 240's smoked!

Now this is the same setup I've been running from day one - 8 xls, castle 240's, 4s to each setup & l & r x442 props. The only thing that changed is I used Hyperion G3 4S lipos this time!

Literally got a spark on hookup and smoke Thank you very much! Guess I got to send them back! Now I have 2 - 120's & 2 - 240's to return lucky me!


On a side bar - these Hyperion G3's are wicked! Watching my son come out of a turn and punching his UL-1 its like you just hit the after burners - it really is noticable! I was hoping to see that with my big cat but.........................

[domwilson]

Sorry that this happened to you. I hope Castle will take care of you.
Hmmm...I wonder. I've been watching this for some time. I wonder what brand of batteries people are using when this happens? You've been running these controllers before the infamamous boom I presume? Didn't mean to sound like Dr. Seuss with the rhyme.

[Tunda]

Sorry for your loss Bro...........That just sucks..............

[AntronX]

Check the polarity on your new LiPos with the multimeter. They might have been wired backwards internally.

[Jeff Wohlt]

I am totally convinced now that I will never invest in CC controllers.

This is beginning to be a joke!

"Must be the user" BS!!

[crabstick]

I am totally convinced now that I will never invest in CC controllers.

This is beginning to be a joke!

"Must be the user" BS!!

Friends don't let Friends use castle

[Ub Hauled]

I starting to wonder if the caps on the ESCs are not taking care of the initial "hit" of hooking up...
maybe it's time no CC should be used w/o extra caps.
About CC being the enemy... to each it's own. I have CC controllers that burned up on hook up and others that were abused that still running, but one thing that I am starting to notice is that the older controllers seem to have lasted more then the new ones... that may sound obvious but these days I am skeptical to hook the "mains" to even the same but new ESCs.
Here's another thought... ALL ESCs should have the spark arrest thing, whether it's from factory or DIY... it is VERY easy to be implemented... I am doing it to mine.
Moral of the story, I think more caps are needed from factory to put up with the power from the newer cells.
George, I remember using a Barracuda 80 not water cooled with an 8XL, on 4s, a X637 and it ran COLD for the duration of the run at close to 50mph... what happened from there to now?! I guess my theory has another ally...

[G Doggett]

You could be right, maybe extra caps and spark eliminators are what's needed to help these ESCs survive a high voltage application.
But if thats the case why are we having to modify/upgrade an already expensive product that has been out in the market for some time now ?
They simply don't live up to their claimed ratings.
Sorry, but I wont be buying or recommending any CC ESCs to anybody.
Graham.

[Ub Hauled]

Don't be sorry, it is completely understandable.
All I was suggesting is instead of burning another CC you may own,
take some added safety precautions... these ESCs SHOULD have these
precautions already, I am not sure why the "Engineers" have not raised a red flag when
that many ESCs are failing... could they be thinking "user error" for all of them?! I know they are not... there is something else behind all this. The CC speedos I have will get the special treatment but I have decided to wait to see what happens before I buy another CC.
As of living to expectations, none of the ESCs I know do... except the German Schulze and even they have their downside and/or duds.

[NitroVal]

I dont understand why there isnt an on/off switch like land based ESCs...

[yurkanip]

I will never own a castle esc....been reading too many of these magic puff stories. For the price of these units, it shouldn't happen.

[AntronX]

I remember talking to someone at Castle and he said that they don't sell enough boat controllers to justify investing in designing new model. If you look at Schulze, their controllers are universal - they come with switch settings for air, land and water use. Plus, they now got real built in spark eliminator circuit, no need to mess with soldering your own resistor.
My experience with Castle controllers has been hit and miss. My 120 HV ran at 150A fine until it went diving. My 180 HV burned with same setup after a while. MY 240 HV burned within seconds with same setup. You see the progression? It could be that my LiPos were getting older and developing higher internal resistance... BUT why can't the controller monitor this and shut down to protect itself? Where's real motor short circuit protection? Why can't it gradually reduce throttle when battery voltage is getting low and not abruptly cut it and get my boat stranded at the lake? My new 40.160 offers that feature.

[Ub Hauled]

I dont understand why there isnt an on/off switch like land based ESCs...

not sure it would help since the power hits the same way... it's not the spark (I don't think), it's the sudden power up.

[domwilson]

Here's a nice little article on this.. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=952523

[Punisher 67]

I am totally convinced now that I will never invest in CC controllers.

This is beginning to be a joke!

"Must be the user" BS!!

I second that Jeff , every single day I read on any number of forums and another controler smokes . these IMHO have got to be the biggest pieces of crap I have ever seen , ( 240HV's )...................................