Why did my ESC catch on fire? HELP!

[SJFE]

Mr Schrauwen where in gods name did you find that adhesive???? I need a tube of that stuff like yesterday. FTI the hex has just been revised. I have yet to pick up a new one for testing. Details of the exact revisions are not avalable.

[ray schrauwen]

I got it from SAYAL Electronics in Canada, its like a new Radio Shack, just bigger and better goodies at the right price.

I think it was about $16 but if you Google it you can find out 4-shure.

New Hex you say??? Cool, I'll check it out.

I use .080" Aluminum plate cut at Metal Supermarkets for me on a break press. Its not flat stock, its plate I found in their scrap bin at first. The gap used to be .090" now I have to check what has changed???
Thanks..

Ray

Back to Cooling off!!------------------------>

[SJFE]

The physical dimensions are the same. I believe that the revisions are to the firmware. Found the Sayal website. What a fantastic store. Thank you Sir!!!

[10gauge]

Thanks to you all for the detailed explanations! I am somewhat of a tyro to Brushless motors and PWM technology. Before reading your comments, my intuition would have told me NOT go full throttle to avoid burning out the motor. So, I was gentle on the throttle and now I've paid the price with my ESC burning out. This event now makes me a fast learner. :)

Another reason why I didn't go full throttle was because the hull was porposing at the higher speeds maybe because the water wasn't mirror smooth. I wasn't sure if that was natural - I just didn't want to flip it since it was 43 F out and getting dark fast.

On my maiden voyage with 14-cell IB4200s, the prop was riding too wet and for the first 30 feet it looked back-end heavy and then it would level out and plane smoothly. The strut was half-and-half at the level of the sponsons. On this run (second run), I moved the lighter LiPos forward, and raised the strut so that the bottom end of the strut was coplanar with the sponsons and angled slightly up to give the back end slight lift. I've only had 2 runs on this set up (including the new ESC).

It was supposed to be the final run of the season to see what the new LiPos were like. Well, I went out in a ball of fire! I am just thankful that I was able to finally retrieve the boat in total darkness for next year....

Cost of raft with pump: $85.
Cost of Retrieved boat: Priceless!... (Well, almost:$670).

Thanks again guys for the great advice! Just send me the bill. :)

[ED66677]

Ray,
Did you simply pull the original aluminium plate from between each FET's layer of your Hex120 and replace with larger ones? I found the original thermal pad really sticky so aluminium seems to be difficult to pull???!!!

I smoked mine during the second run, and now I know why, I did half of the first run half throttle and certainly overheat it, the shrink wrap was cracked!
I'll mod the new one with copper pads with copper water tubes for better heat transfert!

ALWAYS RUN WOT!!!

[10gauge]

Follow Up: All of you were right, Castle promptly honored the warranty by sending me a new Hydra 120 ESC after having explained what had expired. Their warranty is straightforward and their tech support has always been very supportive. I appreciate all your comments and advice - Next season, I'll start off with an x440 with a 8XL so that I can run at 100% throttle more comfortably.

Thanks Guys!