stashu

My ESC just smoked!
Well this is my story. I finally got my replacement FMA charger, the first one smoked on me. I charged my TP 2070 battery to about 96%. I put the battery in the plane on the cellar floor and turned on the transmitter. I slowly pushed the throttle up and the prop began to spin. Hey this is great it’s working I thought to myself. I then put the stabilizer between my ankles and pushed the throttle to about halfway. 5 or 6 seconds later poof!. Total time plane was running about 15 seconds, 10 seconds at slow/idle, 5 seconds at half throttle.
A small fire started in the fuselage front compartment, I panicked and just puffed and puffed on the fire and it went out. I immediately pulled the Li-po and put in into the ammo box, and took it outside. I then took out the ESC and as you can see it smoked. First the charger, then this, I think I may just go back to glow J. Anyway 60.00 for the ESC and now it’s toast. I wonder if it warrantied?. I bought the ESC about 10 days ago at my LHS.Any comments.
I am using a Eflite 480, 40ESC Eflite,and TP 2070 battery. The batteries outer shrinkwrap was a little melted, but it appears not to be damaged, should I trust it??--------

Thanks Stash

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Send the ESC along with a nice note describing what happened (no cheap shots at their equipment, please!) to Horizon. In all likelihood, they will send you back a new one, no questions asked. Check the Horizon website for their warranty return procedure, as they may have a form to fill out.

As for what happened, my first question is, what "TP2070" battery are you using? Second question is what prop? Those answers will tell us if you accidentally overloaded the ESC, or if the ESC was faulty from the factory (it happens even to the best).

stashu

The battery is NEW about 10 days old is a Thunder Power 2070 11.1V Extreme, and the prop is a APC 10x5E
thanks for the post!

stash

borna

wow sorry to hear that. About 6 months ago I bought this combo deal from an auction site(motor, ESC, and battery) for a very low price,b put them in the plane, test and everything worked well. Took off at the filed and 3 mins into the flight, I saw a fire in the sky and before I can think what to do, the whole plane disintegrated in the air.

Now I can see that it doesn't have to be cheap stuff to catch fire.

Borna

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Hmm. That shouldn't have caused a draw over 40A unless there was something wrong with the motor itself. Send both the motor and ESC in to Horizon and let them check it out. There may be a short circuit in the motor itself.

The battery got hot enough to melt the covering? It's probably damaged, but to what extent... Keep an eye on the voltage and if it remains stable, charge it up in a safe location.

stashu

Thank to all for the replies!!

I tested my battery it appears to be ok. The Celpro charger says fuel is 85%. I understand that you are not supposed to store at a high charge rate, but I cannot use it because of the blown ESC. So is it safe to store the Li-PO at 85% for a few weeks until I get my new ESC or is their a way to drain the battery to around 50% using the Cell pro storage mode.

Thanks Stash

stashu

The battery did not get hot, it was the ESC in close proximity to the battery. When the ESC caught fire it then melted the battery shrinkwrap.

thanks

stash

Fliprob17

That is a huge bummer man [:@] I have the same exact setup in my MPXT and it has been running without a problem, so you must have had a faulty ESC. You need to make sure you follow every little step with Horizon if you want them to replace it. They can be real sticklers with the service if you don't do everything their way.

stashu

Received replacement ESC today AND a new boxed motor from horizon. I forgot to remove the connectors from the old ESC, so I have to buy new. FYI Took about 15 days including shipping time to get and return to me. Shipping is 2 days for me so a total of 4 days shipping. Items were at Horizon for 11 days.

Stash
Thanks for all replies!!