rrh2

Help please..... I don't want to burn up a second E-Board and/or Motor.

Got in my newly purchased used Axe CP yesterday. Had hovered 2 packs with no problems. On my third pack (910 mah LiPo) the heli dropped from about 4 feet and completely quit. I noticed a burning smell and immediately removed the pack. My motor was very hot to the touch so I removed it and tested, but it seemed to still run OK. I then noticed a burned area on the E-Board where the red/black wires come in from the battery. I also noticed that my pack was swelled up a bit (couldn't remember if it was this way before I flew). The pack is still charging OK with my Triton2. (The pack does not get hot at all when charging but seems to get pretty warm in flight.)

What could have caused my E-Board to burn? If it could be a bad LiPo, I need to know so I can scrap the battery and not burn up any more parts. However the Triton2 seems to be charging it OK. Do the E-Boards routinely go out with normal use? (The guy I bought it from claims to have only hovered inside, maybe 20 packs.) Also I noticed that there was a 1/8" thick piece of insulation between the E-Board and the receiver. I didn't know if this was factory installed or if the previous owner installed it and it caused the E-Board to overheat.
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After taking another look at my motor, I noticed that although it seems to test OK after touching the leads to my pack, it smells as if it has burned some also. Could it be that the motor is about to go on the blink and caused the E-Board to burn??

On another probably unrelated note, I noticed that both LiPo packs were set up to charge thru the same wires (discharge connector) that is hooked up to the heli. The warning on the packs advise to only charge thru the other (charging) connector. I called the previous owner and he stated that the hobby shop told him it was OK to charge thru the same wires that are used for discharge. Is this true???

Shadow99

I would say, from previous experiences[:@], that your E-board is TOAST, and your main motor is on its way out as well[]. If the motor draws more than 15amps from the E-board, it cooks it[&o].
Since there is no overload protection built into the E-board (main/tail) ESC, the only way to prevent it from happening to the E-board again, would be to add fuse protection. Between the common (black wire off motor), and the ESC (E-board). Mini-Blade fuses/holder from automotive parts stores work well (just recently install on my AXE, do to same issue w/3in1, now with 20amp fuse on EVO-20 ESC).
Be sure to, make sure the heatsink doesn't cover the vent holes on the main motor, if it does remove excess material with a dremel tool. This WILL cause the motor to cook prematurely, especially since the stock motors run bronze bushings & nylon thrust washers, instead of ball bearings, to support the shaft (excessive friction), a drop of light oil on the top & bottom of the motor bushings before each flight helps too.
A swollen Lipo I was told is, "due to excessive current draw, high heat, &/or shorting to the battery." Hot wiring a possibly BAD motor directly to a Lipo is VERY BAD NEWS. That's gonna put a serious current load on your battery, very quickly, not too good for Lipo's.
The black foam inbetween the RX & the 3in1 is for vibration, keeps RX from freaking-out, the better the isolation from vibration the longer the RX will last & freak out less.
The charging connector on your Lipo's could be for balance charging, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! This balances the voltage of the 3 cells equally, for better overall performance, it may take longer to charge but it's worth it!

Shadow

Kenny4842

You should only charge the lipo though the charge/balance connector (the white one) unless you have the correct adapter for high power charging. The one for the equinox is this one
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXNGC6&P=V
Not sure about your charger/balancer, but you get the idea.

rrh2

I really appreciate the input....

So then I'm assuming that these stock Axe motors burn up regularly and it would not be unusual to burn up after only about 25 flights??
Or could there be another problem that caused the motor to burn up? And I should then use a 15A fuze?

Since I have apparently burned up both my motor and E-Baord, would this be a good time to go with a brushless motor? Is this a fairly easy conversion and about what would this entail / cost?

Also is my LiPo still safe to use even though it has swelled up a little as long as it is charging OK?