A poll on Monster failures and non-failures
 

It's getting hard to figure out how many of you have had failures and how many of you have had no problems. So far I've run through 3 full 4900mah 4s packs with no problems and I'm wondering if I should even try to step up to 6s or not.

1 failed on 5s lipo.

first unit i got failed on 6s lipo and my second one working good without any problems on 6s lipo

So far so good on 4s 5000mah maxamps will update when i get my 5s 5000mah FlightPower

Mine died on 6s after about 5 minutes.....

I don't think it has anything to do with the voltage you are running as long as its in spec. Except for a couple "special" people who managed to burn up their MMM, 99% of the failures I have read about are all BEC just quiting. A bad batch of components from the supplier.

I do find it entertaining that this thread has been created for a "bulletproof" controller.:lol:

I wonder if a better poll would be to list the two basic failures and then a couple of success entries, something like:

- Failure on BEC. The symptoms = no servo power, dead ESC with no flame.
- Fan failure. Not a big deal since these will break anyway and are easily replaceable.
- Failure from ESC burnup.
- Failure from other misc reasons.
- Working on high voltage (5s-6s)
- Working on low voltage (2s-4s)

Failures on voltage may just be coincidental and not related to the voltage per se. Meaning, if it failed on 6s, it probably would have failed on 4s.

Not to be presumptuous by correcting the master but I think he meant 4s:tongue: . Agree with breaking down the polls further since there appears to be two separate types of failures. Also how about throwing the fan in there too. I've seen reports of early fan failures.

Fan failures will add up fast. The fan as it is now is pure junk. Just about everyone I know who has a working MMM also has done some sort of fan modification.

2 MMMs. 2 dead fans. So far batting 1000. Both have less than a couple hours of run time.

Here is my solution. See picture below.

I'm pulling the dead fan and strapping a 25mm fan to the top over the fan hole and letting it blow into the case. The 25mm fans I was using on the MM and R1Pro are much more robust. I wish I could remember where I got them. I bought a lot of 10 for a good price like a year ago adn now I cant remember where I got them. Anyway, the 25mm fan moves more air than the 30mm fan that came with it. I can feel stronger air flow comming out the side vents of the MMM than with the stock 30mm fan.

Not pretty, but it works.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...z/CIMG3194.jpg

lol, yeah, I meant 4s. It's fixed now. :smile:

And to be clear, Serum and Mike are the Masters. I'm just an Apprentice. :lol:

Do you know if Castle uses the same thermal epoxy on the MMM that they do on the MM? The MM stuff is pretty easy to remove. I want to simply replace the existing HS for a taller one and cut away the top of the case to allow more unrestricted airflow.

It's relative to me, so in that case how about serum and mike as grandmasters, you as master and my:smile:self as apprentice.

Wouldn't the 25mm fan fit in the stock fans spot?

The new fan looks like it might be a hair too thick and it's not the same dimensions, so the little snap-in posts won't work.

I asked Joe at CC for a replacement top case so I could mod it for better natural airflow over the heatsink so I dont need the fan. He told me not to do it cuz the esc will fail. Seems like a company line to me cuz I think it should handle it if I could run my MM without a fan on the same setup. but, thats what he told me.
But at this point I'm not willing to void my warantee untill they get all the bugs worked out of this stuff. You just never know when it will need to go in for service and the hacked up case would pobably be a big red flag.


No. The 30mm fan is only 7mm thick and the 25mm fan is 10mm thick. The case wont close with the 10mm thick fan inside.


EDIT: Another note, the case itself seems to be another weak point IMO. I have opened one of them a few times now to replace fans and check thing out etc... and the littel clips that hold it closed are already startign to not hold so well any more. If I have to replace the factory fan every 2 hours of run time those little clips that hold i closed are never gonna last. I already have a zip tie wrapped around it to hold it all togheter and make sure the top doensnt pop in some sort of crash on the track.

Yeah, sounds like a line to me too. A taller heatsink with less casing around it would be almost as good as an enlosed design with a fan (if placed right). Would also allow easier temp readings.

If the ESC "will fail" without the fan, I don't want it. So, for those who have already had fan failures, how many of those ESC failed? :wink:

I guess that makes me a dishwasher. LOL

Another reason I just left the fan on top is so when it does go, I can just cut the zip tie pull the old fan off and zip tie a new fan to the top. No need for pulling the whole esc and everything from the buggy and then tearing the esc down jus to change the fan.

I really think they should come up with an optional top case that exposes the heatsink.

I ran some portion of a race day without the fan and I didnt even notice till I was cleaning it up the next day and it wasnt working. So it handled it even with the enclosed case and a non functioning fan.

I am surprised the fans fail so easily. First run my fan got a stick stuck in it for maybe a minute or so. I pulled it out and the fan started back up no problems.

Mine is a non-failure because it is still sitting in the box waiting for other parts to arrive to get the buggy all up and going :no:

It's looking like about a 30% failure rate. That sounds about right based on conversations I've had with fellow RCer's.

mine is work on 4s. If i change to 5s or 6s, my mmm can will go on? Have anyone try 4s, 5s,and 6s on the same MMM ESC?

That's why I started this poll. I know about the faulty BEC component in some Monsters but I was curious if it had anything to do with the amount of voltage being run. I've got a Neu motor coming soon so I'll be able to test one of my Monsters on both 4s and 6s next week.

Do I get to vote twice since I have had both of mine die

ran my MMM 3 times (20 mins each) so far on 5s and 6s. so far so good. mine came from the first batch also.

phatmonk write: BOTH OF MINE DIE..TWO mmm down:surprised:

i run mine on 4 cell..it goes good,,:yipi:i really test the esc,,,,:mdr:non stop running for 10 minutes full trottle to full brake....esc never get over 82f

im afraid to try on 6cell:yes:

i by from mike (first batch)

Mine's running fine on 5s A123s. Only put about 5 packs through it tho, so time will tell I guess.

Update: ESC is fine, fan failed sometime during the last run. Took the case apart, confirmed it's still plugged in. It's dead, Jim.

I got three 10 minutes runs and all is well. I did lose 2 teeth on the fan already, but it's still blowing.

I have two dead ones... running on 3s and 4s.

1) I believe this one has the faulty BEC. Running well for 3 weeks and just suddenly died. Broke the fan on this one. It disconnected from the board

2) This one smoked after one day of usage (4 packs through it). Basically stopped in the middle of driving up and down the street. I turned it off and then back on. Gave me a nice puff of smoke.

Both going back to Castle today in the mail.

jhautz - dude, I love the new look . . . it's like the Abe Lincoln of ESC's! :lol:

Good solution though. And I would have to agree with Brian's direction about the poll. More options would be nice, but I guess it still accomplishes the goal - people talking about it.

My failure wasn't due to anything like the BEC or the fan - it was because my casing came apart every time I wrecked and eventually a wire separated from the board. So I would agree with the comments on the casing. I think it needs a revision. I would love to see it be basically like the old Mamba Max with the solid casing at the bottom and the exposed heat sink. Or something like the MGM which allowed you to secure the whole unit with threaded holes at the heat sink. I loved that setup.

I'm starting to think that eventually most of these first run controllers will fail.

On the poll I checked 5S but mine really failed on 6SA123's (after about 90 minutes of runtime).

Hope not.

Anyone found a fan that fits the mamba case yet?

30 minutes today on 4s no problems yet. I'll buy some 6s today........

Today was the first run for my CRT with the mamba monster. I ran 3 4s 8Ah packs through it with out the bec going or ruining the fan. So far, so good! Mine is from the first batch too...

Temps were as follows:
Motor(1515 1y) 140*F
ESC(MMM) 101*F
Lipo(TrueRc 4s 8k) 120*F

This was in really muggy 85*F at the track under racing conditions.

Bye:mdr:

Ok, so we've completely ruled out voltage as a factor and by the looks of it, it seems that it's only a relatively small percentage that has the faulty BEC components. As for the fan, well....

My fan actually stopped working yesterday, but I found a blade of grass blocking it. Removed the grass and that wonderful turbine noise returned. :mdr: Too bad the Muchmore fans I've been using on my MMs with zero failures are too tall to fit in the case. I may end up mounting them to the top of the case if the stock one fails.

My Monster has gone through about 5 full 4900mah 4s packs and is still running, so I'm pretty sure I got a good one. I'll be wiring up my second Monster (also from the first batch) tomorrow and trying it out so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

I got some time to run my repaired MMM this weekend. I put about 45 minutes total on it and it seems to be working fine. I am missing 1 blade on the fan (not sure where it went). I did however have a receiver problem. In the middle of one run the car stoped. I found thet the receiver had lost it's "bind" (Spectrum SR3100). I re-binded the radio and all was well for about 15 more minutes. Then the car stopped again. This time the receiver had lost bind again and would not bind. I put in another receiver when I got home and it seems to be fine again. Not sure if this is a random RX failure or MMM related.

about 5 runs so far on 6S A123 with no problems yet.