MMM guts?
 

Anyone have pictures of the MMM internals? I just got a MMM in the mail today and immediately opened it up. The first thing I noticed is that there is a seeminly misaligned component on the inderside of the FET board, right where the throttle and switch wires are. It looks like a diode or something similar. I can't tell if it is supposed to be like that or what.

I know someone has posted nude pics already but can't find them...

TIA!

DING, I win the speed round!

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11968

lol, thanks! I don't know how I missed that. Must not be using the right search terms...

Hmmm, interesting. That pic doesn't even have the component I'm referring to. It would be right under the wires in this pic:

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...g/DSC05359.jpg

I'll try to get a pic of mine when I get home. I got this one for a VERY good price from a fellow forum member. According to him, it was one that had the BEC issue and was repaired by Castle.

From the looks of things, Castle put the component across the input power using the capacitors as the access point. The angle is simply because that is the only way it would fit without adding wires.

You beat me to this esc by mere minutes...

You bastard, I hope it causes you much trouble!

Just kidding, hope it works well...

Mwahahaha!

lol, I hope it works too. It's probably going to go in my buggy and replace the 125B.

BrianG; you can't use that ESC... it has a fan!

:rofl: He's right Brian...it's against your BL religion or something like that. May cause bad juju.

Not for long if brian has his way....

I am sure we will see something riduclous replacing the stock heatsink...

I think you mean juwabawaba. That's a pretty wibblin'* word.

Wibblin'*: Derogatory term for cool.
Wow! I've made up 2 words today!! :rules:

Nah, I really did mean bad juju:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juju

That laugh was on you, buddy! Now put your pants back on.

lol, the fan was the first thing to go. Case modding to follow. Then, I am going to see about removing the stock HS and replace with something a little better (but not too dramatic). But before I go crazy, I wanna see if it works. Maybe even let it sit on my bench for a while running to make sure the BEC stays functional.

Hey Brian, I removed the fan on my MMM before ever powering it up too :yes:. Although I didn't mod the case... But it won't get hot enough anyways.

How do you guys open the case? I see those little holders all around it, but I can't release them.

Well, I just gently inserted a small screwdriver-like object into one of the clip holes to release a corner. Then, while applying gentle pressure to keep that corner open, release another tab. After two, it just kinda falls apart.

I finished modding the case. Took the majority of the top off to help airflow. Still looks good and would seem to retain some protection of the components. Now that I took a good look at the stock heatsink, I actually think I'm gonna keep it stock. It seems to have the perfect height profile and has more surface area than anything else I can find in my parts bin. Now, I just gotta find my camera...

The heatsink looks like the sidewinder one. My sidewinder barely gets hot, even with the aveox overgeared. I have a similar sink that I may put on a mm. Plus it looks like a better design to put a fan on, as airflow can go in all directions. I am not a fan person either. I need to try my MMM out again, only ran it once so far!

still waiting for the pic Brian.... grab that camera!

Can't find it! And my camera phone is just plain crap. Anyway, it's nothing special, just another of the existing 1000 MMs out there...

OK, here's a couple pics...

The new device I was talking about (on the left by the wires):

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mmm_1.jpg

Modded case sans fan:

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/mmm_2.jpg

That modded case looks good. I like the way you left some to help protect the caps.

I wonder what the extra component is? Maybe something to help keep voltage spike from reaching the bec.

Looks to be a 28V TVS:

http://www.onsemi.com/pub_link/Colla...MC5.0AT3-D.PDF

Brian, Here is another mod you should do while you are at it. Some of the components on the bottom of the board rub on the case and I actually had the fan plug break completely off on one of my MMMs. Pocketing a little on the material out on the case bottom prevents the rubbing and hopefully will keep the MMM running longer. I cant imagine constant stresses on those components can be good for them or the boeard itself. Heres a pic of what I did to fix it.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...z/CIMG3209.jpg

Another thing to look at is the spot in the case where the rx and switch wires come out. I had one start to rub the wire bare already. Just shave a little off of the case to to keep it from binding and rubbibg and I wrapped the wires at the spot where they contact the case with a little electrical tape to hep protect them. No pics on this one, but easy to understand I think.

Oh, and a one more thing... Take the sticker off of the bottom of the case if you plan to use servo tape or velcro or something on the bottom to hold the MMM in place. The CC lable starts to peal after not to long and then becomes the weak link in holding the MMM in place. Of couse without the sticker the case top can pop loose in a crash cuz the label isnt covering the seam on the side any more and helping to hold it together. A zip tie over the top of the whole unit keeps it all together in a crash.

the mamba, even with exposed caps seems to be a better design! o well. thats an interesting job that they have done with the addition of a part whihhch wasnt origianlly planned for!

jhautz: I haven't noticed any rubbed spots yet, but I'll see if I can figure out where they are. Along with adding a little extra clearance, I might also add some type of material to keep the PCB raised a certain height, kinda like standoffs.

I had already removed the sticker and cut out the wire hole a little more. I even added some heatshrink to those wires to help protect them and act as a sort of strain relief. I noticed both those issues right away within 20 seconds of opening the box.

That modded case looks sweet. Will you be running a fan?
So pretty much most if not all Monsters sooner or later are going to have to get returned to CC to get that new device put on.

Thanks. Nope, I will not be running a fan, which is why I modded the case to increase airflow. I imagine all RMA'd and new ESCs will have some type of updates.

A small TEC on top of a copper plate and the MMM heat sink on top of the TEC will make a nice none moving set up. That what I plan on doing when all the bugs are fixed and CC comes out with the 8S or 12S unit. They are the perfect size for the TECs I have.

The trouble with TECs is that they require between 3-5A by themselves to operate, which would reduce runtime...

Yes, but that AMP rating seems to be the MAX on most units depending on the voltage you use. You can get away with a Rx pack or a small lipo for around 15-20 minutes bash or race. The ones I have only drew around 1A max to provide plenty of cooling and it did not reach it's max cooling and that's not even with a decent heat sink on it. You can even get a TEC with a thermal management unit that will only activate the TEC when things reach a certain temperature. That's the route I'll be going. I was planning on using water cooling, but the TEC seems a better device for cooling.

TEC's are not efficient, you will loose more than gain.
I am working with TEC's for more then 10 years...

Heat-pipes or ... I will keep for myself

CC - nice TVS, did you missed my mods to your MM or ignore it at all when you designed MMM????? Poor judgement!!!

I will bring you modded MMM later next week without fan, and later Tekin R1Pro in works as well. Actually I think Tekin is the monster with proper cooling and MMM is just a joke. I can get the same performance with modded MM, so CC wasted their attemp in building monster ESC, while they can just update software and replace BEC or leave it alone, as BrinG recommends.

BrignG here is new toy for you :)
Luciano you can play with it as well and can verify TEC's requirements and problems.
-This is beta version and updates will follow with graphs and esc's

The one thing I found with TEC, is that to get the best of it one will need to use a very large heat sink. I might be wrong, but I like to explore all the options available and maybe hit the jack pot. I can't wait to see what you got cooking with the 2 controllers.

I'd ike to see the R1Pro mods you are working on. I agree that it is the better controller of the bunch. At least from a drivers perspective. Its very smooth and very small. I have already considered opening mine up and installing my own heat sinks. Even still I hace run the R1Pro very sucessfully in a 1.8 buggy on 5s without need for additional cooling. However I was concouis of the size and lack of heatsink so I set up a fairly mild system on it. It was still more than enough power for the track though, but I could see some anting more than I had running on it. I'm sure it could take more also, I just havent pushed my luck with it yet.

If you come up with a mod for it, let me know. Id be happy to send you mine and be a beta tester for you. :mdr:

Go ahead you won't be dissapointed. If you make report on performance I will do that for free. :intello:

For best performance you need to dump heat into cold, i.e. keep temp diff as low as possible. They are heat-pumps but their efficiency locked to temp differential between cold and hot. With passive cooling (convection, radiation) it is hard to maintain (not achive) high/good efficiency. Also they tend to delaminate under vibration...

Where you get controllers from? Links, specs, send me some info.

From what I've read/seen of TECs, they are OK if efficiency is not a concern and in certain applications. However, in R/C, efficiency means a lot. We want max cooling AND max efficiency AND durability and and and and. We don't ask for a lot. :smile:

I still think a slightly larger heatsink that is properly placed to take advantage of the natural airflow inherent in a moving vehicle will work wonders without exotic cooling methods. Seems like any other solution has major disavantages that keep them from being a practical cooling solution.

Oooh, a new toy! Too bad I can't download it until tomorrow night (using my G/F's Palm Treo as a modem and is limited to a single 17MB download).

You have a PM. :great:

Artur, from what you've seen on the MMM so far, is there a way to save an ESC when the BEC fails without sending it in for repair? Like maybe disconnect a BEC component and then use an external one? I've heard a few people blow a repaired ESC which leads me to believe the issue isn't totally worked out yet. I'd rather take a hit on the warranty and mod it then send it in again. Besides, I've already modded it to my liking.

If you remove inductor then you should be fine using external BEC, but the best would be to remove lm3485 and 2 fets.