Burned my MMM!!!
 

Ok, I used my e revo for the first time since I built it, and it was going pretty good! I used the Castle Link to set the cutoff voltage for 19.2V I am running a 6s battery(2 3s connected in series). Then I saw smoke coming from under the body, and I though "Oh $#it this is bad"...and then the flames just shot out from under the body as well...the one battery just blew up! I though that mostly happened when charging not running them...:whip: The other battery seems ok because I used it to test the esc and motor after I got the burnt one off the car. Here are some pics of it, I know they're crappy:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...e/SSL10688.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...e/SSL10689.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...e/SSL10690.jpg

Since it still works, I would like to still use it. Anyone know if Castle would send another case to me?

Man it took me a long time to save up for this stuff, I guess my patience had wore thin and I was in a hurry to use it and see what it could do...here's the body:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...e/SSL10691.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...e/SSL10692.jpg

Sorry for you loss....I feel your pain. I recently puffed my new RX8 esc......

Similar situation happened to me. Hooked everything up, ran it for a few min, reset the esc and then POOF! This stuff is expensive and it does suck when this stuff happens. Hopefully castle w/warrante the esc for you.

if the esc still works you can just buy cases from castle direct

No need for warranty claim given you lipo failing - all i can say is wow though

http://www.castlecreations.com/produ...ment_case.html

His MMM didn't poof. One of the 3s batts went poof and burned the MMM next to it. :oh:

How exactly does that ESC still work? Did you run it in something else? The fan look to be toast as well.

Damn that sucks! Which LiPos did you use?

Did you charge and balance the lipos together?

Mag-Thanks for your story, I am sorry for your loss as well. My ESC didn't poof, but the battery did:whip: and the esc was right next to it :gasp:

Arct1k-Thanks dude! That's exactly what I am in need of!

Snipin-I don't know, but I was able to get that bad battery out in just enough time so it didn't kep burning the case; The fan still works, just the plastic jailbars on the top of it were burned up pretty bad. It even responds when I try programming it w/the Castle Link!

Byte-Zippy H 3s x2 5000mah

Metallover-Yes, I made the harness to charge both in series, except the balancer was configured wrong the first time and a bit of smoke did come out of the charger, but when I had them hooked up correctly, the charger did recognize all 6 cells...that doesn't sound like I damaged the balancer does it?

All in all, I think that my total loss here would be the battery(ies), the esc case and my brand new body that I painted...I was thinking that alot more was damaged at first. If you can see in the 1st pic of the body, where I sorta cut out that little rectangle on the top? That is where my MMM esc was perched, just atop the rear shock mount...and you can see the badly buned area of the body, so the esc was literally right on top of the fire!

If the batteries burned, it would be very likely they were out of balance. I'm not sure if you damaged the balancer or not...

Did you charge the batteries then run it, or did you charge the batteries after you ran it last then ran it without balancing or topping off the pack?

First run ever with the batteries. My charger has a screen where it has like 6 individual cell voltages, all displayed at once. like this:
3.5v() 3.4v() 3.5v()
3.4v() 3.4v() 3.5v()

and next to each voltage there was either a period(.) or a small similarly sized square that changed into a period then back to the square. I would like better instructions with this charger, and as it turned out, I had the balance wires completely the opposite way they were supposed to go. If the balacer is damaged how can I tell?

would 20c lipos not be a good match with the MMM? Does the MMM overdraw them past their capability? On their website it says that it continuously pulls 120A, and my 5000mah 20c cells would put out about 100A, wich is 20A lower than the MMM continuos throttle pull.

If you saw smoke coming from the charger or balancer chances are something is damaged. Semi-conductors don't smoke and still remain usable. Is the balancer seperate from the charger or is it integrated in?

integrated

I just opened it up and looked at where the balance connector is soldered on the main board, and nothing looks burnt..

I doubt you'd see anything at the node connector. I'm not an integrated circuits wiz, but smoke can come from capacitors, diodes, resistors, or chips. If something is wrong with the charger/balancer you might not know it till you charge and balance another battery.

are hardcase lipos alot better when/if they explode? Do they contain the flame better?

Not really. The case only protects the cells from external damage.

3s lipo balance tabs should have 4 leads right? So why does the adapter that came with my charger have 5? even the 2s adapter plug has 5!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...e/SSL10695.jpg
Is there a certain type of adapter that I need for non-hyperion lipos lol because this is ridiculous..

that balancer will only work with Hyperion taps- nothing else, even if the pin spacingnis the same. I think one wire has to be on the fifth plug and the other ones start on the first pin.

could you reccomend a good all around adapter for me? and is there any way aside from "testing" with another battery to see if the balancer is alright?

Hyperion adapters don't work with Zippy batteries. You need the JST XH taps for the Zippy batteries. That's probably the reason why you saw smoke.

Check the black strip on your adapter for any broken wires. I seem to ee something between the 3S and 4S taps (2nd black strip from top).

I have an astro blinky balancer and I use that to test the balance of my charger. There are also a couple thngs on hobbycity that will monitor cell voltages.

will this do?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lipo-balancer-le...lenotsupported

and is this the Blinky:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Astro-Flight-Bli...lenotsupported

the price on Zippy is so great!!! But the downfall must be the balance tap compatability:whip:

Zippys use a standard balance tap. The Hyperion tap is pretty much maxamps unique. Jst/xh is standard. That's what fits the blinky and other things.

So what do I need to make the zippy work with the hyperion? What adapter should I buy, does one even exist? I sure hope that my balancer is ok.

Google jst to hyperion adapter or something like that. It sure exists all right...

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=8821
this one I wanna be sure!

is zippy also known as flight power?

Nooooooooooooo...

Polyquest batteries have the same cells as flightpowers though.

That converts polyquest to jst/xh. You need to convert jst/xh to hyperion.

You'll need this:
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...te%2C-Venom%29

thanks guys

Can I test my balancer with a digital volt meter?

Yes, you can (actually this is what I like to do to get an exact relative measurement). Just BE CAREFUL not to accidentally short with the meter probes; they will be close together.

What I do to reduce the possibility is take a spare high value resistor (like 1M ohm) and put the leads into the socket and then measure each side of the resistor. The high value won't load it down much at all and makes for an easier time measuring, especially if the meter leads have alligator clips. Of course, not too many people have a whole rack of all the common resistor values handy at home. :whistle: Yeah, I'm a nerd, so what? :smile:

okay thanks Brian, I think I do have a 1M ohm resistor laying around somewhere...but what am I looking or measuring for as far as values are concerned?
I already tried this lastnight and the values were .03, then .02, .01, or something I cannot remember, but they did have like a countdown order I believe.

Oh wait, I am talking about my integrated balancer on my charger, not the leads on the batteries lol...

i accidentally touch the leads together and shorted my 5000mah 3s pack. the little metal piece in the lead broke (kinda like a fuse) and now i can't balance my pack. it is a good thing it happened when the cells were all at 3.8v