Just smoked my MGM 16016
 

I'm guessing I blew the BEC, otherwise I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I was just running around in my livingroom messing around when the servo stopped working. I ran over to my Emaxx and there was smoke pouring out and I could see flames under the plastic cover. I felt a little sick...

It looks like it burned right behind where the receiver wires are soldered to the board. No shorts that I could find.

I thought it would be good for 4s lipo using BEC, but now I know that I probably should never use BEC? Why even bother putting it into the car controller then? I really couldn't understand what the instructions said about overload, but I figured at 4v the servo wouldn't pull too much current but I guess it did?

Anyway, is it possible to get repaired or am I SOL?:P: Only got 3 runs on the sucker...it wasn't even warm after it flamed out. Nothing was warm at all, absolutely no warning.

That sucks! Do you have carpet in your livingroom? I'll bet that the front tires got a lot of traction which put a lot of strain on the BEC. And the higher the voltage being put into the BEC, the more heat that will have to be released. So, the chip could have gotten hot enough to start a fire! The BEC is easily rated to handle a steering servo when the car is actually moving, but I have a feeling that you might have been doing a lot of turning in your livingroom.

You can email MGM directly at mgm@mgm-compro.cz.

Yeah, you're probably right. Also the steering is a little tight on the SM as it is so I suppose I just overworked it. The thing is though I was checking for heat on the servo and ESC almost constantly, and it never got very warm at all, just suddenly POOF!!

So, in the future would receiver pack or UBEC have eliminated this from happening? I'm willing to try one more time to get this thing running, and will bypass BEC if that will make it more robust. I might try it again tonight with a receiver pack and see if it still works, maybe I only fried the BEC part? (hopefull, but would be nice)

So far I'm not so impressed with the way the MGM runs -- sometimes pauses, doesn't always freewheel, and reverse goes on suddenly sometimes when I only mean to hit the brakes. It's not sealed up too well either. So I'm thinking of getting one of the 120A micro BK controllers instead, or even a Future 18.129 -- gasp! I know the Schulzes sometimes aren't popular but I have an older 58ce on my stadium truck that just rocks. So far my favorite controller, and I know many people like the UF75. I dunno, pretty confused and discouraged at this point, it may be awhile before I buy anything.
Thanks for listening/reading!
--Jonathan

I have had the same problems with my MGM120, sometimes it just stops working for a short time without any real heat on the outside, sometimes it accelerates in the opposite direction..
It's pretty efficient compared to the Warriors and the BEC seems to be ok too. No problems with smoothness either.

BK has the Warrior 12020 now, it's not too expensive. Not sure if they actually have some in stock now though, I waited 2 month for that and got one from ebay. That one broke rather fast, first the BEC stopped working and now it sometimes drives backwards. Not sure why that happens...
BEC failed due to the pins getting loose afaik.

Schulze seems to be pretty good, I liked my U-Force 75 but expensive and not that forgiving when it comes to warranty afaik.

Kontronik seems to have some nice ESCs but they seem to like the kontronik motors best.. ;)

Mtronik apparently has some good controllers too...

Then there are the sensored ones by LRP and Novak.

Graupner is coming out with the Genius 80 next month apparently.

But if you plan to wait anyway the MambaMaxx seems to be promising.

Shucks, sorry to hear about your BK not working for long, I was hoping they were better.

I was wondering about the Kontronic, I've seen higher amp ones of those for not too much.

I did like that the MGM seemed very efficient and gave good power to the motor, and it did seem very smooth too. Just kind of erratic in operation.

I'm hoping that the MambaMaxx does come out soon, cuz I feel Castle puts out good products and for warranty/repair at least they are in the States and English is their first language. ( I hope) I don't understand Chech or German I'm afraid, maybe I should learn German at least -- I do hope to have a Porsche someday after all. :p

Mtronik doesn't seem to be available in the States?

If all else fails I have considered getting two Novak setups and trying those together. The owner of Unlimited Engineering is currently using that setup on his SuperMaxx and says with two there is good power and not much heat. Novak seems to have good warranty and nice case for ESC as well. With a 3S lipo hooked to each motor that thing should move ok?

English is usually possible, I don't understand Czech too. ;)

Seems like I had quite some bad luck with 3 controllers breaking in a few months.

I liked the warrior when it worked, not too good for crawling but if you want to drive fast it's pretty direct and puts out good power. Seems like Mike likes them too, so you will get good support and if BK delivers they should be available quickly..

Mtroniks seems to be based in the UK, maybe Mike can get some?

I don't like the idea of dual motors&controllers. It's expensive, you need more room and a bigger chance of one breaking.
Depending on your idea of fun you might be able to just buy one Novak HV and be done with it?
It won't be really fast but quick and quite a bit faster than stock.

Yeah, one Novak might work actually. My truck is a bit heavy but I was quite impresed with the video that was recently posted by I think Herald-Hans. It looked like it had pretty good power!

Back luck is same for me -- 3 controllers in 3 months as well. Maybe I should put pedals on the thing!!:L:

MGM will know what went wrong with the controller. If you want, send it back to me and I will send it back to MGM.
The reverse operation is likely from going back to neutral(If you hit the brakes and go back to neutrl, then hit the brakes again-you go into reverse). I am working with MGM to try to fix this, or allow reverse disable or something. Also, the next groupe of 160 controllers will have a lower minimum cell count, but shouldn't cut out. The theory is that Lipos generate higher voltage with less resistance that is causing a regulator overload and prompting a reset.
BK controllers are my favorites(and the "ce" Schulze controllers were the best they ever built IMO-I have a couple 58ces myself). Bk also stands behind their product pretty well.

So it seems that the servo must've burned out as well cuz now it seems dead. I hooked up a 9920 w/UBEC to see if I could run with that and it screams but no steering. Hooking an old Traxxas servo in to test and it works, so I'm guessing that maybe the servo burned out and then burned out the ESC? Or would it be the other way around, ESC burned out and then ruined the servo? Luckily the receiver seems fine. Servo was a JR 9000T, I think I may go cheaper on its replacement this time, maybe just the JR 650. Is 142oz ok? I'm thinking less current draw as well.

I also emailed MGM to see what they have to say, if no response I will send the controller back to you Mike. It doesn't work anymore, when I plug the batteries in it it immediately smokes and appears to flame on a litlle bit. :eek: I'm really hating that smell!!!
--JD

I will follow up with MGM as well on your controller.
Nothing worse than the smell of a burnt controller!