Fire Fire Fire!!!!
 

So I just barely put my brand new Novak HV4.5/ESC in my brand new E-revo. I didn't even get 3 passes when a huge burst of smoke started billowing out from the car.:gasp: I stopped in between each pass to get temps from the motor and ESC. Both were in the 110-130 degree range. Not bad at all!! I hurried up and went to investigate, before I could get there it burst into flames. Upon further inspection, it turns out the capacitor had somehow caught fire. Once things cooled down, I noticed the input signal harness and the sensor harness are melted together. I had the capacitor zip-tied to the power wires from the ESC. I suppose next time I'll be mounting it to the chassis.

I have all Novak ESCs and motors in ALL my cars and have never had a problem. Ever. This post is not to complain or discourage. Just a simple FYI. I love Novak products and will continue to buy them as long as I get addequate service on warranty/fixing this.

Since this happened yesterday(Saturday), I have not been able to contact Novak yet about any warranty possibilities. The HV 4.5 was purchased brand new and didn't come as a combo with the ESC. So the ESC should be warrantied. But due to the input harness and sensor harness melting together, I cant run the motor. So we'll see if they will send me a new motor as well, or at least the parts to fix it.

Has anyone else encountered this issue?

Here are a few pics, I appologize, they are a little blurry. The iPhone doesn't automaticall focus:

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...oper/burn5.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...oper/burn4.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...oper/burn3.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...oper/burn2.jpg

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...oper/burn1.jpg

More than a few people have encountered issues with the newer novak capacitor unit- sems it doesnt like voltage spikes much (there is a novak sub-forum to post these kind of questions btw).

Novak should take care of you, but I imagine they will need the whole system sent back in, in order to inspect and replace the damaged parts.

Sorry, I didn't see a Novak specific forum. I will look for it and post Novak issues in it from now on. Thanks for the heads up.

You can email charlie@teamnovak.com for assistance.

I just emailed him!!

Moved to the Novak forum. :smile:

I talked to the factory this AM and found that all three of our tech support guys, and one of our CS assistants are out with the flu!

So, please, be patient.

I think Im coming down with the lurgy too. Im curious though, the old capacitor worked perfectly on the hvmaxx system (2700uf 25v low esr), so why the 'upgrade'? I found a pair of said caps was a good upgrade, if a little chunky to mount, so perhaps the tech guys (when they've recovered) might think about going back to a single larger cap, say a ~4000uf item, that would be more than adequate and less tempermental it seems compared to the new unit with little voltage-clamp things on the mini PCB (zenor diodes? I forget what they're called).

I consider myself to be a pretty patient dude. I had to wait a week and a half just to get the system from my LHS. On the other hand, it's a little disconcerting that one spends a few hundred dollars on a brand new ESC/motor system and then has to spend even more money to send the system back to the maufacturer due to the capacitor blowing up after three passes.:no:

But I have Novak ESC/motor combos in every single rig I have and I love 'em all. So I'll be patient a little longer.:wink:

That Bites!

I would prefer several smaller caps to one large one. Transient response and heat dissipation is better. A couple of those v-clamps/transorbs (or whatever they are) would be nice too.

It sounds like the verdict may be that the 20t pinion I was running with the 4.5 might have overloaded the system. I was running it with the 6.5 just fine though. Charlie suggested I replace the capacitor an run a smaller pinion.

Just fyi. I ran 47 with 14/68 gears in my Erevo 4.5,system stays as cool as you could expect.You might try that gearing.

Cool!! Thanks!! I'll give that gearing a try.:yipi:

Well, I didn't want to wait for any warranty action, so I had my LHS order me a brand new HV 4.5/ESC combo. Drove it all weekend with 14/68 gearing and so far no problems whatsoever. I haven't taken any temp readings yet, but will le t you guys know what they are.