Problems with bk 9918
 

I recently purchased a used bl emaxx. It has a 9L and a bk 9918. I was told that the esc would be able to handle up to 18 cells. I tried to put 16 cells on it and it started to smoke. I quickly unplugged it and removed one of the cells from both packs. Now the controller somewhat works. It is really glitchy and the brakes and reverse don't work. I tried reprogramming it for my 3pdf, but that didn't change anything. Do I need another esc? Is there any kind of warranty for it?

Welcome to the Forum!

did you plugged it in and then it started smoking or was it smoking when you drove it a bit?

The 9L on 16 cells is a bit on the hot side. takes a different gearing than on 14 cells

It started smoking when I plugged it in. At first the servos twitched a little, then everything just stopped. After a couple more seconds, I saw smoke coming out of the caps and I unplugged it immediately.

did you removed the BEC jumper from the 9918 and used a separate receiver pack?

no. I wasn't using a reciever pack.

Try a loose receiver pack and disable the bec, perhaps the BEC is damaged (don't know if it's able to work on 16 cells) glitching may be caused by an improper functioning of the BEC, resulting in not feeding the receiver enough power.

If you have got a receiver pack, disable the BEC by removing the jumper and simple test it.

Do you think that the smoking of the esc caused any permanent damage? I have a ubec that the seller gave to me. Will that make a big difference in performance?

I don't know if it caused permanent damage. did you drove it before on 14 cells? (without this glitching?)

Yes, you should use the UBEC, it is likely it doesn't glitch anymore when you use the UBEC. (ubec rules, it is a more stable supply for the receiver than the BEC on the 9918)

Did you checked the BEC jumper? (did you find it? ;) )

No, I didn't drive it on 14 cells before, so I'm not sure if it was working properly before.

I'm not sure where it is. How close is it to the programming jumper?

It is the black jumper. the red is the prgramming.

It is close to it;

http://www.serum.demon.nl/BL%20lightning%20PRO/19.JPG

you can see the two pins that normally hold the jumper.

here is more usefull information as well.

BK's advise on the BEC is maximum 12 cells, but i heard people using it with 14 too..

If the controller let out smoke, there is something wrong with it for sure. I doubt it has anything to do with the cell count, either. I have run my warrior on up to 22.2 volts with a hotter motor using the controllers bec and haven't had any trouble. Something probably shorted (exposed wires perhaps) and caused the "smoke". I am surprised it works at all. If you have a camera, take a pictures if you can see anything obvious and I will see if anything sticks out at me.

The esc has that burt smell to it. It glitches really bad. When I hit the throttle, it just stutters all over the place. The steering servo works fine though.

i used to use the bec on 16 cells

This sort of thing happened with my Warrior 9918. It was caused a little differently though (a misfunctioning external BEC was giving it ~9v). It took BK 4 months to finally get it back to me (but the repair charge wasn't too bad - ~$75).