Quark fried, blown capacitor...

[zeropointbug]

I think running 5s on the MM is pushing it to the ragged edge. The caps on the MM are only 25v IIRC, so they most likely are being punched very hard. Has anyone had the caps blow on the MM? Or is it the board that something fries on it?

It seems like to me that the Quark has the most capacitor problems, and it has it's caps internally in case, I wonder if this has anything to do with it?

[/QUOTE]I might try popping the sink off of a MM and putting a better sink on it.
[/QUOTE]

You could use a larger fan instead. This one that I use is a 30mm fan. Here is a pic. It hangs over a little but It covers more area and blows more air. It is held in place with 2 screws (the zip tie is holding the ESC in place).

[zeropointbug]

Have you mounted up some extra caps to your MM yet?

Cartwheels, did you get those capacitors from AAngel? Or did you buy your own?

I bought a batch too. I originally bought the wrong kind. The price was right so I went ahead and got the 200, but I really only need less than 20.

[zeropointbug]

What was the original ones you had purchased? Were they not low-esr type?

Let me know how thy work for you? :027:

The ones I got where not low esr. They were these http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea...983-ND&Site=US I'll probably mount some right ones on the Quark first. I have bundled 4 together that I am going to attach soon hopefully.

I think that the older ones handle the 5S better. None of the MMs that I bought in the last few months will do 5S. The two that I bought shortly after their release are the ones that do run 5S. The funny thing is that I blew up both of those controllers running them in my Muggy. 13lbs of truck geared at 10/46 killed them both. The repair receipt that I got back from Castle said that they needed to replace FETs.

I've been running my 8ight T tonight on 5S with the 9XL geared 10/44 with 40 series Proline Moabs. With the standard MT tires and wheels, I'm at a bit of a loss for gearing. Running 4S, I was geared 16/44 with the standard tires/wheels. I would have thought that that would have been over geared, but I'm getting VERY little cogging and only occassionally. I then tried 5S at that gearing. I thought I'd need to go down on the pinion, but I wanted to try it. It ran fine. I know the 8ight is 3lbs lighter than the Muggy was, but at least some of this has to be the result of the cap bank.

i recommend Nippon Chemi-con KY series Caps.
or Nichicon PJ series Caps.

Quark original cap is KY Caps.

[zeropointbug]

The PJ series caps have an ESR value that is over 50% higher than the PL series we are using. 0.096 compared to 0.06Ohm for the PL.

These were a good deal, and readily available.

[zeropointbug]

Originally Posted by AAngel

zeropointbug, I'm going to try to get someone to run by the post office for me. I'm going to be in trial all week and won't be ablet to. I'm borrowing a computer right now to clown around while I'm waiting.

As for the plug thing, I too was thinking about that. Just makes things more versatile. The only problem is that the plugs degrade over time. I know that I change mine often on my escs and motors. I don't like the idea of having to bend them to make them tight either.

I hope that my Quark gets here in the next week, if they fix it. The way my luck has been going, they might tell me that it's not covered for whatever reason. But...if I do get it back, I think I'm going to make a bank that will fit as many caps as I can within a length equal to that of the Quark. Then I can just epoxy the Quark to the cap bank and then epoxy that to the heatsink.

The epoxy is easy. The aluminum oxide powder can be found at hobby shops catering to rock collectors. They use the stuff to tumble polish rocks (go figure). Get the finest powder that you can. It costs around $8 for a 1lb bottle. I just mix up my two part epoxy and then add the powder until the epoxy turns into a paste that looks like thermal epoxy. They you just apply it as you would the epoxy. Once the epoxy starts to heat up, it flows really well and gets into all of the nooks and crannies. I won't say that it works as well as Arctic Alumina, but it does work well. It does move heat.

I do have to say that all of this leads me to some wondering. Actually, I'm starting to think that I'm full of it and all of my positive results have been figments of my imagination. I mean...if adding caps is all it takes to make things run so much better, why aren't the manufacturers doing it? I'd gladly go for an esc that runs cooler at the sacrifice of some space. Of course, I suppose I just have to keep in mind that we are running these escs out of spec; but hey, my MM got hot when I ran it in my T4 too.

I must have missed this post? :eek:

No troubles AAngel, please I don't want to be out of your way over the caps, do it whenever you can. As I don't have my Quark back yet anyways.

I don't even know where I can even get alum. oxide powder here, or for that matter a store that sells that stuff. I'll keep my eyes open.

The results you have seem real to me, if those are the temps you read... Like you said, the reason manufacturers don't use more, is space. We really just nee higher 'performace' caps, with lower ESR, and higher ripple current capability.


BTW, I though the MM had 220uF caps? I see in the pic they are three 330uF caps, that might be why the MM doesn't have as bad cap issues as the Quark.

OK guys, another update. I realized something today. Some of you may have noticed my complaining about the weight of my Muggy, being 13lbs. That's one of the reasons that I got the 8ight T. Well, I'm just an idiot.

I doctored up some Dynamite 23mm LST2 hexes to fit my 8ight T and put some 40 series Moabs on the 8ight T. Get this...with the huge tires on it, 5S2P 8Ah lipo pack, and everything else, it came in at 12lbs 15oz. Go figure.

My point being this. When I was running the MM in the Muggy, at 10/46 gearing, it cogged so badly that it cooked the MM. Now that I'm running the MM with the cap bank, I'm running the Moabs (which are taller than the Mashers on the Muggy) with 12/44 gearing without a hitch. The caps are definitely having an impact on the performance of the esc.

I do have a question though, for you more knowledgeable guys. Can the addition of the caps in some way prevent the FETs from frying? How is it that the addtion of the caps is reducing the cogging so much? I know it is the caps because the esc that I'm running now is the exact same one that I fried on the MM/5S setup before.

[zeropointbug]

Indirectly I guess they can prevent them from being fried/stressed alot. The caps allow for better FET switching (from ON to OFF to ON...). I have prob said that before in this thread, but so ppl know. It also obsorbs all the noise/spikes/all the garbage stuff from the the power stage, basically cleaner power, the 'brains' of the controller maybe does not get so confused then?

I really can not tell you exactly what it can/does do inside the power circuit, cause that's all I know. Apparently it is working great! :027: :027: :eek:

zpb, I'm going to try like heck to get your caps out to you tomorrow. I don't anticipate being in court all day. I'm kind of anxious to see what your findings are relative to all of this. I know that you guys have been talking about this in techno jargon, but all of that went over my head. I'm more of a cause and effect sort of guy. I'll be interested in hearing what your observations are.

BTW, I tried 5S A123 today. I think I'm in love. When my Quark gets back, I want to try 6S A123.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by AAngel

BTW, I tried 5S A123 today. I think I'm in love.

Just don't let your wife/gf find out!

[zeropointbug]

Originally Posted by AAngel

zpb, I'm going to try like heck to get your caps out to you tomorrow. I don't anticipate being in court all day. I'm kind of anxious to see what your findings are relative to all of this. I know that you guys have been talking about this in techno jargon, but all of that went over my head. I'm more of a cause and effect sort of guy. I'll be interested in hearing what your observations are.

BTW, I tried 5S A123 today. I think I'm in love. When my Quark gets back, I want to try 6S A123.

:027: Your my lover AAngel! Did you run 1p, or 2p? What did you run them in?

Tell me more about how you like the A123's, as I am in love with as well...


Please, I don't want to be out of your way in sending these caps, do it when you can. I don't even know if my Quark arrived at S&T yet.