Quark fried, blown capacitor...

[zeropointbug]

That really would not be reliable and/or useful, as there are too many variables (including driving).

You really have to do it by feel, and general eagletree results... the average voltage might be a little higher, but the main results will occur inside the controller, FET switching efficiency, and cooler running (apparently), and more reliable running.

I have my hopes mainly for cooler running, and more reliable, which matters most.

[BrianG]

Yeah, the scientific approach would be to run a before and after test with consistent runs. That is going to be hard to do.

I say just run it like normal and see how it does. And even though it doesn't offer a tangible performance difference, you can at least be secure in your mind that the existing caps aren't being worked as hard.

[zeropointbug]

Exactly.

That's really my motivation for adding the caps. Cooler running and less stress.

They didn't come in today. I was hoping that they would, as my Quark came in today and I threw it into my 8ight truck. I also bought a small sheet of copper from my LHS. When the caps get here, I'm going to get on making my add on cap bank; after I pack some up for shipping that is.

zero, I wonder if your Quark will be up to snuff after adding more caps, in spite of one of the internal caps having blown.

[zeropointbug]

I sent mine off to S&T, they said they would just replace it, no questions. The electrolyte would have damaged the board, as well as when there are no caps, there would have been damage done to the board.

I have a really good plan for a custom Quark case, I just need the distance from bottom FET surface to top FET surface. It will be about 1cm wider than the stock case though.

It will not need adhesive either, just regular thermal compound, which is nice.

[snellemin]

Originally Posted by zeropointbug

Yeah, they aren't bad at all, but you have to buy 25 is all.

I also found THIS, they are only 10v, but they are 4700uF each, they have the 4700uF cap, three ceramic caps, and two transient supressors on a little circuit board. Seems like this would be the real ticket, you just have to use three in series, so you use 1570uF, still alot.

I found a pic of the open circuit once today, I can't find it anymore. Looks really well made. $15 though! :030:

Is this the PIC?

I just bought a 200 pack of these as well. I definitely don't need 200. I'd hate to see them go to waste so if anyone else wants any PM or email me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/200-Nichicon-35V...QQcmdZViewItem

[BrianG]

lol, pretty soon the manufacturer making those caps is gonna start wondering what all the demand is about! :)

I wonder what would happen if you put all 200 on 1 ESC. The more the merrier right!

I was about to slit my wrists. I wanted something better and more efficient so I ordered a Compro ($200+). That was defective, so it's on its way to the Czech Rep. Since I couldn't wait, I ordered a Quark. I got it yesterday. I was so excited that I wired it up and took it for a run. My first impression was, "man this is smooth." I ran it for a few minutes, then shut it down to go fix dinner for the kid. After dinner I came back out to run it, and what do you know...cogging. I knew it couldn't be the controller, so I removed the connectors and hardwired everything. It ran great for about two minutes, then more cogging. I desoldered and resoldered everything, still cogging. I call Quark and they say that there was a batch of controllers that had bad caps in them. I have to send it in. What are the odds that I could spend almost $600 on controllers and have nothing to run my 5S packs with? That's just my luck. Now I have two controller in the mail.

So...anyway, the caps came in today. They were waiting for me when I got home. I used some 1/8" copper round stock and put it in a vice and flattened it. I cut two strips and soldered four caps to the strips and then made a channel out of copper sheet and then embedded the cap bank in epoxy that I mixed with aluminum oxide powder. I didn't do anything fancy with the bank. I just cut away some of the insulation at the front of the power leads and soldered the cap bank in using some 12 gauge wire. Not pretty, but effective.

Some pics...







I took it out to the track to try to break it, so I ran for about 40 minutes. It was geared 11/44, which I don't think is undergeared, since I usually run 12/46 with the 8XL in a truck and 14/46 in a buggy.

After running and only giving the truck a break long enough to change battery packs, get this...motor temp 218...esc temp 110. The battery was so cool that I didn't even temp it.

I'm not willing to swear that the caps made that much of a difference, but I had some really cool running tonight. At this point, I may have to sell both the Compro and the Quark when they get back. I'm assuming that I'm going to get new units back. The Mamba Max was running way to good. When I say there was zero cogging, I mean exactly that. No cogging at all.

As far as "the more the merrier goes," it's looking like four is merry enough for the MM.

BTW, I did try the cap bank on the Quark, it didn't help. There's something really wrong with that thing.

I have the caps divided up and will ship them tomorrow. You guys should have them by Monday or Tuesday.

[MetalMan]

I will gladly be awaiting those caps :).

That motor temp doesn't sound too good... My thoughts tell me that it's toast, since after about 180 deg. on the outside the inner temperature will most likely be hot enough to start de-magnetizing the rotor. I'm curious if the caps caused the excessive heat in the motor, which might be from their ability to allow for higher currents to flow through the FETs than is possible without them. Or, maybe the motor was just undergeared.

[zeropointbug]

WOW, for the nice setup with the caps AAngel!

WHOW, on the Quark trouble, that is a serious bummer! And yeah, what the BLEEP are the odds of that happening just now? I find that strange that there would be 'bad' caps, seems rare to me.

So you did notice a big difference with the MM with those 4 extra caps? Really like how you did that man. thumbs up



I guess I should pay you for those caps, PM me.

I've always found the Feigaos to run hot. The motor may be toast, I'll have to see. I'm going to gear it up and bit and see what happens. I just hate to gear it up because it was running perfect for the track. I may just put the 9XL in it and then gear it up.

i sent a pm about caps

8ight t looks SWEET!! all of them!

[suicideneil]

Hmm, that looks like a nice tidy setup. Is that rust or dirt on the MM, looks like it needs a clean! Interested about the motor temp though, that does sound high- wonder what the cause is/was/could be if its mormally like that; anyone experience it when using the 8XL & MM?