Outcast ARRMA OUTCAST ESC CAUGHT FIRE

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Warbux that sucks man! Good job acting quickly to minimize damage. Hope your pack is OK and Arrma does you right in replacements. I really hope this was an isolated incident too. As painful as your video is, appreciate you sharing it.
 
Wow, sorry too see. haven't seen any fire incidents with these things in a while. Arrma should make good on that, Im sure. Glad you were able to get it put out quick
 
I think i did very well and reacted quickly. I was unable to put the fire out so my first reaction was go for the battery. The video is only one minute long and part of it the truck was still running and i inspected the damage...
 
What should you do incase of a fire like this
Whats the safest way to do it?
Im pretty sure arrma will help you out with it
 
Sorry you had that fire...glad to see you got it put out. Thanks for sharing it with us and I hope you get it all taken care of. Check your battery....make sure the cells are all ok. Although this all sucks...that was a pretty cool video. It's a hard fire to put out because of the body and the pins...maybe we should all keep bottled water on hand and just lift up the front end and dump the water inside the vehicle ???? IDK....glad you made us more aware. Great post.

ARRMAgeddon said:
What should you do incase of a fire like this
Whats the safest way to do it?
Im pretty sure arrma will help you out with it
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By the looks of your Avatar ARRMAgeddon......Your RC is smoking. LOL
 
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Thomas P said:
Hope you are ok mate, thats the main thing. Plain bad luck, first i see, and propably the last.
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Hmm. No, it's not the first reported fire in an ARRMA vehicle.
https://arrmaforum.com/threads/esc-shorted-and-caused-LiPo-to-catch-fire.885/

That user who posted that hasn't been seen for over half a year. My only hope is he woke up and stopped using the offending product, and that his absence is not because he's been injured by the product, or put under a NDA by ARRMA.

I think we should all be asking questions from the manufacturer(s). Why or how did this happen? Is there a specific set of circumstances that make this more likely to happen? And I don't mean in an angry, or entitled way, although it might be hard not to feel that way. Can we stop it happening?

Personally I'm surprised it happened to warbux, abut more so some of the responses to his video.

Electronic failure is one thing, but fizzing out, smoking up and getting ALIGHT ON FIRE!?
Is a free ESC replacement under warranty the only thing that matters?
Why are we willing to accept a replacement product, and play Russian roulette again?
Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result.

Are we really willing to accept the risk of injury and/or property damage the next time we run the vehicle? I can see we're all fans/enthusiasts of ARRMA products, but I don't think "respect(ing) these things" is going to prevent a fire. It also looks like warbux was being very safe (running new 4S batteries (not 6S), above 35C as recommended by ARRMA? It also doesn't look like he did anything to provoke the fire. I'm glad warbux wasn't hurt. But his kick reflex was a fight or flight reaction to perceived immediate danger.

Or are we putting our collective heads in the sand and hoping that it was bad luck- hopefully it doesn't happen to us?

Where there's smoke there's fire. And this has proven to be so. I've read or heard that some (experienced) hobbyists have even replaced the stock electronics in their vehicles with something else to avoid potential failure. Maybe by the 3rd burnt ESC, you've become desensitised to the potential fire, now growing impatient waiting for replacements products, and just to drive again.

But to the ARRMA apologists- sorry but the only thing that's going to stop this problem occurring is a real engineering solution, not a replacement uniy. It is apparent to me that the issue with the 1/8th scale ESCs has not been solved- you can call it a BLX185, but where's the evidence it's doesn't fail catastrophically? Yes, ARRMA has shown they have good PR by honouring warranty replacements. But they have failed to show their technical leadership on the fundamental engineering, which is fixing the problem.

Look, I like to have fun as much as the next guy. And I understand risk-there's an element of risk to everything, from crossing the street to boarding a plane. But I'm not talking about a snapped wing mount, or a broken shock body causing inconvenience or lost playtime. When playing with these cars what are the chances of the vehicle becoming uncontrollable because of faulty ESC, or catching fire from a burnt ESC? Some of us aren't able bodied like warbux who can respond immediately. Some of us may have adolescent children driving these toys. If we know the risks, we can make decisions about what to do about it. (Knowing what we now know about lipos, would you still charge your lipo overnight it unattended or without a lipo sack?)

I love my ARRMA Outcast, at first sight. But think of it from an outsiders perspective. Would you still use a Samsung Galaxy Note 7, even if someone gave it to you for free, knowing that it can rarely, but devastatingly, caught fire spontaneously? I'm sure there were Samsung fans who did, or still are, even in face of the slowly mounting evidence. Brave, foolish, or fanatical?

If this, let's call at its best -minor ESC malfunction- became a accepted trend, or generalised to other makes/models, or worse- picked up by mainstream media as a "RC cars fire" issue, what would happen next? Would they become banned from parks, car parks or sidewalks etc (like those fireprone hoverboards), or even banned from sale? We hobbyists would all suffer as a result.

We should be asking the right questions to get this fixed. We should be mobilising to prevent these fires. Not surmising what happened, or debating what's best to do AFTER an electrical fire (sand, water, fire extinguisher, disconnect the lipo, or perhaps using the 'no look' method)
 
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I'm no electrical expert, but I can't help but wonder if perhaps faulty ESC wasn't the underlying problem. Could a cold solder job coupled with high demands placed on electronics cause ESC to overheat/implode faster than thermal shutdown can take place? Maybe it was a combination of factors that lead to this failure. Definitely would like to know. Manual reads shutdown occurs at like 220f, that seems crazy high, I watch temps very closely and would never let anything get that hot. Someone with electrical expertise please chime in on this with their thoughts.
 
A quality ESC thermal shut down should react fast enough to kill power from the battery. I saw signs of my Mamba shutting down a few times. It registered on my log as if I shut it off. I'm no expert but I try to learn from mistakes.

I never worry too much if I see my system is running well. Or as long as I Did my best to check it. Having the Watt meter can give you an idea if your system is healthy. Maybe it will show an issue developing also, For example....I know my new motor is rated at 4200 watts. I looked at my data logger and saw 166.1 amps max. times 25.1 volts max. Came out to 4169.11 watts. I rather try an external unit also like this one from Hobby King.

If something shorts out while you are running, not much you can do...then I would think the ESC would open a thermal fuse of some sort. If not.... remove the power from the dead short asap. Easier said than done. The watt meter is good if you built your own ground up roller and wanted to see it is running cool. I guess it would be good to check a new rig also ???
 
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Have you ever seen a race car with a on off battery kill switch on the back. So someone outside the car can kill power. It would be a good invention to be able to disconnect a Lipo real fast from an easy location on the rc. Just yank a plug to kill the power. An occasional fire can happen... It's the nature of fast vehicles . But removing the dead short fast seems key to the first step of stopping the fire. Mount that plug someplace where you can grab it and pull it out fast. You could just use the XT-90 looping plug in the positive lead of the battery. Just mounting it in a place where you can pull it fast would be the issue.
 

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Totally shocked by this... Hope things work out in your favor Warbux!
 
I mailed my ESC to Hobbico over a week ago now. Hobbico received the package on Thursday still no email from them. I will probably call tomorrow and ask about the status of the replacement items.
 
It's not just ARRMA. Lipos put out some serious juice. Just a little bit of damage or a small manufacturing error can lead to a fire.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2016/T...Monster-Trucks-and-Electronic-Speed-Controls/

These are more than just toys. The batteries and power systems can be dangerous. The safest thing to do is to have a fire extinguisher on hand when running the truck, always have mechanics gloves ready to handle hot components or be mentally prepared to watch $700 to $1000 of hobby equipment go up in flames. RC pilots know they are taking that big dollar risk every time their plane leaves the ground.
 
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