ESC blinking green (not 4 times)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JimNLD

Fairly New Member
Messages
8
Reaction score
7
Location
Netherlands
Arrma RC's
  1. Kraton 6s
  2. Mojave
Hi!

Weird thing happend today. Driven for one minute and no throttle any more. Got steering.

When turning on the ESC 185 it starts blinking green. Not 4 times. Keeps blinking slowly. Steering works and i can calibrate throttle/brake and enter the programming menu.

The car fried an ESC 185 before. That thing did not do anything any more. No steering, no calibrating and no menu. So i replaces it with the one from my kraton and bought an max8 for that one.

Can somebody explain me whats going on?

Jim
 
In general, a constant flashing Green is Thermal Cut at the ESC. FWIW. You may have fried the ESC. When overheated, the MosFets get bricked. (power transistors) The ESC Heatsink is actually cooling those Mosfets. And a thermistor will trip and cut power to the Motor when the Mosefets reach 212F+.( internally at the Mosfets). Temp reads at the HS outside will usually reveal a lower temp of aprox. 160F+ which syncs up with an internal temp of 212F. Using a temp gun.
Usually when Thermal cut trips You rig will stop, and letting it sit there for a bit will cool down. The Green light will go out and the rig will drive gain. But sometimes sustained Overheating will fail to reset. Usually one mosfet is fried. There is a way to use a DVM to test out the and see if one or more MosFets are fried. Checking for continuity between each motor lead and then to each +/- lead. There are other reasons why an ESC would fail, Like the power supply regulator inside the ESC.

Testing your BLX ESC that appears bricked. | ARRMA RC Forum (arrmaforum.com)
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your complete reply! So i guess it's to the dumpster. Is there any possibility that the failure has been caused bij the motor? A week before i allso killed an BLX 185.

The motor had recently new bearings and seems to turn fine by hand.

I bought an Max8 for my Kraton and placed the BLX 185 from the Kraton to the Mojave, thats now flashing green.

Jim
 
I doubt the brushless motor would cause an issue with the motor being in good shape and all. I have never attributed my failed ESC to a failed BLX motor.
If it was a brushed setup then there is a relationship between the motor and ESC and Load in that regard.
I have seen others on this forum warranty both a motor and ESC together. I guess its possible. IDK.
 
Pinion 20. Second speedrun, guess one minute. Almost freezing outside. Driving on tarmac.
Jim
 
Believe it or not but ambient temps have almost no impact on ESC temps, at least short term.
When I see 1 minute speedruns, you are just asking for trouble. Speedruns are one and done with ~5-10 min cool-off in between, that is where the ambient helps. 20T doesn't sound crazy high though. I've done it with 20T and higher, with no issues, other than ESC turned off due to heat.

Can't really see why anything went bad, just based on what you are stating. Check all your bearings for binding, maybe something overstressed that way. The ESC thermal protection should prevent catastrophic failures but it's not fool proof. Any chance you got it wet or used WD40 on it?

FYI, the RC car never 'kills' an ESC, it's always the one controlling it ;)
 
Hi!

I drove a few times with this setup. Guess 15 packs in total (on/off-road). After the first esc died I took the one from my kraton.
It died on the first run. Not abusing it or what so ever.
I revise all the bearings after a pack or three. Opening them up, clean and grease them. We drive 1 day a week and I only have three packs.
Yes I use w40 to clean the car.
My friends also own Mojaves. One now drives with Max 6 combo after his ESC fried. And my other friends ESC also died. Can’t figure out why. In my kratons never had a problem and they get abused a lot.

Jim
 
Best advise, throw away that WD40, it's a killer on anything RC, bearings and electronics. Only exception is the plastic does seem to get softer.
It leaves a bad residue on metal and penetrates epoxy (ESC), it's a silent killer.

The 20T is definetly not for bashing, unless you do heavy upgrades on motor and ESC fans. 15-16T seems to be the preferred bashing solution with stock motor.
I have the Max6 but had too change that ESC fan as well, it went into thermal shutdown when I had similar ambitions. Not I'm happy with the ~ 55mph I get on road and whatever that is on grass.
Max6/4985 and 18T is perfect for what I do.
 
I don’t spray it on the esc. And when I use it there are no bearings in it.
I use a turbofan on the esc and a double turbofan on the motor..
As I mentioned I had no problems for 15 packs. Then it died. Put an used one from my kraton in and it died in the first pack. Second run of max 10 seconds.
Can the motor be an issue? Bearings in motor are new.
Jim
 
Last edited:
Boy that is a streak of bad luck. :cry:There has got to be a common denominator here.:cool: I doubt its the motor, as you said it is fine, bearings and all.
Take it apart and give it a once over look at it very closley. If you have a motor analyzer,check to see how many Amps it draws., RPMS and KV it outputs at 8 volts (2S) Perhaps the timing of the motor deviated from a defect. Amp draw may be higher than normal. These are the only things that might contribute to a failed ESC. But is rare IMHO. At least it never happened to me.
 
Last edited:
Hi!

Weird thing happend today. Driven for one minute and no throttle any more. Got steering.

When turning on the ESC 185 it starts blinking green. Not 4 times. Keeps blinking slowly. Steering works and i can calibrate throttle/brake and enter the programming menu.

The car fried an ESC 185 before. That thing did not do anything any more. No steering, no calibrating and no menu. So i replaces it with the one from my kraton and bought an max8 for that one.

Can somebody explain me whats going on?

Jim
mine does the same thing with my spectrum lipo but with my zzee 3s it works fine! but the 4s spectrum smart lipo only steers and slow green blinking
 
In general, a constant flashing Green is Thermal Cut at the ESC. FWIW. You may have fried the ESC. When overheated, the MosFets get bricked. (power transistors) The ESC Heatsink is actually cooling those Mosfets. And a thermistor will trip and cut power to the Motor when the Mosefets reach 212F+.( internally at the Mosfets). Temp reads at the HS outside will usually reveal a lower temp of aprox. 160F+ which syncs up with an internal temp of 212F. Using a temp gun.
Usually when Thermal cut trips You rig will stop, and letting it sit there for a bit will cool down. The Green light will go out and the rig will drive gain. But sometimes sustained Overheating will fail to reset. Usually one mosfet is fried. There is a way to use a DVM to test out the and see if one or more MosFets are fried. Checking for continuity between each motor lead and then to each +/- lead. There are other reasons why an ESC would fail, Like the power supply regulator inside the ESC.

Testing your BLX ESC that appears bricked. | ARRMA RC Forum (arrmaforum.com)
Its a battery issue! make sure what s it is 3s 4s ? makes a difference
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 90 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top