Max6 capacitors fried - soldering new ones on possible?

[RC-Dude]

I fried two capacitors on a Max6. (Makes me wonder why there are not two fans on the ESC to also cool these.)

Anyway it seems like the rest of the ESC is still OK. ESC kept resetting itself. So I think it's worth a try to fix it.

But the capacitors are glued in place with lots of epoxy. So I'm not sure if it's
possible to solder new ones on to the ESC or if the epoxy totally prevents it.
Has anyone done this before?

 

[jkflow]

Replacing in place of where they are, no don't think that's possible without destroying the ESC.
You can always connect the ESC to the actual battery leads, though. Just remove some insulation and solder to them. As close as possible, but anything within 2" should be fine.

Capacitors overheat due to high ripple voltage, something isn't working well in your setup, gearing too high would be my guess.

 

[RC-Dude]

Replacing in place of where they are, no don't think that's possible without destroying the ESC.
You can always connect the ESC to the actual battery leads, though. Just remove some insulation and solder to them. As close as possible, but anything within 2" should be fine.

Capacitors overheat due to high ripple voltage, something isn't working well in your setup, gearing too high would be my guess.

I'll try to connect them to the battery leads. Was just wondering about going through the epoxy and beeing able to separate epoxy and contact surface.

Yes I pushed it. XMaxx on Max6 with 1100KV, 24T and heavy tires. Was racing up and down in sand. Had planned to use the XMaxx more for jumping but kind of forgot.

 

[jkflow]

Yes, that will do it and cook the ESC.

You would have to get underneath the capacitors to unsolder/re-solder, and that is simply not possible without high potential of damaging the board. It's embedded in epoxy.

Connecting them to the connector side is too far away, and you will fry your ESC or what's left. They need to be very close. It's ok for ripple killer to be a little further away, but only if you have some in proximity. In your case, those are gone.

 

[Tex Koder]

I fried two capacitors on a Max6. (Makes me wonder why there are not two fans on the ESC to also cool these.)

Anyway it seems like the rest of the ESC is still OK. ESC kept resetting itself. So I think it's worth a try to fix it.

But the capacitors are glued in place with lots of epoxy. So I'm not sure if it's
possible to solder new ones on to the ESC or if the epoxy totally prevents it.

Has anyone done this before?

I've thought about this same situation before..

Many manufacturers tend to epoxy their circuit boards (yes to better protect their components from vibrations and such...)
But most seem to do it to force end-users to have to purchase the entire board -at an exuberant inflated prices- once just one simple component fails on that board.. (or just replace the whole thing entirely.)

They seem to want to PREVENT end-users from doing repairs themselves.. negating those companies' fat profit streams...

I have several very expensive variable-speed pool pumps that have their control boards burnt out.. the rest of the pump/motor/impeller is perfectly fine, however what's failed are some starting caps on the PCB that I can see but it's totally encased in epoxy.
The only way I can think of to remove those caps would be to use a Dremel to try and grind around those components..
I haven't attempted that drastic process.. yet.

I'm guessing that's what you'll have to do, if you plan on replacing yours on your ESC..

 

[dure16]

to better protect their components from vibrations and such

I thought it was for waterproofing?

 

[Tex Koder]

I thought it was for waterproofing?

That too.

 

[jkflow]

It's for waterproofing and shock proofing, not greedy business practices. Else you'd be picking up parts after your first jump and cry foul i.e. they don't secure them coz they are greedy and want more sales.
It's not all greed.

 

[Tex Koder]

It's for waterproofing and shock proofing, not greedy business practices. Else you'd be picking up parts after your first jump and cry foul i.e. they don't secure them coz they are greedy and want more sales.
It's not all greed.

Guess I was just venting a bit..

Don't mind me.

 

[SrC]

I fried two capacitors on a Max6. (Makes me wonder why there are not two fans on the ESC to also cool these.)

Anyway it seems like the rest of the ESC is still OK. ESC kept resetting itself. So I think it's worth a try to fix it.

But the capacitors are glued in place with lots of epoxy. So I'm not sure if it's
possible to solder new ones on to the ESC or if the epoxy totally prevents it.
Has anyone done this before?

NO can do.
Send it back to HW for service. Contact them first and ask.They may even charge a discount to replace it if under the 30 day warranty...IDK. See what they say.
Just that these ESC's are Silicone Potted ESC's to make them "Supposedly" WP. And are permanently sealed.
They are disposable for the most part. Including the Discrete PCB mounted Caps when they fail/ Pop/ get damaged. Been there.

>>>>OR, perhaps wire in a separate larger quality Cap pack as another option to save the ESC there for a while. This will also work. Since the ESC's Capacitor circuit is wired in Parallel.
Solder the new cap pack within 1-2 inches of where the 2 ESC Mains leads come out of it.
Just be mindful of the Polarities when you do this.

 

[Jerold]

I'm sure the rework is totally doable with the right tools and skill set. I worked with some very talented technicians that could put the yolk back into the egg shell if asked. But they had years of experience, professional tools and a lot of patience.

They seem to want to PREVENT end-users from doing repairs themselves.. negating those companies' fat profit streams...

The caps are most likely epoxied in to prevent damage when the user abuses it at the skatepark. Also they do not want the user modifying it. Someone decides to make it "better" and breaks it. Then sends it in for a warranty claim. It's just a mess and they don't want customers like that and the add tamper resistant measures.

 

[RC-Dude]

The interesting part is that I had checked motor and ESC temperature with a temperature gun about 90 seconds before the capacitors fried. It was about 45 - 50 degrees Celcius. So I was quite happy after measuring that. So temperature is not everything!!! Bit irritating but it is what it is. Cables were minimum necessary length.

So I am not sure if an extra capacitor pack would have made a difference. Not keen on an extra pack attached in a car made to jump. In another rig I had soldered an extra cap-pack to the Max5. Probably overkill and really not nice to cut open cables and add an extra pack.

Will have to see if I can dremel the connections open and solder there.

I have a problem using warranty when it's me who damaged the Max6. I was warned about using the Max6 in the XMaxx in the XRT thread. I knew it was at it's limit but I had decided to use the XMaxx more for jumping and less to race around. Got the XRT for that. And I simply did not stick with that. So I have a bit of a problem of placing the blame on Hobbywing.

Epoxy - we would be the first ones to complain if it stops working due to water effects. So it seems it's simply a matter of physical and chemical oxidation limits as a given fact and epoxy is a way to deal with it.

 

[Jerold]

HW has a nice "factory", much nicer than I expected. It looks like they do everything in house, which isn't unusual in China.

 

[Tex Koder]

HW has a nice "factory", much nicer than I expected. It looks like they do everything in house, which isn't unusual in China.

I want to see what they are having for Lunch..They be Rushing!

 

[Jerold]

I want to see what they are having for Lunch..They be Rushing!

Yah, it's not like that here. Americans don't have the discipline to follow directions. That's what happens when you are given opportunities of free thought and free speech. Dang free thinking Americans.

It's just like in the Flintsones.

 

[SrC]

The interesting part is that I had checked motor and ESC temperature with a temperature gun about 90 seconds before the capacitors fried. It was about 45 - 50 degrees Celcius. So I was quite happy after measuring that. So temperature is not everything!!! Bit irritating but it is what it is. Cables were minimum necessary length.

So I am not sure if an extra capacitor pack would have made a difference. Not keen on an extra pack attached in a car made to jump. In another rig I had soldered an extra cap-pack to the Max5. Probably overkill and really not nice to cut open cables and add an extra pack.

Will have to see if I can dremel the connections open and solder there.

I have a problem using warranty when it's me who damaged the Max6. I was warned about using the Max6 in the XMaxx in the XRT thread. I knew it was at it's limit but I had decided to use the XMaxx more for jumping and less to race around. Got the XRT for that. And I simply did not stick with that. So I have a bit of a problem of placing the blame on Hobbywing.

Epoxy - we would be the first ones to complain if it stops working due to water effects. So it seems it's simply a matter of physical and chemical oxidation limits as a given fact and epoxy is a way to deal with it.

>>>It is Not Epoxy. It is called Silicone Potting. It's a Di-Electric material. Only there for Water Proofing. Once factory potted, the ESC is simply NOT serviceable. PCB is completely Hermetically sealed. Fact. No De-soldering and Re-soldering be done to the ESC's Printed Circuit Board at this juncture.
If the OP follows my procedure above exactly, it will work.
If not pleased with an Extra Cap pack, then keep driving that ESC the way it is until it fries, and buy another more appropriate ESC.
I have opened many Potted Bricked ESC's to examine them. They are self destructing once you do this. Junk beyond repair. The PCB of the ESC cannot be "Reworked". Cannot simply replace the Embedded caps.
Been there. My Lim had a high speed crash, and my $XR8 Plus ESC$ Caps got smashed. Crushed. And they all popped at the top.
But my External Cap pack keeps it running just fine, when wired to the ESC how I stated. Any external cap pack gets wired like I stated. No other way is more correct.
It's worth a try, because the ESC is basically toast anyway.
Chance Running it with broken caps as is ....Or just buy another ESC.
But chancing it, as is, brings a potential Fire risk . Lipo and all. Govern yourself accordingly.

 

[RC-Dude]

I'll have to see if I can cleanly remove the existing capacitors and just add an external set. Keeping the popped caps does send the ESC into reboot again and again. Got a Max5 V2 instead. That goes into the K8 and the Max5 V1 from the K8 into the Xmaxx.