Punctured ESC capacitor - what could go wrong?

[dure16]

What is the risk of running an ESC with one blown capacitor?

If it’s just more likely to fail, then I’ll use it until it dies.

But could it cause any problems with the other electronics?

 

[Warby]

 

[MrWednesday]

What is the risk of running an ESC with one blown capacitor?

If it’s just more likely to fail, then I’ll use it until it dies.

But could it cause any problems with the other electronics?

You have a unicorn, never let it die

 

[gotnitro]

Caps can either blow up or bulge. They don't have to bulge to be bad. Couple things can happen, it can either be bypassed by not having the capacity to store anymore or it could create a short. If there is no short, it should work like normal. You can always add in a cap-pack if you are into reading CC graphs.

 

[MrWednesday]

Good info here, I learned some poop today, this is why this forum is key to real hobbyists. Can you explain the advantages of adding an additional cap pack to a Max 5 ESC? I don’t even truly understand what they do, but I feel like more is always better and now I want MORE!! Even if I don’t need them I want to add them just so I can say I did it and have em.

 

[gotnitro]

Good info here, I learned some poop today, this is why this forum is key to real hobbyists. Can you explain the advantages of adding an additional cap pack to a Max 5 ESC? I don’t even truly understand what they do, but I feel like more is always better and now I want MORE!! Even if I don’t need them I want to add them just so I can say I did it and have em.

They store energy to supposedly back feed the ESC whilst under voltage drops to avoid ripple current that can damage ESC's. The only thing is, they are powered from the battery already supplying power. So in other words, if the pack is getting weak, the caps can supply that one millisecond of power back to your ESC supposedly, but they can only supply the voltage of where the pack is at that moment. I do not use external caps. I also do not plug in my cars to my computers looking for data after playing.

 

[dure16]

I also do not plug in my cars to my computers looking for data after playing.

.

 

[Diem Turner]

Caps can either blow up or bulge. They don't have to bulge to be bad. Couple things can happen, it can either be bypassed by not having the capacity to store anymore or it could create a short. If there is no short, it should work like normal. You can always add in a cap-pack if you are into reading CC graphs.

They don't have to bulge to be bad but if they've bulged they're definitely bad.

They store energy to supposedly back feed the ESC whilst under voltage drops to avoid ripple current that can damage ESC's. The only thing is, they are powered from the battery already supplying power. So in other words, if the pack is getting weak, the caps can supply that one millisecond of power back to your ESC supposedly, but they can only supply the voltage of where the pack is at that moment. I do not use external caps. I also do not plug in my cars to my computers looking for data after playing.

It's true that most cap packs really don't store all that much energy. But I do have to acknowledge one brand of cap packs that do things I've never seen other cap packs do. Rumor has it that he can be a bit on the cantankerous side and he's burned quite a few bridges in the industry, but Jason Flores knows how to make cap packs. Everyone always says "yeah, they can store enough energy to power your car for about half a second" but I've seen Jason drive a 1/10 scale car on nothing but a cap pack for a solid 15-20 seconds. no, he wasn't going 100mph but he wasn't just free spinning a motor either. He drove his car around his cul-de-sac for an astonishingly long time. His Flopacks ain't cheap and he isn't using average run of the mill caps.

 

[gotnitro]

They don't have to bulge to be bad but if they've bulged they're definitely bad.

It's true that most cap packs really don't store all that much energy. But I do have to acknowledge one brand of cap packs that do things I've never seen other cap packs do. Rumor has it that he can be a bit on the cantankerous side and he's burned quite a few bridges in the industry, but Jason Flores knows how to make cap packs. Everyone always says "yeah, they can store enough energy to power your car for about half a second" but I've seen Jason drive a 1/10 scale car on nothing but a cap pack for a solid 15-20 seconds. no, he wasn't going 100mph but he wasn't just free spinning a motor either. He drove his car around his cul-de-sac for an astonishingly long time. His Flopacks ain't cheap and he isn't using average run of the mill caps.

Problem is, they become weaker as you drive the car. The wont store that total voltage for the whole show till you "need it".. .

End of the day, for me, if a manufacturer thought extra caps are needed, they would include them with either more built into the ESC or in the package as an external pack. Some ESC's come with them but IMO, that's just RC eye candy. If you are afraid of ripple current damaging your ESC, this "might" be the band-aid. For me, If I blow up an ESC, I'm not looking for the reason if that even is the reason. I buys a new one.

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Oh, you're one of those? I kid..

 

[MrWednesday]

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I’m feeling this