Kraton [Resolved] About ~ 30 days OLD KRATON CAUGHT FIRE (fully STOCK)

[varunkaul]

also I noticed one more issue with my kraton from day 1 ...
I could accelerate in the forward direction at very slow speeds as well as sudden fast ...

but with reverse it was not always so nor did it feel as responsive


yes what you have said is quite possible ... but Duratrax Onyx is also a sub brand of hobbico ...if the battery was a bad unit that is....... and at the same time I had the buckle around the batteries tight so that there would be no movement........ so the chances of it being my fault ..user fault....is as much as the battery being bad........ which is produced by the same company under another brand name and that doesn't exempt them from warranty liability .... but if you really ask me I don't really care anymore

So I ask, How was the previous battery you had got damaged then?

my previous topic on this still exists ...if you go look at it you can see that the damage is at the bottom of the battery and had it been the spur gear like you are trying to imply the damage should have been more vertical and more around the center than at the bottom of the battery...because the battery surely could not come in contact with the spur gear ...for where its been damaged as evident from the pic....

and as for the vertical spur blade damage on the new battery...i ll take it out from the water and post those pics as well but considering the fire i doubt it makes sense but will upload those as well in a bit...all sides.....of each battery....

 

[Mr.mark057]

IMO, the onyx batteries that Hobbico sells with there Arrma vehicles are junk. I had a similar experience with my Kraton running 14 tooth, (2) 3s 5000mah 35c soft packs. While running in the back yard for about 10 min I pulled the truck in to feel temps on the motor and such is when I noticed that both batteries we're puffed. The one was more extreme than the other but both were hot and puffed. I disconnect the batteries then and allowed to cool. I guess that was good timing on my part because any more running and I could of had the same result as Varunkaul. After the batteries cooled the most extreme puffed battery had a complete dead cell. The other cells were around 10 volts or so. I should of took pictures at the time of the extreme puffs but didn't think of it and I never did contact Tower about it.

 

[crankestein]

On such high demand applications I try to have 40c or more on the batteries. In fact my two 3S are 60-130c, always cool to the touch. The 5S is 60C minimum.

The reverse deal on the ESC can br changed in the programming settings. We have already covered this when I assisted you exchanging text messages. You had no idea where to find the information, I told you go to ARRMA site under your model and look for the download tab. It was either look it up or call ARRMA. You never took action, so any faulty ESC detection could have been prevented if you checked the programming for any issues things not working right. More than two weeks pass by and you keep cherry picking just to put the fault on someone minus yourself.

Nothing against you, I do not know you, but threads like this give a bad vibe to the company.

Like I said, EITHER the battery touched, its a possibility, that the battery went bad, more than likely, was it ARRMAs fault, I do not agree... that I know you are stumbling through half the stuff you do on the truck, yes you do... You were more than two weeks in and had no idea what a servo saver was, did not know where to find the ESC information. You were completely clueless on what a differential is and how it looked like. Demonstrated difficulty on how to open the shocks, etc... All the above we covered exchanging messages a few weeks ago and I do go them saved.

You purchased a chassis protector thinking it was a chassis...

 

[varunkaul]

Nothing against you, I do not know you, but threads like this give a bad vibe to the company.

Like I said, EITHER the battery touched, its a possibility, that the battery went bad, more than likely, was it ARRMAs fault, I do not agree... that I know you are stumbling through half the stuff you do on the truck, yes you do... You were more than two weeks in and had no idea what a servo saver was, did not know where to find the ESC information. You were completely clueless on what a differential is and how it looked like. Demonstrated difficulty on how to open the shocks, etc... All the above we covered exchanging messages a few weeks ago and I do go them saved.

the ESC settings what you are talking about have nothing to do with the reverse response not being as responsive as the front direction acceleration...
i found a youtube link long back regarding that ...which is even more better at explaining everything than the manual ...so what you are talking has no basis

all variables..etc have been covered....and the reverse response still remained the same ....so no i was not cherry picking

and as for me not knowing anything .... obviously i wouldn't know anything on day 1 of getting the car..... everyone learns over time and not in a single day.....and for what i know about rc cars today in about 35 days or so ...is quite a bit...and i haven't said i am some experienced rc car user .....are new people not supposed to take up this hobby then ?..

You purchased a chassis protector thinking it was a chassis...

i guess you need to read the texts again....i never thought the chassis protector was the chassis ...
i bought it knowing it was a chassis protector and said it would prevent scratches to an extent....and i bought it because it would look good....I NEVER THOUGHT IT WAS THE CHASSIS ..you gotta be kidding me.....if you want me to prove that i can post my conversation screenshot with the ebay seller where i have talked about the thickness of the CHASSIS PROTECTOR STICKER and how it ll stand against scratches, etc....

I don't really know what to say for you having to misinterpret what i texted....and in actuality u got it all wrong all this while..... and i was looking for information on my own too ..it doesn't mean i convey everything ...

did u feel PROUD & SMART thinking that there are PEOPLE DUMB enough to confuse chassis with a chassis protector sticker ?.. are u REALLY that shallow ?

AS for the shocks....the TOP SHOCK CAPS are HARD to open ...there are other forum topics on it as well.....servo saver..is something u come across when u have issues with steering so yes i didn't know of it initially......and many people HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THE STOCK SERVOS repeatedly...and u seem to be an experienced ARRMA FORUM user so you should be knowing that ....lol are u a GENIUS or more of a SHEEP ...

i am not trying to bring ARRMA's name down or give it a bad name .... i am talking of issues i have faced...

lol and what are you trying to prove by saying you have them SAVED... ? why should i even be afraid if you do post them ???....was some top secret information exchanged ....seriously i have no words

 

[Bigfella]

This is one reason I wanted to know if your drivetrain came into contact in any way with your battery or esc. It is hard to tell from the photos. In that case it would definitely be user error that caused the fire. However, it is not clear to me what happened. If the battery was bad it is on Tower to fix this situation. If the esc went bad (unlikey) then arrma needs to step up.

These situations are very difficult because of the complex nature of the components working together from different manufacturers and vendors. When you combine it with the possibility of POSSIBLE user error and bad circumstances it becomes a big convoluted mess.

From what I see it looks like a battery problem for sure. How that battery came to fail is another question. If the battery is strapped down using the clips and velcro straps it is unlikely that it came into contact with the drivetrain unless you had an EPIC crash that broke both battery straps. It does not appear that a big crash happened by the look of the truck. It's still intact, just burnt.

That leaves the next possibility that the battery just went critical on you (called a "run-away"). I think this is probably the most probable cause of the fire imo. Those batteries are not high quality and really can't supply enough power quickly enough. In other words these batteries really take a beating on every run. These lipo batteries are no joke......they have to be handled right and sized right for the application.......or they go boom.

This is a hard situation and I hope you can get some help. It would be great publicity for arrma to take care of you but it's Tower that probably needs to step up imo.

In the future buy SMC batteries....

I can say something else. These trucks/cars can be unpredictable even if you do everything right. They produce g forces that are insane. I had a terrible crash with my typhon. I had tie wraps on all the wires and everything was squared away properly and very secure.

The crash somehow managed to allow my battery wires into the drivetrain. How this happened I will never really know ( one tie wrap got cut or failed). Those wires were rock solid with all the tie wraps I had on them yet.........

Their is some chaos theory involved with these trucks. That's what makes them fun though.....lol

 

[varunkaul]

ya i believe its possible but yesterday while running I didn't hit anything and hence doubt that the battery's wire came into contact with the drive train but at the same time am also 99% certain that the fire started from the battery as that's where i first noticed the flame but quickly spread.... though i don't really know what to expect now...i have sent the truck in

 

[jk420]

So when I first got my Kraton I ordered the onyx 245 charger that came with 2 3s 5000mah batteries. Charged them up ran the rc until low voltage cut off but when I checked the batteries one of them was warm and puffed. Wasn't puffed much at all but I decided to check the voltage and I had one cell that was 2.2

 

[Bigfella]

Yikes! 2.2 volts means throw it away usually. My SMS battery instructions say to never charge any battery when a cell has fallen below 3v. Sounds like that one cell was bad. If it were me I would not charge that battery again......it could go boom.

 

[jk420]

This was about 2 months ago and I already have received a new one in its place. It's long gone lol. Because of this forum I learned to always check the lipos before and after...I'll sometimes check them during but I can never get the little alarms to stay put during the runs lol.

 

[Bigfella]

Awesome. I'm glad it's gone. No worries now........

 

[jk420]

Yes sir just on to more bashing now lol. We'll sort of...have to watch the front end as there is a part that's bent and it might break if I take too hard of a hit. Don't have the funds to replace it at the moment but that's not going to completely stop me

 

[varunkaul]

Like everyone here did say towerhobbies.com / Arrma Support is good....it actually is very good they are sending me free replacement Li-Pos as well as the option to upgrade..(wouldn't exactly call it an upgrade as even the KRATON is equally good, lighter, etc.) to Fazon .... just that they are designed and styled differently .... by paying the price difference between the two RC cars

Also, the Fazon's Battery comparments are separate which i believe is actually a positive point

I didn't really expect this..... to say the least I am Very Happy

 

[Steveoarrma517]

Like everyone here did say towerhobbies.com / Arrma Support is good....it actually is very good they are sending me free replacement Li-Pos as well as the option to upgrade..(wouldn't exactly call it an upgrade as even the KRATON is equally good, lighter, etc.) to Fazon .... just that they are designed and styled differently .... by paying the price difference between the two RC cars

Also, the Fazon's Battery comparments are separate which i believe is actually a positive point

I didn't really expect this..... to say the least I am Very Happy

Awesome,I happy for you. As far as a battery tip going forward. I have learned the hard way$ too. Buy more lipos then you think you need. I never run them under 3.6 volts a cell. I switch batteries out every 15ins or so with some cooling time in between for car. As far as RTR goes,means ready to replace.

 

[Bigfella]

Great news! I had a feeling it would turn out ok. Tower and Arrma try hard. They are not perfect but I think they want to be excellent. Now if Arrma could get us more reliable parts support..... I'd like to get back to buying some more of their vehicles.

 

[dpricenator]

Please tell me you decided on the Kraton. All you need are Zip ties for the battery wires.

 

[jk420]

Let them upgrade you. Then next year buy a Kraton lol. That's really awesome that they are giving you the option to upgrade on them!

 

[varunkaul]

ya...i am going ahead with the Fazon...

and maybe sometime in the future ( not anytime soon though) buy a Kraton again or maybe a v3......down the line as i still have 2 spare chassis, some spares and a set of wheels x4......

which i guess should be compatible (the kraton tyres) with a Fazon too right ? (the tyres are only different thread pattern and type but the fitment is same right)

 

[jk420]

Sweet I'm glad they took care of you. They just need to get the parts situation under control lol. P.S. IMO your making the smart choice lol.

 

[dpricenator]

Yes the tires/wheels are interchangeable.

 

[Schuey]

Whoa,. running a lipo down to 2.2.... i think the lowest i've ran mine is like 3.62..