Kraton Runaway Kraton - Radio interference or faulty electronics?

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GraniteVorteksKraton

GraniteVorteksKraton

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Arrma RC's
  1. Granite
  3. Vorteks
I went for a run today near a search and rescue operation that has heaps of cb radio antennas. As soon I turned the Kraton on, it just took off and was steering by itself. It landed in a heap of grass with wheels still spinning. I picked it up and turned it off. I waited a few minutes and checked everything. I turned it back on and it took off again with steering locked full left, around and around it went. I tried to steer it, no luck. I gave it a burst of throttle and it seemed to respond to my trigger squirts. I then switched it off again. I checked everything again. Everything seemed fine. I turned it back on. Steering immediately locks full left but this time it didn't take off. I could squeeze the trigger and get response from the throttle but I had no steering. I could then smell the burning electronics smell so I quickly ripped off the Kraton body and noticed the servo was smoking so I disconnected the battery. I just knew the servo was now fried. I was p***ed off so I took it back home. I pulled the servo out and found two burnt holes on either side of the servo. Here's some photos. I'm just wondering could a dodgy servo have affected the ESC to make the car take off the way it did? Or could Sea search and rescue radio towers have interfered with the ESC and made the car take off and mess with the steering?

I was quite concerned about the powerful Kraton taking off the way it did, especially that there people and kids nearby. The Kraton could have ploughed into someone's ankles. Anyway, I will now need a new servo upgrade and I hope that the ESC isn't fried too.

Can anyone recommend a decent servo upgrade?
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Thanks. I will checkout the link although several hours ago I purchased a Savox 1268sg from eBay. I just couldn't wait and becuase I couldn't find anything soecific for the Kraton I just done a Google search for 1/8 truggy recommendation's and the 1268sg was mentioned so I just purchased one.

I pulled apart the stock Kraton servo and it was cooked for sure. But I'm wondering if the radio interference from the sea search and rescue command centre caused something in the electronics. Even after I fried the Kraton servo, I was running my slash 2wd and I was getting interference on my slash. On so!e roll overs, the wheels would randomly spin. It's happened a few times at this place near the sea search and rescue radio towers but I have never experienced these interference issues anywhere else. I also had some Axial crawlers just take off suddenly near these towers. It's concerning bit its a good spot.

Here's some pics of the inside of my stock Kraton servo after it fried. My hands still smell of the burnt plastic smell and I have showered and washed my hands several times. That smell is just toxic. I last touched this stuff over 8 hrs ago and the smell is on the as n of my fingers. So toxic.

Damn.. Can't post a photo. It's taken several attempts but they won't upload
 
I think I should test the ESC with an old servo just to make sure the ESC isn't frying the servo? Especially since it all began with the ESC making the car take off by itself with no help from the remote control. I don't wanna chuck a new servo in only to have the ESC fry it like this one
 
Seems odd there would be interference, but then again, I have no idea what frequencies they use, or maybe it's a case of the signal being so strong right there that it's interfering with your Tx's tiny signal. Might be time to give up on that location for RCs, especially if your other RCs are also experiencing this random type behavior. It's a good thing that it didn't home in on anyone and take them out. I can only imagine what kind of damage a Kraton at full throttle could do to someone's legs.
 
Operator7G said:
Seems odd there would be interference, but then again, I have no idea what frequencies they use, or maybe it's a case of the signal being so strong right there that it's interfering with your Tx's tiny signal. Might be time to give up on that location for RCs, especially if your other RCs are also experiencing this random type behavior. It's a good thing that it didn't home in on anyone and take them out. I can only imagine what kind of damage a Kraton at full throttle could do to someone's legs.
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Thanks for your reply. Yeh I thought about not going there but its a great spot that's only two minutes from home. Your right, I should go to another spot but being so close will make me take the risk even though I don't want to fry my electrics. Im just waiting for my new Savox servo from eBay to turn up. I just hope it doesn't hit someone in the leg or catch fire haha. I was actually filming when it took off on its own. I havnt watched the footage yet but it did narrowly miss a bike rider. Im not sure the video will be usable because I had it attached to my controller and all I could think of while it was filming was running after the Kraton so I could switch it off.
 
That's a great action shot! Yeah, that spot does look pretty tempting. Is there another spot maybe further up the coast?
 
Operator7G said:
That's a great action shot! Yeah, that spot does look pretty tempting. Is there another spot maybe further up the coast?
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Just watch some YouTube videos on soldering, you will be right. Soldering wires is the easiet part of soldering. I've been soldering things for over 20 years now. I still have a scar on my arm from hot solder falling on my arm when I was soldering wires underneath my first real car.
 
I think I'll start with a 9V battery lead, some wires, and an LED and see how that goes. I figure my multimeter should tell me if the solder joint is worth a flip.
 
Operator7G said:
I think I'll start with a 9V battery lead, some wires, and an LED and see how that goes. I figure my multimeter should tell me if the solder joint is worth a flip.
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Just make sure the iron is hot and hold the iron on the unsoldered wire for a few seconds to heat the wire, then when you place the solder onto the heated wire, the solder will melt into it and keep applying the solder until all the wire is coated in solder. Try to make sure the wires don't move while the solder is liquefied. You'll be right
 
Here's a photo of my Granite at the spot where I sometimes get radio interference. As you can see, its a good open area. Perfect for the Kraton too
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