Smoking capacitor on a BLX200 ESC on my Fazon

[Fazoner]

Got some real issue with my Fazon's ESC...

1. Smoke is coming from the capacitors at full throttle.
2. The engine run uneven forward and somewhat OK in reverse.
3. The motor becomes around 170 Fahrenheit/77 C, after running it a minute.
4. All cables are warm to hot. The red cable to the ESC are the hottest, it also have what it looks to be corrosion on the ESC-contact so I guess that have something to do with it.
5. The cables to the battery are a bit warm but not all the way.

Checked all the ESC-cables and connections and it looks fine. Last time I ran the it I had no issue, only broke a wheel axle... X)

Is there anything I can do or do I have to replace the entire ESC?

 

[slick2500]

Sadly short of replacing that capacitor in the esc not really anything you can do.
If you want something the same look at the Hobbywing Max8 as the BLX200 is just a rebranded Hobbywing Max8. The Castle MM2 is a good upgrade that should fit. Not really sure what other escs fit in the Fazon maybe somene with experience with the platform could chime in.

 

[WoodiE]

I agree with @slick2500, once the magical smoke is released from a capacitor there isn't anything you can do but replace it.

 

[Captain Dirt]

I agree with @slick2500, once the magical smoke is released from a capacitor there isn't anything you can do but replace it.

I keep a jar of magic smoke on my workbench. I use a syringe to carefully inject the smoke into my electronics before every run. My supply is running a bit low though, so might be time to hit up my dealer.

 

[DoNoHarm]

Got some real issue with my Fazon's ESC...

1. Smoke is coming from the capacitors at full throttle.
2. The engine run uneven forward and somewhat OK in reverse.
3. The motor becomes around 170 Fahrenheit/77 C, after running it a minute.
4. All cables are warm to hot. The red cable to the ESC are the hottest, it also have what it looks to be corrosion on the ESC-contact so I guess that have something to do with it.
5. The cables to the battery are a bit warm but not all the way.

Checked all the ESC-cables and connections and it looks fine. Last time I ran the it I had no issue, only broke a wheel axle... X)

Is there anything I can do or do I have to replace the entire ESC?

Lmao this one hits a little too close to home for me ? I used to have a Sidewinder 8th in an hpi vorza and that thing overheated so many times it was unreal (not the esc’s fault, I had 100mph gearing and drove it off road with 6s) and after awhile it would just smoke every time I started it up. It’d arm totally normally and drive perfectly fine, just a tiny bit of smoke every time I turned it on. Never had any issues with the esc lol, guess it never fully ran out of the magical smoke.

 

[Fazoner]

Alright, thank you so much for all your replies! Magic smoke

Think I should be able to change the capacitors...

Could the motor take any damage from this?

 

[slick2500]

Alright, thank you so much for all your replies! Magic smoke

Think I should be able to change the capacitors...

Could the motor take any damage from this?

Yes, if the motor gets too hot it will die.

 

[Fazoner]

Think the motor is shot to. Wheels locks when I push it forward on the floor.

 

[olds97_lss]

The motor likely won't be affected by it, but the mosfets in the esc will cook as the caps are there to normalize/store burst current. Without them doing their job, the fets work harder. Then I guess if one shorts out or something, it could take the motor out.

You could perhaps limp it along by getting an external cap pack. Odds are though, you should replace the esc.

I believe the esc is conformal coated and may be dipped in epoxy, so you likely can't desolder/replace a blown cap easily. I'm sure you could do it, but I haven't seen a BLX board to know how it's built/sealed.

I had/have an issue with my MMX in my savage overheating. I sent the log data off to castle to see what they thought and they let me know my "ripple voltage" was rippling too much. Which means either the packs or connectors or solder joint is bad causing the caps in the esc to be overworked trying to supply power. Eventually the caps will blow. Not sure if they were just trying to get me to buy castle connectors or something better than trx connectors or if it's truly an issue. If so, odd that all the x-maxx's and ERBEv1/v2's out there run the same connectors without issue. Another story for another day perhaps. Regardless, got me thinking of looking into getting a cap pack for it to see if it helped the issue.

 

[sadlerbw]

Alright, thank you so much for all your replies! Magic smoke

Think I should be able to change the capacitors...

Could the motor take any damage from this?

This shouldn’t directly damage the motor, but if the motor is overheating that will damage it. Less than 170F is generally considered safe for a motor.

There are generally three things you can kill in a sensorless brushless RC motor: the bearings can fail (heat, or debris getting into the bearings usually), the magnets can fail (over a certain temp the magnets start to permanently loose strength, or very rarely they come loose from the rotor shaft), or the insulation on the windings can fail (usually heat, or debris getting into the motor.) voltage ripple isn’t going to greatly contribute to any of those failures.

Unless you overheat them or fill them with dirt, brushless motors are pretty tolerant, electrically speaking.

 

[Fazoner]

I see i made a mistake in the error description, its the capacitors on the cables to the batteries that have been smoking.

 

[DoNoHarm]

I see i made a mistake in the error description, its the capacitors on the cables to the batteries that have been smoking.

Oh then cut em off and wire in your own

 

[olds97_lss]

Oh then cut em off and wire in your own

Yep. Remove and replace with something more robust. Clearly your using them, so just removing them moves all the load to the ESC's internal caps.

 

[Fazoner]

Thanks alot guys, got a lot of valuable information here!!!
Should not be to hard to change capacitors and take the motor apart...

 

[Fazoner]

So I picked the motor apart, which sounded like a pepper grinder btw, and it looked like this...

 

[olds97_lss]

I can't tell if your magnets broke or if that's just caked up dirt/grit.

I almost never run in dirt... seeing stuff like this reminds me I'm glad I don't! I get enough damage from grass jumps and skate parks!

 

[DoNoHarm]

That’s a cracked rotor. I’ve had many of those from my traxxas. When a motor overheats, the rotor either debonds, loses magnetism, or cracks. Most of mine crack. I’ve had a few rotors lose a chunk. Overhearing is caused by many things, but dirt creating friction in the bearings is one of those.

 

[olds97_lss]

I had a traxxas motor smoke, the velineon 3500. Was the 3rd time I ran 3S on it in my eJato. It didn't run too hot that I noticed previously. Just glad it didn't take the esc out with it. Had a lot of smoke pouring out from under the body, thought I had a lipo fire. I was running a traxxas 5000mah 3s pack in it at the time.

I don't think the motor in the ERBEv1 is traxxas, just a rebadged castle 2200kv. It's my only other "traxxas" motor.

 

[DoNoHarm]

I had a traxxas motor smoke, the velineon 3500. Was the 3rd time I ran 3S on it in my eJato. It didn't run too hot that I noticed previously. Just glad it didn't take the esc out with it. Had a lot of smoke pouring out from under the body, thought I had a lipo fire. I was running a traxxas 5000mah 3s pack in it at the time.

I don't think the motor in the ERBEv1 is traxxas, just a rebadged castle 2200kv. It's my only other "traxxas" motor.

You are correct. Erbe v1 is castle creations (wires are white yellow blue) the E Revo 2.0 has a pos Traxxas motor (fried mine didn’t take long) and the wires are black white blue. In every case except the velineon system, if there’s a yellow wire, it’s castle.