The capacitor on my 150a spectrum esc has a bulge?

[oregoncoastrc]

Hi everyone! I’ve lurked here for about 5 months and its time to introduce myself and ask for a spot of help. I grew up drooling over the rc car magazines but we were always too poor to buy one. Fast forward about 25 years and i went to pick my son up from a friends house and they were playing with his rc car….it only took about a week for me to find one for myself. A rustler 4x4 that was a blast, but was always breaking. We rocked that thing for a month or so before i wanted something bigger and more durable—enter the Outcast 6s. I love it. I love it so much within two months we added 2 more notorious‘s, and an 8s outcast during the 40 percent off sale. Anyway, one of the notorious’s has always cogged. I sent the owner of my LHS a text message asking for help and he asked some questions then never responded again. I took that as a ‘go away’ so here I am. Really bummed me out he never even bothered to write back to say he wasnt going to do anything, or to just call horizon. It’s the only hobby shop within about 2 hours of drive of me. Next time i need something i don't think I’ll be going to him… So anyway, i took the esc out of my outcast And put it into the notorious with the issues and boom, its not stutttering on hard acceleration anymore! When i went to put the esc with the suspected issues into outcast to confirm it is indeed having problems i noticed a rubbery bulge on the side of a capacitor along with what looks like melted rubber on the bottom of the heatsink. Before i turn my outcast on and run this thing i wanted to ask your opinion on whether i should even turn it on or just send it to horizon. I love the forums here and have had all of my questions answered without having to get involved but i didnt know how to search this problem. Below are the photos of what I’m talking about.

 

[Surchaufeur]

Pretty sure that is the epoxy

 

[oregoncoastrc]

Pretty sure that is the epoxy

Awesome. Thank you for the reply. If it ever stops raining today I’ll button it up and take it out for some testing.

 

[Camaroboy383]

... I would agree, looks like potting epoxy to me..

 

[Diem Turner]

When caps bulge, it's usually at the top. So I'm thinking it's probably a stray blob of affixing mass. This isn't to say that there's nothing wrong with the ESC as you said that a different ESC performed better. But I don't think there's anything wrong with that cap per se.

Welcome to AF! Great to have you aboard

 

[Camaroboy383]

If you look at the top of the cap's they have lines in them.. Those are fracture lines, they are designed to fail out the top as to not create a pressured pop when they fail..

 

[oregoncoastrc]

If you look at the top of the cap's they have lines in them.. Those are fracture lines, they are designed to fail out the top as to not create a pressured pop when they fail..

You guys rock thank you all for the quick responses…this is why i read arrma forum morning noon an night…!

 

[slick2500]

If you look at the top of the cap's they have lines in them.. Those are fracture lines, they are designed to fail out the top as to not create a pressured pop when they fail..

For the life of my I cannot remember why it is a K instead of an X though.

 

[oregoncoastrc]

For the life of my I cannot remember why it is a K instead of an X though.

Because they’re special Ks!

 

[Diem Turner]

For the life of my I cannot remember why it is a K instead of an X though.

I don't think it actually means anything. I've seen caps with an X, a T, a K or a Mercedes star. My working theory is that they're just different vent designs. Maybe it has something to do with how they're constructed internally?

 

[Tex Koder]

I don't think it actually means anything. I've seen caps with an X, a T, a K or a Mercedes star. My working theory is that they're just different vent designs. Maybe it has something to do with how they're constructed internally?

Just random embossed "controlled" stress lines that's the designated weak spots for the caps to vent 'safely'..

Hi everyone! I’ve lurked here for about 5 months and its time to introduce myself and ask for a spot of help. I grew up drooling over the rc car magazines but we were always too poor to buy one. Fast forward about 25 years and i went to pick my son up from a friends house and they were playing with his rc car….it only took about a week for me to find one for myself. A rustler 4x4 that was a blast, but was always breaking. We rocked that thing for a month or so before i wanted something bigger and more durable—enter the Outcast 6s. I love it. I love it so much within two months we added 2 more notorious‘s, and an 8s outcast during the 40 percent off sale. Anyway, one of the notorious’s has always cogged. I sent the owner of my LHS a text message asking for help and he asked some questions then never responded again. I took that as a ‘go away’ so here I am. Really bummed me out he never even bothered to write back to say he wasnt going to do anything, or to just call horizon. It’s the only hobby shop within about 2 hours of drive of me. Next time i need something i don't think I’ll be going to him… So anyway, i took the esc out of my outcast And put it into the notorious with the issues and boom, its not stutttering on hard acceleration anymore! When i went to put the esc with the suspected issues into outcast to confirm it is indeed having problems i noticed a rubbery bulge on the side of a capacitor along with what looks like melted rubber on the bottom of the heatsink. Before i turn my outcast on and run this thing i wanted to ask your opinion on whether i should even turn it on or just send it to horizon. I love the forums here and have had all of my questions answered without having to get involved but i didnt know how to search this problem. Below are the photos of what I’m talking about.View attachment 255004View attachment 255005

@oregoncoastrc

Looks like your ESC is still intact.
You'll need to give it a good cleaning before giving it a go.
Also double check its OEM cooling fan to make sure it's spinning freely and not binding in anyway.. which would cause overheating issues and leads to sporadic performance.

And, if you want to push your OC or Nortorious a bit harder then you might want to consider upgrading to a larger fan - 40mm.
I sell the custom adapters to allow for such an "enhancement" without having to cut or hack the stock fan shroud.

 

[oregoncoastrc]

Just random embossed "controlled" stress lines that's the designated weak spots for the caps to vent 'safely'..





@oregoncoastrc

Looks like your ESC is still intact.
You'll need to give it a good cleaning before giving it a go.
Also double check its OEM cooling fan to make sure it's spinning freely and not binding in anyway.. which would cause overheating issues and leads to sporadic performance.

And, if you want to push your OC or Nortorious a bit harder then you might want to consider upgrading to a larger fan - 40mm.
I sell the custom adapters to allow for such an "enhancement" without having to cut or hack the stock fan shroud.

Thanks, the fans are spinning freely and I pick the crud from the heat sinks regularly. I have a rocket 40mm fan on one of the esc’s and the bigger (50mm?) rocket fans on the motors of all the rigs. I didn’t have to do any modifications to get the 40mm to fit but I guess I only used one screw and it sits wonky but has been working well enough. What are your brackets and where should I look to find them if I change my mind on the jerry rigging?

 

[Tex Koder]

Thanks, the fans are spinning freely and I pick the crud from the heat sinks regularly.

Excellent!

I have a rocket 40mm fan on one of the esc’s and the bigger (50mm?) rocket fans on the motors of all the rigs. I didn’t have to do any modifications to get the 40mm to fit but I guess I only used one screw and it sits wonky but has been working well enough. What are your brackets and where should I look to find them if I change my mind on the jerry rigging?

Direct fitment.
No jerry rigging needed.

Here's the link to it's original design and production >
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/custom-35mm-to-40mm-fan-adapter-spektrum-firma-150a-esc.55975/

Take a look when you have some free time.

If you have any questions or need a particular modification ,feel free to PM me.