WTF HAPPENED

[Greengaunja]

I'm not worried. My LHS will do whatever they can to get me running again. Even talked with another customer who will sell a Max 6 dirt cheap if warranty doesn't happen(he went up to Max 5 and has the 6 sitting around doing nothing). Now I only have one question:
Is there a badge/banner for those of us who survive this stuff?
If not, there should be. Lol

I remember my 185 ESC fire. Man did this rig stink of fire for months. Stunk up the whole house. I sent it back to HH in the original box and placed rig inside a large inner garbage bag. When I dropped it off at UPS they even asked why it stinks. Sealed and all. Even after HH took it back and replaced parts costing as much as a whole new Noto. It still had the smell. Hopefully none of your upgrade parts were compromised. HH is not liabe for that damage unfortunately. They wont even consider a damaged Lipo their responsibility. They asked me to remove all of my upgrades and send as is without them. They then sent me it back with all new OE parts as a complete running truck. Had extra parts as a result. HH did right by me.

All other parts are fine. I will just need to take it all apart and give it a cleaning. And yeah, the smell. I can still smell it in my truck and it was in the box and now at the lhs. The soot is unbelievable

That's washed with my automotive hand cleaner too.

 

[jkflow]

Banner idea:

Eligible if Police or Firetruck where en route or the event caused enough carnage to rally a crowd of 5.
Last, First and social# are required as proof (or equivalent in other countries)

 

[Greengaunja]

Woody make it happen!
Gaunja, Green. 123 456 789

 

[Edge71]

DAM IT !!!! SO SORRY. well now got a reason to rebuild

 

[SrC]

The best part of all of this is that no one was burned or injured. Apparently you had it under control fast. Its hard to explain what you experience, but we see this happen to others, and until it happens to you personally, it truly is humbling. The fire risk is real. And you jump into action right away. Hopefully being safe about it. Containing it etc. Being near gas pumps etc.

 

[Tigershark1956]

When people ask about my hobby the one thing I tell them is it's better than full-size cause when sh*t goes wrong it doesn't cost nearly as much as a full-size rig. Sorry that it all went south but one way or another you can rebuild and you won't have to remortgage the house. Looked like a nice rig too..

 

[*420+3RC*]

The best part of all of this is that no one was burned or injured. Apparently you had it under control fast. Its hard to explain what you experience, but we see this happen to others, and until it happens to you personally, it truly is humbling. The fire risk is real. And you jump into action right away. Hopefully being safe about it. Containing it etc. Being near gas pumps etc.

@Greengaunja still gotta step it up. Can't remember name now but 1 guy took out almost a whole big toe

 

[Greengaunja]

DAM IT !!!! SO SORRY. well now got a reason to rebuild

"THE GREAT RE RE REBUILD!" Lmao

The best part of all of this is that no one was burned or injured. Apparently you had it under control fast. Its hard to explain what you experience, but we see this happen to others, and until it happens to you personally, it truly is humbling. The fire risk is real. And you jump into action right away. Hopefully being safe about it. Containing it etc. Being near gas pumps etc.

So true. So true. I wasnt sure what I was dealing with when I grabbed it and stuck my fingers between body and fenders to shut it off. And when I took the body off, left it for over an hour didn't even attempt to remove battery(the rc isn't worth whatever could happen if second blew up). The officer approached it until I told him there was a possibility of the second lipo going off. By this point I already had my fire extinguisher from my truck ready.
That's just it. I expected an explosion but got the slow hot burn instead. And im very surprised the second didn't go up. It even looks usable, although I'm chucking it. Can't ever trust it.

 

[Greengaunja]

Never ever ever EVER turn the receiver on without the transmitter being on first. Just like @jondilly1974 stated.
Never seen carnage like this but not unheard of. 99% of the time there is no issue turning on the receiver standalone, an additional 0.9% of the time you just see some small movements. You are in the exception phase.
My educated guess, the ESC/receiver could not process the bind process and interpreted it as full throttle. Full throttle into an obstacle caused lipo damage and the rest is the smoke fest.
Unless they have fire damage, your electronics might still be ok but don't just blindly plug everything back in.
Inspect everything first.
Test the receiver just with a servo connected. Ideally with a standalone BEC or different ESC.
Test the ESC with a 2 or 3S low C lipo and make damn sure that you can disconnect it quickly. No motor attached, nothing should happen and you won't hear any beeps, just a red LED flashing.
Last, try the motor with this same ESC. Now you should hear beeps etc.

My guess, they will all work just fine but do all this outside your rig and physically outside the house.

A more knowledgeable friend I met through a local rc group tested. Almost EXACTLY as you said. Except he lifted it on his workstand(bolted to table) clamped chassis down, and hooked it up to 3s. *Turned radio on* looked at me and said, "see? I turned radio on first even though it's safe now" lol then turned on esc. Servo worked. Esc flashed us all sorts of stuff. He said based on what he knows and response when pulling trigger, esc is fine. But motor would not turn and he said either burned out rotors, lvc(esc was flashing lvc but stopped momentarily when throttle applied), melted motor-esc leads, or not enough juice to turn motor.
I'm a firm believer in POOP HAPPENS. And usually for damn good reasons. Like teaching me not to get comfortable or not to skip proper start up procedures just because odds seem low for accidents or it always happens to that guy and not you.
Last night, I was "that guy". Hopefully fellow noobs read this and see motivation to not be "that guy" either.
Lessons learned:
Follow proper start up procedures.
Make sure forward and reverse paths are clear(I was lucky)
Make it a rule to keep the rc clear of people.
Buy and store a fire extinguisher(mines for work but all the same, the only reason the firefighters didn't embarass me is the officer saw I had one)
All those videos of guys getting burning batteries out? They got lucky. I bet there are more who burned or hurt themselves. The rc isn't worth it. You are.

 

[jkflow]

Yes, that 2nd lipo in your picture doesn't look safe. The silver cover of the individual cell is compromised. Discharge it all the way to zero, clip the leads once complete and twist the wires together for a complete short.
If curious, you can slice a pack open at that time and see how it looks on the inside, many layers of laminated carrier material with impregnated lipo material.
Only do this after it is fully discharged, though. They are harmless in that state and nothing bad can happen, wear some gloves though.
At least you get a free lesson on lipo construction out of it. That silver plastic material is tough and holds everything under control.

After above, you can simply throw it in the trash.

 

[Greengaunja]

Charger won't discharge to zero(I believe). I follow the old school way. Storage charge as low as possible, clip leads(one wire clipped high a one low, and throw it in a bucket of a warm water and salt mixture for 24 hours.

 

[rc_bc3]

Charger won't discharge to zero(I believe). I follow the old school way. Storage charge as low as possible, clip leads(one wire clipped high a one low, and throw it in a bucket of a warm water and salt mixture for 24 hours.

You can discharge it completely by wiring the lipo up to a light bulb. I soldered 2 wires onto the a bulb and an EC5 connector on the other end to plug up to the battery. I have heard of the salt water method but have never tried it. I'm sure either will work. Sorry to hear about this unfortunate incident. Sucks, I know but thankfully no one was injured. Good luck with the rebuild!

 

[Greengaunja]

You can discharge it completely by wiring the lipo up to a light bulb. I soldered 2 wires onto the a bulb and an EC5 connector on the other end to plug up to the battery. I have heard of the salt water method but have never tried it. I'm sure either will work. Sorry to hear about this unfortunate incident. Sucks, I know but thankfully no one was injured. Good luck with the rebuild!

You know, I actually really like this idea. Sometimes simple truly is best. In my line of work, I'm usually coming with ideas on how to improve existing ideas, materials, engineering etc. So I've been inspired to take your idea and circumvent the possibility of the bulb filament breaking by simply soldering a pigtail socket to an EC5 connection(can change bulb easily now). As long as it's put somewhere where if it did explode, it wouldn't harm anything or anyone. The only real advantage the way I was told to do it is if it does explode, nothing burns as it is immersed in water. The bulb way is also portable and small enough to keep in any rc tool kit.

 

[Greengaunja]

Starting to think the best way to get a refund is to not ask for one. Wrote Zee and asked about hardcase high burst 4s lipos and sent pic explaining why. Even stated it was likely a failsafe failure. Just got this email response:

I think they misunderstood. I was asking for a better hardcased option recommendation.

 

[jkflow]

I'm using a simple load resistor from amazon, careful they they do get hot. Any will work in the 5Ohm 100W range. Keep in mind this doesn't have to be pretty for killing a lipo.

Saltwater is just bad and doesn't do it's job well, it goes back to 'neutralizing' the lithium blablabla but actually does nothing. Yes, saltwater is somewhat conductive and drains it that way, but it's messy and outdated imho. Wrong mix of salt and you are left with a high charge, plus you have to remove wire insulation to get some metal surface to conduct.
Lightbulb is ok but I'm clumsy and doing this outside will break them.
My recent experience, I hardcase lipo swelled up to 2x it's size, do it outside and you have no worries. That one looked like it would pop. The other was 'peaceful', same brand etc i.e. this is not predictable.

https://smile.amazon.com/WEIJ-Alumi...rds=resistor+5+ohm+100w&qid=1630588877&sr=8-3

 

[SrC]

Starting to think the best way to get a refund is to not ask for one. Wrote Zee and asked about hardcase high burst 4s lipos and sent pic explaining why. Even stated it was likely a failsafe failure. Just got this email response:View attachment 167013View attachment 167012
I think they misunderstood. I was asking for a better hardcased option recommendation.

Similar happened to me with a 2s 1200 TX lipo for my Radiolink. Bad out the box, never even charged yet, balance lead connected and sparked with my lipo testor. That sweet of smell lipo emitted. Then puff of smoke. Tossed real quick to my BBQ. AMZ issued a refund after seller was also emailed. Then I recieved another Lipo out of no where after I was refunded already. I didnt even want another. Didn't trust getting the same again. New one is just fine.

 

[Greengaunja]

I'm using a simple load resistor from amazon, careful they they do get hot. Any will work in the 5Ohm 100W range. Keep in mind this doesn't have to be pretty for killing a lipo.

Saltwater is just bad and doesn't do it's job well, it goes back to 'neutralizing' the lithium blablabla but actually does nothing. Yes, saltwater is somewhat conductive and drains it that way, but it's messy and outdated imho. Wrong mix of salt and you are left with a high charge, plus you have to remove wire insulation to get some metal surface to conduct.
Lightbulb is ok but I'm clumsy and doing this outside will break them.
My recent experience, I hardcase lipo swelled up to 2x it's size, do it outside and you have no worries. That one looked like it would pop. The other was 'peaceful', same brand etc i.e. this is not predictable.

https://smile.amazon.com/WEIJ-Alumi...rds=resistor+5+ohm+100w&qid=1630588877&sr=8-3

Use an led bulb. Almost unbreakable

Similar happened to me with a 2s 1200 TX lipo for my Radiolink. Bad out the box, never even charged yet, balance lead connected and sparked with my lipo testor. That sweet of smell lipo emitted. Then puff of smoke. Tossed real quick to my BBQ. AMZ issued a refund after seller was also emailed. Then I recieved another Lipo out of no where after I was refunded already. I didnt even want another. Didn't trust getting the same again. New one is just fine.

Nice!

 

[jkflow]

Use an led bulb. Almost unbreakable!

True, but due to low wattage it will take a year to drain . Not even sure if they would actually do anything, they might have a minimum turn on unlike the old style bulbs.

 

[AIan]

Luckily the truck didn’t head to the gas pumps ️ 🏎
Sry for your loss

 

[Jon NC RC]

A more knowledgeable friend I met through a local rc group tested. Almost EXACTLY as you said. Except he lifted it on his workstand(bolted to table) clamped chassis down, and hooked it up to 3s. *Turned radio on* looked at me and said, "see? I turned radio on first even though it's safe now" lol then turned on esc. Servo worked. Esc flashed us all sorts of stuff. He said based on what he knows and response when pulling trigger, esc is fine. But motor would not turn and he said either burned out rotors, lvc(esc was flashing lvc but stopped momentarily when throttle applied), melted motor-esc leads, or not enough juice to turn motor.
I'm a firm believer in POOP HAPPENS. And usually for damn good reasons. Like teaching me not to get comfortable or not to skip proper start up procedures just because odds seem low for accidents or it always happens to that guy and not you.
Last night, I was "that guy". Hopefully fellow noobs read this and see motivation to not be "that guy" either.
Lessons learned:
Follow proper start up procedures.
Make sure forward and reverse paths are clear(I was lucky)
Make it a rule to keep the rc clear of people.
Buy and store a fire extinguisher(mines for work but all the same, the only reason the firefighters didn't embarass me is the officer saw I had one)
All those videos of guys getting burning batteries out? They got lucky. I bet there are more who burned or hurt themselves. The rc isn't worth it. You are.

First, sorry this happened, glad nobody got hurt.

Second, I think a banner is a great idea to reinforce safety to all of us, especially those climbing on board recently to enjoy this hobby.

Hope the warranty pulls thru.....I have the very same batteries.....

Things like this can happen without reason or warning....