FIRE
Smoke.
When I was at our local club the other week, I noticed a LOT of smoke pouring out of the hull of a fairly large working boat.
The owner had got it safely to shore and was desperately trying to unplug the battery as quickly as possible .
This reminded me that “in the good old days” we ALWAYS added an inline fuse between the battery and the ESC so that in the event of a short circuit, the fuse would blow before any more damage could occur.
Thinking about just how quickly (not) I can unplug any of my XT90 plugs and sockets has prompted me to add a 5.5mm gold plug and socket onto the wires from the ESC - the next time I go home!
The XT90’s would still be used as the usual battery connection as it is much safer than using individual sockets for regular battery connection - but in the event of an emergency, the 5.5mm gold socket wires can be pulled apart instantly.
These would also be “staggered” and not immediately beside each other (better safe than sorry !).
I will add these gold connectors into the input leads that are factory fitted to the ESC, between the speedo and the XT90 plug, so for regular use nothing would change , but in an emergency I can rapidly pull these sockets apart.
Making the receiving XT90 plug socket effectively attached to a “fly lead” would also open up other possibilities for me.
I could make another fly lead with an XT60 plug on it that I could exchange quickly so I could try a different LiPo packs with different sized XT plugs on them..etc.
If I make this simple addition to all my Classic Model Power Boats it will greatly improve the versatility and optimise the use of any of my LiPo batteries in different models (where appropriate).
The smoky working boat had been fitted with quite a large motor and a large voltage battery pack.
The small Mtronics ESC had no chance of surviving either the over-voltage battery pack or the large draw on an unsuitable motor.
A more suitable sized ESC has now been fitted and a change of motor too……..but I have to admit that it it were my model I would have increased the capacity of the ESC even more to add a greater degree of safety as it still looked “too close for comfort” for me.
Bob.
When I was at our local club the other week, I noticed a LOT of smoke pouring out of the hull of a fairly large working boat.
The owner had got it safely to shore and was desperately trying to unplug the battery as quickly as possible .
This reminded me that “in the good old days” we ALWAYS added an inline fuse between the battery and the ESC so that in the event of a short circuit, the fuse would blow before any more damage could occur.
Thinking about just how quickly (not) I can unplug any of my XT90 plugs and sockets has prompted me to add a 5.5mm gold plug and socket onto the wires from the ESC - the next time I go home!
The XT90’s would still be used as the usual battery connection as it is much safer than using individual sockets for regular battery connection - but in the event of an emergency, the 5.5mm gold socket wires can be pulled apart instantly.
These would also be “staggered” and not immediately beside each other (better safe than sorry !).
I will add these gold connectors into the input leads that are factory fitted to the ESC, between the speedo and the XT90 plug, so for regular use nothing would change , but in an emergency I can rapidly pull these sockets apart.
Making the receiving XT90 plug socket effectively attached to a “fly lead” would also open up other possibilities for me.
I could make another fly lead with an XT60 plug on it that I could exchange quickly so I could try a different LiPo packs with different sized XT plugs on them..etc.
If I make this simple addition to all my Classic Model Power Boats it will greatly improve the versatility and optimise the use of any of my LiPo batteries in different models (where appropriate).
The smoky working boat had been fitted with quite a large motor and a large voltage battery pack.
The small Mtronics ESC had no chance of surviving either the over-voltage battery pack or the large draw on an unsuitable motor.
A more suitable sized ESC has now been fitted and a change of motor too……..but I have to admit that it it were my model I would have increased the capacity of the ESC even more to add a greater degree of safety as it still looked “too close for comfort” for me.
Bob.
Never too old to learn
Liked by RNinMunich and DJW