Pro-Boat ESC,propulsion loss????

[more coffee]

As the title says...

It happened last time i took my tug out ..this time it happened alot...
had lots of steering but no go..

Setup:
Rx/Tx ..Hitec Ranger III radio , HFS-03MM reciever

2 x 7.2 volt NimH battery packs 3200Mh, charged

550 can motor, 3 capacitor arrangement ,6 pole,brushed with internal fan.. Dumas dog bone style shaft, and coupling connectors.

Proboat ESC
..waterproof with reverse: 50 amp forward,20 reverse/ BEC output 6Volt,1 amp max..

All i notice is under full throttle/part throttle the motor seems to give uneven rather quick surge's ,,forward or reverse ..no different... then it stops ..
i tried running under part throttle and the same thing happened ..lost power ..
reset the power swich and go again untill it stops ...the boat has lots of snot ..

Nothing gets hot ,nothing is wet ...

Any ideas

[ropanach]

more coffee:

Have you tried to reprogram the ESC? Do you have the program instructions?
If not I scand a copy with the trouble shooters guide.

Are your capacitors, soildered on good If you lose contact with the motor can it will do all kinds of things, also does the wireing run close to the ESC this will also create a stop signal.

I hope this helps.
Roger

[more coffee]

Thanks for the reply ...yeah i went right back through the programming ...and in turn pulled out the wiring to get everything separated, tried different reciever ,pulled the Red wire of the ESC and went with a seperate battery pack, sat the motor up direct to the battery (just to eliminate a fault in the motor brush's or armature)....

Nothing ..works ..but yes the capacitor's...yeah im leaning on changing them ..any idea what Farad

[more coffee]

This is an interesting read in regard's to EMD and interference .... If nothing else it killed 5 minutes ..

http://www.johansondielectrics.com/images/stories/tech-notes/x2y/mfb/JDI_X2Y_DC_Motor_Filtering_Basics.pdf

[more coffee]

Reset the whole thing ..replaced caps , then added another filiment cap in tandem with the ceramic across the terminals ...no sputtering before it dies just kack's ..no dice :( ..

This thing has a termal shutdown right? wonder if its screwed.....
wonder how it would burn in the wood stove.. ??

[ropanach]

more coffee:

Don't give up quite yet,
You say you are useing two 7.2 Nimh battery's witch = 14.4 V. is this right. when you tried the motor dirctly to the battery did it run? Or did you run it through the ESC?

Here is the motor set up for the microfarats.

[more coffee]

Yup I am running 2x 7.2 Volt pack's ..in parallel..

And i hooked the motor directly to the battery ..no other electric's in or on the boat ..just straight out of the pipe ..

now those capacitors again ..my value's are different ...have to find some ...

Thanks for your help ....

[Ghost 2501]

the only problem I have noticed with the Proboat, is turning it on with the trottle nudged a bit off centre, the esc sends power to the rx so i have rudder control BUT the esc's motor circuit doesn't arm

[frankg]

:) All PRO BOAT speed controls have a throttle center off fail safe built into the throttle arming circuit. If the throttle is not on center (neutral or off) position, the speed control will not turn on and work. You will however had steering since the BEC circuit will be working. For the money they are a good little speed control which is really water tight which will give forward and reverse. They will not give good slow speed control response from neutral, but for a $40.00 price tag, will work very well in a great number of models and give years of trouble free running. :)

[more coffee]

I understand what you gentlemen are saying ..all though my problem is the loss of throttle while underway ..at any given time frame ..
there's nothing wrong with it on initial startup ..

[785boats]

more coffee.
Could it be over voltage? I believe they have an over voltage cutout.
I had one that would keep cutting out on two fully charged packs that measured 16.9V off the charger. If I ran some voltage out of them for a few minutes in another model (down to about 15.8V) they would then work fine Maybe try it on one pack to see if it still cuts out. If it doesn't, then try 12.0V & see what happens.
It's a long shot, but it might be the answer.

Here's something I've noticed too.
I bought two of these a few years ago & the specs stated 15.0V & 50A.
I bought one just recently & the specs now say 12.0V & 40A.
Have they only downgraded the specs, (to stop people pushing them too hard & causing failures) or have they actualy changed the internals of the ESC to lesser values?
Do you have the 15V one or the 12V one?
I haven't tried the 12V spec one on 12 cells yet & don't know if I should.
Any thoughts?
Paul.

[Ghost 2501]

m'c what voltage are you running it on, they're rated for 4.8 (4 cell) to 12v (10 cell)

[more coffee]

m'c what voltage are you running it on, they're rated for 4.8 (4 cell) to 12v (10 cell)
I am running 2x 7.2 Volt pack's ..in parallel..

[CaptLee]

MC Have the same one and it started the screwy stuff and the failed completely in the Fwd mode. swapped for the spare and problems went away, but figure it is a matter of time before have the same problem with this one. Think it is an internal fault, will replace next time with Traxxas XL-1 as it seems to keep on ticking for years.

[Ghost 2501]

m'c, that shouldn't over cook it then, i run mine on 9.6v and 8.4v depending on mood

[more coffee]

I got digging around trying to find ferrite coil's and capacitor's ..hopeing to cut down on the noise...through my bits box ..I found another Proboat ESC that i thought i had given my Dad for the Banckert kit I got him for his birthday a few years ago..(he hasnt touched it )..

preliminary results are ..it runs fine ..no issue's... next trip to the pond will tell the tale ,but its pointing in a decent direction ..

[CGAux26]

More Coffee, you have said twice that you are using two 7.2 volt batteries IN PARALLEL. That yields 7.2 volts to you motor or ESC, not 14.4 volts.
I run a Proboat ESC in my Springer, with two 6 volt SLA batteries in PARALLEL, so I am starting at about 6.4 volts to the ESC. Never had a problem (knocking on wood :eek: ). I am also running the Spektrum 2.4 GHz radio with the matching Spektrum receiver, and a speed 600 motor.

The only problem I have had is occasionally the fuse holder will get a bit of corrosion and not pass enough amps to run the motor. But this is found at the pre-underway check.

One other thing, the Spektrum instructions say to program the radio each time you turn it on by going full throttle in both directions.

[more coffee]

Floated my lil' tug with the replacement ESC ...all went well full hour of play ..and lots left ..no glitch ...

So it must be the ESC ..

Thanks for all your help ...much appreciated ..

[more coffee]

More Coffee, you have said twice that you are using two 7.2 volt batteries IN PARALLEL. That yields 7.2 volts to you motor or ESC, not 14.4 volts. I run a Proboat ESC in my Springer, with two 6 volt SLA batteries in PARALLEL, so I am starting at about 6.4 volts to the ESC. Never had a problem (knocking on wood :eek: ). I am also running the Spektrum 2.4 GHz radio with the matching Spektrum receiver, and a speed 600 motor.

The only problem I have had is occasionally the fuse holder will get a bit of corrosion and not pass enough amps to run the motor. But this is found at the pre-underway check.

One other thing, the Spektrum instructions say to program the radio each time you turn it on by going full throttle in both directions.

Yes I know ...that's why i said parallel..Felt that was explanatory.The Proboat is only rated for 12 volt..

And the fuse holder ...I used an encapsulated holder .... Now i haven't checked ..but i will for corrosion ..was considering a little dielectric grease on the spade's.... i used a 10 amp fuse.... If that motor pop's the fuse with a 40 mm prop on it ...I got bigger issue's i would think..


Dont get me wrong ...thanks for your input..

[785boats]

Sorry more coffee.
I guess I read this posted by Ropanach & it stuck in my head.

Don't give up quite yet,
You say you are useing two 7.2 Nimh battery's witch = 14.4 V. is this right. when you tried the motor dirctly to the battery did it run? Or did you run it through the ESC?

Should have read your answer more carefully. My bad. :o
Glad to see you've found the problem.
Cheers.
Paul.

[more coffee]

Zalright... :)

[boaterguy]

guys, what is the minimum voltage for this, i don't want to burn it out, could i test it on 12 volts or will that fry it?

[mfr02]

The last time I had something like this it was muck and wear on the battery contacts. This resulted in the bad contact heating in use and cutting the supply to the rest of the boat, which restarted when it cooled down a bit again.

[more coffee]

You know ..over the past few weeks that ESC has got me thinking ..

I think i Know what I did to goof it up ..Initially i had used servo reversing to get the motor spinning the right way,the motor isn't timed so forward/reverse its all the same..
By doing that the ESC was continually in reverse mode ...I switched everything the right way then set the RX/TX servo switch to normal when i was trouble shooting before sending it across this board

I'm not about to try and replicate the setup to see if i can wreck another ESC ..but i do believe that it was me and my excitement and laziness that goofed this ESC up..