I used an rx pack. It's a 6V hump pack. I had the wires from the ESC intact and plug in into channel 2 while the hump pack was plug into the battery port of my futaba rx.

Well, if the polarity was ok, I guess it could have been overvoltage. A 5-cell rx pack can be close to 7v right off the charger (~1.4v/cell). Usually, the caps have some sort of safety margin so I wouldn't think that would be it.

Unless the removal of the components wasn't quite done right and a couple pads were bridged putting the full battery voltage on the BEC line. That would definitely cause the rx pack to get hot, and the voltage would be high enough to pop those caps.

BTW: the larger device does look like a cap, but the upper one looks like it might have been either resistor, cap, diode, or any two-terminal device.

hmmmm I was using 5 cell pack also close to 7v after charging but it did not puff smoke and was alble to run for 15mins before it died....


Sorry to hear bout that Lito ......

I'm leaning more towards this. It's really hard to see if there was any bridging. Heck it only takes a speck of solder bridge to components together and cause some damage.

The hump pack has about 6.5V when I check it with my Fluke.

Jeff, have you opened it up yet and see what happened inside?

Hehe this is why i suggested to use the utility knife or your surgical knife :lol:

Whatever the case, I hope CC still accepts the warranty for you.

hey Lito maybe we can send it together.... but i think they will not cover warranty...Anyone know how much will be the payment for no warranty?

They better be:angel:. I spoke with one of their reps before doing this mod just to make sure. He said, "go ahead since it's dead anyway. Just send it back if it does not work".

So I guess it's better to ask permission first :lol::party:.

It's all boxed up now ready for shipping :lol::lol::lol:.

Jeff, I'll take home some surgical knives from the hospital next time I do a MMM surgery.

Ya, I would like to know too as I have 2 units that are void of warranty...

I heard from somewhere it's USD50 no questions asked but maybe this is only relevant to the MM. Can anyone confirm ?

Regards,
Joe Ling

Yes thats the MM price, there is a big list on their support page, but the MMM isnt on there yet.

Did you do anything to them?

Yep I did the BrianG mod :whistle:

Regards,
Joe Ling

It's $75 or at least that's what I was quoted.

I tried the mod on my new dead MMM and unfortunately it didn't work for me.

I believe I did a good job, no shorts etc but something started to smoke each time I
connected a Rx pack to it. I hacked at it a little too much trying to make sure
nothing was contacting but it still looks like it should work.

I have identified the component that is smoking, its not dead yet but will be soon
if I keep trying. (marked in yellow)

Earlier, as soon as the ESC stopped workng I tried to connect to Castlelink but the
USB interface thing got hot real quick. Checking the BEC lead it showed a short between
the +/- wires so maybe theres another problem and its not repairable.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n...mm_bec_mod.jpg

Does anyone know where the factory internal bec feeds it's power into the board, so that we can "forward feed" the current from an external?