Solved ESC problems

[Gold Max]

Hi I just bought the tiny trainer and all the electronics after a couple flights I started having problems with the motor. The motor would just go back and forth after some research I discovered it month be the mofets I opened up my esc and saw that this one connector was soldered wierd is this supposed to be like thisl

 

[ElectriSean]

If that solder blob is bridging the pins on the IC then no, it's not supposed to be like that.

 

[Gold Max]

Ok that’s all I needed to know thanks so much

 

[luke1350a]

make sure ur ESC does not overheat

 

[Gold Max]

Ok will do is it easier to just buy a new esc or to fix the mofets

 

[luke1350a]

well if you have any experience with soldering i would have a go but otherwise just opt for a new one, its probably damaged if you have tried to use it already and they are only about $9

 

[DamoRC]

So I would check a couple of other things first.

Although the soldering job on the ESC is horrible, its not necessarily wrong. These mosfet chips tend to have one side as a common drain. On the other side, three of the pins are common source and one pin is gate. From a little googling, it looks like the pins that are bridged are the common drain, so they are all connected internally in the chip and there is no problem with the pins being bridged with solder.

Things to check are the bullet connectors (both on the motor side and the ESC side). These can break but the heat shrink hides the break so, holding the wire, give the bullet connector a nice tug.

 

[Merv]

The motor would just go back and forth

It could be a bad ESC as you have suggested.
I agree with @DamoRC, it could also be a bad solder joint on one of the bullet connectors. Give them a tug to see if they will pull of the wires.

 

[DamoRC]

It could be a bad ESC as you have suggested.
I agree with @DamoRC, it could also be a bad solder joint on one of the bullet connectors. Give them a tug to see if they will pull of the wires.

Yep - no denying it could be the ESC is shot, but its likely not because of that solder joint on the MOSFET.

Here is a pic of a now defunct 25A ESC I have. The nine chips in a 3 x 3 array on the left are the P-FETs - note how the drains (top pins on rows 1 and 2, bottom pins on row 3) are all tied together with a trace or solder. Also the source pins on the other side of the chip are also tied using a pretty thick solid wire. The only pins that are isolated are the gate pins. Same goes for the array of N-FETs on the right hand side, drains are tied, sources are tied, gate is separate.

 

[Gold Max]

ok, thanks, ill check all the joints I resoldered the battery connector but it still doesn't work I'll check with my local hobby store and see if they have the part. I suck at soldering so ill probably just destroy it more if i try

 

[FDS]

Did you check the connections to the MOTOR? One of those could be a dry joint and that would stop the motor working.

 

[Gold Max]

Just a quick question can I use a 30 amp esc on a plane that had a 12 amp esc

 

[Merv]

Just a quick question can I use a 30 amp esc on a plane that had a 12 amp esc

Yes, a larger ESC will work just fine.

 

[DamoRC]

Yes, a larger ESC will work just fine.

Agree with @Merv - Just remember that the ESC will be larger and heavier - might be a tight squeeze into the Tiny trainer but would be a good investment when you love into bigger motors and planes.

 

[Gold Max]

Oh ok thank you I am trying to get Warenty on the esc but if that doesn’t work I’ll by a new one

 

[Mikes]

Once my motor was doing the jittery thing and I was real disappointed because I thought had blown an ESC but it ended up being that I had too long of motor screws and one was touching the copper windings in the motor.

 

[Gold Max]

Oh that could be I’ll try and see if that is it

 

[Gold Max]

I tugged on the end of the bullet connectors as you said and 2 of them came off I was able to solder them back on and it works now
Thanks so much for your help

 

[FDS]

Often the simplest solution is the one that gets you going again. Glad to hear everything was fixed.