Neon_Dave
05-07-2006, 07:45 PM
I have had one of the weirdest days ever today...
Let's start at the beginning. Me and my friend agreed to see each other, and we had all 6 of our packs charged up and ready to go. We go outside for a run with the cars, and we meet some people who we started talking to. They were telling us about how they also had tamiya RC's back when they were kids. Anyways, at one point I see a big splash of water around my car. Yep. Water. A big puddle, actually. I drove back all the way to me (with no problems) and quickly turned everything off. Me and my friend went home (he also stripped his diff case on his TC4 -- a curb was involved;) ). I sat down and tested everything once we were at home, and sure enough, the servo was glitching and the motor just went full throttle, the moment I plugged the ESC in. Whether it was on or off, it didn't matter. The motor was getting full power. So I decided to stick it on my computer fan cooling stand I made and sit it out.
Then, we went out to the park with his radioshack monster truck to tear up some sand ( :p ). We had a nice idea, to drive down slides. It was all fun, and later we went at a local construction site and drove around there.
When we came home, I decided to plug everything back into my TC3 and see if it would work. The esc powered up fine, servo centered, motor worked on command (big releif... an LRP IPC V7.1 would have cost quite a bit to replace, and I would never stop kicking myself about it frying) So we still had 2 packs each charged up, and we decided to go out for another session in the local church parking lot.
Now it gets interesting.... (I'm still laughing to myself as I type this with my hurting fingers:rolleyes: )
I just finished soldering a pack back together, put the new plugs on, and headed outside. I put the battery in my pocket, and about halfway up the stairs I hear a loud buzzing and snapping sound, and feel a rapidly increasing temperature on my leg :eek: . I instantly realize the batteries (a 6 cell pack) are shorting out. Big time. I look down, to witness my pants on fire (lol :D ) and blue smoke billowing out of my pocket where the batteries were located(at this point, I was shouting words similar to "firetruck") Instinctively, I quickly reach into the pocket to pull out the batteries. That probably wasn't very smart. I felt a huge jolt and my fingers started throbbing with pain. On second instinct, I rip my pants off and launch them down the stairs. After the smoke and zapping subsides, I call for my dad's help, and we cautiously (me in my underwear) take out the batteries. They are not heating up anymore, but are still burning hot. I reach into my melted pocket and pull out the wire. Imagine the worst possible condition a wire can be in. That's about right ;) . Then, upon closer inspection, I look around, and the plugs that were on the wires are nowhere to be found. I think for a bit, then slowly feel around my pocket. Yep. There they are, scorched, blackened, deformed badly and soldered to the inside of my pocket :D I shove everything onto my homemade CPU fan cooling rig and let it cool down enough to be able to inspect it.
Me and my dad were laughing our head off when we realized what just happened. I looked at my fingers, they were scorched nicely and I lost the feeling on my left hand middle finger's tip. Nice. I was still shaking, as I still did not completely come to my senses, from the shock and forced instinctive launching of objects :p
At the time we had guests over, so my parents, they, and my friend were laughing their ***es off watching me run around in my underwear, swearing, flailing a burning pair of pants around.
Every few minutes my finger throbs with pain, and then I think about what happened today and have a good laugh. That finger will be sore in the morning, and probably for the next few days :rolleyes: As for the batteries, I have no idea if they still work or not, but they are blackened and a bit deformed, but who knows?
The moral of the story? I'll let you decide ;)
Even as I type this my fingers still hurt, but it's a story too funny to not share.
:) :) :)
Cheers,
-Dave
Let's start at the beginning. Me and my friend agreed to see each other, and we had all 6 of our packs charged up and ready to go. We go outside for a run with the cars, and we meet some people who we started talking to. They were telling us about how they also had tamiya RC's back when they were kids. Anyways, at one point I see a big splash of water around my car. Yep. Water. A big puddle, actually. I drove back all the way to me (with no problems) and quickly turned everything off. Me and my friend went home (he also stripped his diff case on his TC4 -- a curb was involved;) ). I sat down and tested everything once we were at home, and sure enough, the servo was glitching and the motor just went full throttle, the moment I plugged the ESC in. Whether it was on or off, it didn't matter. The motor was getting full power. So I decided to stick it on my computer fan cooling stand I made and sit it out.
Then, we went out to the park with his radioshack monster truck to tear up some sand ( :p ). We had a nice idea, to drive down slides. It was all fun, and later we went at a local construction site and drove around there.
When we came home, I decided to plug everything back into my TC3 and see if it would work. The esc powered up fine, servo centered, motor worked on command (big releif... an LRP IPC V7.1 would have cost quite a bit to replace, and I would never stop kicking myself about it frying) So we still had 2 packs each charged up, and we decided to go out for another session in the local church parking lot.
Now it gets interesting.... (I'm still laughing to myself as I type this with my hurting fingers:rolleyes: )
I just finished soldering a pack back together, put the new plugs on, and headed outside. I put the battery in my pocket, and about halfway up the stairs I hear a loud buzzing and snapping sound, and feel a rapidly increasing temperature on my leg :eek: . I instantly realize the batteries (a 6 cell pack) are shorting out. Big time. I look down, to witness my pants on fire (lol :D ) and blue smoke billowing out of my pocket where the batteries were located(at this point, I was shouting words similar to "firetruck") Instinctively, I quickly reach into the pocket to pull out the batteries. That probably wasn't very smart. I felt a huge jolt and my fingers started throbbing with pain. On second instinct, I rip my pants off and launch them down the stairs. After the smoke and zapping subsides, I call for my dad's help, and we cautiously (me in my underwear) take out the batteries. They are not heating up anymore, but are still burning hot. I reach into my melted pocket and pull out the wire. Imagine the worst possible condition a wire can be in. That's about right ;) . Then, upon closer inspection, I look around, and the plugs that were on the wires are nowhere to be found. I think for a bit, then slowly feel around my pocket. Yep. There they are, scorched, blackened, deformed badly and soldered to the inside of my pocket :D I shove everything onto my homemade CPU fan cooling rig and let it cool down enough to be able to inspect it.
Me and my dad were laughing our head off when we realized what just happened. I looked at my fingers, they were scorched nicely and I lost the feeling on my left hand middle finger's tip. Nice. I was still shaking, as I still did not completely come to my senses, from the shock and forced instinctive launching of objects :p
At the time we had guests over, so my parents, they, and my friend were laughing their ***es off watching me run around in my underwear, swearing, flailing a burning pair of pants around.
Every few minutes my finger throbs with pain, and then I think about what happened today and have a good laugh. That finger will be sore in the morning, and probably for the next few days :rolleyes: As for the batteries, I have no idea if they still work or not, but they are blackened and a bit deformed, but who knows?
The moral of the story? I'll let you decide ;)
Even as I type this my fingers still hurt, but it's a story too funny to not share.
:) :) :)
Cheers,
-Dave