Koby 70 fire

[prototype3a]

Well, tonight I just had my first ever ESC fire. I was converting my Logo600 to lightweight low headspeed use. I decided to use my Koby 70 that was in my Carbon Z yak. It shutdown a few times with 9 blinks, so I was trying to determine the cause and on the third test flight it caught fire. The motor I was using came out of my lightweight Logo500 and I had not had any problems with it at all in over a year so, I'm kind of at a loss as to what the cause could have been.

[prototype3a]

Just checked the electronics and it looks like it fried everything. Fullsize vbar and all servos.

Checked the motor with a megohm meter and ran it up with another speed controller and it appears to be fine.

[Magneto]

Oh no sorry to hear this! What motor was it? LED blinks nine times
Software registered over current. Check
motor set-up and change motor if
necessary.

[prototype3a]

9 blinks during operation is..

No clear motor signal identification. Absolute RPM may have been exceeded.

Motor is a Hyperion 3026-1000. It came out of my Logo500 ultralight which has a Koby 90 on it. But either way, the current shouldn't have been much over 25-30A.

Right now, my guess is some sort of hardware problem leading to a commutation error and then a fire, BEC failure and frying my vbar and servos.

[Magneto]

12.1 Errors during operation ( Hyperion are Scorpion motors?)
Unexpected motor shut down
As long as you do not speed up after shut down the
blink code indicates the shut down reason. If more
than one error exists the error with the highest
priority is indicated.
LED blinks once
No further operation possible. Please
send the ESC with a completed service
form to KONTRONIK.
LED blinks twice
Over current. The maximum current
ability of the ESC has been reached. Use
smaller prop or less battery cells.
LED blinks three times
Overtemperature on amplifier diagnosed.
Reduce power consumption of drive
system or provide better cooling for the
ESC.
LED blinks four times
Overtemperature on BEC diagnosed.
Reduce load of BEC and improve cooling
of ESC.
LED blinks five times
Software reset during operation. Contact
KONTRONIK service.
LED blinks six times
Receiver battery with too much voltage
connected or BEC overload. Check
settings and reiver.
LED blinks seven times
Voltage peaks diagnosed. Check length
of cable, connectors, and battery.
LED blinks eight times
Extreme current peals diagnosed. Check
length of cable, connectors and motor.
Speed-up slower.
LED blinks nine times
No clear motor signal identification.
Absolute RPM may have been
exceeded.
LED blinks nine times
Software registered over current. Check
motor set-up and change motor if
necessary.

[prototype3a]

Yes. It is a hyperion branded scorpion motor.

Picked up the remains of the esc and it is weird that the cpu and bec bits are stuck to the backside of the velcro that was around it since I guess they desoldered themselves.

Wife is posting photos of it to facebook.

I feel like the lesson learned here, is that if you get the 9 blinks 'No clear motor signal identification. Absolute RPM may have been exceeded.' error then something is quite wrong if you're no where near absolute rpm. I was thinking motor lead routing problem or external BEC causing issues. I wasn't expecting the ESC to catch fire.

[prototype3a]

[prototype3a]

I reinstalled the 3026-1000 in my Logo 500 which has a Koby 90 but I can't test fly it today since my transmitter pack is dead. Hopefully, I can get out to test it tomorrow.

So far, it looks like the only electronic thing that survived on the 600 was the v-bar's sensor. Servos and v-bar main unit are all toast. I suspect the voltage regulator in the v-bar died and protected the sensor but I need to look into it more.

[prototype3a]

Had enough charge on the transmitter to get a test hop in on the 500 and the 3026-1000 and koby 90 performed flawlessly.

[Wh1teAfr1can]

You were running an external bec? You had all the red wires from the esc disconnecred?

[prototype3a]

I was for the first two test hops and yes. On the third I removed it to see if noise from the external bec was causing problems.

[prototype3a]

The thing I still can't wrap my head around is that the Koby 70 was installed in my Carbon-Z Yak, so it's not like it had been sitting on the shelf for a year unused or something. I had just flown the CZ Yak a few weeks ago with no problems. How does an ESC go from working correctly, to failing in flames like that?

[Wh1teAfr1can]

sound like there was a short somewhere on the RC side. that happened when you changed back over to the internal BEC.

[prototype3a]

I believe the problem was there all along and was manifesting itself as 'no clear back emf' error. The motor clearly wasn't the problem since it has worked and still works fine with my Koby 90.

Switching to the internal BEC was as simple as unplugging my BEC and reinserting the red pin on the Koby throttle lead.

[lorenb]

my koby 90 died, just change the wires for the proper turn of the motor and the koby 90 dies, goes into 2 blink led, the last kontronik product for me

[prototype3a]

I sold my Koby 90 and ProgDisc soon after that fire.

I still have my fingers crossed that Hobbywing eventually adds proper Jeti Mezon type telemetry to their ESCs.

[Wyno]

I had a koby 70 go up in flames last year on my goblin 380 while in mid air. Lost all control in flight and it crashed in a tree. Had to sit there and watch it burn up for a long 30 minutes. $1200 lost!!!!!! At least you still got your airframe.