Epoxy *shouldn't* short anything out. Did you system-check it prior to potting? Let me know if you figure anything out, I need to wire up my new BC control board and test switches soon, and the directions and labels aren't the most clear.
no, you misunderstand, the receiver is the ONLY thing working in conjunction right now. power: good ESC: good Receiver: Good Motors: Good rudder: good Guns: No Pump: No Power to board nominal: Yes this indicates that power is running from the battery, to the board, and from the board to the ESC(from which the receiver gets power) The gun and pump control lines are NOT working.
yeah, I did several system checks over the past two weeks, even have a video of the last one. Every function check was perfect. the board was fully functional BEFORE potting.
I sent a message to BC to see if they have any tips on this trainwreck. Hopefully I hear back from them. Seriously though, has anyone ever heard of this happening before? does anyone have ANY ideas? I am seriously considering giving the board an Acetone bath tomorrow evening to get this garbage off as a hail mary if there isn't a logical solution. Not like the board is worth anything with it not able to perform, so if the epoxy comes off without ruining the board and it works, cool. If not, then I'll just have to see how fast BC can get a board up here, and E6000 that sucker when it arrives.
did you understand what I said about the jumper? It's the little black 'tab' next to the 3 servo wires leaving the board. it should be removed. If you cant remove it then pull the red wire that goes from ESC to the receiver
What's the aim of doing that? The receiver power is running fine. the ESC is running fine. Does removing that tab do something to the gun and pump servo wires? Like, I'm pulling it right now, but what's the magic?
okay, I don't think we're on the same page right now. the ESC/receiver/power trans is fine. everything else (guns, pump) is not. I pulled that little jumper and there was no effect. the problem is not in the power. power is literally the only thing that is working.
sometimes you should press the 'i believe' button you always only want 1 thing powering the receiver troubleshooting electronics via forum can be difficult. I have never had a component failure from potting you said you tested each channel on the receiver, but if you haven't, I would recommend doing that with a spare servo or something. I would also try shifting the channels around (plug in wires from the board into different channels on receiver)
I watched marty go through 4+ ESCs last year because he had two things powering the receiver. It would work fine for a bit and then go up rather spectacularly. You are correct in that it might be unrelated to your pump/gun issue, but it is still a cause for immediate concern/correction
Like I said, the receiver is fully functional. I just checked every channel for function for a third time, and they're all working just fine when I plug my servo into them. this looks to be something on that side of the board shorting it out. From the appearance of the circuit, it looks like the power lines running from the battery to the ESC etc are wired and then shielded for what I presume to be high amp loads compared to the rest of the board. I'm guessing that the other circuit lines printed into the board are not as resilient, and so more susceptible to shorts I've checked for any foreign debris in the epoxy, and there is none.
do you have a way to check/change the travel settings on the transmitter? a lot of times if the travel is not far enough the boards wont work, and adjusting it slightly can fix the issue. It might be unrelated to your current issues, but in general this is why I recommend getting components (transmitter in this case) that a lot of other people use, because they will know how to adjust the settings very quickly.
yeah I have the travel settings in the mixer pegged out at 100%. this setting worked fine not ten minutes before I put on the epoxy when I did the pre-pour functions check
Ill leave the troubleshooting to Kevin, But if your ESC is providing power to the receiver than Kevin is 100% correct in telling you to pull the jumper as per the directions from BC state the same. (Don't ask why Drink Kevin dry "of info") I have the same board and I tried it with my brushed and brushless set up, brushed -no jumper, esc provides power, No problem,, Brushless - jumper,,Board provides power not the esc, No problem. so far they work like a charm. When I hard wire all my connectors and pot the board ill follow up with you. Good luck Craig
Brian, I got your email and saw this thread there are a few things that will prevent operations. these are this possible fixes Max out your travel end points via the TX for the Aileron and Elevator these are your cannons Pump, either your ch 5 or 6. max out only 1 side of your travel adjustment set the other side to (0) zero Pump channel you may have to use the Servo Reverse function in TX The circuit has a safety lockout if you cannons or pump is activated when you first turn on the circuit the board will not arm(meaning not seam to work) As for Epoxy as long as you don't use hobby shop/ syringe style 5,10,20 min , or 1hr as these tend to get very hot during cure and can melt the solder on the PCB. Marine style epoxy takes many hours to cure and does not generate extreme heat in modest thicknesses.
Thanks for the responses, I messed with the radio this morning and started moving channels around, no change. However, I did notice something weird when I was checking. I took my forward solenoid, and was plugging it in to each switch to test them individually, and it was tripping as soon as the connectors touched. I figured this meant that my Transmitter switches were reversed, but this is not the case because all of the LEDs for all of the switches are tripping at once. So all of the xt plugs for the guns are shorted together. Board's toast. I'm going to dunk this guy in acetone for a couple of hours to see if I can get this garbage epoxy off of the board and fix it. In the meantime, since I have six days before I have to be on the water, looks like I'm going to have to get another board as a backup. As a side note, the above regarding epoxy type is probably something that needs to be flagged and propagated. having to get a new board due to something preventable like this is not okay.
This is why I use E6000 exclusively for waterproofing. I know it works and has never messed anything up. Sorry about your issues I wish I could have known that was gonna happen.
To be fair, you can destroy electronics with West System epoxy too. ScotchKote is still probably the best thing to use or actual electronics potting epoxy. What epoxy did you use?
Hey no worries. I'm just hoping the lesson can help somebody else in the future. I think I'll be gunshy with epoxy potting until I can get around people who have done it consistently with good results instead of pestering the crap out of Kevin and Charley from thousands of miles away. So. the problem's been identified as likely just some subpar epoxy shorting out the more delicate lines/melting the connectors. With that, corrective action can be taken. Like you said, the board I'm going to order from BC in a little bit is going to get a nice coat of E6000. I haven't acetoned this sucker yet though, so if there is a desire to do a post mortem, that's on the table still.
