smoke... cant be good

still green · #1 10-14-2005, 01:16 PM

Having run nitro RC for a while, i thought i would buy an xmod to run around the house. Knowing nothing about electronics, its been standard in that department till today. After looking into how to do it, I decided to add another cell, and bought a holder for a AA which because of its design will also fit a AAA nicely.
It is wired as per a diagram i found on this forum, cut the wire joining the 2 stock cell holders, and fitted it in between them. I checked to make sure that it would run without the 5'th cell in place to make sure it was wired correctly, and all was well. I fitted the 5'th AAA and ran it woithout any problems, then wondered how it would go with a 5'th AA. Everything was fine till I turned it off at the switch with all 5 cells still in place (4 AAA +1 AA) at which point smoke started coming out of the front of the xmod

I think I pulled the 5'th cell in time as it still works normaly, as far as i can tell, but im not sure why it started smoking now .. is mixing AA + AAA a big !!NO!! ?, or is my wiring messed up ? or something else ?

Please excuse my noob questions, but we all gotta start somewhere.

#2 10-14-2005, 04:37 PM

yes, mixing battery types is a big nono. If it is smoking, you probably blew the thing. If it still works, great. always keep the same type of cells.

still green · #3 10-15-2005, 08:29 AM

Well the car seems OK'ish. at first I thought the battery in the Tx was flat, but I have changed that and still have the same problem. The power seems to cut out and in, and has no range on the radio either. Dont know if this may be related to the 'burning issue' or if I have loosened something when I was adding in the fith cell

Tripod · #4 10-16-2005, 12:12 PM

Did you by any chance touch the antenna with one of your battery leads? The problem you described as well as smoke from the front tells me that the reciver inductors are fried. Thats an easy fix if thats the case. Look at the the two inductors at the end of the reciver board that the antenna lead is soldered to if they are discolored in any way they are gone. They look like little resistors, usually they are green. If they are fried I'll PM you a site to get replacements. let us know.

initialricerboy · #5 10-16-2005, 09:16 PM

why would smoke be good

still green · #6 10-17-2005, 07:55 AM

Tripod, you beat me to it, I took the boards out the other night to investigate, and found that the antenna wire had melted onto one of the components you are talking about, I replaced the antenna wire just incase it was causing the problems, but with no joy.
One of those green resistor looking guys is indeed fried, and I was hoping someone would be able to tell me what they are so I can pick a couple up to replace 'em. So spill the beans then ... what should I be asking for, and if you know of a good site to get components from I would be very thankfull.

Thanks in advance

Tripod · #7 10-17-2005, 11:01 AM

Still green, The PM function here has been disabled so I emailed you a link to buy the parts. I hope you get it up and running soon.

still green · #8 10-18-2005, 08:01 AM

Thanks for the info tripod, but I was hoping i might be able to get info on what these components are. I'm in the UK so ordering from the US is a bit of a pain, and i have contacts who can get me any parts i need, next day, as long as I know exactly what to ask for ......

initialricerboy · #9 10-18-2005, 10:59 AM

if u need one go to atomicmods.com and go to stockparts and look for it thats what i did

Tripod · #10 10-18-2005, 11:21 AM

Still Green, I don't know exactly what they are called but the color bands for the inductors are: green blue gold, this is closest to the antanna wire; the next one is: grey red silver. I saw somewhere what the values are. If I find them, I'll post the values.

initialricerboy, That was the site that I emailed to Still Green.