BL conversion gone wrong Help Please!

[TheMaxx]

Disappointing and frustrating day in the world of Brushless conversion.
Well, I ordered everything, watched vids, read threads, got really excited about the extra power of BL for my new favorite little heli. All the parts finally arrived.

2 OverSky HP05S
2 XP-7A EBAY ESC for 1-2 CELL Brushless Motors
2 TheSteve brushless converter for Blade MCP X

I set about programming the esc's with an AR6100 all went well.

Then I checked the esc / motor / battery combo with the AR6100

With the exception that the motor wouldn't start right up all the time, everything
seemed to be working as expected.

I then proceeded to wire up the steve converter and esc and both to the mcpx board as described in Wow's directions.


The wires to the steve from the ESC are labeled oddly in this pic. I chose to solder red to red power on esc, black to black on esc and white to where the white on the original signal wire from the servo plug was. this is not the way the diagram shows it though.


This wiring works with the ar6100 receiver
So I tried this as per Tnt's suggestion and diagram.




Then I soldered the yellow wire to the FET leg that WOWhobbies recommends, indicated below by a green circle.


I soldered the red and black power leads as shown above.
When I connected the battery the FET circled in blue smoked!

Assuming I had shorted something or miss wired something I started over.

2nd OverSky HP05S
2nd XP-7A EBAY ESC for 1-2 CELL Brushless Motors
2nd TheSteve brushless converter for Blade MCP X
My #2 MCP X

Now I was nervous and careful. I read more and double checked everything. I checked the motor contact points and discovered that the one circled in yellow is the positive side according to my motor wiring so i tried attaching the yellow wire there and it didn't smoke anything but it also didn't give any response. So I tried moving it to the point circled in pink. As soon as I plugged in the battery I saw a tiny bit of smoke and quickly unplugged the battery. Thankfully the brushed motor seems to still function fine so hopefully I didn't smoke another FET. At this point I'm lost, confused, discouraged, wishing I had ordered an older theSteve converter. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm sending this to WOW hobbies as well.
If anyone has done this conversion with the same parts sucessfully I would be grateful for advice.
Thanks in advance,
J

[brianp6621]

Deleted

[dbennettya]

It looks like all your connections are in the correct place except I'd use the pink connect point.

The pink and green connect points are the same electrically, but the pink would be more forgiving because it is larger and away from sensitive components. It is possible that you damaged the FETs by overheating, soldering should take less than 3 seconds and never longer that 10 seconds.

When you connect the battery does the XP-7A beep and initialize? If so what happens when you give throttle? If the XP-7A is initializing but you have no throttle response first make sure that a brushed motor will run off the main motor port. As a test you should be able to leave everything connected and just plug in a brushed main motor. If it runs then you have hope because I've found a fix for an uncommon problem with one of my the Steve converters (I'll let you know the fix if it fits your case). If the brushed motor doesn't run then you have to repair the main board first or switch to a normal the Steve and connect to Jon's connect point or remove the resistor from your Wow the Steve converter and connect to Jon's connect point.

Good Luck, Don

[brianp6621]

Originally Posted by dbennettya

switch to a normal the Steve and connect to Jon's connect point or remove the resistor from your Wow the Steve converter and connect to Jon's connect point.

I want to correct my prior post if it is wrong. So you can't use the new mcpx only thesteve converter on the resistor point unless you take out the builtin resister?

[dbennettya]

No, please read more carefully. Your post is correct. If he wants to connect to Jon's connect point with the Wow mCPX only the Steve converter then he'd have to remove the resistor. To connect to the +motor pink or green connect point the resistor is needed and is already built-in.

Good Luck, Don

Originally Posted by brianp6621

I want to correct my prior post if it is wrong. So you can't use the new mcpx only thesteve converter on the resistor point unless you take out the builtin resister?

[adroc3905]

Hmm, sounds like the “newer” version converter is more confusing over the original and you still have to solder to a tiny resistor leg on the board, it’s just on the other side.

So what is the advantage?

[dbennettya]

The advantage is that if you connect to the pink connect point it is easier to solder and has a built-in resistor so you don't have to add one. However if you want or need to connect to Jon's connect point (maybe FETs are FUBAR) then it is more complicated because you have to remove the internal resistor in the mCP X only the Steve converter.

Good Luck, Don

[brianp6621]

Originally Posted by dbennettya

No, please read more carefully. Your post is correct. If he wants to connect to Jon's connect point with the Wow mCPX only the Steve converter then he'd have to remove the resistor. To connect to the +motor pink or green connect point the resistor is needed and is already built-in.

Good Luck, Don

I guess it depends on the wording. I was thinking/writing that the old and new thesteves could be used interchangeably as long as you added the resistor if using the old one at the motor point. I was ambiguous in my post and therefore misleading that you would have to remove the resistor if you used the new one at Jon's connect point.

I removed it for clarity.

[TheMaxx]

Originally Posted by dbennettya

It looks like all your connections are in the correct place except I'd use the pink connect point.

The pink and green connect points are the same electrically, but the pink would be more forgiving because it is larger and away from sensitive components. It is possible that you damaged the FETs by overheating, soldering should take less than 3 seconds and never longer that 10 seconds.

When you connect the battery does the XP-7A beep and initialize? If so what happens when you give throttle? If the XP-7A is initializing but you have no throttle response first make sure that a brushed motor will run off the main motor port. As a test you should be able to leave everything connected and just plug in a brushed main motor. If it runs then you have hope because I've found a fix for an uncommon problem with one of my the Steve converters (I'll let you know the fix if it fits your case). If the brushed motor doesn't run then you have to repair the main board first or switch to a normal the Steve and connect to Jon's connect point or remove the resistor from your Wow the Steve converter and connect to Jon's connect point.

Good Luck, Don

The Brushed motor on my 2nd MCPx still functions normally. I think I saved it by unplugging the battery as fast as possible when i saw smoke. I didnt however leave it plugged in long enough to hear initialize or I was so panicked I don't remember but I dont plan on plugging it back in until I understand what I did wrong.

The first Mcpx with the burned FET has no throtle control on brushed motor now, it just comes on. But it sounds like your saying I don't need that FET to run it brushless. That would be great. I was about to order FET's from Digikey. I'd be willing to try the remove the resistor and solder to the Jon's connect. which of the 2 resistors in the wow steve's do I remove.


It seems very odd to me that this happened with to completely independent setups.

Looking forward to help, advice, and eventually brushless bliss.

Thanks,
J

[dbennettya]

Yeah, I hear you...sorry your having trouble. Other than ESD damage to the FETs it looks like your connect points are good (double checked them to make sure).

I can't really tell from the picture but the resistor you want to remove should connect from the yellow wire to the black wire. From the picture I think it is the resistor on the left but it is really fuzzy to tell for sure.

On the board with bad FETs it would be best to remove them both from the board and then remove that resistor from the Steve and connect to Jon's point on that itty bitty resistor on the other side of the board...Please note that that little connect point does not connect to the transistor leg above it so make sure you don't bridge it with solder.

Then let us know how it works.

Good Luck, Don

Originally Posted by TheMaxx

The Brushed motor on my 2nd MCPx still functions normally. I think I saved it by unplugging the battery as fast as possible when i saw smoke. I didnt however leave it plugged in long enough to hear initialize or I was so panicked I don't remember but I dont plan on plugging it back in until I understand what I did wrong.

The first Mcpx with the burned FET has no throtle control on brushed motor now, it just comes on. But it sounds like your saying I don't need that FET to run it brushless. That would be great. I was about to order FET's from Digikey. I'd be willing to try the remove the resistor and solder to the Jon's connect. which of the 2 resistors in the wow steve's do I remove.
Attachment 245059

It seems very odd to me that this happened with to completely independent setups.

Looking forward to help, advice, and eventually brushless bliss.

Thanks,
J

[TheMaxx]

Sorry about the fuzzy pic.
I don't have a good macro lens
Here are some better ones I hope


It is the resistor you said that connects the black and yellow wires
I noticed on the other side that the 3 feet are all soldered together, not sure if thats ok so I included another pic.
Thanks,
J

Originally Posted by dbennettya

Yeah, I hear you...sorry your having trouble. Other than ESD damage to the FETs it looks like your connect points are good (double checked them to make sure).

I can't really tell from the picture but the resistor you want to remove should connect from the yellow wire to the black wire. From the picture I think it is the resistor on the left but it is really fuzzy to tell for sure.

On the board with bad FETs it would be best to remove them both from the board and then remove that resistor from the Steve and connect to Jon's point on that itty bitty resistor on the other side of the board...Please note that that little connect point does not connect to the transistor leg above it so make sure you don't bridge it with solder.

Then let us know how it works.

Good Luck, Don

[brianp6621]

Originally Posted by TheMaxx

Sorry about the fuzzy pic.
I don't have a good macro lens
Here are some better ones I hope
Attachment 245070
Attachment 245071
It is the resistor you said that connects the black and yellow wires
I noticed on the other side that the 3 feet are all soldered together, not sure if thats ok so I included another pic.
Thanks,
J

I've never seen one of these outside the shrink-wrap but the two legs on the top right of your first picture look darn close to shorted. Is it supposed to be that way/matter? Can you use a multimeter to see if they're really shorted?

[dbennettya]

Yes, those are probably all connected to ground so don't worry about it just remove the resistor and leave those connects as they are.

Mod on, Don

Actually re-checked your pics and that gray stuff across the three pins is probably glue holding the resistor. Check it out because the black wire has to connect to that end pin and the yellow wire has to connect to the pin below the connection to resistor at the yellow wire.

Good Luck, Don

Originally Posted by TheMaxx

Sorry about the fuzzy pic.
I don't have a good macro lens
Here are some better ones I hope
Attachment 245070
Attachment 245071
It is the resistor you said that connects the black and yellow wires
I noticed on the other side that the 3 feet are all soldered together, not sure if thats ok so I included another pic.
Thanks,
J

[TheMaxx]

Thanks for the advice.
The 3 pins under the resistor are definitely soldered together as it appears in the 2nd pic.
Is this good, bad, or neither?

Originally Posted by dbennettya

Yes, those are probably all connected to ground so don't worry about it just remove the resistor and leave those connects as they are.

Mod on, Don

Actually re-checked your pics and that gray stuff across the three pins is probably glue holding the resistor. Check it out because the black wire has to connect to that end pin and the yellow wire has to connect to the pin below the connection to resistor at the yellow wire.

Good Luck, Don

[TheMaxx]

Originally Posted by brianp6621

I've never seen one of these outside the shrink-wrap but the two legs on the top right of your first picture look darn close to shorted. Is it supposed to be that way/matter? Can you use a multimeter to see if they're really shorted?

Checked the pin you noticed and while it does look shorted in the photo its not actually touching the pin next to it. I will clean it up a bit though because it does seem awfully close.

[TheMaxx]

So,
Out of curiosity and in the name of science I cut open my #2 theSteve MCPX
Here are the pics.
Notice the 3 pins are not all gang soldered as in first example. I'm thinking this looks like they way it should be.

[dbennettya]

Good find. With the three pins soldered together that would short the +motor output to ground and take out the FETs. You should be able to measure the black lead to yellow lead resistance and if it is close to 0 Ohms then it is shorted. The resistor is a 2.2k Ohm so that is what you should read.

So on your second one that still runs the brushed motor you are good to go with the Steve without the short.

Making progress, Don

[755 robert]

I love this place.....

[TheMaxx]

Update!
I took theSteve #1 and unsoldered the 3 pins and made it look like theSteve #2 and it seems to have worked. Have it layed out on a bench so I'll have more info as I put it together. theSteve#2 still seems to be no good tho . And Im still down a main board. Hopefully when I get another theSteve I can do the solder to Jon's spot mod and salvage that setup. I took the FET's off and I can't imagine trying to put them back on.
Thanks again for advice and support.
This is a great Forum with amazing members.
J

[TheMaxx]

Update 2:
I have one brushless setup working YAY. and the parts for the second are on the way. Wow hobbies did respond and Updated the wiring diagram and refunded me for theSteve chip that was bad. They have theSteve MCPX back in stock BTW. Thanks again for all the help.
J