So how many ICE2 ESCs have burnt up since the recall?

[paulmedford]

make sense i personally have three castle esc, and no problems,well, one failed, but it was my fault, i held back the blades when it tried to spool up one me ( my Tx fell), i rather i damage an esc than a 600 chop me to bits! anyway i fixed the esc ( the overload kicked in but the bec was damaged) and never had problems since.

[brokenheli98]

So it seems the 160's were catching fire because of the same reason the v1's were. The power board and the controller board separate and the 50v shots internally causing big fire. Now, small pieces of foam are being added to insure the boards stay together no matter what. To me, this seems like a simple solution to a simple problem, its a shame the engineers didn't think of it before, especially considering the whole objective in the first place was to keep these two boards together, but what are you gonna do. since i just got two 160's both of which did not have the red paint dot on the plastic case, I quickly ordered up my foam blocks and am eagerly awaiting there arrival. I have skimmed through most of these posts and found nothing referring to this simple fix and am curious to know if any 160's have burnt up with the foam spacers installed. So... have there been? Or are people still having them fail even with the fix? Lets hear some good news. The fact is the controllers are fantastic in almost every way, setup software,performance,data logging and especially price. Plus there made right here in the good old USA!! So please tell me I'm safe I have two Rave ballistics and a trex 800 photoship that carries payloads ranging in cost between 300 and 60,000 dollars!! I need to be confident, I don't want a helijive. They have there own problems and cost a fortune. Lets hear some good news!!

[silas3d]

I have had no problems with the ICE2 160 in my Goblin 700 and I also have a couple of ICE2 120s that have been working well too!

[Gearswinger]

I've got 2 160HV2 controllers. Both purchased from Tower in the last few months. They both came with the red dot on them and have been flawless. 30 or so flights on one and 15 on the other. Very happy with them.

[johnahamelv]

I have not had a Castle ESC malfunction to date. However, I do not like having to take a proactive approach to constantly check for recalls or service advisories. I feel that Castle as well as other companies should create registries to keep customers informed of potential issues. There should be an automated system for me to received an email from Castle that there are newly recognized issues, rather than me having to constantly check for issues, or worse yet to find out about potential issues after a real mishap.

[RC Mike]

I have three 120’s and have not had any problems this flying season. Looks like CC finally got it right but it was sure a long and painful process.

[dunkonu23]

I agree. Castle seems to have fixed their ESC's. I flew my 7hv last weekend in 95 degree heat with a heat index of 105 and my ICE2 120HV came down at 151 degrees (Scopion 4035-650, 12S).

Scott

[buzzsaw 46]

Have there been any recent reports of issues?

[dunkonu23]

I haven't seen any, but then I'm not digging around like I used to.

Scott

[Fredneck]

Sent in a old recalled 80HV purchased on a used heli. Got the new Ice2 HV80 in less than a week.
I was really expecting to not see one for a while. Guess they have caught up or are getting caught up with exchanges. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this thing will hold up.

Castle included a pretty nice padded neckstrap with the new ESC. Very kind gesture, thanks Castle.

My question is, do I have to worry about the neckstrap catching fire on it's maiden?

Just kidding. Bad joke, I know.

[GB ian]

Good to see CC are getting it right.

I will be buying another soon.

[gadawg58]

Well I just had my second Castle ESC burn up. However ... that's my second one in 5 years and this was my first ESC on my original 600 an old 85HV. After over 1000 flights I'm ok with giving it a fine burial. I checked the motor and no shorts. Will put another Castle on it without a thought! It was one of the few remaining original parts of the heli.

[BatteryKing]

I put together a brand new Trex-600 Pro (basic kit) and slapped on a CC ICE2 HV 120 and am using EC5 connectors. I powered up on one pack for programming, fine. Got one test flight in, fine. While plugging in for second test flight on a different day, boom! One of the caps blew. I immediately disconnected power. I currently have a CC CapPack wired in and I had the blown capacitor ripped out and the CC ICE2 HV 120 seems to be working fine, though it looks a little lopsided. I didn't want to leave the blown capacitor in because I have noticed in the past when high voltage and low resistance meet where they are not supposed to, arc welding occurs. Once you have the broken metal pieces arc weld to permanently complete the circuit, bad things tend to ensue like electrical fires, I am up to three test flights now, so I still have to see how the other cap holds and if the CC CapPack will hold.

I suppose a question is seeing I have an additional 880uF wired in, should I be fine with the one 330uF capactor ripped out? Also any pointers to quality caps that will fit in its place?

[rceccleston]

Castle will confirm, the two built in capacitors are in series so a second like for like is needed to complete the capacitor circuit.

Without replacing the capacitor, like for like or both with higher capacity, you run the risk of permanently damaging the FET's.

Why didn't you return the ESC under warranty to your reseller prior to modifying the ESC and voiding your warranty?

[BatteryKing]

I just wanted to fly. What other reason do you need? (I thought I would be alright on the FET and battery loading with the CC CapPack wired in.)

Also it would be a bit odd if they wired those caps in series as each one is rated for 50V and series would half your capacitance while parallel doubles it.

[BatteryKing]

So I brought the ship up today to dial things in more and see what the effect of having that cap ripped out is. Here is what I am coming up with:
When I look at the logs I saw a data point at 100.4A, 44.8V. At this data point the registered ripple is 0.85V. There are a couple of data points at the beginning of charge where the amperage is much less and the ripple goes up to 1.06V. I haven't been up in a while, so I didn't really push it that hard today, but 4,500W is probably a descent indicator.

When @700W at the beginning of charge I am hitting a ripple averaging around 0.75V, but on the flat part of the curve it is going down to 0.50V, which is about 0.25V per pack.

It seems the packs deliver pretty solid power on the flat part of their discharge curve, but flex more on the top part. Still from my understanding these numbers are well within Castle Creations guide lines for ripple.

Setup is:
1. Thunder Power 65C 3300mAH 6S batteries x2.
2. CC ICE2 HV120 sans one capacitor
3. KDE 600XF-530.
4. Align 600 ELF Pro.
5. CC CapPack

[GB ian]

I am sorry to say that after starting this thread that my own CC120 HV ICE2 that I bought direct from castle on August 23rd just burst into flames on spool up.

Thank fully the damage to the heli is minor.

I can therefore say that I am officially done giving cc any second chances. More fool me.

[caralmar]

Originally Posted by GB ian

I am sorry to say that after starting this thread that my own CC120 HV ICE2 that I bought direct from castle on August 23rd just burst into flames on spool up.

Thank fully the damage to the heli is minor.

I can therefore say that I am officially done giving cc any second chances. More fool me.

Mine too... CC160. Burned up on my brand new Rush 750. I switched to Kontonik, and I'm never buying anything made by this irresponsible company again.