The Confessions Thread...

[CAP21]

I injected 48V into a 75A esc and inhaled a mighty smoke that'll haunt me for a while.

No, I'm not gonna blame Mr. Anderson power pole, just my own stupidity...

Man, I feel better now...

[Larry227]

I once reversed the throttle channel on a Blade 400 when it was powered up at low stick. Boy did I get that pack unplugged fast.

[nightflyr]

Powered up my Rx with the main blades still in the holder ......never do that again

[banditpowdercoat]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Powered up my Rx with the main blades still in the holder ......never do that again

I do that frequently

[sleddog7]

When I first started flying helis, I bought a HoneyBee King (a true waste of time and money ). I turned on the TX and plugged in the battery..

The servos moved, but the motor didn't work. I moved the throttle stick all the way up and then down and the motor came to life ( I was in Idle 1 without realizing it had such a feature). The heli spun-up at full power on the bench.

The mains whacked my hand and I had 3 swollen fingers for a few days... and a broken heli.

I have as much respect or more for electrics than nitro helis. At least with a nitro, you hear the engine running and you know it's alive, electrics are like a crouching, silent tiger..... ready to attack.

[CAP21]

Originally Posted by sleddog7

electrics are like a crouching, silent tiger..... ready to attack.

Well said.

It takes hard work to bust a nitro engine and a fraction of a second to fry an esc..

[clank72]

The most lucky one for me. About a year ago while I was still into RC Cars. Not knowing the precautions with Lipo packs at the time... I was charging lipos in my car while driving down the road. Then leaving the car turned-on at the track and charging 3s lipos in the back of my new VW Touareg, with the back shut, windows up, and A/C turned on.

Later I realized how stupid that was and there could of been major damage to the car and anyone inside it. That was probably the most embarrassing thing I've done in RC.

Today. Safely is everything. Lipo Sacks, Corning ware, Smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and only charging on the cement or ground.

[banditpowdercoat]

I drive with my charger charging packs beside me all the time.

Honestly, Lipo's are safe, if treated properly. It's no different that a lot of things we use in life. But some people take the safety aspect too far I think. Ya, Lipo could start a house fire. So can using hairspray, the toaster even...

Not starting a lipo safety thing, just stating that sometimes the dangerousness is blown out of proportions on the internet

[Fathips]

I forgot to that idel up switch was on and throtel hold was not on upon powering up the heli,and it took off and smashed inside my grage and got destroyed rookie mistake
-Fathips

[clank72]

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

I drive with my charger charging packs beside me all the time.

Honestly, Lipo's are safe, if treated properly. It's no different that a lot of things we use in life. But some people take the safety aspect too far I think. Ya, Lipo could start a house fire. So can using hairspray, the toaster even...

Not starting a lipo safety thing, just stating that sometimes the dangerousness is blown out of proportions on the internet

Well it's not common of course but it can easily happen and too me it's just not worth it. I have lots of fun with this hobby but I take the lipos seriously in my home and field, how they are stored etc. What ever works for you :-)

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...56&postcount=4

[banditpowdercoat]

That link is supposed to mean what? Pretty much every one of those incident's is where someone screwed up. Ya you screw up, there are consequences. I make it a personal philosophy to make sure I know what I am doing and do not screw up. If I screw up in my job, Someone could easily get killed. But that said, I am far from infallable. But I am not going to treat Lipo's like they are Nitro Glycerin or TNT. Am I carefull, and monitor/check my packs allways. Yes I do/am. When I go to work fro 3 weeks, my extra packs are all stored in my Powdercoat oven, just in case too.

[JiriK]

Started the engine of my D3 for the second flight of the day. Motor idles ok, runs nice.
I carry helicopter to flight line. All fine so far.

Then I try to take off.
Motor won´t increase rpm.
Swash servos or tail servo won´t move.
Oops, forgot to switch receiver on.....

Luckily my throttle servo does not move very easy with power off so I could just go and stop the engine by plugging the exhaust.

[Dr. M]

I have to sneak out of the house and get a couple of packs in before my wife realizes I've gone. And I mean, right this minute

[McKrackin]

Originally Posted by Larry227

I once reversed the throttle channel on a Blade 400 when it was powered up at low stick. Boy did I get that pack unplugged fast.

I have done this one too.lol...It was a brand new,never powered on before 450 and it ended in a rekit

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Powered up my Rx with the main blades still in the holder ......never do that again

Done this one a few times

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

That link is supposed to mean what? Pretty much every one of those incident's is where someone screwed up. Ya you screw up, there are consequences. I make it a personal philosophy to make sure I know what I am doing and do not screw up. If I screw up in my job, Someone could easily get killed. But that said, I am far from infallable. But I am not going to treat Lipo's like they are Nitro Glycerin or TNT. Am I carefull, and monitor/check my packs allways. Yes I do/am. When I go to work fro 3 weeks, my extra packs are all stored in my Powdercoat oven, just in case too.

One of the last people hurt by a lipo blowing up this year was Curtis Youngblood.
Maybe he didn't know what he was doing?

Lipos burn or blow up sometimes.That's inevitable.
It will happen today somewhere and it will happen to a pro again soon.

They aren't all ticking time bombs but they all have the potential to be.

[kouasupra]

I never say "this is my last pack" when I'm flying. Or else the heli Gods will get me.

[Levitbe]

I plugged two 4200 6s packs into each other with 6.5mm bullets. Thought it blew off my thumb . Only thing that was hurt was my pride

[murphy_30547]

In my early days soldered the connector backwards on a scorpion 45 fried the batt and esc. And recently closed an ammo box top on the balance wires of a brand new 6s battery and the wires got mighty hot haven't checked the batt yet been a little discouraged and took a few weeks off.

Sent from my Atrix 4g

[Fuzzy Toaster]

I did a beautiful soldering job for my new lipos the other day. Then when I was about to push the bullet into the EC3 housing I noticed a problem...

[CTG1129]

Lets just say that this receiver pack and a 3s lipo look ALOT a like . . . . and a spektrum 7100r WILL handle a 3s lipo,but the HV servos WILL NOT . . . .

[rightto360]

I had a walkera fixed pitch heli for a while back in 2005. Wanted to upgrade but didn't have the cash to afford a Trex. I bought a RTF walkera CP heli. I was new and took RTF at its meaning. I expected it to be setup and ready to go. I plugged it in the first time and quickly discovered that the throttle and pitch channels were reversed. The heli went full power and full positive pitch flew across the room and hit the wall about 3 feet from where the wife was sitting. I waited 6 years before I got my Trex and she still does not like watching me fly.