BIG problem-I made a STUPID mistake-EVX

[mwe-maxxowner]

I'm such a doofus!
I just switched over to powerpole connectors because I bought gp 7-cell packs. Well, I'm used to just plugging and going w/the tamiyas, and apparently the black on the left from the evx and the red on the right go to one battery. I found out the HARD way. Crack, sizzle, pop, hot wires and battery, and oh man, what did I just do.:eek: The battery and wire to the evx instantly became very hot. I hooked up a different set of batteries the right way, and nothing. Won't even turn on. No green or red light and no way to reset(no power). I know, I think I send it to traxxas, pay 20 bucks and a 40 buck fee for the connectors, man that's a lot. I'd change them back but I don't want to bother my grandpaw again(not to mention tell him the mistake I made).:o But that is not my biggest problem. How do I remove the wires from the servos without cutting them? I don't want to have to solder again if I can help. That's what got me into this mess in the first place. And I didn't even get to try out my new gp's. (weak attempt at a smile) My heart is broken! Thanks everybody!

[maxxboy]

man, i feel sorry for you, something similar happened to me, exept that the evx is fine:confused:


AS for your question, how did you manage to connect the servos to the evx?:confused:

[mwe-maxxowner]

Yeah, about that, I was coming on here to correct another of my mistakes. I'm really showing my newbie-ness (is that a word?). I was examining my wires and I realized that only one of those little plugs came from the evx. I thought all three came from it. sorry. If I send it in it'll come back with tamiya's on it right? So I should just snip my poles off so I can put them back on when I get it back? If I wasn't scared to tell my paw-paw what I did and bother him with soldering stuff all over again I'd try to get him to change the tamiya's back. But I won't bother with it I don't think. Anybody got any suggestions to what I should or need to do? Thanks a lot!:)

Also, any chance it fried my battery too? Only one got hot and smelled. I hooked it up to my charger and it made the charger start charging. (Duratraxx intellipeak twin pulse) Is this a hopeful sign?

[EMAXX1333]

yeah, snip off your connectors ahead of time so that you don't risk not getting them back.

i'm surprised that your EVX fried from that. the batteries are in parallel, so it really should not matter which negative and positive wire go together. did you change your motor connectors over to powerpoles too? if so, it's possible that you had one input wire and one output wire on the same plug; that would most likely fry it.

[maxxboy]

actually, if you open the evx, you can see that the ends for 2 wires are soldered together for some reason, so if you put on the connectors that was youll short-circut.

[sevenfoot]

you don't need to resolder your old connectors on, you just have to make power poles to tamiya adapters for them, which still means soldering something unfortunately. I've read many times in here that if you send the EVX with the adapters, they won't charge you the extra $ for having the wrong connectors.

Ask you grandfather, he probably loves helping you and knows you're human and make mistakes.

[sevenfoot]

make sure you get labels for your wires next time, color code them or put names on them, especially with powerpoles you can get things backwards.

[sevenfoot]

Originally posted by mwe-maxxowner
But that is not my biggest problem. How do I remove the wires from the servos without cutting them?

not sure what you mean by this.

[mwe-maxxowner]

Originally posted by mwe-maxxowner
But that is not my biggest problem. How do I remove the wires from the servos without cutting them?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



not sure what you mean by this.

Yeah, sorry about that, I made a correction for that in my second post. I thought all three of the plugs in the reciever came from the evx instead of just one. Upon closer examination I realized my mistake. Sorry for the confusion. No, I did not change the connectors to my motors. I only changed the batteries charger and evx. I did not realize that two poles could be connected together on the side (red to black) which contributed to my problem. I was just connecting individual wires. I started connecting on the left black plug, then went to the left red plug(all these to one battery), then the right red plug and the right black. It wasn't until I plugged in the final plug that any thing happened, and then it was only that plug that cracked and sizzled and sparked. My battery got almost untouchably hot and the one wire to the evx also got very hot. why did only this one wire on the one side do anything unusual? Any chance I could try just clamping on the tamiya's without really soldering them? I don't mind paying the extra $ though, after all it was my fault.:(

[SoCal-EMaxx]

The batteries are NOT in parallel...and it does matter which wire goes where...they are in series, that's how you get 14.4V from 2 7.2V batteries. It's in the manual and here in the tech section on the Traxxas website. The motors are in parallel. When switching over to new connectors, it is advisable to do ONE wire at a time. Once you get them set, either cable tie the sets together or color code them or something.

As far as the EVX, it's fried...just send it in. It's usually $20 for the repair, and an additional $25 if you don't have the stock Tamiyas on it.

That's a bummer...as long as your battery wasn't connected for more than a few seconds, it'll probably be fine. Good luck.

[mwe-maxxowner]

Ok. Thanks. I'll send it off today and just cut the poles off. Glad to know my batt.s are okay. Those things are expensive. Preciate all the help everyone!

[sevenfoot]

Of course it is your fault but that doesn't mean you should pay the extra money. If you think you are saving yourself some soldering time you aren't, because you are going to get your EVX back with tamiyas, and will have to solder the power poles on again.

Just make up some adapters, and send it in. You can also use the adapters to run batteries with tamiya connectors (if you have a friend with an Emaxx or buy packs with lower voltage from a lhs)

[mwe-maxxowner]

How do I make up these adapters?

[sevenfoot]

I looked for a great tutorial I read that was linked here in the forum, but I cannot find it.

Take a red wire and solder the positive terminal of the tamiya to it, then solder a red power pole to the other end.

Take a black wire and solder it to the negative terminal of the tamiya connector, and solder a black powepole to the other end.

Now plug the power pole ends into the (correct) ones soldered onto the EVX.

Now you can plug a battery with a Tamiya connector into your EVX.

Hope this makes sense, I'll look a bit more for that tutorial, I thought it was on Misbehavin's site.

[sevenfoot]

found it

http://www.misbehavin-rc.com/pit-lane/deans-adapters/g-deans-adapters.asp

[spta97]

Originally posted by mwe-maxxowner
How do I make up these adapters?

Deans to Tamiya Adaptors (http://www.misbehavin-rc.com/pit-lane/deans-adapters/g-deans-adapters.asp)

This shows making adaptors for Deans but the process should be similar for power poles. As stated above Traxxas will not charge you as long as you have some sort of Tamiya connection so they can test. I sent mine in with the adaptors and confirmed via telephone that they don't have a problem with it.

Also, you don't want to keep cutting off the connectors. The wires from the ESC are short enough as it is!

[mwe-maxxowner]

Thanks. I called traxxas and I told the guy what happened and that I had poles on. He gave me a number (i think it was called an ram #) and said they would send me an e-mail telling me what to do. I have cut my poles off, and I clamped the metal part of the tam.s onto the wires and put ca glue on, and it seems to hold well. I put the connector back on and I can't pull them off. Since I told the guy I put the poles on will they still charge the 45? Will what I did work to get the evx fixed for 20 $ ? Also, I need to put some sort of insurance on too right? Thanks!

[mwe-maxxowner]

that's rma number. Sorry

[SoCal-EMaxx]

Glueing the connectors onto the wires will most likely NOT get it repaired for $20. It's probably not making a secure electrical/mechanical connection. Either install them correctly, or be prepared to pay the higher price.

Traxxas is very reasonable on repairs and if you're lucky they may not even charge you if it's your first time sending it in...heck, if someone sent me one with the connectors glued back on, I'd chuckle to myself, show all my fellow employees, repair it, and then send it back for free to the poor guy! But that's just me!!! :D

[mwe-maxxowner]

Thanks! That's the first time I've smiled in quite a few days. It really looks like they are put on right if you look at them though. And you can't pull them off by hand. If they actually get inside the connector they'll know for sure though!:D I thought they just replaced the guts and wires without gettin' inside all that stuff though. I figured it was worth a shot though. If I do send the 45, and they think it qualifies for the 20, will they give back the other 25? Thanks a lot!

[Velveeta Boy]

lol, maxxowner
The same exact thing happened to me with the same connectors and the same batts. I didn't make that servo mistake though... I didn't know that Traxxas would even take back an evx with its connectors cut off. I was about to buy a new esc... I guess i will send it in with the connectors cut off and pay the 45 cause i dont want to have to fool with the convertor. O'well lets try to put them on right next time.:D

[mwe-maxxowner]

Velveeta, Ha, Yeah that's about my take on it too. One more question. To send it in I need the serial number. Where do I find this. Is that the silver sticker on the bottom of the front skid?

[patch]

So as far and the Dean's connectors...which is pos and which is neg? Or does it matter......

[spta97]

It does matter. You have to match the polarity on your ESC and charger. If you look on the plug where you solder the wire it shows you which is + and which is -.

[mwe-maxxowner]

It doesn't matter. Red connects to red as well as black and vice versa. Just put the black on black wires and red on red wires to keep it easy. I think the red is positive but I'm not sure. Anyone know the advantages of having your vehicle registered with traxxas when it comes to sending the evx in for repair?

[spta97]

Originally posted by mwe-maxxowner
It doesn't matter. Red connects to red as well as black and vice versa. Just put the black on black wires and red on red wires to keep it easy. I think the red is positive but I'm not sure. Anyone know the advantages of having your vehicle registered with traxxas when it comes to sending the evx in for repair?

It will matter if you put it on a device with the Dean's connectors wired properly. I was sent my Hong Kong batteries with the Dean's wired backwards and had I plugged them into my E-Maxx I could have been facing the same issue as this post - fried ESC. The polarity indicators are there to keep standards and they should be followed.

[mwe-maxxowner]

Yes I know. You are 100% correct and I wasn't trying to contradict this. Sorry If I gave that impression.

[mwe-maxxowner]

How much does traxxas charge for s&h on the evx? Or is that included in the 45 bucks?