Fireant
07-07-2010, 12:57 AM
I was out flying on the weekend with Janger-heli (Sean) who had a lucky escape with his MD500. I have just upgraded mine to a Scorpion setup, but he still has the stock 600L motor and 75A ESC. The two of us have had many flights without any problems using this combination. However, on Saturday, Sean had just finished a flight and commented that the battery felt warmer than usual. The ambient temp was quite warm (24C) and we put it down to that. On the 2nd flight, as he spooled up, there was a puff of smoke and the ESC caught fire. Luckily, the motor was just starting and ran for a few seconds before stopping. Sean had a bit of a panic as he thought something might explode and stepped away from the model. I ran up to it and disconnected the battery by which time another pilot arrived with an extinguisher. Luckily, it was only the ESC that caught fire and apart from a slightly warped canopy, the only other damage seems to be lots of soot.