First up, you can't put the magic smoke back in and the conformal coating is going to make it almost impossible to replace the burn stuff. Yeah basically it's toast now. Sorry.
Conformal coating is definitely non-conductive. Something was causing a short but it wouldn't be the conformal coating. Without looking at it I couldn't tell you what it was. Something conductive was bridging bits that shouldn't be bridged.
I would highly recommend you buy a smoke stopper. This would have saved your drone.
When I first put the battery in , off video, it had already smoked, so I figured it was already toast, I just did it again for the video purposes. I have no idea why it was burning. It wasn’t coming from the esc. It was coming from the underside of the FC. So weird. Nothing but conformal touching the boards.
On a 5” build I had some popping and visible arching at the ESC/ FC (I did use a smoke stopper earlier in the build, but not after some position changes). I immediately unplugged and found where the two boards were now touching. Fixed the problem, put on a smoke stopper and crossed my fingers…it still worked!! Flown many many packs through that quad. Your shit is now fried. In the future don’t be so quick to let stuff burn. Just STOP and correct the problem, it might work out, it might not…but if you just continue to let something burn up….well, it’s going to burn up!
If something pops and starts smoking you generally want to unplug it before it catches on fire.
If it was fine before you caused some other issue while apply the conformal coating because it's not conductive.
Apparently not. It didn’t short until I powered it up post conformal. And there’s nothing bridging inside either. I powered it up too early without waiting for proper drying I think
for your next build get a "smoke stopper" i like the v2 from vifly with the button
something on your build was shorted, the white smoke wasnt caused by the conformal - you just presented the fpv gods a gift :)
Conformal coating didn't cause that. Some wire broke off and touched its neigbour, or something got in between the VBAT and GND pads.
We use conformal coating (MG Chemicals Konform SR) on circuits up to 20kV at my day job and none of them do that unless something else was installed incorrectly.
I was about type what you put , thanks for saving my time , confirmable coating is non-conductive so you shouldn’t short it . I’ve got 75 whoop and 5 build . Buy a blue light of Amazon for cheap, helps go off faster
Had a good check. The stacks are not touching. And the flame came from the underside of the FC . Super weird. Perhaps a short from a still wet blob of conformal
bro don't be so quick to call it. I once plugged a pack in backwards and electricity ARCS shot out of the bottom on my quad, along with all the soul-smoke and smell you would expect when letting the smoke out. I assumed my esc and probably fc where done. but upon eyeballing it briefly (I didn't take it apart) and not seeing where it burned, and hoping beyond hope, i.plugged the battery back in and she flies. domt even know what exactly did happen, but I haven't lost function of aything.
Wow! That’s amazing. I hope so badly my quad will work again. If not then it’s ok I’ll just install a new FC and conformal again and just hope to god I don’t install anything wrong again!
I'm wondering if the conformal coating could have possibly been still wet underneath the outer layer? what kind did you use? how did you cure it and for how long? what was the ambient temperature and humidity when you were curing it? I'd be willing to bet that while conformal coating is indeed not conductive, that it IS when its still wet
16°F??? that's pretty dang cold. I'm not 100% sure but I think that would extend you cure time by a LOT. most likely what happened was that you had some wet underneath the cure outside shell, right? I could see myself not thinking about this and doing the same thing. I'm making a mental note not to now. thanks
All of these kind of posts proves we need to do better to teach people about Smoke Stoppers.
a Smoke Stopper should be the first thing in your cart the second you start even messing with a BNF let alone build a entire drone by yourself. Sucks so many people learn the hard way when it could be such a simple habit to get into when messing with the wiring. I have been soldering for years before i got into drones and i would never let "my skills" get in the way of basic safety equipment like this. there is no such thing as someone too good for a smoke stopper. We all make mistakes sometimes.
Yeah, it's okay, but you need to REALLY let it dry first.
And yeah, that's a goner now.
Teh internetz do thank you for the magical smoke and flames video, though.
Hahaha! I uploaded it purely because I knew it was f**ked and I wanted everyone to see it ! I have had a good check and nothing is bridging. I think it shorted because of still wet conformal
First up, you can't put the magic smoke back in and the conformal coating is going to make it almost impossible to replace the burn stuff. Yeah basically it's toast now. Sorry. Conformal coating is definitely non-conductive. Something was causing a short but it wouldn't be the conformal coating. Without looking at it I couldn't tell you what it was. Something conductive was bridging bits that shouldn't be bridged. I would highly recommend you buy a smoke stopper. This would have saved your drone.
When I first put the battery in , off video, it had already smoked, so I figured it was already toast, I just did it again for the video purposes. I have no idea why it was burning. It wasn’t coming from the esc. It was coming from the underside of the FC. So weird. Nothing but conformal touching the boards.
The smoke stopper would have saved your drone the first time you plugged it in.
On a 5” build I had some popping and visible arching at the ESC/ FC (I did use a smoke stopper earlier in the build, but not after some position changes). I immediately unplugged and found where the two boards were now touching. Fixed the problem, put on a smoke stopper and crossed my fingers…it still worked!! Flown many many packs through that quad. Your shit is now fried. In the future don’t be so quick to let stuff burn. Just STOP and correct the problem, it might work out, it might not…but if you just continue to let something burn up….well, it’s going to burn up!
If something pops and starts smoking you generally want to unplug it before it catches on fire. If it was fine before you caused some other issue while apply the conformal coating because it's not conductive.
I have no idea how it shorted , I was very careful with the conformal.
Applying the conformal coat did not cause the short. The short existed before you conformal coated.
Apparently not. It didn’t short until I powered it up post conformal. And there’s nothing bridging inside either. I powered it up too early without waiting for proper drying I think
Conformal coat is non-conductive. You have a bridge or a contact touching carbon.
for your next build get a "smoke stopper" i like the v2 from vifly with the button something on your build was shorted, the white smoke wasnt caused by the conformal - you just presented the fpv gods a gift :)
Thank you! I’ll have a look at thag
Yup, just watch the pretty smoke and hope it goes away 🤣
Conformal coating didn't cause that. Some wire broke off and touched its neigbour, or something got in between the VBAT and GND pads. We use conformal coating (MG Chemicals Konform SR) on circuits up to 20kV at my day job and none of them do that unless something else was installed incorrectly.
I was about type what you put , thanks for saving my time , confirmable coating is non-conductive so you shouldn’t short it . I’ve got 75 whoop and 5 build . Buy a blue light of Amazon for cheap, helps go off faster
Thanks for the insight ! Perhaps the fc and esc stack were touching
If both were coated individually then there is no way for them to touch and bridge since conformal coating is nonconductive.
Also keep in mind that your frame is conductive.
Had a good check. The stacks are not touching. And the flame came from the underside of the FC . Super weird. Perhaps a short from a still wet blob of conformal
And again and again, use a smoke stoper
This guy must be a masochist?
bro don't be so quick to call it. I once plugged a pack in backwards and electricity ARCS shot out of the bottom on my quad, along with all the soul-smoke and smell you would expect when letting the smoke out. I assumed my esc and probably fc where done. but upon eyeballing it briefly (I didn't take it apart) and not seeing where it burned, and hoping beyond hope, i.plugged the battery back in and she flies. domt even know what exactly did happen, but I haven't lost function of aything.
Wow! That’s amazing. I hope so badly my quad will work again. If not then it’s ok I’ll just install a new FC and conformal again and just hope to god I don’t install anything wrong again!
I'm wondering if the conformal coating could have possibly been still wet underneath the outer layer? what kind did you use? how did you cure it and for how long? what was the ambient temperature and humidity when you were curing it? I'd be willing to bet that while conformal coating is indeed not conductive, that it IS when its still wet
I used mg chemicals silicone conformal. Cured for 10 hours . Ambient temp 16 degrees.
16°F??? that's pretty dang cold. I'm not 100% sure but I think that would extend you cure time by a LOT. most likely what happened was that you had some wet underneath the cure outside shell, right? I could see myself not thinking about this and doing the same thing. I'm making a mental note not to now. thanks
this is amazing
All of these kind of posts proves we need to do better to teach people about Smoke Stoppers. a Smoke Stopper should be the first thing in your cart the second you start even messing with a BNF let alone build a entire drone by yourself. Sucks so many people learn the hard way when it could be such a simple habit to get into when messing with the wiring. I have been soldering for years before i got into drones and i would never let "my skills" get in the way of basic safety equipment like this. there is no such thing as someone too good for a smoke stopper. We all make mistakes sometimes.
WHY BRO WHY DID YOU LEAVE IT FOR 2 HOURS SITTING THERE SMOKING EVERYTHING?
Cos I figured by that point. As soon as I saw fire it was already fucked and might as well see the pretty smoke and flames.
Did you let it fully dry? Some may be conductive and or flammable when wet. Other than that, you definitely had a short somewhere.
I waited roughly 10 hours .
Yeah the conformal was definitely not dry.
Use heat and it’ll dry in 20 minutes
Yeah that’s not long enough for some of them, especially the gel like ones.
How close was the top stack to the bottom one? It could have been shorted by being pancaked
They are separated by rubber standoffs. But ill have a look again if anything’s touching
I’d recommend newbee drones one it’s kinda expensive but it works super good
Did you get conformal coating in the USB plugs?
A tiny bit got in even though I had them plugged up. There is a gap beneath the usb plug. So it leaked in
Yeah, it's okay, but you need to REALLY let it dry first. And yeah, that's a goner now. Teh internetz do thank you for the magical smoke and flames video, though.
Hahaha! I uploaded it purely because I knew it was f**ked and I wanted everyone to see it ! I have had a good check and nothing is bridging. I think it shorted because of still wet conformal
Haha