capacitor problem (i think)

[nieles]

i have a turnigy sentilon hv 100A controller, and it would not turn on when i plugged the batteries in. no smoke or other problems, it just does not work.

i noticed some white stuff where the capacitors are soldered to the pcb. my question is, is this from leaking capacitors? and will the controller work if i solder on some new low esr caps?

Niels

 

[fechter]

Are you sure the white stuff isn't just glue?

The controller would 'work' without any capacitors, but it would probably blow up under heavy load.
If it did spew from the capacitors, then it means they are toast and most likely took out something else on the board.

Does it do anything when you power it up?
I'm not familiar with that model, does it have a LED indicator or power-up tone?

 

[nieles]

normaly when you power it up there is an starup tone from the motor, it does not do this. but there is an red led lid up on the controller.

i never noticed the white stuf before. it could be glue not sure, i never saw a leaking cap.

i have had this problem once before with the same type of controller.

 

[swbluto]

It looks like the white stuff is probably glue used to vibration-proof the capacitor's leads. I've seen some just like that in the power supply I took apart.

If you're experienced in soldering, I would probably inspect the board if it arrived dead on arrival for soldering mistakes. It appears they don't inspect it given the seemingly high failure rate.

 

[liveforphysics]

That is definitely glue.

Remember, these don't have a built-in BEC, so you must put 5v across the black and red throttle lead. The short one is for programming only.

 

[nieles]

i used the controller before, and it worked fine. just when i connected it today it did not work, and i noticed the white stuff.
thought it couldn't hurt to ask if this is the problem, before shipping it back to hong kong again

thanks for the help!!

Niels