Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB - View Single Post

vfrqqq · 12-01-2018, 12:33 PM

I was wondering if someone might be able to offer some help with a Phantom ESC controller box given that the designer/manufacture has closed up shop and is incommunicato and there is no information about the controller beyond what can be derived from pictures.

So what happened? I was recently changing out the dump batteries and accidentally arced the negative terminal of the starter battery across the 24v dump batteries when my wrench dropped out of my hands. When the wrench made the connection across the terminals, there were some sparks and smoke from the ESC controller before I could break the connection. I have since opened up the controller to see if there were any obvious signs of component failures and have so far come up empty. See the links below to pictures I took.

https://imgur.com/cwNaQal
https://imgur.com/7Wdku57

For the next picture, I removed the two left most blade connectors to get the thick black wires out of the way. It appears that the second one from the left melted the plastic housing of the terminal. The insulation on the black wire going across the terminals also appears to be melted a bit.

https://imgur.com/RFmMomv

The other observation I would note is that the sparks that came out of the controller box appeared to come out of the penetrations in the box where the dump battery cables go through. With that in mind, I have been wondering whether replacing the bank of four 35v, 1200 microfarad capacitors at the bottom of the box. It's been so long since I've thought about Kirchoff's rules and circuit theory that I'm not exactly sure what the implications of that are, simply from the stand point of where all the current went. Beyond that, I know nothing about how these voltage controllers work or have any other information about the Phantom ESC controller box.

Also, here's the video of what happens with the ESC controller box now when powered up.

It sounds pretty bad and the voltage display in on the dash fluctuates all over the place and sometimes settles at a steady ~32v or so.

So there you go. An, utterly stupid simple mistake that seems to have made what was an otherwise highly reliable and super fun ESC non-functional. I am open to any thoughts and suggestions on repairing or perhaps even replacing the ESC controller, as has been suggested by some folks on the Phantom ESC build thread.

12-01-2018, 12:33 PM	#878
vfrqqq Ultra Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Drives: 2014 BRZ Premium, WRB Location: East Coast, US Posts: 209 Thanks: 43 Thanked 60 Times in 37 Posts Mentioned: 6 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Fixing a Phantom ESC Controller Box I was wondering if someone might be able to offer some help with a Phantom ESC controller box given that the designer/manufacture has closed up shop and is incommunicato and there is no information about the controller beyond what can be derived from pictures. So what happened? I was recently changing out the dump batteries and accidentally arced the negative terminal of the starter battery across the 24v dump batteries when my wrench dropped out of my hands. When the wrench made the connection across the terminals, there were some sparks and smoke from the ESC controller before I could break the connection. I have since opened up the controller to see if there were any obvious signs of component failures and have so far come up empty. See the links below to pictures I took. https://imgur.com/cwNaQal https://imgur.com/7Wdku57 For the next picture, I removed the two left most blade connectors to get the thick black wires out of the way. It appears that the second one from the left melted the plastic housing of the terminal. The insulation on the black wire going across the terminals also appears to be melted a bit. https://imgur.com/RFmMomv The other observation I would note is that the sparks that came out of the controller box appeared to come out of the penetrations in the box where the dump battery cables go through. With that in mind, I have been wondering whether replacing the bank of four 35v, 1200 microfarad capacitors at the bottom of the box. It's been so long since I've thought about Kirchoff's rules and circuit theory that I'm not exactly sure what the implications of that are, simply from the stand point of where all the current went. Beyond that, I know nothing about how these voltage controllers work or have any other information about the Phantom ESC controller box. Also, here's the video of what happens with the ESC controller box now when powered up. It sounds pretty bad and the voltage display in on the dash fluctuates all over the place and sometimes settles at a steady ~32v or so. So there you go. An, utterly stupid simple mistake that seems to have made what was an otherwise highly reliable and super fun ESC non-functional. I am open to any thoughts and suggestions on repairing or perhaps even replacing the ESC controller, as has been suggested by some folks on the Phantom ESC build thread.