Issues with my FOCBOX (possible short?)

ESK8 Electronics
1

So i’m having some issues with both of my FOCBOX’s. I had a small spark inside my XT60 when plugging the FOCBOX to my battery, however all leads seem to be wired correctly and its a 42V 18650 battery pack that seems to be at an acceptable voltage. When i plug my battery in i get 5v out of all 5v pins but no lights and nothing out of the 3.3v pin. I had read that i can do a continuity check with my multimeter over the c25 capacitor to test if the 5v had been shorted to ground, which it appears it has.

per @JohnnyMeduse post No power to Enertion Vesc

Does this suggest theres an internal short over the CAN transceiver (u401)? And if so, Is there anything i can do to fix this, and can anyone suggest how this might have occurred? here are some photos of my setup…

FOCBOX 1: IMG_6764 IMG_6764.JPG4032x3024 1.61 MB

FOCBOX 2: IMG_3067 IMG_3067.JPG4032x3024 1.69 MB

Battery: IMG_7295 IMG_7295.JPG3024x4032 2.43 MB

Thanks for your time everyone, appreciate any ideas!

2

Yes… You can either replace those Can chip or Removing them and use split PPM cable.

3

Do you have any idea how this sort of thing could have occurred? last thing i want to do is replace the chip and then the same thing happens again.

4

Dont unplug single focbox while they are both on and CAN bus connected it instantly kills CAN chip

EDIT: u can make Y adapter and zip tie each focbox so it wouldn’t disconnect by itself.

1 Like
5

Good tip will keep that in mind! it seemed to happen when i plugged in a single FOCBOX on its own, as thats when i saw a spark in the XT60 (which appears to be burnt at the terminals), but ill definitely only plug/unplug from the single XT90 Y adaptor i made up from now on!

6

Also any ideas how hard it will be to replace the chip on my own? willing to give it a crack, just not sure where to start…

7

Easiest way is to get hot air station and just heat that chip up and remove it and and then solder new in. Also u will need probably replace can termination resistor R40* next to chip

This is how my Y splitter looks with zip ties

image