I had a DRV failure on the left side of my Stormcore 100D (the chip gets really hot quickly), and was wondering if anyone has had sucess getting theirs repaired? If someone knows where I could get it repaired/someone that can do it, please let me know!
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i used to send my gear to johnnymeduce but that was eons ago… maybe @TimR could shed some light on the process/how to… i dont know who repairs these days tho 
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Thanks for the responce. Hopefully someone is still doing it. Do you know if it has sucessfully been done on the Stomecore before?
nope my knowledge ends at focbox 
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Oh welp I can still dream
or u can give it a shot. its dead afterall
(probably terrible advice)
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yeah thats true. Would have to buy some more equipment though. And those pins are tinyyy
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I could take a whack at it, DM me for an address to send it to.
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That’d be great! I’ll shoot you a DM
I’m no expert, just a tight arse who doesn’t like spending money on replacement parts, or using them even if I have them on hand. But a magnifying glass and a spray-brush can of flux-clean has recently made the biggest difference to my luck with the ESC’s.
The existing solder is tin, diluting it with leaded solder was my first step in order to reduce the melting point and facilitate removal without damaging the tracks.
ESC’s have great thermal conductivity, as well as lots of thermal mass making it difficult to get enough heat in melt the solder. A pre-heater would be great, but don’t blame me if the plastic hall sensor plugs melt. Flux helps removal too, I assume oxides are thermal insulators or something.
I’ve changed a few FETs on this board in the past. That was also a prick. I’ve used up to two soldering irons gently balancing on a pile of rags to conduct heat through to the board (solder bridging onto a bus rail to conduct the heat) while using the hot air and a pair of tweezers. I’m not saying this is the best way technique, but it’s what I’ve done.
Consider solder paste to be essential for SMD stuff, and good flux. I keep my solder paste in the fridge, it expired fifteen years ago despite not feeling that long ago. A no-clean flux pen is essential, and not the AliExpress ones. Same with solder, don’t get the consumables here. Unless you’re rich, spend the extra money on good reputable products.
Variable voltage and current benchtop power supplies are important, you’ll want to own at least one. I use mine all the time, for all sorts. Having analog needles is nice as well, although many are likely digital now. I’m glad I picked up some old ones based on wire wound transformers and linear regulators as I’ve never not been able to repair them over the past twenty years.
You’ll definitely want the following things, in general.
Benchtop regulated soldering iron.
Another soldering iron, I have a gas one I keep in my car.
Hot air SMD blower.
Good fine but wide tweezers
Solder wick
Solder sucker
No clean flux pen
Some type of aggressive flux (not for the PCB’s as it’s conductive but good for wires and nickel strip)
Alcohol in a spray bottle
Magnifying glass
Bright desk lamp
63/37 solder such as kester 245
I’m also fortunate to have a few mates who are electronics engineers and enjoy taking the piss when I cock something up.
I think next time, I might first make a small wooden tray with walls so when small capacitors blow off the board, I don’t spend an hour looking for them. That tray might get some halogen lamps in the underneath side, facing upwards and even some small steel wires screwed to the sides to assist with supporting multiple soldering irons. Not loosing parts, and getting the heat into the board is what I struggle with most.
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I have your vesc and I think I know why your DRV is throwing faults
You’ve got a solder ball shorting two pins on the DRV
Update: I think I cleared it. I will run this on my dyno at some point
Update 2
Wow this fets are not well aligned lol
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Good find! I never would have been able to get that out with my own equipment. Hopefully that’ll clear the fault. Makes me wonder how that solder ball would have even ended up there. 
Just realized it was in my own photo as well. Guess I should have looked closer.
I wonder if the weird fet allignment had to do with this being an early batch of Stomcores.
Good work! Let me know once you get a chance to test it.
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Thanks a lot for all the tips. They will definitely come in handy. Not sure I’m going to attempt a repair on a vesc any time soon, but maybe if one of my cheap flipskys blows up I’ll give it a shot for the practice.
I just got a new chinese power supply that can do 120v at 10a. I couldn’t find anything made by a reputable brand (with the similar specs for a decent price), so as long as the cheap one doesnt quit on me I should good for now. I’ve always needed one, so its going to be really nice having it.
I’ve also noticed having the right tool makes a world of difference when working on stuff like this. When I was learning to solder I almost went insane trying to get my little $3 soldering iron to do a xt90 connector. I bought a Aixun soldering station and kester 60/40 solder, and that made life was so much better haha. Even though it’s an aliexpress soldering station, I believe its a crazy good value for what you get. And it’s been fantastic so far.
I’ll definitely be coming back to your post to use it as a shopping list. Thanks again for all the information!