M0041-4 Power Module for VOXL2 Mini Dead and Killed VOXL2 Mini

[awagner]

We are using the VOXL2 Mini with the M0041-4 power module on a 6S drone. I had been testing it on the bench with a 24V power supply without issue for the last few weeks. I was moving it onto the drone which is 6S and soldered power wires directly onto the ESC battery pads and added and XT30 to connect to the power module. When I plugged in the power module it sparked and I quickly unplugged. I have double checked polarity after the fact and it is correct. I put a multimeter on the xt30 and measured 25.1V. I do not see what I did wrong to make it fry. The IC that blew is the actual voltage regulator (marked 327;LGHW;8937 on the IC). Unfortunately I tried powering the VOXL2 mini up with another M0041-4 and my power supply and that is dead too. What am I doing wrong? Let me know if there is more information you need.

[Vinny]

Hi @awagner
Apologies for the delayed response. It looks like this post slipped through during our recent forum and documentation site refactor.
Are you still experiencing issues with your M0041-4?
A few clarifying questions will help:

When you mention "that is dead too", can you please clarify what exactly is no longer working? The M0041-4 power module, the VOXL 2 Mini, your power supply, or some combination of the three?
Can you share more details about your ESC, make, model, and how the battery pads are connected to the power module? A photo of your wiring connections would be very helpful here.

On the spark at plug-in: direct battery connection is the standard way to power up a drone, so that in itself is not unexpected. The spark on connection is not uncommon with a 6S pack due to charge balancing and inrush transient at the moment of contact (especially with our FPV ESC with near 1,000uF of capacitance). That said, we do include protection on the M0041-4 for this reason, so something unusual may have happened in your specific setup, which is why we'd like to see the connections.
As a general note, we typically see XT-30 used up to 4S and XT-60 up to 6S. Running 6S on an XT-30 is outside the more common usage pattern and worth flagging as a potential factor. We had some folks mistake a 4S ESC for 6S due to exactly that on early Stinger models. We've since remedied that.

One practical note: depending on what has failed, a replacement power module may be a faster and cheaper path than a full debug effort. That said, we do want to help you identify the root cause so this does not repeat. Replacing hardware without understanding the failure just puts the next module at the same risk.
Let us know and share photos if you can.
Again, sorry for the long delayed response.
Thanks!