it appears to me u have reversed the polarity of the battery when u connected it to the ESC. the safety circuit caused the schottky doide to burn and safe ur ESC. u can replace the diode urself. cost u just a few dollars.
newkid c-hing:
what does a schottky doide looks like? where should i look for it in the HW esc?
i reversed the polarity on my HW esc once and white smoke come out. after that, the forward & reverse is like 10% speed only. this is just what c-hing Chub is describing.