esc - is it for the bin

[rcaddict]

have a turnigy 40A with reverse function (seaplane) problem is it does not produce full power - is it for the bin

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

In my rather limited experience of electric power, I've only seen ESCs that work - or release copious amounts of smoke and stop working...although that's not to say that they can't fail gradually.

My first thought would be to try re-training the throttle range - usually a matter of powering up with the throttle at maximum and reducing it to closed after various beeps...the manual should give you the correct procedure for yours.

[Robin Etherton]

Save yourself some heartache and dump it. Some speed controllers it seems just don't want to play.

See previous posts "problems problems"

I don't think the original poster ever found a solution and in an earlier post in which I had a similar problem neither did I.

Lots of helpful suggestions involving trading the controller but no solution.

Good luck

Robin

[Masher]

Whilst this may be a can of worms, I can't resist asking a few questions because it may save you wasting an ESC only to find it was something else.

You say "does not produce full power" - do you mean the combination of battery, ESC, motor and prop? And are you saying it is producing less power than it has been producing, or less power than you are expecting in a new or different set-up?

Like Martin says, in my experience they tend to work or not. They don't usually become less efficient.

The 'power' is often limited by the motor & prop combination assuming the battery is Ok.

So how have you checked it all? Have you put a power meter in the system and measured what you are getting? If the volts, amps (and hence power) are not what you expect, is the motor/prop combination right according to the motor specification?

This may sound like too many questions, but an electric power set-up is quite logical and straightforward to check if you know what you are expecting from the individual blocks.

I hope this helps rather than makes it worse!

[rcaddict]

masher

the reason I know its reduced power is that it was developing enough power for take off earlier but now power has diminished ( same prop same lipo -fully charged)

I swapped the esc for a spare one and I have plenty of power again

[Bravo Delta]

Last year I had an ESC that had a couple of failed FET's , this produced reduced power as one of the three ' phases ' didnt' work , though the other two gave enough to spin the motor

Removal of the heatshrink revealed the failed FET's