David Ashby - Moderator Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 The topic of another thread got me wondering about ESCs. Brushless ESCs of the sort we all use have been around for a few years now and many of us must have some that have seen use for 4-5 years possibly longer and in many different models. I was wondering if quality counts? Whether your budget ESCs have lasted well or do they eventually die? Have your 'quality' units kept going longer? While we're there, do you find them difficult to programme? It would be interesting to see what the experiences are out there Edited By David Ashby - RCME moderator on 16/06/2009 07:08:27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 hello david-i'm using what they market as a basic one(same as me ) 40 amp--only cost me £15.00 brand new-and is still going like a goodin-i think when they are first put in your set up-if you do so with a watt meter and make sure they are running in there parameter's and not getting too hot they should give you good sevice ................i have 8 alltogether of various brand's and have had no cause's for concern.....using some of them for 3 year's +...........i tend to go for the simple one's(no comment's) .with the brake and no of lipo cell's in use............. ken anderson.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Carr Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Hi David, echo same thoguhts as Ken. got my first brushelss set up back in 2003 (prices a bit higher then compared to todays competitive market) and the unit is still going strong. Have about a dozen ESCs in working models and none have failed provided used within the operating specs. A Wattmeter can pay for itself easily by helping make sure you dont push your ESCS beyond what they were manufactured to do. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce Allcorn - BritFlight.co.uk Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 We've sold over 250 EMAX 18A ESC's and had 4 failures, 2 by me doing over load tests, 2 by customers, 1 failed at the start and 1 burnt out due to a motor failure (over propped). We are expanding our range of ESC's based on our good experiences, probably a 25A and a 40A. I have several of the BRC WASP ESC's and they have also been good. I've never owned what I'd call an expencsive ESC so can't compare. I echo Craigs comment regarding a Watt Meter - probably the most useful bit of kit for the electric flier. Cheers, Bryce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Havent bouht a big brand unit for years...last Jeti I bought was a 40A job and cost me about 60 quid. I have only ever had 2 x ESCs fail EVER - both Tornado unitsand wont touch the brand again. I buy Turnigy and other similar brands these days and have no complaints whatsoever...fantastic VFM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I'll second the value of a wattmeter - guestimated prop on my latest model turned out to be drawing over 40 A, from a 35A motor and 40A esc. That is a cheapy basic esc, but survived it's initial burn test without losing the magic smoke. It's now propped for a more sensible 30A thanks to the meter. I've only been playing with electrics for the last year, but my budget kit seems to be holding up ok - touch wood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Freeman Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 I have one give out its supply of magic smoke. 25 amp one that i was using for the first time after spending a year in the garage unused. Was driving a motor propped to pull 21 amps so might have been a bit close to the line. It had been used in a 200watt Ezefan till that glitched itself into pieces and worked fine there. I suspect damp.... #####EDIT#### I might go and open it up and see where the smoke came from if anyone is interested... Edited By Andy Freeman on 16/06/2009 14:55:56 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyS Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 Hi Guys, I read this thread wondering if it would demystify my current problem.... I'm building a foamy from a plan off the internet. I've bought a brusless motor advertised as a 1500Kv (A20-28M) Max current 15.5A input 6-18V (2-3 LiPo). I have an 8x4 prop, an ESC rated at 18Amps and an Overlander 1700mAh 11.1V 3S battery (35C constant discharge, 60C burst). Is this set up likely to fry the ESC? What's worrying me is the battery putting out 35C constant - or is this the wrong way to look at the problem....? Anyone any ideas please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemma Jane Posted June 16, 2009 Share Posted June 16, 2009 None gone on me.... since I got my Wattmeter so I guess a pattern is emerging, some have seen several hundred flights. The only one I killed was in the early days when I burnt out the motor by over propping it... and no I wasn't Bryce's customer! I don't find them difficult to programme when I sit down to do it with the instructions... But the thought of doing it can put me off for months! I always read the instructions and think, hmmm I'm going to mess this up, then find it much easier to actually do it than I thought. Glad when it is just working though and hope not to have look at the instructions again for a long time. Main problem I find is that every ESC has it's own sequence of programming and communicating, it isn't something I can just learn to do, every time it feels like starting again as a beginner. Loose the bit paper and I'm in big trouble! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Although not a fan in the early days of their inception, I am now a BIG fan of the programming cards which are available for many of the ESCs. Unfortunately, a bit like balance plugs, they are not universal - but as I mainly buy turnigy ones these dyas, its not a problem Incidentally, not sure how it happened, but I ended up with 2 of these cards, so if anyone wants one for the price of a coffee and a sticky bun, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemma Jane Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 I think what I would like to see is a USB plug so like most gadgets these days I could plug the thing into my PC and talk to it instead of using the transmitter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Hextronic do exactly that Gemma. Not only can you "talk" to it, but can actually throttle it up and down with your mouse whilst observing the results on the screen and the actual motor - saves having to plug in a radio system at all for bench running etc. Heres the link...I have a few and they work great. Edited By Timbo - Moderator on 17/06/2009 15:07:50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Sorry....better link HERE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemma Jane Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 Excellent Tim, thanks for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 I switched from Jeti to "cheap as chips" a few years ago and had dozens since with no problems that weren't of my making. EXCEPT, thinking about it, a few that wouldn't arm at the top end of the cell count they were supposed to. They were fine on 4S but on 5 or 6 wouldn't arm. Pretty soon the spec on the chinese website was changed. They were so cheap it wasn't worth complaining, they still work fine. I do tend to have a good margin between current drawn and ESC spec. I've blown a few up by being really stupid in a hurry.. connecting wrong polarity, or once I allowed a 4mm plug to wave around and it drew an ark from a receiver pin. Rx was OK but the ESC never worked again! I was just glad it was a cheapy. I do all my motor testing with a servo tester. Used to make them, but its cheaper to buy one now. Saves having the radio all wired up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Rieden Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Almost all my ESCs are Jeti or Hacker. They are worked hard - at or slightly over their stated ratings. Many are over 5 years old and most have more than 100 flights on them (some more than 500) and I have yet to suffer any problems with any of them. I have a Modelmotors 55A Opto ESC that is six years old and has over 200 flights on it - still going strong. In fact the only ESCs I have ever had any grief with were both Castle Creations Phoenix 25s. The first one burned out running at 19A, and the second (sent as a replacement for the first0 did exactly the same. So I obtained a refund and replaced it with a Jeti 30A one which has behaved faultlessly ever since. PDR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Well upto now I'd not had any problems with any of my ESC's but my Turnigy went bang at the weekend and let the magic smoke out big time, details here http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=29128&p=2 only about 12 months old. I have several older Jeti ESC's and these have all been fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I had my first smoker the other day - an SP40 (actually labelled as DYS. it might not have been the esc's fault though: I bought a Tornado 3530 motor at Weston Park, a 340 Watt 30 Amp motor according to the label. I connected it up to a 3s 2250 LiPo via a wattmeter and a brand new 40Amp esc, and slapped on a 10*6 prop. As I wasn't sure how much current it would draw on that prop, I eased the revs up very slowly - flat out it was nudging the 30amps it was rated at - for about 8 seconds, then the magic smoke did a runner and the motor stopped. No obvious signs of shorting, but somethings definitely far from right as it just buzzes and gets hot. I then checked the esc on another motor, this time it almost instantly went up in flames, nearly every fet blown off and the pcb thouroughly charred within a couple of seconds - the length of time it took to yank the lipo off! It may have been damaged by the first motor, regardless it was an expensive little escapade. I'd be more worried about using anything else labelled Tornado than the real cheapies, the GC stuff sems fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Hmm Tornado AGAIN! 'fraid to say my experience with this "brand" is very poor. The only ESC I ever fried was a Tornado and it smoked immediately it was connected.. its replacement did exactly the same, and since then I wont touch the brand...or indeed the rather well known main distributors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I wouldn't mind if the Tornado motor had been GC cheap, but it wasn't, it cost roughly twice what Rob charges for a similar class of motor. As it was a present I couldn't say a lot, but it's been replaced with a BL2815 from GC (ordered in the evening, next day delivery!). My excuse for 'upgrading' to the 2815 class motor is that the model needs the extra weight in the nose As soon as the 60 amp esc arrives I should have a soarer capable of vertical take-off - FAI power freeflight style. That or it'll end up with very short wings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Bran Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 After the first tentative foray into EP two years ago, have only bought cheapest possible, mostly from GC. Have LOTS....................and lots. 100mph plus wings down to indoor slowfly. Other than the Black Magic brand, which I have had nothing but trouble from, and early on one GWS one which blew up and caught fire (the sleeving is not fire proof), when on test at 7A (15A unit) all mine have been excellent. I don't run any of them near their limit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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