austindavid
100 W
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2014
- Messages
- 204
I search but didn't find a thread -- I'll happily redirect if I missed one.
I'm looking at different ESCs to see what works, and what just doesn't. I'll record observations in here.
The test board: 6S / 8Ah, single 280kV n5065. Controller is a wiiceiver, I'm using one of phomman's prototypes.
Baseline: Flier single "120A" / 8S, code CarLV_UV43
Programmed with USB.
I run a dual version of this ESC on my AT board, and have hundreds of miles on it. There seems to be some significant variation in quality and build from Flier -- newer ones are getting hot on the same workload, and some settings behave differently, like braking, even with the same firmware and "same" ESCs. The startup sequence is very important, it's easy to boot this ESC into a nonworking state -- with only brakes active, for instance.
If the startup sequence is correct it seems to work pretty reliably, but does get HOT under relatively gently workloads. I can't imagine running this at a > 60A load.
*update*: a series of hard starts and stops, and the Flier shows the same cutout behavior as the favourite. I suspect it's a timing issue because it recovers instantly. The flier actually gets warmer than the motor. After the start/stop and a gentle hill, the flier showed about 190 degrees (F) and the motor about 140. Flat for 1/2 mile home, and a gentle downhill, and they were ESC 140, motor 130 degrees. The flier is mounted outside the enclosure, heat sync open to air. Apart from adding a fan, this is as cool as it's going to get
(
"Favourite" 6S: http://www.powerslideracing.com.au/fvt-120a-2-6s-brushless-car-esc-waterproof
Brakes are *great*, super smooth. It cuts out at high power consumption, on HARD acceleration or up very steep hills. It runs very cool, even the motor is cooler than when running on a Flier single. I tried to overheat the ESC and ended up blowing a motor (which took the ESC with it). Programming was easy with a little box. On normal "pretty hard" usage it did awesome if you don't overheat the motors. One weird issue, I think the motor timing is "off" a little -- it chirps when I jump to very high power instantly (0->100% in one cycle) with no load. I suspect it's a feedback issue in the actual driver, but hard to test. Doesn't happen under load. Riding "around town" and not actively trying to break it, it works very well.
Hobby King 120A 6S: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__28377__Hobbyking_174_X_Car_120A_Brushless_Car_ESC_sensored_sensorless_.html
(similar to that one, maybe an older version)
Programmed with a card. Braking is weak even at 100%, but pretty smooth. It makes a REALLY LOUD squeal in the motor on light braking, but is "normal" on harder braking. Generally it sounds louder than other ESCs. I have concerns about the noise, it's seriously loud. I checked it several times before even getting on the board. Still testing this one, but I think the noise will kill it for me.
*update* It's is LOUD, just moving forward. Brakes are soft, and squeally. The worst part is that it's doing something to reboot the wiiceiver and the other two ESCs don't do this. I've had this problem enough (plus the loudness and crappy brakes) that I will not be testing this ESC for duration etc -- I'm sure it's fine, but it's not anything I would recommend using.
HobbyWing EZRun 150: almost *exactly* the same as the HK. So noisy that I didn't even run it in the driveway. I double-checked the motor on my Flier, and that squeal / scream went away.
Of the 4, the cheapest is my "favourite."
I'm looking at different ESCs to see what works, and what just doesn't. I'll record observations in here.
The test board: 6S / 8Ah, single 280kV n5065. Controller is a wiiceiver, I'm using one of phomman's prototypes.
Baseline: Flier single "120A" / 8S, code CarLV_UV43
Programmed with USB.
I run a dual version of this ESC on my AT board, and have hundreds of miles on it. There seems to be some significant variation in quality and build from Flier -- newer ones are getting hot on the same workload, and some settings behave differently, like braking, even with the same firmware and "same" ESCs. The startup sequence is very important, it's easy to boot this ESC into a nonworking state -- with only brakes active, for instance.
If the startup sequence is correct it seems to work pretty reliably, but does get HOT under relatively gently workloads. I can't imagine running this at a > 60A load.
*update*: a series of hard starts and stops, and the Flier shows the same cutout behavior as the favourite. I suspect it's a timing issue because it recovers instantly. The flier actually gets warmer than the motor. After the start/stop and a gentle hill, the flier showed about 190 degrees (F) and the motor about 140. Flat for 1/2 mile home, and a gentle downhill, and they were ESC 140, motor 130 degrees. The flier is mounted outside the enclosure, heat sync open to air. Apart from adding a fan, this is as cool as it's going to get
("Favourite" 6S: http://www.powerslideracing.com.au/fvt-120a-2-6s-brushless-car-esc-waterproof
Brakes are *great*, super smooth. It cuts out at high power consumption, on HARD acceleration or up very steep hills. It runs very cool, even the motor is cooler than when running on a Flier single. I tried to overheat the ESC and ended up blowing a motor (which took the ESC with it). Programming was easy with a little box. On normal "pretty hard" usage it did awesome if you don't overheat the motors. One weird issue, I think the motor timing is "off" a little -- it chirps when I jump to very high power instantly (0->100% in one cycle) with no load. I suspect it's a feedback issue in the actual driver, but hard to test. Doesn't happen under load. Riding "around town" and not actively trying to break it, it works very well.
Hobby King 120A 6S: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__28377__Hobbyking_174_X_Car_120A_Brushless_Car_ESC_sensored_sensorless_.html
(similar to that one, maybe an older version)
Programmed with a card. Braking is weak even at 100%, but pretty smooth. It makes a REALLY LOUD squeal in the motor on light braking, but is "normal" on harder braking. Generally it sounds louder than other ESCs. I have concerns about the noise, it's seriously loud. I checked it several times before even getting on the board. Still testing this one, but I think the noise will kill it for me.
*update* It's is LOUD, just moving forward. Brakes are soft, and squeally. The worst part is that it's doing something to reboot the wiiceiver and the other two ESCs don't do this. I've had this problem enough (plus the loudness and crappy brakes) that I will not be testing this ESC for duration etc -- I'm sure it's fine, but it's not anything I would recommend using.
HobbyWing EZRun 150: almost *exactly* the same as the HK. So noisy that I didn't even run it in the driveway.
I double-checked the motor on my Flier, and that squeal / scream went away.Of the 4, the cheapest is my "favourite."
