Testing an Alien Power (Bruno) ESC with a Turnigy 80-100

[Byte]

Hi Guys,

A few weeks ago my Castle Creations 160 HV let the magic smoke out. (Still don't know why... performed well for about a year) I mailed Bruno from Alien Power, he said he could sent me an ESC. I could test it, and if I would like it, buy it afterwards. I'm using it on my bike (see my signature), with 10S LiPo and a Turnigy 80-100 80kv motor.

Bruno sent me an 300A 16S ESC, which I received last week. I spent some time with soldering everything together. Got some extra Panasonic low-esr caps, which I soldered today. Did some unloaded testing, everything seemed fine. I already made some pictures, which I will post asap. Tomorrow I will try to make the first ride under load, including video.


Notice; I don't get anything from Bruno for posting this, I asked him if I can post this. This is just me sharing some real test results about this ESC.


If there are any questions; just ask



Patrick

 

[liveforphysics]

I'm curious to see its start-up behavior if you're perhaps rolling backwards on a hill at the time the throttle is hit. I've seen a sensorless controller pass that test now, and I was very impressed.

 

[recumpence]

I'm curious to see its start-up behavior if you're perhaps rolling backwards on a hill at the time the throttle is hit. I've seen a sensorless controller pass that test now, and I was very impressed.

What controller worked for you, Luke?

Matt

 

[Byte]

A few pics of this ESC... It's a lot bigger than the Castle 160HV ESC as you can see.

Something that was a little bit strange was the glue and heatshrink on top of the battery connector. Had to fix that first before I could connect a battery.

Soldered 4 Panasonic FC low-esr caps to the ESC, just like my Castle ESC had.

Last weekend I connected the ESC to the bike. All went fine. Did some low, mid and full throttle runs. ESC didn't get warmer as 21 degrees celcius, outside temp was 12 degrees celcius, so that's very good. (I haven't connected the fan) After that I did some hard throttle runs. While accelerating, at like 60% speed the motor always lost sync. Probably because my timing is set too high. Anyway; acceleration is just as good as with the Castle controller. Main difference is that the controller stays a lot cooler. (Which is obvious cause it's double as big and can't handle double the amps)

This is how my bike looks at the moment. Little bit messy. But once I'm 100% sure everything runs fine I will move the controller.

I made a video but that's crap... So next time I will set the timing a bit lower and look how that goes. Can't wait to make some wheelies! I will also make a better video.


Patrick

 

[recumpence]

I just received one of these ESCs for testing.

Let me know how it goes and any advice you have.

Matt

 

[Thud]

Since you guys are testing,
How about some feedback on the programability.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Byte]

Weather is bad... hopefully it will get better so I can get this thing running!

I just received one of these ESCs for testing.

Let me know how it goes and any advice you have.

Matt

Which ESC did you receive? (How many volts/amps?) Don't forget to update to the newest firmware. Just use it like you would normally use a Castle Creations ESC, it's basically the same.

Since you guys are testing,
How about some feedback on the programability.
Thanks in advance!

Before you can program the ESC you need to install some kind of driver, as described on Bruno's website. Not very difficult, a little confusing though. Once you installed this driver and the software it's very easy to program the ESC. It programs just like every other Radio Control ESC.
Big advantage (imo) over a Castle Creations HV 160 controller is that you don't need to connect the ESC itself to a power source to program it. So just plug it in the usb and start programming.

 

[recumpence]

I have the same ESC you have. It is 16s 300 amp. I also have the HUGE 24s 450 amp ESC.

I have not programmed it yet.

Does it have adjustable current limiting?

Matt

 

[Byte]

It doesn't have a specific option for current limiting, however it has an "acceleration" option where soft, medium or high can be chosen. I don't know if these options are based on maximum current flow?

Can you make a picture of both ESCs? The 16S 300amp ESC alone is already very big :lol: