ESC tips

[jboyce13]

i am today hooking up and attemptimg to run my first ESC. i started with nitro vehicles so i know a lot about the cars, but am a little unfamiliar with ESC's. is there any tips for getting them set up correctly?? yes i will read the instructions, but just wondering if you have any unprinted tips/tricks.

THANKS http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/smile.gif

[DJ BlendeR]

Didnt know there were tricks to them...? I guess the only one I can think of is keep it away from your receiver, as much as possible. If you are running mod motors make sure the heat sinks have a good area to release the heat. But if you run nitro then you would know bout heat sinks.

[FilthyPierre]

A few tips. 1. Most speedies need capacitors across the motor terminals to reduce electrical noise (and thus interference) - if you're running a stock 540, you'll need to install these - one between the + and - terminals of the motor, one between the + and the can and one between the negative and the can. These caps are usually 0.1 uF (micro Farads). If you're running a fairly recent rebuildable stock or mod motor it's likely to have caps already installed inside the end-bell, and installing more will actually be detrimental. Trinity and Orion motors may have them installed - check the enb-bell, if there's a marking on there that says 0.1uF then there are caps already installed.

2. If it's a non-reversing speedy (like a Cyclone), solder a Schottky diode across the motor terminals - make sure you get the polarity correct. The white stripe on one end of the diode should be soldered to the positive terminal. The instructions for the Cyclone say that this will make the speedy run cooler. However, if you have a reversing speedy, do not put a diode across your motor terminals - it will blow up as soon as you go into reverse.

3. Not sure if this will be true for all speed controllers but the Cyclone requires that you solder an electrolytic capacitor across the positive and negative power terminals of the controller. The capacitor is supplied with the Cyclone and I'm assuming that any speedy that requires it would be supplied with it (if you bought it new). It's also supposed to reduce noise/interference and make it run cooler.

4. If your speedy has JST (Tamiya) style connector for the battery, cut it off and put on a Deans Ultra plug. The Tamiya connectors are crap, crap, crap, and will cause more problems than they're worth. Use a male for the speedy and females for your packs. Of course, you'll have to change the connector on your charger as well if it has a Tamiya connector. Believe me, it's worth it in the long run.

Good Luck.

[BadRacer]

I don't know if this is a tip or not but here goes. This makes it alot easy to change motors.

Take some batt conectors (I use the Red and Blacks, don't know the correct term, maybe its Power Poll) Solder and install a set to your motor wires.......next take the wires from your ESC that goes to your motor and solder and install a set of batt connectors to the wires.

Now like BAM you have an easy way of taking motors out and putting another in with out having to re-solder the ESC wire to the motor! http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Now its just as easy as pluging in a battery.

Keep it Real
BadRacer

[This message has been edited by BadRacer (edited 02-20-2001).]

[FlamingYouth]

Yeah, I know how feel. I have built 4 R/Cs, all with MSC (mechanical speed control.) I am also looking toward building an HPI RS4 PRO 3, which uses an ESC.

[Nairb]

I just posted this in Novak's Orange Room:

"I believe performance is basically equal if you use high quality plugs or hardwire. Personal preference is all that matters there. I will always use plugs on my batteries, because the convenience is undeniable, but between the motor & ESC, I've changed my mind. The next ESC I get will be hardwired to the motor, because I've had WAY too much trouble with the motor plugs coming undone on hard landings. That is the biggest pain. I never have trouble because I break something, it's always my electrical system one way or another. Now that I have a quality soldering iron at my disposal, dealing with a hardwired motor will be no problem at all. That is what I recommend (hardwire the motor and use plugs for the batteries)."

Right now I have tape holding my motor plugs together to prevent them coming apart. This cancels out the convenience IMHO, because I must remove the tape to unplug them. Using plugs for the motor adds bulk & extra junk to the chassis and adds the possibility of a mishap on hard landings. I think hardwiring the motor is DEFINITELY worth it.

[jboyce13]

thanks for the tips!!! it worked. the reason i was asking for tips is that i bought this car used and plugged the ESC (explorer 2) for the first time and smelled something, then i saw a puff of smoke, ahhhh, i fried it somehow, i don't know, i think the guy that sold it to me had done something to it. so i sent it back to novak and got a rebuilt one for $23. well last night i hooked it all up, and man was i nervous about plugging the battery on. i used an old 1200 radio shack pack in hopes it would not fry as quickly. i must have plugged that thing in for 1 second about 10 times before i was confident it would not fry. and it did'nt!!! it works fine, i got it set up and runs like a charm. after putting the new one in, i am more convinced that the other one was messed up when i got it, b/c i did the exact same thing with the new one. who knows. thanks again though!!!

[This message has been edited by jboyce13 (edited 02-21-2001).]

[BadRacer]

Hey Nairb i have never had a problem with my wires coming undone on hard landings, my wires stay together without any help from tape or rubber bands. Your the first person iv heard that from. But oh well everyone has there own way of doing stuff. The only reason i don't solder the wire on the motor is becuase i race in stock and modified class and i found it alot easyer and less time consuming. I have to change motors often and i just don't want to deal with soldering. But if my wires were coming undone on hard landings like yours id probably do the same thing, but i haven't had a problem yet so im going to keep doing what works for me.

Keep it Real
BadRacer