Newbie here-What does ESC do ?

[SRBaja]

No clue about RC so some dumb questions from me will be fortcoming. First off, what does ESC do and how does it affect the motor ?

[XXXER]

Firstly, WELCOME TO THE RCCA BB, anyways, what the ESC does is it, in a nut shell, sends power to the motor, and tells how much power to give it, in relation to trigger moevement on the remote, I saw that you are gettin the Rustler on the other thread, they are great for begginers, you are getting the Pro Trax aslo i assume, and they are even better for new guys, the ESC also makes the battery last longer, because of lower resistance. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR CAR!!

[SRBaja]

Thanks for the reply, anyway the rustler I ordered has ESC, now if I had not ordered it with ESC it would have had what ? Mechanical control ? what is that , and how does it send current to the motor as opposed to Esc. Thanks- This RC stuff looks like it can get complicated.

[ZenLosi]

Hey there SRBaja. Mechanical and Electronic speed controls serve the same function, controlling voltage output to the motor. The difference is, the mechanical controller is controlled by an additional servo and usually has three speeds forward and one reverse. As the mechanical wiper arm get's pulled over different areas of the contact patch, it speeds up or slows it down. The electronic speed control does not require an additional servo and I believe they're all proportional now. This means wherever you have the throttle on the controller is directly proportional to the output of the ESC. The electronic speed control is definately the better option, but you need to be aware of the limitations of your particular model. Make sure you don't somehow reverse polarity with the battery, find out what the lowest winding motor it can handle (the lower the winding, the faster the motor) most can handle 17 turns or higher, and of course, keep the ESC dry. A maintained ESC will last much longer than a mechanical speed controller as well.

-Zen

[R_C_MAN]

To leave off where Zenlosi stopped about the motors- well "turns" refer to how many times wires is wrapped around the armature in the motor. The armature is basically the part in side the motor that spins around. "Winds" refers to how many wires are wrapped around the armature. SO if someone said that a motor is a 13 turn triple, that means 3 wires are wrapped around the armature 13 times. The rule of thumb is the lower the turns the faster. That is just the rule of thumb that is generally true but also varies and depends on the motor and manufacturer. The rule of thumb about winds is the higher the wind the more top end and RPM. The lower the wind gives more low end and torque. Winds usually ramge from single to quint. Turns usually range from 6 to 27.
This may all seem confusing at first but you will eventually know all this stuff. It isn't as hard as it seems. Hope you have fun with your Rustler. It is a good truck. I have one myself.