ESC and braking

[Wolfpack39]

How does an ESC give your car braking capability. Is it bad to quickly switch from forward to reverse with a mechanical speed control?

[Throtl Hapie]

ESC gives braking by (I think) drawing current from the motor. It is bad to switch between forward and reverse rapidly not so much for the speed control but for the motor and transmission/gears.
:)

[Railman]

Braking comes from putting the motor in a generator mode, & applying an extreme load on that generator. In effect full braking crosses the + & - poles of the motor while it is spinning & not under battery power. That is why stock motors have more brakes than mod motors. The extra wire wraps generate more current in the brake mode. :cool: Generally speaking any extreme load (sudden reversing!) on a motor or electric equipment is bad news. Good way to fry armatures! :eek: :mad:

[FilthyPierre]

Wolf, Railman has nailed it (nicely put Railman). The ESC controls braking properly, whereas with a MSC you can't brake - you just wham the motor into reverse, which will eventually brake the car, but not the way you should. With an ESC, the motor poles are reversed, braking the car, but there's little or no current applied to the motor. All in all, a much better way to do things.

[cck]

Wolfpack39, this is the URL I highly recommend you to read. You can learn a lot more by reading this. http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/2314/rc-faq.html

[Railman]

ckk, Nice link, very long! :cool: Anyone find the part about the motor being a generator? It's near the end. :rolleyes: :)