ESC's ALL THE FACTS

Droider

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
Seeing more and more people are using the WKM and NAZZA I thought I would start a thread to help those building their MR's and let the great and the good who know all biut this subject share there knowledge to help others understand a few things about ESC's

I would like to try and keep the thread factual. So please dont ask what ESC's for your particular craft

Could the great and the good contribute and answer a few basic questions and we will take it from there

Ill start it off by starting this thread and ask for some contributions on the following

Sizing ESC's

This seems to be the bible BUT i have found it not always to be correct.. maybe I just aint using it right !
http://www.ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc_e.htm?ecalc

Common questions

Overheating WHY?
What makes a ESC HOT?
Is there a rule of thumb for sizing?
What are the differences between them all?
What is the best one for MR's?
What are the best settings?
How and when to calibrate the ESC's and why do you need to do it?

Please feel free to contribute to the answers to these questions Or in fact post more relevant questions.

Dave
 


ZAxis

ZAxis

Member
I've only recently been involved with discrete ESCs, it was so easy with MK - no choice.
It strikes me that electronics only overheat if they are driven beyond their rated current. My philosophy would be to always overspec them and never run them close to the limit. I have been confused as to why there is such a range of ESC capacities other than potential cost saving. So money buys protection?
Oh... forgot ventilation helps as well but then most ESCs I've seen have been strapped to the rotor arms and nicely cooled.
I hope someone can respond to your other points as it would be interesting to know the reasoning behind their replies.

andy
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Al from Hoverfly did a comparison of different ESC's recently. His info is posted here somewhere, I'd look it up myself but I'm between puppy care and kiddy bath time.
Bart
 

K

Kari

Member
Good thread Dave, just not so easy to answer those questions. I've been testing now 4 sets of different ESC:s in my Cinestar and waiting for 5th set. I see a lot of difference in flight behavior with different brands firmwares. Last couple weeks i've been testing 30A rapidescs (HK) and Hobbywing pentiums 40A and i find them both very different but both very good. Rapids are definitely most silky smooth running esc:s but i can't get rid of toilet bowling, gps drifting and bad altitude hold. It's interesting how esc:s can be involved this but they absolutely are, i switched back hobby wing pentiums and all rock solid again. Also motors are nearly silent with rapid:s compared to regular whining with pentiums.

I'm waiting now 40A HK:s with FastPWM fw to see it makes difference between 30A:s with gps issues. What i've heard 40A HK:s are very much higher quality hardware than 30A:s, but can't show any proves or specs for this though.

Basicly i think we are over speccing quite far these MR:s anyway. My hovering amps for auw 5kg CS6 is 40-45A, with fast climbing i'm getting to 80-90 amps for only second or two when accelerating from steady hover. 6X 40A i get 240A continuous, but i'm still rather safe than sorry.

Kari
 

Droider

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
Thanks for sharing your experiences.. My HL ADX3 and 4 kilos hovers at around 48/50 amps and 107 in a climb out with 13x6.5 APC thin electric..

So is there a sweet spot for these things.. I mean you would not think you would need anything bigger than a 25 amp on mine with loads to spare even in a climb out

Do you measure your temps? I seem to get longer flight times the cooler they are..

What motors and props are you using?

@ Andy I here you but dame question.. why bigger? Dont understand electronics but would they not be less efficient that correctly sized ones.

@ Bart whats Als avatare.. cant find the thread so if anyone knows where it is please post a link in here

Dave
 

K

Kari

Member
Droider said:
Thanks for sharing your experiences.. My HL ADX3 and 4 kilos hovers at around 48/50 amps and 107 in a climb out with 13x6.5 APC thin electric..

So is there a sweet spot for these things.. I mean you would not think you would need anything bigger than a 25 amp on mine with loads to spare even in a climb out

Do you measure your temps? I seem to get longer flight times the cooler they are..

What motors and props are you using?

@ Andy I here you but dame question.. why bigger? Dont understand electronics but would they not be less efficient that correctly sized ones.

@ Bart whats Als avatare.. cant find the thread so if anyone knows where it is please post a link in here

Dave
Click to expand...


I'm using now qc3328 motors with 11X5 graupners. I tried 12X5 APC electrics but amp draw almost identical, but worse flying. I have measured temps roughly with quantum telemetry temp sensor but haven't got them really much warmer than outside temp, maybe few degrees difference. And touching with finger hardly even warm after flights, rapids maybe slightly warmer but same amp draw. And i use high timing with Pentiums.

I really can't say if 25A:s are enough practically as i'm not electronic specialist.

Kari
 



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