[craneman32]

I have been looking at ESC's. The one in my 400 is crapping out and I can't FLY it. I have been looking on HK and HH. I wanted to compare what I have, EFlight 40Amp to something of TOP Quality. What are some TOP quality name brands of ESC's. Where is a good place to find them?

It was making the motor twitch. When it finally initialized throttle was intermitantly cutting in and out.

[michel gravelle]

Hi

I.ll let someone else help you find a speed control , but maybe it,s this

Before you jump to conclusions , it,s the speed control . Check the souldering joints on the three wires going to the morter . The way you explaned it it sounds like it,s working on two phase . And when that happens it , " JOGS " .

Pull on the bullet connecters ends and the wires , even remove the heat shrink to make sure . You,ll have to do that any way .

Sure hope this helps .

Michel

[bobreib]

Castle Creations are probably " the best " .
Check out the Castle Creations Thunderbird 54 Amp model on Great Hobbies.

[Cougar429]

I would second what Michel recommends and peel the heat shrink back from both sides of the connectors between the motor and ESC. Quite often you will find a weak solder joint or even a broken wire. A quick and easy fix.

Also check the motor leads on the ESC itself and your battery connections. Worst case and one a new ESC will not fix would be too long a motor mount bolt. If it protrudes too deep into the case and contacted or damaged the windings you are looking at a replacement.

As for ESC's. I have run many of the Pentium 30 and 40A units and have had perfect reliability. Only other recommendation would be to spend the extra few dollars for a programming card as it saves time and ensures you of the settings.

On that note I have a Castle 35A I had in one of the Baby 450's and never could get the thing working the way I wanted. The problem was not so much that of the Castle, but of the number of options and difficulty setting them in the heli. You use the throttle and the only way I could get both choices was to modify the trim far away from what would be called for in flight, (motor would not initiate with them set there). I know this could have been peculiar to my setup. Others would likely have no difficulty. I just dismantled the heli for other projects and it's saved for other uses later.

Don't take this as a negative. Castle is a very good ESC and I use many of their other receivers and BEC's as well.

[craneman32]

The only problem I found was a dirty connector on the ESC. All connectors have signs of corrosion residue. I cleaned the ESC up and it seemed to initialize flawlessly many times.

Not sure what to think now. Could it possibly be that simple?

[michel gravelle]

Hi

YES,..................... corrosion is a cancer , check , " ALL " , the connections .

It could be that simple , it,s just making sure it , " IS " the speed control , and not something else .

Michel

[hifly2104]

Originally Posted by michel gravelle

Hi

YES,..................... corrosion is a cancer , check , " ALL " , the connections .

It could be that simple , it,s just making sure it , " IS " the speed control , and not something else .

Michel

Removing the corrosion can be a chore. What did you use as a flux when soldering the joints. Thought that comes to mind is carefully pour hot water over the contaminated joints . This should neutralize the corrosion. Then dry with paper towel then hair dryer ,or hot air gun. Then coat joints lightly with vaseline. The vaseline should prevent reaccurance.If done carefully heat shrink can be placed over protected joints.
The keyword in this is "carefully" as you don't want to get motor or ESC wet .

[craneman32]

is that from cheap connectors? Solder? I have some T40 here.

[Cougar429]

YUP. It can be that simple. This is especially true in high frequency electrical systems as with your brushless motor.

Corrosion is basically oxygen having a reaction with metal. If you do as hifly2104 recommends and coat the connections with some form of gelly or anti corrosive grease then you should be able to prevent it happening again.

[craneman32]

Highly reccommended! Krown T40 rust/corrosion inhibitor. Just cleaned up all connectors. Sprayed with T40. Tests are going well. I will try to get it in the air tomorrow. DAM!! Southwestern Ontario weather!