plane phanatic

If I am going to replace a damaged ESC in my plane, how would I determine what kind of ESC I need?

Thanks in advance,
plane phanatic

jdetray

If your plane uses a brushless motor, you will need a brushless ESC. If the motor is brushed, the ESC must be brushed.

The current rating of the new ESC should be the same or larger than the original ESC. For example, if the original was a 20A ESC, the new one must be 20A or larger.

The new ESC should have a low voltage cutoff (LVC) feature for the type of battery (Lipo or NiCd/NiMH) that you will be using.

- Jeff

plane phanatic

Jeff,

Thanks for the info. It will really help when I am picking up a new ESC for my plane.

Thanks again,
plane phanatic

Zombie512

Was the esc properly rated for the motor in your plane? If you pulled to many amps through the esc, replacing it with the same amp rating will only result in another burnout. Check what esc your motor recommends. You will find this from the motor manufacturer. If the esc was part of a combo kit, its a good bet that the esc amp rating is ok, but you should still check to make sure. It would be disheartening to have another esc burn out because it was the wrong size.

plane phanatic

Zombie512:

The plane came RTF, with everything pre-installed, so I don't think that I pulled too many amps through the ESC. The ESC started smoking just before the plane's maiden flight. I just found the plane's documentation and it said that the speed controller should be a LS315-2. Do you know where I can purchase this?

Thanks again for all of your help,
plane phanatic

jdetray

I don't think you'll have much luck finding the speed controller using that model number, as it is the plane manufacturer's proprietary number. Does the speed controller have any specifications printed on it?

- Jeff

plane phanatic

Thanks for all of the help so far.

No, the ESC does not have any specifications on it. Can anybody recommend an ESC? The plane has a 8.4V - 650mAh NiMH battery with a 370 speed brushed motor. Thanks in advance.

Zombie512

You should look at getting a 25A ESC (for brushed motors) or slightly larger. There are several out there, and the prices will vary depending on the bells and whistles you want. Just don't go to much over 25A, the larger the ESC the more weight you will add. Which ever you decide, make sure you recheck your balance before maiden. For your P51 application, I would lean towards an ESC that has either a programmable brake (turned off) or no brake at all. The brake stops the prop immediately when the throttle stick is pulled all the way back. In my opinion, using the brake feature adds wear and tear to your motor (and gear box), granted there are some applications where a brake is warranted but war birds are not one of them...

plane phanatic

Zombie512 and jdetray:

Thanks for all of the help you've been with my ESC problem. It is very much appreciated. I plan on buying the new ESC soon.

Thanks again,
-plane phanatic

plane phanatic

Thanks for the recommendation. Do you know where I can purchase that ESC? I have been looking all over the internet and havn't found it so far.

Zombie512

http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id=V573706
This is where I get my online stuff from. hope you get her flying.

plane phanatic

Thanks for the info. Do you know if [link=http://www.bphobbies.com/view.asp?id=V573706&pid=NBA06103]this[/link] will work with my plane?

Zombie512

This ESC is a "negative shift", it will work on JR/Hitec and all negative shift radios/recievers. You must make sure you have a negative shift and not a positive shift (Futaba) type connector. Look at the connector of your (damaged) ESC and compare it to the connector you are interested in. the wire color sequence must be the same. ie. my esc (neg shift) the color seq. is "Brown/Red/Orange or Black/Red/White" if it was a pos. shift it would be as follows, "RED/Black/White. Make double sure you are getting the right one. Look on your receiver there is usually a reference sticker that shows how the servo/esc connectors should align. ie. (-neg/+pos/s signal) if the center pin is negative then you have a positive shift, if the center pin is positive then you have a negative shift. Hope I didn't confuse you. Make sure you plug in your servos and esc properly to the receiver, it is possible to plug them in backwards (upside down).


As far as amp rating, Yes this will work.

plane phanatic

Thanks for telling be that. I would not have noticed otherwise, but my reciever is indeed a negative shift. I just checked. Would you recommend an overload fuse in the battery circuit? If so where can I purchase one? (Sorry if I'm asking too many questions, for this is the first time one of my planes had an ESC problem.)

Zombie512

Well to be honest, i've never used one. The park flyers I build and fly need to be as light as possible so I dont use them. I'm sure someone out there would swear by them. Having had the issue you had, if you had a fuse installed prior to your melt down, chances are you would just be replacing the fuse and not the esc. I'm sure there will come a day when I wish I had installed one. Of couse the sellers of hobby products are gonna push items, they want as many sales as possible. I have never looked for one but pretty sure BPHobbies will have one if they are pushing the issue. Having said all that, it's still unclear why your esc had a melt down. So there is the slightest of possibilities that it will happen again. if the original esc was not at fault but something else caused it to melt down an inline fuse would save you having to purchase yet another esc.

plane phanatic

Thanks for the info. I plan on purchasing one just in case my original ESC was not at fault, to save the new one from any danger it may be in. Thanks for all of your help.

Zombie512

Any time....Good luck

jdetray

I must step in here to correct some mis-information.

There is no such thing as "shift" with regard to ESCs or servos.

"Shift" refers only to compatibility between transmitters and receivers. A positive shift transmitter requires a positive shift receiver. A negative shift transmitter requires a negative shift receiver. Futaba and Hitec are negative shift. JR and Airtronics are positive shift. Many modern receivers auto-detect the shift and so are compatible with either system.

ESCs and servos do not have a "shift." Except for some old Airtronics equipment, all ESCs and servos have the plus (+) wire in the center pin of the connector, with the minus (-) and signal wires in the two outer pins. The modern design, with the plus pin in the middle, means you can not damage your equipment by plugging in an ESC or servo backwards.

Different manufacturers use different wire colors and sometimes slightly different connectors, but the order of the wires is always the same: plus in the middle pin, negative and signal in the outside pins. Here's a thread that illustrates the ESC/servo wire colors for some popular manufacturers:
[link=http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=392644]Servo connector compatibility[/link]

Today, nearly any ESC or servo will work with nearly any receiver, though the connector might need slight modification. Just don't try to plug an old Airtronics servo into a modern receiver!

- Jeff

Zombie512

Well thats how it was explained to me, thanks for the clarification.

jdetray

I was very confused about this at one time. Then I learned that modern servos and ESCs are basically universal, in that they will all work with any receiver. This discovery made life a lot simpler!

There are some small differences in the connectors used by Futaba, JR, Hitec, and Airtronics. But the pinouts and pin spacing are the same for all. I've had one instance where I had to trim a bit of plastic from a servo connector to allow it to fit into a receiver, but otherwise they are all compatible.

- Jeff

plane phanatic

Thanks for explaining. This is great because in the future if I have problems like this I will not have to worry about positive shift and negative shift with the servos and ESC. Thanks for all of your help Zombie512 and jdetray.

whitecrest

With my Futaba gear, I have had to reverse the throttle servo channel (3) in order to get proper operation with my ESCs. This has been true with both brushed and brushless ESCs. If your motor won't start and you get the programming beeps (because the ESC thinks it's seeing full throttle when it's actually zero), consider this possibility for your set up. Also, it might be a good idea to omit the prop until you verify normal throttle operation. Good luck with the replacement.

plane phanatic

whitecrest:

Thanks for the tip. It will sure help while I am replacing my ESC.