ORIGINAL: Doc Austin
ORIGINAL:
The E-Flite 40A V2 ESC was so hot that the black PVC covering over the FETs has completely melted off! It works fine when cool, so I'm going to continue to use it -sans covering.
Man, I'de be afraid to use that thing again. If it overheated the BEC, that could end up failing and then you'de have a real mess.
I think you're right, Doc. Those FETs might be damaged already by the heat. The BEC was fine though - I was able to land my plane.
This is my second E-Flite 40A ESC, the first one died on the maiden - also a sudden loss of power, but the BEC was ok, thankfully, and I can still land the plane. My LHS promptly replaced it.
ORIGINAL: Doc Austin
The biggest cooling hole on the airplane is at the bottom of the firewall, so that's where we put the ESC. Once the air goes over the esc, it has no choice than to go up through the slots and past the battery. In this positiojn we have never had an ESC problem. I put 200 flights on one like that, and then another 200 in the Mini Pulse. Right nowm, that ESC has about 10 flights in my new Mini Pulse. It will probably run forever..
I'll try that position next. Funny thing is that when I had it mounted on the side - I have had over a hundred flights - never a problem. It was barely warm when I opened the hatch to replace the batteries. That last time the ESC was blistering hot. It might be that it developed a problem. I have good results with Castle Creations Phoenix ESCs. I think I'll replace it with one of those. The Phoenix has some nice programmable features like LVC voltages which the E-Flite lacks.
I've seen people do that, but if you crash the airplane on it's belly you could damage the ESC. Not only that, if you knock the gear off on pavement, the ESC is going to go sliding down the asphault with the plane on top of it. That, and i don't like the way it looks.
Very true - my present R/C fied is grass - but the MUS is so versatile that I might want to try flying off the hardened courts at certain recreational facilities - and a hard landing might rip off more than just the nylon-bolt supported landing gears :-(