First, let me begin by saying none of this is exagerated for effect. I am beginning to get frustrated with the reliablity of my electric parts. This is what I've lost in just the last 3 weeks: Three ESC's, one GWS 300 motor, one hobbico DC charger and one 8 cell nimh battery pack (probably done in by aforementioned charger). I added it up and found I lost about 400 dollars worth of electronics. Losing the GWS motor wasn't really a supprise, it had some time on it. The rest of this stuff is less than one year old. The Charger is apparently only malfunctioning on the nimh setting on one of the charge circuits. Still, I don't want to trust it with these expensive battery packs. I've been in the sport now for about 2 years and I've found the reliability of the electric parts to be questionable at best. I understand that some of it was my fault earlier on, but at least for the last year or so, I have been very careful not to mismatch parts (amp and volt-wise). I don't think I've seen any information on the expected lifespan of ESC's and Chargers. What should I expect from this equipment?

I can't really tell you about chargers; I seem to find a new one and trade up every season! So I've never used a charger for more than a year. But for that year they all (Astro 110D, GP Triton, Dymond Super Turbo) ran perfectly. My current charger, a Hobbico Mark II, has also run all winter and all this flying season without a hitch.

In practice, I would think that barring quality-control issues, a charger should last many years, unless it has been abused. Shorting the outputs, sub-spec input supplies, charging at excessive rates or charging questionable packs might be considered "abuse".

ESC's are about the same. My oldest ESC (a Wattage 380) has been knocking around for four years in one setup or another (all Speed 400 applications) and still works fine. But using too many cells, or too hungry a motor, or doing a bad wiring job when installing it will all kill an ESC. Even hooking it up to a battery backwards, just once, can smoke some of the smaller ones.

I'm not saying you've done any of these things, even unintentionally. But most modern electronics are pretty reliable if they're used within specs.


Steve

The large-ticket items also have warranties. You would do well to contact [email protected] and describe the problem you're having with the charger. If you're humble and friendly (i.e. don't accuse them of producing junk in your message; this is not the time for riteous indignation), they'll probably replace it for free. All you'd be out is a few dollars to mail it to them.

How are the ESCs burning out? Which ESC? What are you trying to run? ICS100 ESCs are underrated, but not so underrated that you can get away with running a GWS EPS300C power system on 8 cells for long with one.

Hi Matt, Of the 3 ESC's that croaked, one was a GWS ICS300, the other was an E-flite 10amp and the other was a Wattage 10 amp. All three of these were being used on my homebuilt foamies, using the GWS 300 or 350 (D gearing) using an 8 cell 730 milliamp GWS nimh pack or a 1500 to 2100 milliamp 2 cell lipol. The GWS ESC died when the motor in that plane died. The other two just died or quit working, thankfully while the planes were on the ground. I do have a couple of ESC's that are about a year old and still working well. Up till now, my Hobbico Twin charger(the mark II, I think) has performed well. The first of the two charger circuits apparently will not peak on the nimh setting. This charger is about a year old and I think I will just buy another. Still, your advice is good and I will E-mail Hobbico. I also have an MRC 969 Brain charger that I've had problems with. First, it will not realiably charge Lipols even though it says it will on the box. The charging regimen for Lipols on this charger is just weird. I have also had a lot of trouble with the AC/DC connector (the plug in portion of the unit). It constantly works loose at the end that plugs into the charger. I added some solder wire at the plug so I could tighten the screws down tighter and that helped a little. Funny, I've had good luck with receivers. So far (I'm knocking on wood) I haven't lost a receiver.

Stop trying to charge LiPolys with the Superbrain 969 IMMEDIATELY! That charger is under no circimstances suitable for charging LiPolys, no matter what it says on the box!!! They're expecting you to use a fixed-capacity charge with a PEAK DETECT! LiPolys don't peak, and you can't possibly know how many mAh you need to put into the LiPolys to charge them.

As far as your bad luck with components, without being able to observe you and your flying habits, there's no way to tell if you're doing something wrong, or you're just unlucky.

Some of the things you do NOT want to do:
1. Put a bigger prop on the airplane without checking here first.
2. Run the motor for extended periods of time on the ground. This tells you nothing, and only gets everything really hot.
3. Forget to shut the throttle down when you crash. This is a sure way to burn up motors.