If an ESC cuts out after about 5 mins of use does that mean the motor is drawing too much current? My motor requires minimum 8.4v/ 30A continuous capacity, and this ESC exceeds that. It can handle 10 cells/30A, so I'm a bit confused. When it cuts out, all I need to do is throttle down to zero, the throttle back up again and it works, if only for a few moments or so. The ESC feels a bit warm after use, but by no means is it too hot to touch.

Do you have good Air Flow over the Motor/ESC? What plane are you flying? Did you try and run the Motor/ESC on the bench to see if it still happens? On my old Skyscooter i had the same problem. The ESC didn't feel hot to the touch but it still cut in and out. I made it so the ESC got a little more air flow over it and now all is good.

DD. Prop. proficiency starts at the tip of your plane, it's your prop. bigger, means your pulling lot's of current. The temp on your esc is an indication to it. Get an astro W.Meter, and check out current out put Or try GB and see the difference.

Hope that helps,
genovia-2NG

Hmm...actually, there is NO airflow over the ESC. It's in my F-16 EDF, so I suppose I could move it somewhere near the intake or something. Oh yah, the bench is where I found this problem, thank god! hehe

indeed

5 minutes is a good run time for an EDF. I guess you've simply run the battery down and that's why it's cutting off. The battery will recover slightly which is why you get a few more seconds power out of it but basically it's empty.

It's not a problem it's just the way electric power systems work.

BTW you always get the worst results on the bench. In flight the motor unloads a bit and takes less current with everything getting less hot. Too much bench running with no airflow can kill a system faster than anything.

Steve

Indeed. If an ESC cuts out after 5 minutes of use, the battery is going dead! This is the normal LVC (low-voltage cutoff) function of the ESC. It is supposed to leave enough energy in the battery to allow you to control the airplane and glide it in for a landing.

I think 5 minutes may have been a bit of a long estimation on my part. It's probably closer to 2.5 - 3 mins of around 75% throttle. I think that's a bit short for a 3000mah pack. Is it?