Beating Electric component overheating
 

I have a number of electric flight set ups. 2 airplanes and one ornithopter. But I seem to always be fighting the overheating of one or more components. I have solved my overheating ESC problem by buying a overrated (30 amp) unit. Now it operates fine and only gets slightly warm, (no heatsink needed).

Now I am dealing with either overheating motor or battery. I can solve the battery problem by running two batteries and tying them together with a Y setup, but this can add alot of weight. Now my motors seem to overheat. Is there a formula I am missing out on?

How important is battery voltage. If battery voltage is high, doesn't the ESC reduce it to acceptable levels? If you run a 6 volt motor using a battery charged to 10 volts, will this lead to overheating or can I run it at half throttle and extent my flight?

What have you done to overcome the Overheating problems of electric flight?

Thanks, John

RE: Beating Electric component overheating
 

Your motor was trying to draw more current (amperage) than the esc could handle. So it overheated. Batteries usually make heat through discharging too fast because your esc is drawing more current from them. The motor is drawing current at different speeds in different amounts. If you think about it this way it may help. Voltage is the amount of water going through a hose (the wires of all your components), Amperage is the water pressure, and resistance (ohms) is the size of the hose. If any of these are mismatched then one will over heat. Don't concern yourself with the battery for now. In rc cars the esc's have to be matched to the motor and the battery no more than the esc is rated for (cells). I hope my limited knowledge of electronics has helped...If not ignore all my effort...LOL

RE: Beating Electric component overheating
 

You are actually a little backward on the voltage and amps. Amps would be the amount of water and volts is the pressure. Higher voltage (higher pressure) forces more current thru the motor (amps) and can over heat everything if THEY are not rated for it. You are correct about the rest.

Artman, I am not sure what you are doing. If everything is overheating you are trying to get more power than your equipment will handle. You have to upgrade the equipment or lower what you are pulling. You do this by either lower voltage and/or smaller prop. To stay with what power you are getting, you need to look at what you just did. The esc was getting hot. You got a bigger esc. The batteries got hot so you got bigger batteries. Now the motor is still too hot? You have to get a bigger motor! Then you will be in good shape.

The only other thing you can do is cut back on the demand on the motor as I mentioned above.

The ESC does NOT automatically set the correct voltage to the motor.

Keep in mind that all this stuff WILL get hot when using it and that is normal, unless you are running blistering hot. If you try to run everything cool you will have more weight than you need or even can carry. Li-Po batteries are the quickest to be damaged from extreme heat. They should never get over, about, 150 degrees F. They will feel hot at that temp, but, will be ok.

Good luck.

RE: Beating Electric component overheating
 

Thanks for all your advice. I am now looking for a Larger motor and hopefully this will solve the problem. I am also going to be more careful on how I charge my batteries, I will keep the voltage lower.



Thanks