What's inside: ESCs

[@TheOriginalNibblet]

Thanks, I have spent days trying to understand an ESC, an you have done it in 7 min's, well done

[@power-max]

All those FETs are setup in just 3 totem pole circuits. What happens is that one of the 3 totem pole outputs is set to go HIGH, and the other 2 are LOW. then the next totem pole is set to go HIGH, the the rest are set LOW. It cycles though all three and that is what makes the induction motor work.

[@Duane_A]

I am new to RC, but not to electronics and for some time I wondered how ESCs worked. Given their low cost, I can see why most people buy them instead of make them. Very nice job keeping it simple, yet not to the point of inaccuracy.

[@themainproblem]

This was a nice review. I had not ever considered cutting away part of the heat shrink for cooling purposes! Keep up the great efforts and respect from Apache Junction, Arizona

[@jeffgrave]

One additional note is the early ESC had a opto sensor to synchronize the motor spin direction to the ESC control circuit.These were called "sensored" ESC units. Most today don't use this (some car ESC are still sold as sensored types). The sensoreless ones shown utilize the EMF filed that is generated by the motor windings and magnets, this signal gets processed and then used as a basic sync method to know where the motor shaft is during acceleration. This is the not the best way to do it, sometimes sensorless motors get what is called "cogging" due to the EMF signal not syncing up well.

[@MrJonnymellor]

We also, strangely enough, pronounce half and calf omitting the L.Can't we all enjoy each others dialects and relish in the fact that we are able to communicate globally so easily now and share great knowledge and experiences?Thanks Bruce,really enjoy your vids! Happy Flying y'all !

[@vineetaquarius]

i am watching you from years , you are a great passionate person and make very helpful videos. keep going

[@GospelProgressionsUniversity]

I just crashed my Vision+ V3 so hard the poor phantom bounced twice and the battery went flying in the opposite direction. One ESC cracked in half, the body is shattered, the internal battery plug became unmounted and the motor was crushed. I was able to test and it still has power. The gimbal works and it also communicates with the vision app. However, when I tried starting the motors none of them spun. Of course I wouldn't expect the broken one to do anything but should that one ruined ESC and motor effect the other motors? Is this normal? I already ordered the body, a 2312 motor, an ESC v2.0 and an internal battery plug.

[@mattmathias8507]

Wow, great job. you have a pleasing and proper voice for these vids. well done sir!

[@thegarthtaylor]

Thanks for the awesome info A few questions if I may .. I have a speed controller with two smaller capacitors on the board with a common earth as well as the two big ones. I've replaced the big ones as one blew. And both the small ones as They were rusty. The speed controller still doesn't work. Is this likey to be the fets ? Why would my one large capacitor have blown ? Thanks so much in advance

[@DronemanfromNepal]

i am going to use 2600 mah 14.8v 40c ,, with 40 amp esc ,,, i am afraid i might burn it ,,,,, do you think its a good idea ,, please reply me ,, thnx

[@scotsoft29]

My knowledge of these beasts has just taken a quantum leap thanks to you very clear video ;-)

[@GeorgeLenoHolmesJr]

"Fitz" = MOSFETS (To avoid confusion) Thanks for the video.

[@theeastman9136]

From DC to AC! Duh, now I understand the 3 wires and the fact that they can be connected in different positions. Thanks for that mate.

[@TheRattleSnake3145]

Why would you need to "Flash" the esc to make the motor spin backwards when you can just swap 2 of the motor wires around?

[@fett63]

Finaly a video not related to FPV nice to see this kind of information, it really helps us the new kids on the block to understand the science behind electric power. Thanks. How about one on how to use the GWS Servo tester and what is the meaning of all the adjustments and numbers.

[@JstocktheRCguy]

did i hear you say that the heat sink might fall off what there are not fastened down to the board ? have not opened one yet but have cut off some of the heat shrink off the around the heat sink

[@mulomantore]

When we connect the battery to the ESC..there will be the beep sound..but where the beep sound actually come from?

[@tango9939]

Thank you for doing such a good job on your videos! It's nice to have someone explain this in the detail that I need! Your videos are invaluable!

[@jorgekane2842]

I dont mean to be so off topic but does anybody know a trick to log back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly lost my login password. I appreciate any help you can give me.

[@jordyjudson2247]

@Jorge Kane instablaster ;)

[@jorgekane2842]

@Jordy Judson I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and Im trying it out atm. I see it takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@jorgekane2842]

@Jordy Judson it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy:D Thanks so much you really help me out !

[@jordyjudson2247]

@Jorge Kane Glad I could help =)

[@FPVREVIEWS]

hey bruce, any chance you could make a video on where to place ferrite rings on a rc model plane, particularly a fpv plane? would love that!

[@SuperBell82]

Hi Bruce was wondering if you would show us how to repair the capacitors and where exactly to solder them on the board thanks keep them coming

[@RonALampman]

Hi, I had trouble understanding the 3 wires coming out until a friend at my local hobby store told me that to reverse any two wires will reverse the motor. Then it clicked, these are nothing but 3 phase motors. Knowing that, I understood what the ESC is doing in replicating a public utilities electric generator (all are 3 phase). But instead of cycling between the phases at 60hz, it can be sped up or slowed down electronically. This technology is now used in HVAC to make super efficient airconditioner units by taking the AC current, turning it into DC and feeding it to an ESC to drive the 3 phase motors at a variable speed. This saves energy by never having to load up trying to compensate for an environment change in so many degrees.

[@AdamJablonski23]

These ESCs are not the same technology that is seen in large scale HVAC fan and pump motors. There aren't any "ESCs" on them. The Variable Frequency Drives or VFDs is what controls their speed. It does so by changing the frequency of the incoming AC voltage to the AC electric motor while the voltage stays constant. What is in our RC vehicles is a brushless DC motor which changes speed according to voltage and not frequency. What the Speed controller does is pulses a variable voltage between the 3 phases of the motor.

[@RonALampman]

Correct, but the motors are 3 phase like the big industrial motors. However, they are powered (in the US) from 3 phase power at 60hz. An ESC can spin a motor much faster than that because it's computer driven to change the speed of the rotation between the legs of power. All the best and Happy flying!

[@atom2319]

sir, here in India , there are many BLDC motors of Electric scooter not working anymore because their controllers were all China made and now that controllers are not available in Indian market, so what to do to use motors again in electric scooter??

[@DouglasHPlumb]

What kind of control signal is sent to esc? Is it a DC voltage and frequency is proportional to DC voltage is it it an oscillating signal?

[@DangerDavefpv]

whats the little tan squares? has silver most time on each side? i have issue i see of mine burnt and esc turns off after a crash with tree branches but i dont wanna risk running if this is critical part its a dys xs20

[@HeuristicObfuscation]

Is there a way to bypass the receiver. say I wanted to connect directly to power source. with out having to use remote control?

[@lorenzovanhethul1355]

Me to, i want to bypass the esc to max rpm without receiver or something else, just a battery and 5v

[@simonsutherland814]

Great video 👌🏻

[@nikosyoutsos]

Hello my friend, I have bought an ESC for forward and reverse and brake. can i change him to go forward only? his proper programming card doesn't have this option unfortunately....is there anything that can be done to do this? thanks, if you can answer me..

[@davedoesstuff3550]

Hi, how different is an esc from a what you have shown here to an esc that is in a brushless cordless drill?

[@engineerahmed7248]

Some 3A & 6A Brushless ESCs have only 2 wires entering & leaving .... So how to make the 3rd wire for 3 motor phases.

[@SMorrizz]

Looks the ESC generates a 3 phase signal. I was wondering where is the ground then, which would need 4 wires. Right?

[@marshallbyford]

hello Bruce Thank you for the great info. Im new to electric powered rc and recently bought a trex700 I poped the esc open and sodered new leads to make them longer I didnt relize the motor was ac and now ive relized since I dont have a O Scope im not going to be able to test it what should I do. thank you mb

[@Syma107]

That really explained so much-bl---- great video that has made me realize how it all works-one just gets an esc from HobbyKing as cheap- but to know what they do related to your motor and battery is crucial-Thank you!

[@Matthewandmatthewpwn]

If I have a 40a esc do I need a higher 40c discharge battery to cope with it or will the battery have to much power being pulled out of it?

[@captureking]

My copter when the batt is connected does nothing no beeps no lights could it be the esc the batts are good?

[@gluino]

If I have two identical sets of battery, ESC, and motor, and I put on different sized propellers on them, then how does (1) power output, and (2) RPM vary according to throttle position? I am under the impression that both setups will give the same RPM at the same throttle positions, (and power output is greater in the setup that has the bigger prop). Is this correct? i.e. at say 90% throttle position in both set ups, both props would be spinning at the same RPM?

[@tntexplosivesltd]

I think it switches them all in parallel, meaning each individual FET handles a sixth of the full current - sharing the load

[@evanriddle1614]

Is cause of board failure attributed to FET, MOSFET, resistor, cap or other discrete component and rarely affects the chipset itself?

[@ThomasRP11]

Thankyou for the informative video, I have an ESC a friend donated to my collection and I noticed that it gets warm not HOT just warm with no juice going threw, just being connected to the battery. Is this normal?

[@pokies100]

thanks fett63 for your comments but i disagree about having more FPV. great video bruce. If i wanted to power a push bike as a concrete example what power controller and motor from hobbyking would youmsuggest and would it need a bec?:-)

[@KristofLossie]

Hi Bruce, Can you do a deeper technical video on this. I know you have a electronics back ground and I would like to have your opinion on some of the common ESC's from an electronics point of view. Most of them are based on the Atmega 8 and are easely flashable. I'm building a quad and got the 30A HK's (the ones with the blue wrapper) I flashed them with the SimonK firmware. The quad + camera is rather expensive and I would not want it to fail and crash because I was to cheap to by better ESC's. Thx!

[@Promex20]

I always taught that you only need to switch two motor wires to reverse the motor spin direction, or am I wrong? Have not done that myself yet though. Seams like a overkill to reflash the microcontroller.

[@TurboA4]

What do I feed the white wire to make it work?

[@Lithuaniukas]

Hey Bruce, what are these three SMT 8 legs chips next to motor wires? FET drivers I guess?

[@TheRattleSnake3145]

@gluino the setup with the lesser prop will be spinning faster and with a lower current draw.

[@cynr100]

Thanks Bruce, love the back to basics. One thing has always concerned me, some ESC's have coloured out puts but most are just all black. How import , or not, is connecting the ESC to the correct motor wire. I still live in the land of + & - , still don't fully understand how these new mortors work.

[@GeorgeMartinRcScratchbuilds]

Can an esc be repaired??? My esc no longer works and i think it has fried two of my recievers.I think maby somehow its putting too much voltage to my recievers and frying them.Thanks.

[@vanjoske4401]

I got an blackfoot rc for my son, it was the mechanical control. I want to bring it up to date. I need a cheap esc with bec, what would you do.

[@klaatu144]

where can I find the connection and function information on the 4 wire connector for the small ESCs that come on a Phantom 2. Also what is the current rating of it. I see no heat sinks on the FETS- is this a common failure mechanism

[@stevegauth30]

hey, did you ever post the parts list of what you run in your axn?Im pretty new to the hobby, and it would help alot. thanks for the vids. there great.

[@joncorke760]

Hi Bruce. whats a good way to attach a heatsink to those fets?

[@NiCadHeliPilot]

I have an ESC where one of the IGBT driver chips failed. Not any of the MOSFETs.

[@jwuethrich8385]

isnt it pulsed dc/pwm? i was under the understanding the polarity never reversed/ it never went bellow 0v.. you can get those fets cheap on ebay and 40-60 usd for a hot air rework station...cant recall if you had one, (thought i saw a rigol scope and the hakko station I wish i had bought...they left off a button on mine lol) im sure you are aware you could probably do it with just your iron as well.

[@attt1072]

I connected. My xxd 30a esc with 1000kv motor then to a 11.1v battery. One of the voltage regulators started to heat and melted the heat-conducting rubber. What could cause this?

[@fredpick1283]

Too much battery juice or to big a load,(maybe less pitch props)could replace with bigger wires with Teflon insulation if the parts will stand the heat.

[@vfrvtec]

good info Bruce, keep the how it works segment going.

[@SEThatered]

@adeptrc In this sense they indeed are AC (or alternating pulse DC to be more specific). But what i wanted to know is why for example CNC manufacturers are switching their from aternating pulse DC servo and "steppers" (which in essence are the same) to AC motor powered servo (induction (big machines) or synchronous based on magnets (smaller robotic arms) ). I still don't know what benefits has iduction/synchronous AC over pulse modulated DC?

[@StrettonWalker]

Hi Bruce: Had a crash with my Heli and now my 35Amp ESC is not working. What would be the proceedure to confirm that the ESC is broken and if it is, would there be a method to fix it?

[@magna59]

I am interested in running a two motored craft . I am interested in them running on opposite directions ( 1 ) I see no reason that the motor element will not cope with this process ? ( 2 ) is it possible to get the controllers to put out the required power just by reversing the wiring from the ESC ?

[@ISLAMguidanceful]

how would you test those escs for damaged smds to replace? i have 3 kiss escs that look perfect, nothing looks damaged on them but when i run them they dont turn on and they get hot, any tips?

[@test8251]

Are their any Silicon Carbide transistors available to replace the Silicon Transistors? Sure they cost a lot more, but they would make the controller much smaller!

[@mathieub3953]

What are the 3 IGBT on the Microcontroller side for? right side, opposite to the DCDC (UBEC). I opened a citrix stock spec car controller and it looks similar to this one with an ATmega and those 3 IGBTs on the right side.

[@MrMax0blue]

+Mathieu Bacquet this is not an IGBT these are the FETs drivers high and low side drivers they use to control the FETs to supply the motor with power in its right sequence.

[@srcowie1]

Hobbyking have told me the ESC's on thier out the box quad (BlackWidow260) are 20a, however I dont think they are! I dont understand how they can sell a product and not be able to confirm what ESC are on it :( anyone know?

[@bulwinkle]

Robert Slackware Ford cars made in Mexico are made in America. The Americas​ consist of a lot more than just the USA.

[@gluino]

OR, it could be that throttle position determines duty cycle, and the resultant RPM is whatever the ESC senses is the correct RPM for the given commanded duty cycle and the load. Is this the correct understanding of what ESCs do with the commanded throttle position?

[@copyandpastification]

hi, I built I keep burning ESC when I crash....what could be causing it? i am using very cheap motors ready to sky ...could it be the problem?

[@tomaspuodziukynas5361]

If not mechanical damage ESCs are very easily burned if motor is stuck and you still have some throttle up. First thing you do after crash - throttle down.

[@yingcheethum6160]

why do ESCs get hot? mine is getting hot even when motors not spinning and just batteries connected to it. Brand new ESCs. How do i determine if they are failing?

[@BasementEngineer]

+Ying chee Thum They can heat up if the have linear (non-switching) BECs, and you're using the max number of cells. For larger cell counts (4S lipo or more) it's probably best to use an ESC with a switching BEC, they're more efficient and give off less heat.

[@RoboticSolutionsTECH]

Does the ESC maintain a fixed RPM at a specific Throttle setting? What happens if the propellar spins faster than that RPM? Will the motor be commanded by the ESC to slow down? Does the Throttle setting control fixed RPM or Fixed Wattage or Fixed Voltage or Fixed Current? Which one?

[@georgeposey7741]

whats the diffrence between the bec and esc i want to build a multirotor do i need 1 bec and 3 esc or how would i need to go about choosing whats best

[@DreamDeal]

+George Posey BEC may be integrated with your esc not every esc has it. BEC normally delivers the 5 volts to power your controller, receiver etc... You will always need one esc per motor independently of having or not BEC integrated

[@2007Oskar2007]

Thanks for the video, very educational and clear. You also have the perfect narrating voice for this type of video - keep up the good work :-)

[@chipsterflysome]

Bruce, I noticed that when I change a ESC from something with plenty of AMPS to a ESC that is sized more appropriately for the motor (smaller), The motor seems to run faster and is more powerful. Is this possible, and why?

[@ejkoford5303]

I have an unlabeled ESC that looks identical to the one in your initial thumb image. I'm trying to figure out how to program the brake. Can you tell me what model that is or how to program the brake on it?

[@nsschmid]

What's in them that makes them beep? Is it in the microcontroller chip?

[@Slider2732]

It's the motor itself. It emits tones through the coils if the frequency is just right. Similar principle to a regular speaker from a hi-fi, but with far coarser wire, far more powerful magnets and using the metal can instead of a speaker cone.

[@nsschmid]

Slider2732 Thank you! I've always wondered that and that's a crazy clever solution to that need.

[@ryantoomey611]

How hot is too hot for an ESC? My rc plane (Hobbyking Bix3) came with a 20A ESC and I noticed it gets quite warm (almost too hot to touch) after a flight. The plane has a 1400kv brushless motor. Is this okay?

[@redcatxb125]

A good rule of thumb for motors and esc's is its fine if you can keep your fingers on it for 6 seconds

[@BenjaminEsposti]

Yeah, electronics can run perfectly fine at temperatures hotter than a person can withstand. Of course, too hot and they WILL fail. Usually electronic components are rated for around 80 to 150 degrees celcius (maximum). Though, some do have deratings (reduction in ratings/power handling ability) at higher temperatures.

[@fredpick1283]

"The rule is 4 sec hands on" might try some holes directly over or under to increase cooling,or forbid,a heatsink and of course the bigger the cooler it will run. Might look the chip number up, and look at the data sheet it gives how hot and how long to expect life of that part at that temp.Always a trade off.......

[@andygaras]

might be worth noting that all the linear BECs i have seen in the 2-4C range run 1A smd 7805 regulators in parallel. i believe the bec current rating advertised must be at the lowest number of operating cells because they are well under rated to dissipate the 6-10W (without heatsinking the 7805 as are all my ESC) needed for 3-4 cell operation at full current. other issue is i found 7805 directly parallel do not load share very well i find you usually get one that gets alot hotter than the rest.

[@SEThatered]

What advantages have AC brushless motors against DC brushless motors?

[@tejeshwvardhan1165]

does FET use driver ic in esc. i think 3 ic on the right are driver ic.

[@Noahrama]

Hi got a question. I thought that in order to reverse the motor you could just switch the ac leads, but not moving the ground. Is this possible?

[@paulkivisto9060]

So, no hall sensor need in engine or whole construction?

[@ryantoomey611]

It is also good to mount the ESC in a way where it will get airflow for cooling if possible.

[@manavshah8239]

My ESC is giving my motor a sort of jerky start at low RPM. Why is that?

[@smitmodi6114]

how can we reprogram the esc so that it can drive motor in both directions? send me link or procedure please.....

[@forrestfrank1470]

I bought a programmer card. I had the opposite problem. 6 esc's and 1 was reversing (bidirectional). I was able to reprogram. You can also change direction with the programmer.

[@noelywire]

I'd like to know your thoughts on expensive escs v inexpensive ones. Why are expensive ones, expensive? Are they ever worth the money?

[@shodanxx]

How do these RC ESC know the position of the rotor ? No doubt it is through back emf sensing but how do they actually do it ? Are they doing zero crossing sensing on the inactive coil ? Do they sense zero crossing only on one phase or on all three phases ? What is the exact microcontroller on these boards ? Are they general purpose uC or specialized for this application ? How are the outputs ? Are they pwm driving the motors or do they do a single pulse per turn on each phase ?

[@BasementEngineer]

+shodanxx Yes, they detect rotor position through back-emf sensing on the undriven phase. When the motor starts from a standstill, the ESC feeds it a canned commutation sequence to kick the rotor over fast enough to acquire a back emf signal. Thats' why sensorless ESCs won't start a motor smoothly at very low power and RPM, and it's also why they suck for low-RPM high-torque applications, because at high currents the switching noise on the coils messes with the faint back emf signal, and 'confuses' the ESC. For traction applications i.e. electric bikes & skateboards, large heavy RC cars etc. a sensored ESC is better because rotor position sensing is independent of back-emf signal strength and is unaffected by power switching noise. The microcontrollers, as I understand, are general purpose units and are very inexpensive. The software for sensing and noise filtering of the back-emf rotor position signal is mighty clever though! The outputs drive the motor using PWM for throttle control. On many ESC types, the PWM rate can be selected by the user. Same with the lead angle, which they often refer to as 'timing'.

[@mkschreder]

shodanxx You sample the adc mid pwm pulse when signal is stabilized. Your zero is sum of all emf voltages and on the dangling coil the voltage is 0 to vemf range so it is not an ac current making it easy to sample directly on the uc using just a resistor voltage divider to step down the voltage to adc levels.

[@joshbrown4614]

the motors have 3 channels corresponding to the 3 output wires from the esc, these are positive,ground and open. When the magnets inside the motor pass through the open terminal the impedance sky rockets and makes it possible to know exactly when the magnet is in the center of the open terminal, once this is detected, the terminals are changed to pull the motor around to the next stage and this cycle continues.

[@mkschreder]

Josh Brown impedance is of no interest at all. It is never measured. Don't confuse people.

[@phantomrose1999]

Excellent and Clear explanation. Sure you are a basement engineer. ?

[@impsick]

Pretty sure that round thing you pointed at @3:55 is an inductor (coil). FET=Field effect transistor

[@andygaras]

nope, some of the fets are placed in parallel so they can achieve a required current rating. in this case there are 3 parallel fets placed in 6 groups required to achieve a 3 phase pushpull inverter bridge. the output (when connected to a motor) would have effectively 2 steps positive and 2 negative

[@brandon061033]

How often you should change for your model?

[@jamesandonian7829]

I want to replace the MOSFETs in my mamba phoenix rated for 50v 160a continuous. I need an ESC that can output 30v at 400a. I was wondering how feasible it would be to Replace each MOSFET with ones that can handle 30v (instead of 50). another thing I saw online were stacking MOSFETs on top of each other.... i already made an enormous cap pack using 6 35v 4700f (in parallel) so replacing the MOSFETs looks like it would be harder than stacking an extra one right on top.. oh and I'm going to use 2 larger cooling fans along with the stock heatsink. any suggestions?.... my brush less motor is rated for 25v 350a continuous; something like 7200w. (200km/h+ 1/8 rc car)

[@watchingin3d549]

so if i had a 160A i can run 4 wire from sbec? if thats the case cant i run all 4 motors off 1? im stuck on this. yes im new

[@tomaspuodziukynas5361]

Bec has nothing to do with motor control. Look at it as powersupply for receiver and servos. As fly stuka explaied - for quad you need 4 ESCs.

[@blindun]

thanks for your review ,what can i do for not burning more esc , i match lipo battery current with motor and esc ,i use my esc in boats ,i am very careful to have adequate cooling and not too big props otherwise they draw more current and burn ,but whatever i do they also burn sooner or later .i normally use cheap esc like hobbyking,i m afraid to buy an expensive esc coz i ll be afraid to burnt it also

[@7daniel49]

Great video! I never thought about converting DC and AC power. I'm not sure if you have any experience but could you do a video on how to rewind a brushless motor?

[@dodgeramsport01]

So when these guys take a toy grade and remove the pcb and install one of these they are still installing a pcb?

[@sarahmerton4210]

Which microcontroller is used in the ESC shown in the video ?

[@kamu38]

So who writes the firmware for these ESCs? Is it HK/Turnigy/Hextronik? Any links to any custom firmware projects for them? Thanks for the vid.

[@tijssens]

Do you think that a battery really benefits from the capacitors? I always assumed the capacitors were there to make life easier on the regulator that feeds the other electronics...especially the RX. Wouldn't the series inductance from the wires and the battery's internals alone keep it from seeing spikes? What do you think? Would a battery get hotter without them?

[@309electronics5]

sorry for being 10 years to late but they are to filter the power llines cause of spikes of the motor

[@slidog8888]

hi bruce what are the yellow components on the esc?

[@MrMax0blue]

+simon blakely they are surface mounted capacitors

[@rcbatteryman]

Cheers, I like your explanations of things. I would like to know if all BLDC ESC's can operate a PMDC brushed motor and what is or would be the best way to connect it. I know that some BLDC ESC's can, specifically Castle brand but I think that You need the Castle Link software to do it. Their instructions show the connections of the output wires having 2 of the 3 tied together and connected to the positive terminal of the brushes and the remaining output wire connected to the negative brush terminal. They were listed by color and I've forgotten which go to what connection. Any explanative help would be appreciated. I don't want to use a Castle controller if I don't have to.

[@situbes.972]

How does esc now motor position to apply voltage to coils (basically where is the feedback to keep the rotor and state in-sync? On DC brushed motor its physical position between brushes and comutator (I don't know if that correct terminology and spelling) to know when to power next set of coils. Is it detecting voltage through unpowered coil while other are getting power at that instant? Ex 1 2 on 3 off, 1 3 on 2 off, and so on? And is the signal into esc (from flight controller or receiver) just varying voltage or pulse frequency to tell esc whether to speed up or slow down motor? I am assuming esc doesn't provide feedback to controller or receiver. Yeah I know recently receiver controller an esc for servo. Controller controls esc In application such as quadcopter motors.

[@wilfru1]

hi mate big question, i have an align 500 trex running an external turnagy 40 amp sbec i couldnt shut the motor off when i hit the hold button, then i preceded to shut the dx8 off, heli kept running, at this stage it rotated ending up on its side wrecking all the futaba servos inc the tail. stripped the main gear, the list goes on, mate what is causing this issue, i suspect its the turnagy sbec not the esc, which is an align esc,, pls your thoughts would be well appreciated,this has so far been an expensive electrical fault ,, cheers mate, wilfred

[@BasementEngineer]

+Wilfred Firley Make sure your throttle hold button/switch is properly set up in the transmitter to provide a zero-throttle signal. Remember, throttle hold is often programmable and can provide any fixed throttle level, not just idle/zero throttle.

[@wilfru1]

thanx mate i will take your comment on board thank you much for your reply so actual setting should be set at 0 on all models, so just setting soft start in the esc wouldnt rectify the throttle set for the hold switch

[@BasementEngineer]

Wilfred Firley Nope, soft start just means the motor's rate of acceleration is limited for the first time you apply throttle after connecting the battery pack. It doesn't affect throttle hold--you have to set that up in the transmitter, not the ESC. Make sure it works because it's a safety measure, it's also useful if you're checking something out on the model or making adjustments with the battery plugged in!

[@philiplewis3394]

Spectrum only use -80 to +80 whereas the ESC may be expecting -100 to +100 so zero throttle of -80 on the TX isn't zero throttle to the ESC, that's why you have to calibrate the throttle, also 0 is mid throttle not nil since the range is minus to plus with 0 in the middle,

[@ryanworks35509]

FIRE!!! well... white smoke at least... I am running naze32 full board with afro esc 12 amp flashed with BLheli on DYS be1806 2300KV Motors. as soon as I plug in power the motor that is connected to the ESC that powers the Naze starts to smoke. I have motor stop enabled. the Naze still works. I ordered new motors and as soon as I powered up again... White Smoke from the new motor... please advise. Software issue? dead ESC? Is there a simple test I can perform? thanks in advance!

[@2916tnt]

Great video Bruce. Keep them coming, can you do a video on brushless motors? What all the ratings mean, how to find out how many polls ect..

[@ryantoomey611]

How does the ESC make the motor beep when you power it up?

[@MrJackVenture]

Great videos. Have you done a video on properly matching your motor, ESC and battery?