Amazon RC ESCs

OliverW

Legendary member
I wouldn't trust 'em. We had one blow up mid flight sending smoke everywhere for 30 seconds lol. The other one was dead on arrival
 

FroProHD

Member
If you want the best of the best, go for castle creations, and extreme flight's ESCs. If you want a cheap one with good quality, get a BLheli esc, or a FT esc
The 20a FT ESC I got was DOA, and the 20a BLheli ESCs are discontinued. Do you know where the BLheli variants can be bought?
 

BATTLEAXE

Legendary member
One thing you want to look for is the BEC amp rating. The link you posted that ESC has a 5v/3a rating. I try to look for 5v/5a. That means you have 5 amps for servos not just 3. A little extra precaution so you don't get a brown out mid flight
 

FroProHD

Member
One thing you want to look for is the BEC amp rating. The link you posted that ESC has a 5v/3a rating. I try to look for 5v/5a. That means you have 5 amps for servos not just 3. A little extra precaution so you don't get a brown out mid flight
I'll keep that in mind, useful info! Thanks!
 

FDS

Elite member
I use Hobbywing Skywalker and Hobbyking Plush ESC’s. They are both good quality and mine have survived many crashes. They are also pre set up for fixed wing use, with low voltage cut out that either blips the throttle or reduces it when you hit 3.5v per cell so you can never over discharge your lipo.
All those “SimonK” type ones are usually poor quality components with firmware designed for quads, which will let you keep flying until the battery dies completely, that’s what the firmware was designed to de, remove the overload protection and maximise current delivery. That’s fine in a race quad but not much use in a plane.
Amazon and EBay are not good sources of RC components IMO, help yourself out by using a hobby specialist online instead.
 

quorneng

Master member
I am sure that Amazon ESC is a normal 'no name' 30 A job inside the shrink wrap.
The important thing with this type of ESC is to consider its rating as a 'marketing' figure. It has been built down to a price.
Down rate it to 20 A max for the motor, 2 A max for the servos and with plenty of cooling then if it works at all like all electronics it will continue to do so.
My oldest no name 30 A ESC (out of more than 15), bought from China on Ebay, is now 11 years old but always in a plane below a 20A max load. It still works fine.
 

FroProHD

Member
I use Hobbywing Skywalker and Hobbyking Plush ESC’s. They are both good quality and mine have survived many crashes. They are also pre set up for fixed wing use, with low voltage cut out that either blips the throttle or reduces it when you hit 3.5v per cell so you can never over discharge your lipo.
All those “SimonK” type ones are usually poor quality components with firmware designed for quads, which will let you keep flying until the battery dies completely, that’s what the firmware was designed to de, remove the overload protection and maximise current delivery. That’s fine in a race quad but not much use in a plane.
Amazon and EBay are not good sources of RC components IMO, help yourself out by using a hobby specialist online instead.
I thought minimum voltage per cell is 3.7v for a lipo?
 

FL_Engineer

Elite member
I thought minimum voltage per cell is 3.7v for a lipo?
3.7v is storage voltage, 3.0 is absolute rock bottom that you don't want to ever see. For practical purposes most people consider 3.3 the bottom and start landing around 3.5. But there are also schools of thought that you should keep things higher to increase battery life and safety margin. FT has a good video on this and a bunch of other beginner topics that is worth a watch.

 

FroProHD

Member
3.7v is storage voltage, 3.0 is absolute rock bottom that you don't want to ever see. For practical purposes most people consider 3.3 the bottom and start landing around 3.5. But there are also schools of thought that you should keep things higher to increase battery life and safety margin. FT has a good video on this and a bunch of other beginner topics that is worth a watch.

Huh. TIL. Thanks man!