Can You Use 4s Battery on 3s Motors

RCjim

Member
I'm building a mini quad and bought a 4s battery not knowing the motors where 3s. The esc's are rated for 4s so I go a 4s battery and relized today the motors are for 2 to 3s, will this work or should I use a 3s battery.
 

Ron B

Posted a thousand or more times
use 3 s as the motor won't take the higher voltage even though the esc will
 

offaxis

Member
What motor is it? There is some discussion on RCgroups about certain higher end 3S quad motors that run fine on 4s. I would tend to believe that as long as you are not over the safe wattage levels you should be ok. Dig for 4s quad setups and I think you would find that guys are using 3s SunnySky, Cobra, and other quality motors.
 

RCjim

Member
The motors are Emax MT1806 Brushless Motors, not something like a sunnysky.
 
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Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
I use to be hesitant to use 4S on a 3S motor, but have since said, "what the heck" and started using them. To me, as long as you keep the stator under . . .say. . 130F, I say go for it.
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
I don't know if I'd try the emax 1806's on 4S. There's not much metal in their base to help sink away the heat. The DYS 1806 motors as much as I'm not a fan of them have a much more substantial base that probably helps keep them considerably cooler.

Though I run both on 6x4.5 props with 3S and haven't experienced heat issues (despite quite a few people saying the 1806's can't handle those props) except with the BS12 ESC's.
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
I have run EMAX 1806 2280KV and DYS 1806 2300KV motors on 4S without issue on EMAX 12A ESCs. The key is to use a docile 5030 HQ prop (less amps/trust than GemFan) to offset the extra RPM and amp draw which results. With the HQ 5030 I could fly the setup as hard as I wanted and wouldn't really risk hurting anything; the extra thump of the 4S made for some great acro flying. I have flown HQ 5040 and carbon fiber 6020 props on these motors, also on 4S, but was very mindful for how long I was hard on the throttle. Since you casual/fun fly with so little throttle (between 30% and 60%), you can get away with what seems on paper like a bad idea. Getting into FPV racing where you carry long periods (> 3 minutes) of high throttle (> 85%) use is a different story.
 

zanderlex

Junior Member
On my quad, which has motors only rated for 3s, I was getting improved performance on 4s batteries for 5 minutes or so, until one motor on the quad would suddenly stop and it would fall out of the sky in an ugly low-performance way. I checked the temperature on the motors and ESC, neither were particularly overheated. It's a problem I never have on 3s batteries.
 

Raptortech

Foam Addict
I can't explain Zanderlex's issue, but I can say that motors are not limited by voltage (within reason): they are limited by temperature, and accordingly current. It is often the case that higher voltage results in more current draw and therefor higher temps because of the increased RPMs, but if you prop down accordingly and your ESCs are rated for it, then you should have zero problems flying on 4s. Heck, you will probably even see a boost in efficiency over 3s.

Just experiment and check your temps to decide what works for your setup and style of flying!
 

paulshort

Member
Would I be able to run a generic 2212 800 kv motor on 6 cell with a small propeller? I am thinking about a 6 cell racer.

Paul
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
One thing I think is being overlooked . . . Bearings.

Yes, it's not voltage but thermal failure that cooks most coils to death, but over-speeding bearings will kill the motor just as easily, particularly when vibration is something to minimize.

Is 6s on a 3s 800kv motor doable with the right prop? Maybe. All depends on the bearings . . . of which few OEMs will even hint at the lineage. Proceed with due caution.
 

razor02097

Rogue Drone Pilot
Like nitrous on a car's stock engine...It will be fun but even if it doesn't immediately blow up. Longevity will suffer.

Especially if you are asking a lot from a brushless motor already. If it is already getting hot from running 3S I would not suggest trying 4S. It can get to a point where the insulating material burns off of the coils. When that happens it will likely burn up the ESC resulting in a spectacular crash.
 

LeonhardBalster

New member
I used a 4s on a 3s 2212 motor with a 4s rated esc.. after a few stress-tests, it started burning. When the fire was off, I tried to spin the motor manually, but it was really hard to spin. I think, that the higher rpm destroyed the bearing and due to the higher resistance, the amps raised, so it fried because I didn't use fuses. Btw. there was no prop attached to the motor.
I hope, I could help you
 

Ihichi Bolls

Well-known member
I put 30 amp escs on a stock versacopter build that had emax 2204 2300kv motors and romped the bejeebus out of it.

The batteries came down hotter then the motors with 5x4.5x3 vs stock 6045.

Still flew fine when I handed it off to Carter. Just needed a fc upgrade to catch up with the times. Skyline32 fc was a tad outdated but still ripped pretty good for as heavy as that quad was.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
I've run 3s 2212 kv900 motors on 6s. The key is to make sure you are not cooking the motors. If they start getting hot, back off on the max throttle.