ESC

Mad Maxx

New member
After a less that perfect water landing my FT DHC BEAVER 2 ended up with its nose under water for some time. After drying it out I found that everything worked except the ESC. I removed the 2S 6A ESC and installed a 10A I had from another plane. The motor worked fine except the shaft got super hot after less than a minute of running. Is this because of the higher amp ESC or is the motor smoked and just doesn't know it yet?
 

Aireal Anarchist

Elite member
brushless motors can actually run underwater not recommended of course but they can, Ive landed my quads in puddles countless times, and I have nosed over my 60" beaver float plane a couple times in rough water

how long in between drying out time and testing? is it possible motor bearings have corroded or did you parts swap and test immediately, do you have another ESC to test?
 
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Hondo76251

Legendary member
You'll have to keep us posted on your flying adventures, see if you have any more luck than I did... I turtled mine countless times, completely soaked it, and never had an issue with the electronics. That being said, I was looking to upgrade them anyway and I made sure to waterproof them the second time around.

 

joelspangler

Active member
The motor will only pull the amount of amps it needs - you can put a 2000amp esc on there without issues (if one that size existed). Think of it like your house wiring. In the US we can plug a cell phone charger into an outlet that is capable of providing 20 amps at 120 volts (2,400 watts). The cell phone doesn't get 2400 watts and over heat/catch on fire/explode - it charges at something like 20 or 30 watts.

I suspect the issue is with the bearings in the motor having more friction than they used to, as well as the motor pulling more power than it normally needs due to the friction. I would try to lube it - I recently watched a video on the topic which explains where specifically to put the lube and what type of lube to use.
 
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Mad Maxx

New member
brushless motors can actually run underwater not recommended of course but they can, Ive landed my quads in puddles countless times, and I have nosed over my 60" beaver float plane a couple times in rough water

how long in between drying out time and testing? is it possible motor bearings have corroded or did you parts swap and test immediately, do you have another ESC to test?
Thanks for the reply. After further testing and more info from folks like you, i discovered the problem is not the ESC but a cell blown out in the battery. Actually blew a small hole in the battery wrapping. It had enough power left in it to run the servos but not the motor. Still getting really hot though.
 

Mad Maxx

New member
The motor will only pull the amount of amps it needs - you can put a 2000amp esc on there without issues (if one that size existed). Think of it like your house wiring. In the US we can plug a cell phone charger into an outlet that is capable of providing 20 amps at 120 volts (2,400 watts). The cell phone doesn't get 2400 watts and over heat/catch on fire/explode - it charges at something like 20 or 30 watts.

I suspect the issue is with the bearings in the motor having more friction than they used to, as well as the motor pulling more power than it normally needs due to the friction. I would try to lube it - I recently watched a video on the topic which explains where specifically to put the lube and what type of lube to use.
The motor will only pull the amount of amps it needs - you can put a 2000amp esc on there without issues (if one that size existed). Think of it like your house wiring. In the US we can plug a cell phone charger into an outlet that is capable of providing 20 amps at 120 volts (2,400 watts). The cell phone doesn't get 2400 watts and over heat/catch on fire/explode - it charges at something like 20 or 30 watts.

I suspect the issue is with the bearings in the motor having more friction than they used to, as well as the motor pulling more power than it normally needs due to the friction. I would try to lube it - I recently watched a video on the topic which explains where specifically to put the lube and what type of lube to use.
Took the motor apart and oiled it. Still after about 1 minute of running it with the propeller on it got so hot that it melted the plastic motor mount. If I run it with no prop it doesn't seem to get hot.
 

mrjdstewart

Legendary member
put a fan in front of it when you spin it up and see what happens. running and electric motor w/o proper ventilation will always end in disaster.

good luck,

me :cool: