Mixing ESC's?

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
Hi,

I bought a quad pack of Emax 2204's that included (4) 2 wire 20a Nano ESC's. Starting to look at building my Mini-Cruiser.

Question: Can I take one of these 2 wire Nano's and combine it with a 3 wire 20a Simon Series? Or should I just keep the Nano's apart and look to trade them or something? Thanks.
 

makattack

Winter is coming
Moderator
Mentor
I've done that... used an ESCs that don't have a BEC coupled with an ESC that does on a tricopter build that uses a servo. It worked fine for me, but if I were to do it all over again, I would probably just keep all the ESC's the same, and use a separate BEC. More reliable that way, IMHO. I don't particularly trust the BEC's that come with ESC's.

If I were building a mini FT Cruiser, I would use two of those ESC's without a BEC, and use a separate BEC/voltage regulator to power the servos and RX.
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
I've done that... used an ESCs that don't have a BEC coupled with an ESC that does on a tricopter build that uses a servo. It worked fine for me, but if I were to do it all over again, I would probably just keep all the ESC's the same, and use a separate BEC. More reliable that way, IMHO. I don't particularly trust the BEC's that come with ESC's.

If I were building a mini FT Cruiser, I would use two of those ESC's without a BEC, and use a separate BEC/voltage regulator to power the servos and RX.

Yeah. I had a feeling I might be asking for some quirkiness or something. That's a good idea. Except for buying the BEC (availabilty). I have plenty of 3 wires. I'll just save the Nanos. Thanks bro.
 

JimCR120

Got Lobstah?
Site Moderator
I've done that... used an ESCs that don't have a BEC coupled with an ESC that does on a tricopter build that uses a servo. It worked fine for me, but if I were to do it all over again, I would probably just keep all the ESC's the same, and use a separate BEC. More reliable that way, IMHO. I don't particularly trust the BEC's that come with ESC's.

If I were building a mini FT Cruiser, I would use two of those ESC's without a BEC, and use a separate BEC/voltage regulator to power the servos and RX.
I'm still trying to understand these setups. Please help.

Are ESC's with the 3rd wire ones eqiuipped with a BEC and those with only 2 wires do without BEC?
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
I'm still trying to understand these setups. Please help.

Are ESC's with the 3rd wire ones eqiuipped with a BEC and those with only 2 wires do without BEC?

Pretty much.

The middle-of-three wires on the cable to the RX carries the regulated voltage back to the RX and servos . . . eliminating the need for a receiver battery.

You might even say it's a receiver "Battery Elimination Circuit." (yeah, the definition of a BEC)

if it lacks the third (middle) wire, there's no path back to the RX to provide power, so the cable can only control the ESC.
 

makattack

Winter is coming
Moderator
Mentor
I'm still trying to understand these setups. Please help.

Are ESC's with the 3rd wire ones eqiuipped with a BEC and those with only 2 wires do without BEC?

Yes, the middle wire, in the three-wire ESC's is the regulated voltage (+) output from the BEC. This generally matches what the receivers and servos expect so that this BEC output can be used to power those devices. Further complicating this, is when you have multiple ESC's, as with the case in slingshot's application for the FT Mini Cruiser which uses two motors. In that case, depending on the type of BEC (switching vs linear with switching being more efficient in terms of wasted power but linear being simpler/quieter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_regulator) you may need to remove one of the BEC outputs because they may end up fighting each other in the case of switching BECs which will either produce more noise or variable voltage due to the oscillations.
 

JimCR120

Got Lobstah?
Site Moderator
Pretty much.

The middle-of-three wires on the cable to the RX carries the regulated voltage back to the RX and servos . . . eliminating the need for a receiver battery.

You might even say it's a receiver "Battery Elimination Circuit." (yeah, the definition of a BEC)

if it lacks the third (middle) wire, there's no path back to the RX to provide power, so the cable can only control the ESC.
Yes, the middle wire, in the three-wire ESC's is the regulated voltage (+) output from the BEC. This generally matches what the receivers and servos expect so that this BEC output can be used to power those devices. Further complicating this, is when you have multiple ESC's, as with the case in slingshot's application for the FT Mini Cruiser which uses two motors. In that case, depending on the type of BEC (switching vs linear with switching being more efficient in terms of wasted power but linear being simpler/quieter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_regulator) you may need to remove one of the BEC outputs because they may end up fighting each other in the case of switching BECs which will either produce more noise or variable voltage due to the oscillations.
With your feedback I figured I could connect my new tricopter motors & esc's to my fixed wing motor esc through a Y to get power to the rcvr and thereby test each of those new motors/esc's. It's working. I understand this hobby a little bit more. Thank you both.
—Jim
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
With your feedback I figured I could connect my new tricopter motors & esc's to my fixed wing motor esc through a Y to get power to the rcvr and thereby test each of those new motors/esc's. It's working. I understand this hobby a little bit more. Thank you both.
—Jim

LOL! The electronics tech part is the weak link here. Consider myself a "probably won't get fired apprentice solderer". Burned through 5 meters of solder getting ummmmmmm.............competent?
 

JimCR120

Got Lobstah?
Site Moderator
I'm thinking the pursuit of proficiency is a more pleasant situation than not having a clue. Que novato soy con los multirotores. 5 metros de etaño... vaya hombre! Vives en Mexico. Entonces supongo que hablas español.
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
I'm thinking the pursuit of proficiency is a more pleasant situation than not having a clue. Que novato soy con los multirotores. 5 metros de etaño... vaya hombre! Vives en Mexico. Entonces supongo que hablas español.

Como no? Por supuesto que si. Yo no hablo como un nativo, pero puedo cumunicar efectivamente. Aveces con un poco de la precision.
 

SlingShot

Maneuvering With Purpose
I'm thinking the pursuit of proficiency is a more pleasant situation than not having a clue. 5 metros de etaño... vaya hombre! Vives en Mexico. Entonces supongo que hablas español.

Por cierto, estoy con mi tra. compra de 5 metros. Mi imagino que se sale como con menos diametro <shrug>. :eek: PERO, ahora estoy poquito mas mejor :cool: