So, I tried changing my motor timing to normal and acceleration to medium. No luck. Then I drilled about 12 5mm holes on the front and rear of my enclosure to make sure there was some decent airflow, and still the same overheating issue. I can only go about 1-1.5 miles of flat riding before power gets cut due to overheating, and I have to limp along at 10mph. At least it’s consistent though. Lol. Each time, the ESC heatsink is between ~160-180F, the motor windings are ~100-115F, and the batteries are ~80-85*F. Not sure what’s going on here.
For my next trick, I’m going to swap my SK3 245kv motor with my Tacon 160 245kv, and see if that changes anything, but I’m guessing it won’t. Then, I’m going to swap my BEC over to my other 12s ESC and see if that one overheats too. I’m running this on 9s, and it’s sooo much fun, while it lasts.
@Mobutusan My ESC’s have a heat sink also and I noticed they run much better when the heat sink is exposed to the air. Keeping it inside the case heats them up quite a bit. See if cutting a hole in your case and having the heat sink stick out a bit keeps it cool. you can also hot glue or clear caulk the edges of the cut out to keep water out.
Thanks for the offer and advice. I’ll try that too. And you do know I bought this use from another member, right? Do you accept returns from second owners? (would be awesome if you did, but understand if you don’t)
Your sk3 has a longer can than my 245kv eflite motor, so you probably have more torque than me. My ESC is very similar to TB’s 12s esc, and my gearing and wheels are almost identical now. I’m using 83mm clones, 15t/36t, 10s. I recently changed my motor pulley from a 12t (25mph) to 15t (31mph) and I’ve noticed my motor and esc getting hotter along with my breaking torque almost totally gone. I think your heat issue is the same as mine, and the solution is to go higher volts and smaller motor pulley. You’ll get higher rpms and have mechanical torque at all speeds, whereas a lower kv motor will move the same load at a lower rpm using electrical torque.
The problem with the 12t pulley is the number of useful teeth, so even though I just said your solution is a smaller pulley, I’m switching to a lower kv to test my understanding.
I have a 14T pulley that I can try too, but what’s weird is when I was running 6s through it, the esc got pretty warm, but not hot enough to cut power. It was only after jumping up to 9s that I started having problems cutting out. I thought the higher voltage would reduce current and heat, but not the case for some reason. Once I figure out the best way to wire my four 3s multistars with xt60’s in series, or find aluminum solder paste to fix my fourth shorted zippy, I’ll try out 12s.
On a side note, with my other 6s TB esc running 20/36 gearing with 97mm wheels, I was able to ride at least 3-4 miles or more and never had that esc cut power though it did get pretty warm. I did get pretty hefty voltage sag under load, but top speed was sure fun for 6s.
Man I keep looking at the pictures…it’s gotta be there’s no air circulation and that plastic you have it in stays warm like a blanket…id ride with the lid off for science
I’m really surprised you get anywhere with an ESC in a sealed box. I’m 90 Kg, and on 6s, with an EZ run pro 150A esc, I can ride fanless (with the esc not in a box or any sort) in the autumn and winter, but get cut outs in the spring/summer. With a fan it runs all year round.
I know higher volts = less amps and heat, but still, an ESC still has to dissipate heat somehow .
Well, before my last attempt yesterday, I had drilled a bunch of holes in my box and still only made it a mile. I’m trying to figure out a good way to mount the esc outside my box to test that way, but with all those holes in the box and going 15-20 mph, I would think it has at least enough air movement to not overheat after a mile of flat riding. Plus, the box is not gasketed, so it’s not even close to airtight by any means. Gonna do some more testing this weekend.
i don’t think those little holes aren’t gonna give you the air flow you are looking for…maybe if you cut a door like opening just before the esc on your lid to act like a little air scoop when your riding …
Cut a hole big enough for the ESC fins to stick out of the enclosure. Seal the box to the aluminum fins. Fins would then be outside the box and breathing.
Could you ride around with the lid off to see if that is the issue?
It’s not about the money, it’s about the time. The box cost me $5, but carefully cutting/melting out all of the dividers with a soldering iron/hot knife without destroying the box was really tedious. Plus, I was all ready to start playing with EL wire to illuminate the box, so destroying it would be a huge waste of time right now. I’ll figure something out.
