Electronic Speed Controllers - Alternative

I can only tell you what I have been told..... how many amps is that controller... are you sure the 180 is amps it seems that it would be milliamps. Rc would hardly need that mammoth circuitry. If it's milliamps it will burn up. What is the wattage of the motor.

Funny but I saw one on ebay that said like 100amps that was for rc cars. Maybe I'm wrong.

damonjackson_spl said:

I have is a starter motor from a 1uzfe Lexus V8, so untill I get it i can put the multi meter on it and work out the current draw and wattage etc/

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see post # 10 here: http://motorbicycling.com/f9/friction-driven-alternator-experiment-6751.html

deacon said:

I can only tell you what I have been told..... how many amps is that controller... are you sure the 180 is amps it seems that it would be milliamps. Rc would hardly need that mammoth circuitry. If it's milliamps it will burn up. What is the wattage of the motor.

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You are uneducated in the ways of RC young padawan (grin)

In these "modern" times (cough) RC has grown in leaps and bounds in the last 20 years. Most of my boats or helis NEED 250-300 AMP controllers, not milliamps, thats just funny. 14s6p, 60 volt boats that are 8 feet long using 14 hp brushless monsters (lehners) require these monster esc's, and even with these sometimes the amp draw is so high the controller is crispified, sometimes taking the lipos with it, the results are spectacular fires. (this only happens ocassionaly)

Never ever compare the RTR stuff you can buy off the shelf with the hi tech masterpieces alot of the racers and competitors build and use in the RC sport.

cheers.

I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. But since you da man tell me something please.

I run two ebikes one has a 350watt motor with just a switch no controller. It works pretty well that way.

I have a 500 watt motor on a similar bike with a controller that seems to not do as well. I am wondering if the controller also limits the amps to those specified. IE a 500 watt motor should pull about 20amps according to the books. When pulling a hill it will actually pull more. I have blown 40amp fuses with the 500 watt before I put the controller on.

PS I had a controller on the 350watt but took it off because the performance seemed to suffer.....

deacon said:

I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. But since you da man tell me something please.

I run two ebikes one has a 350watt motor with just a switch no controller. It works pretty well that way.

I have a 500 watt motor on a similar bike with a controller that seems to not do as well. I am wondering if the controller also limits the amps to those specified. IE a 500 watt motor should pull about 20amps according to the books. When pulling a hill it will actually pull more. I have blown 40amp fuses with the 500 watt before I put the controller on.

PS I had a controller on the 350watt but took it off because the performance seemed to suffer.....

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Hi deacon, i know enough to hurt myself and thats about it, i am not a power biker, doing studies with a college project on why esc burn up so often, just cruising by and saw your post.

I can give some advice. Your example of a 500w motor pulling 20 amps, that is in a perfect world. Real life will indicate otherwise. Your current weight, day to day, air temp, road surface (this includes wet or dry) Grades, motor condition and how long it has been running, battery pack condition, max continuous and avg rated output of your esc.

ALL of that needs to be figured into your calculations for an avg AMP draw for a particular application. unless you have an amp meter to make some test runs to see exactly what you are pulling (and it will freak you out because the hi draws wont be when you expect them) you wont be able to make a good choice for motor or esc.

My suggestions: get an amp meter (or borrow one) and grab a cheapo motor or one you are familiar with and batery pack and esc, run a normal routine for a week, avg your amps, batt usage and motor temps (look at batt temps too)

with your readings purchase the best quality components you can afford that exceed the avg peak amp readings you recorded and avg peak temps (again the avg)

Keep in mind, throwing stuff together without doing the math (and there are tons more knowledgeable folks than i) even with a bike will result in alot of component failures or poor performance.

A cheat i use is this, see what working with folks with similar applications and copy it, then ask why it works. You will never gain knowledge or become an expert at anything unless you ask questions.

Good luck D!!

I will ask anyone a question in a minute. I do a lot of experimenting so I just need the direction to go in.

For instance I know when the fuses get blown without a controller. Without a controller the 500watt motor will pull in excess of 40amps on a hill with me on board. I know because that is the size fuse I blew. I know that with a controller it does not blow a fuse but the bike wants to stop. I'm thinking the controller limits the draw to prevent fuse blowing.

Now I also know that on a 350 watt bike, it will not blow that same fuse. It slows down a lot but it still pulls the hill at least as well as the 500 watt with a controller. Well now I can't say that yet since I am waiting for another drive exactly like the one on the 350 watt test bike. I plan to hold off an anything until I can test the motor and controller with that drive configuration.

Anyway thanks for the help.

I'm sorry but that ESC in the picture is a Seaking 180Amp ESC made by Hobbywing and is only for rc boat. Rc boats now days can easily draws over 100 Amperes. Those 4 brass pipes are for water to flow thru for cooling. There's not enough metal heat sink on it for aire cooled use and will either burn up or do a thermal shutdown depending its design. If might want an ESC that is designed for rc planes unless you plan on keep running water thru it. I say plane instead of cars or helicopter because some scaled planes can be quite huge with big motors for the ESC to control.

Can not use this ESC because it is for 3 wires brushless motor and your motor is a 2 wires brushed right? Besides the black and red for the battery inputs, you might notice the 3 blue wires are for the brusheless motor.

The average amps draws while moving is lower then the initial start up to get the motor to go and carry your weight to coasting speed.

Too bad I can not include links since I'm not an active member in this site.