FIRMA 150 ESC temperatures

[jkflow]

Currently running this stock ESC on my Infraction V2 and experimenting with fans. Didn't have an issue with the stock pinion but like everyone else I want 'more power' on the fans and upgraded mine.
Up until yesterday, I was not really believing the telemetry, which can be displayed on the DX5C or other capable TX.
I was seeing 92C up to 98C (208F) via telemetry while external the ESC was at ~ 135-140F, huge difference. With my fan running, it cools down quickly, but stays fairly steady under load. Below is a screenshot.
I geared down from 19T to 17T and expected temps to go lower, same values but I do not have datalogging to see if there is a change in ramp up time etc.
At any rate, I saw my temps go to 102C and 105C as I was rolling back to check. It literally cut off power to everything when it reached 109C (228F) on the last reading I saw, external was 148'ish. Luckily it was just rolling the last foot. No steering no nothing. Temp cutoff, I guess, but I would have expected a true temp shutdown with steering and not a hard 'off'.

I checked my fans and there was a piece of trimmer line caught in the ESC fan which made it stall i.e. I had zero cooling, easy fix and aded additional screen and yes ESC still runs fine for now.

At any rate, surprised that there is no thermal shutdown other then plain 'off'. No plan on repeating this to verify though.

If you have telemetry TX's, turn it on and use the auto-setup. This is about the only screen I use.
Running today to get a baseline on temps, using the stock pinion, but now I actally believe the telemetry on temps. The RPM is a different story, it seems a bit flaky with spikes into 89000 rpm.

What was surprising is the external temp on the heatsink using a temp gun vs internal reported. Almost a 60F difference.

No ideas how other ESC stack up, this is the first with telemetry. The shutoff makes sense which somewhat validates the reported temp.

 

[Normand_Nadon]

I was going to experience with thermal compounds on my truck as there seems to be none! It is metal on metal for cooling... Not the best mating to transfer heat! Maybe give this a try too

 

[Yas]

On my DX5 Rugged, I don't have the smart screen as I don't think my TX is smart enabled. However I do have the option to see ESC stats and Gforce if I add them to the telemetry. Nothing else (GPS, lipo stats, etc) works

I mention this because when I check the ESC stats, I can see the FET temps, which for me has gotten to around 60°c on the stock pinion whilst hooning around

I'm wondering if this stat will be different to the temp stat you have in your picture. You can try checking both of these temp stats the next time you're out?

 

[painlesswriter]

as far as thermal interface ive used thermal pads left over from my watercooling blocks for my gpus I build with. Seen great results and sometimes the material has hit over the motor temps which is a good thing bc it shows that most of the heat is transfering to the heatsink and not staying in the motor.

 

[jkflow]

as far as thermal interface ive used thermal pads left over from my watercooling blocks for my gpus I build with. Seen great results and sometimes the material has hit over the motor temps which is a good thing bc it shows that most of the heat is transfering to the heatsink and not staying in the motor.

Yes, there is no additional 'SMART' screen, it's all telemetry and your rugged is identical to my DX5C. It's just a different screen, no idea if I customized that or if this showed up by default. You can scroll through the different screens. I have the same screen as you show as well with FET temp. I'll check it on the next outing. Right now the FET is identical to my 'Temp'.

I'll experiment a little with the ESC cooling fins, maybe there truly is no heat compound which would be

Edit:
Well, that was short and not sweet. No way to remove the heatsink on the ESC, looks like it's embedded in epoxy. I hope it's the thermal conductive kind.

 

[painlesswriter]

Yes, there is no additional 'SMART' screen, it's all telemetry and your rugged is identical to my DX5C. It's just a different screen, no idea if I customized that or if this showed up by default. You can scroll through the different screens. I have the same screen as you show as well with FET temp. I'll check it on the next outing. Right now the FET is identical to my 'Temp'.

I'll experiment a little with the ESC cooling fins, maybe there truly is no heat compound which would be

Edit:
Well, that was short and not sweet. No way to remove the heatsink on the ESC, looks like it's embedded in epoxy. I hope it's the thermal conductive kind.

yeah the esc will be harder or rather more work involved due to waterproofing them in epoxy. Im just shocked your getting thermal shutdown at sub 150f or close to it external. I don't have one but my buddy has his so maybe we will read a little deeper in the thermals but hes hovering around 130f on a 20t pinion if I can remember right and never cutout but we did take little bring it around check gps and temp gun it sessions so there were breaks between for sure. My mojave on 20t pinion seees around 110-115 but it gets alot of coast action bc it has cutout on me once but never again and I check after every run now.

Now that I think maybe one of those aluminum cased fans may help but marginally I would think. Only bc its more dispertion area. If one would fit up somehow ive never fitted one up yet. But I again don't have an infraction so I can only speculate but my buddy doesn't talk about having those issues and he has done nothing to it other than clean it really. Deff keep updated but is the esc still under warranty?

 

[jkflow]

Just back from another 'baking in the sun' session.
134F/56C (asphalt), air 95F/35C. Not something I want to repeat anytime soon ? but probably will in the 'name of science' by tomorrow.
This was continuous drifting, acceleration and breaking and battery was empty after ~ 9 min, just to show that this was a stress test.

Changes: I did increase standoff height under my fan (see build log). I had one M3 (~3mm) nut and went to a 12mm standoff. Temperature drop from previous ~98C (208F) down to a max of 86C (186F). The 'FET' temp was always within 1 C of the 'TEMP" I have showing above i.e. they are the same.
Difference, I bet, is in latency switching between screens. I don't do this while I'm driving, curbs taught me to not do that...

I stopped at max temp i.e. it was stable for ~ 30s.
By the time I got the cover off : ESC 135F on the metal fins, Telemetry 170F ?

What I don't know, how fast do the fins cool down and if there is a 'delay' in temp reporting i.e. latency. At ambient, both metal fins and telemetry match up and they will merge back together after ~ 1-2 min after stopping with fans running.

Lesson for high powered fans:
Make sure you increase the distance, mounting them flush will not work. I thought my 'adjust by ear' method would take care of it but failed me this time. You can typically hear the back pressure impacting fan RPM which is an increase in RPM, very bad with respect to cooling.

 

[jkflow]

Another update comparing stock with high cfm and temperatures.

Temps are identical under load (~ 3 min bashing, both on stock pinion). We were both at ~ 170F on the 'FET' temp. My cm is easily 4x of the stock fan.
Only and important difference, my cooldown was significantly faster compared to stock.

Heads up that higher cfm will NOT decrease the ESC temp under load. It will just eliminate the heat faster during the small breaks in between. Not a real surprise but important to understand for high speed bashing etc.
We didn't max it out though, there might be another advantage for higher cfm as max temps might be lower.

 

[Jcallesano]

Another update comparing stock with high cfm and temperatures.

Temps are identical under load (~ 3 min bashing, both on stock pinion). We were both at ~ 170F on the 'FET' temp. My cm is easily 4x of the stock fan.
Only and important difference, my cooldown was significantly faster compared to stock.

Heads up that higher cfm will NOT decrease the ESC temp under load. It will just eliminate the heat faster during the small breaks in between. Not a real surprise but important to understand for high speed bashing etc.
We didn't max it out though, there might be another advantage for higher cfm as max temps might be lower.

Having issues here as well with the V2. The stock fans are directly against the esc. Should almost be mounted on top of the esc plastic housing and leave the room under it.

Im running a extra motor fan that I had laying around but got a real fan to lower Temps and keep it there. Counter rotating fan. Im getting a lvc cutoff even with full batteries. Still battling thst issue. Its ruined my last 2 runs

 

[jondilly1974]

Having issues here as well with the V2. The stock fans are directly against the esc. Should almost be mounted on top of the esc plastic housing and leave the room under it.

Im running a extra motor fan that I had laying around but got a real fan to lower Temps and keep it there. Counter rotating fan. Im getting a lvc cutoff even with full batteries. Still battling thst issue. Its ruined my last 2 runs

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Those 50C packs are probably sagging below LVC under load. What gearing are you using? You’re going to need to invest in some quality lipos.

 

[jkflow]

Add standoff's under your ESC fans. I think 2 things are happening when they are mounted close:
1. Back-pressure minimizes any air-flow - no question on this one.
2. All fans have this 'blackout' area with no air flow right underneath where the motor is mounted. Having it sit on the fins will virtually end in no air flow in the 'penny-sized' area which is 1/3 of the ESC surface.

Actually considering now to mount the fans upside down and draw in the air over the cooling fins and not have this dead zone. No issue if you have sufficiently high standoffs.

 

[Jcallesano]

Those 50C packs are probably sagging below LVC under load. What gearing are you using? You’re going to need to invest in some quality lipos.

I have 100c 8000mahs coming for the V2, ordered 4 days ago. Maybe that'll help. Should have them by tuesday

Add standoff's under your ESC fans. I think 2 things are happening when they are mounted close:
1. Back-pressure minimizes any air-flow - no question on this one.
2. All fans have this 'blackout' area with no air flow right underneath where the motor is mounted. Having it sit on the fins will virtually end in no air flow in the 'penny-sized' area which is 1/3 of the ESC surface.

Actually considering now to mount the fans upside down and draw in the air over the cooling fins and not have this dead zone. No issue if you have sufficiently high standoffs.

Mount the fan on top of the esc plastic cover with a screen. Wallaa I plan on supercharging all fans on my Infraction v2. Meaning real fans. Not a garbage 10mm thick fan. Thick housing, thicker blades, more air it can cut.

Those 50C packs are probably sagging below LVC under load. What gearing are you using? You’re going to need to invest in some quality lipos.

Missed this one. I have the speed gear in it....and I'm speed bashing not just straight runs. I know they warn about the temps with bashing with the high gear, but my lvc tripping is my issue. After my custom fan mod and install, heat won't be an issues at all. My truck body is nodded for air flow. Front scoops are cut out. Holes in rear window and roof area. Bed has holes in it, etc.

 

[handzace]

Add standoff's under your ESC fans. I think 2 things are happening when they are mounted close:
1. Back-pressure minimizes any air-flow - no question on this one.
2. All fans have this 'blackout' area with no air flow right underneath where the motor is mounted. Having it sit on the fins will virtually end in no air flow in the 'penny-sized' area which is 1/3 of the ESC surface.

Actually considering now to mount the fans upside down and draw in the air over the cooling fins and not have this dead zone. No issue if you have sufficiently high standoffs.

I did exactly that ,think about it the heat sinks transfer from the motor to the heat sinks and radiates outward so why blow down on them rite? Same thing I thought so I flipped the fan and I too use spacers/standoffs for my fans ,I also mounted a fan on the side of the motor blowing in at the side of the motor and the effect of just the flipping of the fan dropped temps over 10 degrees and with both was over 25 degrees cooler ,I will post pics of setup and temp gun pics and I run my rigs hard! My kraton exb frame actually turned purple pearl color from the heat lol that why I’ve been on the cooling mission l! And I have diff motor and esc fans
and setups that thru trial and error and alit of wasted money I know works the best and how to do it as cheap as possible with far better results than the big money kits I: no

 

[jkflow]

Kraton frame is turning color? That takes some serious heat, you have a problem, that isn't normal. Something is seriously binding.