HV ESC Option
 

This was originally going to be PM'd specifically to GriffinRU, but I thought I'd stick it here instead for others to chime in on.

We are all looking for an inexpensive, HiVolt/HiAmp controller that is usable with a pistol grip radio. Currently, all the choices out there fail in one or more of these areas. And, they seem to be all air ESCs, which seem to be a little weak on the burst current rating.

So, keeping Griffin's expertise with the "MM stage 2 mod" in mind, I thought about using two of these controllers modified so there is one brain, but 2 FET boards.

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/tu...ntilon _hv.jpg

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=4691

$200 for an ESC capable of 12s and 200A isn't bad at all IMO. All the ratings of "just" the 100A version seem to be all positive.

I'll probably pick up a couple and see what I can do, but am not set up to work on this level of PCB. Are you up to it GRU??

I like how those ESC's say "bulletproof" right on them, must be good!:lol:

Maybe for really tiny bullets? :smile:

I like how there is plenty of room for adequate cooling and looks like it will be simple to stack. Just a matter of possibly changing the FET gate drive...

Does this esc work with a wheel radio, or does it need a pixstix?

I like the idea BG, It would be cheaper than anything elese out there, but do we need 200 amps at 12s lipo? 8000+ watts is quite a bit, not sure if my mini t could handle that...

I guess that 11 horsepower is not that much...

Well if this ESC is really able of 110A bursts then this should suffice easely if used with 8s Lipo (10s A123) or even more. At least it's more then enough (10s1p A123 @100A = 2.5KW) to wheelie a center diff driven 11lbs truggy. Don't know in what kind of car you could use double the amount of Watts -> 1:6 car maybe.

EDIT -> lincpimp was faster!!!

Aren't you concerned with the slower startup air esc normally have? In car application 0,3sec is about the max i would like to have but 0,6sec or more would feel sluggish. Would be interesting how long this one takes to spool up a motor to max rpm. From what i red it does not seem as "punchy" as a car ESC.

Could be an interesting project nonetheless.

Yes, it does work with a pistol radio without an adaptor. The reviews say so and MetalMan has one and likes it. Yeah, 200A is a lot, but the burst current is kinda low, so if you use it at 120-150A, then you have that extra headroom.

Starscream's got one send him a link to this thread. I must warn you he's a weird guy. Check your your glasses gramps it's $97.72 not $200.

Well, I was referring to a price tag of $200 for two ESC's as one unit (after modding). And, I was rounding. :tongue:

And you gotta have some extra cash for that programming card :angel:

I've used it for speed runs in my MT2 "direct-drive to diff", so haven't used it for anything that is meant to be driven. I haven't fully tested out all the options, but from what I've seen, it has a weird negative exponential type of startup (but that could just be because it's running an overgeared outrunner). In my MT2 it is coupled to a PiStix, so I can't comment on non-PiStix usage (even though my radio is capable of setting up the ESC without the PiStix).

Oh well, I guess you can consider me weird since I refuse to run anything less than 6S on my big trucks. I prefer 10S A123's or 8S Lipo. :yes:

So it sounds like noone here has used this ESC without the PiStix adapter.

From my previous testing with the HV110 I draw at most ~45AMPS avg and 100-110 bursts so this ESC should handle my Truggy fine.

I'll be racing my MBX5T with this ESC (stock config) tomorrow with 10S A123's so I'll have results Sunday. :intello:

Starscream,

How about some pics of that MBX5T? I'd like to see your layout.

i'm also using this esc. i have it running with a mega 22/45/2 motor in my yusa rally on 8s1p a123 for now. esc runs cool. hottest i've gotten it was 119 on the caps. i'm also not using a pistix adapter. just 3pks radio. it setup perfectly and runs real smooth. its true you notice the lower take off power, but after a few feet, it starts pulling real hard. simular to my mgm on a lower setting. it still has enough to break the tires loose and leave marks on my drive way in my car. i'll soon go up to 12s1p on this setup. its very nice for the $$ so far. also yesturday i set my car cartwheeling into a water filled ditch and everything got wet. it survived, so thats on up on my bk that smoked from a very tiny drop. i'm sure i just lucked out. i should have known better to run it, but the neighbors dog came out chassing it and i dodged him and went off the road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gjWzlmtJLc

you can see my car run in this vid 2 times. both of them i had to feather the throtle because of wheel spin. i have foams now for next time out. just look the yellow mcclairen onroad. 2nd car in the vid, and again later.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...cture73113.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...cture73128.jpg

I run it without a pistix. Just straight up connected to my futaba 3pm fasst receiver. It is a little sluggish to start - almost like its got massive punch control... makes for cog free start though. If you go wide open from a stand it does seem to lack a little punch, but if you are rolling even super slow its got plenty on tap.


My (RCM) build thread.

Someone else's (tekno) build.

edit: all my pictures disappeared for some reason? I can't edit to put them back up either...

Hmm, sluggish start may actually be good to save diffs/drivetrains and to help with off-the-line wheelspin, but not good if the ramp-up time is too long.

Has anyone gotten the programming card along with it? At $7 it seems almost stupid not to. I'm wondering if adjustments to the "Start Mode", "Timing", or "Governer" would have any effect on the delay people are noticing?

The actual ramp-up time can be adjusted with the programming card, but on any setting it has a slow-ish motor startup. After it gets the motor going, acceleration is pretty much only limited by the setting you choose.

i have one, but i haven't played with it yet. as far as rampup, my onroad takes off faster than traction allows.

Yeah, it definitely will limit the car's acceleration to the traction the tires can provide. In my MT2 (4wd), after maybe half a second of grabbing WOT it just spins completely out of control.

The card very good for programming. I have start mode on 'normal' (As opposed to soft or softest) governer os off, and timing is on normal I think... I will have to increase it and see if it gives a little more punch.

Hmm, the delay doesn't sound bad enough not to consider it as a viable option. I was thinking of using this stacked setup for my hi-speed project, but need a high V ESC with a good amount of current headroom and thought a pair of these ESCs would be an inexpensive setup.

Hmmm. Do I get two of these an experiment for about $200, or just get a CC HV-110A and deal with the fairly low current rating? Decisions, decisions...

What about the option of getting the Turnigy Sentilon and dealing with the fairly low current rating :) After all, its the same as the CC HV-110 isnt it?

How high V are you planning to run? A few people were after these a while ago, and they have just got in new stock...

I haven't completely dissected the Sentilon HV but it does appear to have a sperate FET and control board if thats of any value...I guess a 'maybe' isn't good enough when $200 is at stake lol

Aside from the manufacturer's ratings, they're quite a bit different. HV110 has stacked power boards, making it taller. Sentilon is just one flat board. CC has good service (they replaced my burnt HV110 for free!), and I haven't tested or heard of the warranty or cost to replace/repair on the Sentilon. The HV110 is much more programmable.

Yeah, I need an ESC capable of 10s (12s preferable for a little headroom) AND high currents over 100A. Not too many of those around at anything resembling a decent price. The HV-110 is my other choice, but it's only rated at 110A with not much current burst headroom (typical of air ESCs). And MM is right, the 110A is already stacked so more stacking makes for a large ESC, not to mention pricey.

With the Sentilon's single board 100A layout, adding an extra layer should be fairly simple. And would give me a solid 100-120A continuous rating with extra room for bursts up to 220A. Even buying two of them and modding for stacking is still pretty cheap at $200. Can't even get one HV-110 for that price. I too don't know about the warranty cost for the cheaper ESC, but for that price, I'd take the chance if all other features work for what I want. And TBH, I don't use all the programmability of any of my ESCs, so that's not too important.

Yeah I was only talking about the ratings... probably should have made that clear :oops:

It was semi tongue in cheek anyway, I'm pretty confident that the HV-110 would outperform the sentilon :)

ESC is good but as I told in some threads its only good for Speedruns or Drag Race thats all. It not heating up at all realy cool stable SMOOTH ESC. Stupid delays screw everything. You goung from corner and press trigger it not move properly and suddenly after 0,5sek you loosig control in oversteer or going to jump and try correct trajectory and realise that nothing happends and when front tires land its going in full power, I even blown my LSP font diff. OK with time you accustom yourself to those delays, but after 10seks of constant power no startup delays (its made for helis for tight situations) and again after sek not tuching a throttle it spin up slowly and impossible to accustom yourself.
Damn I will be very happy if somehow will be possible to hook MM brains to it. I will do this mod 100% and try out HV system

Hmm. Speed runs is what I'm mainly after, but would like to have it usable for just parking lot running. I guess I'm stuck with using a fairly low-current HV-110 ESC.

It would be really nice to have the "ideal" ESC though. Now, I'm thinking about using the brains board from a HV-30 and then multiple FET boards from the Selinion... So many experiments and ideas, so little money. :(

For what its worth I don't agree with tom255, the delay in mine seems to be only evident accelerating from a stand still. If your rolling slowly then its very punchy still. I'll get some vids up when I can find someone to hold the camera for me...

i too have no delay. only from a dead stop, after that its all smooth and responsive like you would expect.

tom255, did you try with a different radio system just to see if it was a combatibility issue?

I have both the HV110 and the Sentilon.
I raced the Sentilon last Saturday in my MBX5T. The performance was good but not up to par with the HV110. I too experienced the delay in power during initial start up. I tried many setting changes including throttle expo on my radio but nothing helped. I didn't try soft or very-soft start up but these settings seem intuitively un-helpful. As stated before, the ramp up only occurs from a dead start as punch power is readily available if the vehicle is already in motion. This esc also seemed a bit lacking on WOT as the HV110 just seems to supply more power somehow :neutral:
The Sentilon is a great controller for the price but for racing performance in a car/truck the HV110 out performs the Sentilon.

that seems fair. i noticed a difference just like that when i replaced my bk9920 with a mgm16018. seem to have more power up top.

Well, I guess that's why the Sentilon is $100 and the HV-110 is $270. The WOT speed makes no sense IMO. Have you tried setting the EPA to something above 100% after calibration?

You can actually get the HV-110 for $200, if you use Tower and their coupon code things. I got mine for $229.99-$30 back in July of last year.

As a little update on the sentilon esc, itd be fine for a speed machine, but i've figured out the delay thing

If there's always a bit of throttle happening, its got great punch. if you back off completely then try to accelerate again, you get a delay (As a result of this soft spool up thing). Basically it means if your ever going to or want to jump it, drift it, or race it, its very bad. You can't balance the vehicle in a slide or in the air because of this stupid delay. I mean, you can, but its not instant response like we're used to - you can kind of counter it buy taking the delay into account but it just wouldn't work properly. Looks like I'm gunna start saving my pennies for the mmm release (which I was doing anyway lol)...