What's this? (ESC Questions..)
 

Ok, I got this ESC from Infinite at OKhobby, but there is no on/off switch, just a light at what seems to be the on/off wires. What's that?

And all those batteries on the ESC itself, is that for a BEC system? Or something else?

And there's also a wire sticking out from the red battery connector?

http://okhobby.com/product.php?id_product=1136

Those are capacitors on the ESC, not batteries. All ESCs have them, but sometimes they are hidden inside the case (Like Castle MMP and MMM).

The light may just be an on/off indicator, and you turn the ESC on by plugging in the batteries.

As far as the wire sticking out of the + battery lead, I'd say it's for connecting a BEC, but it seems like there should be one for the - lead also.

Yea, there's only one.

Guess I'll just order a BEC to be on the safe side with this.. but what happens if there's an internal BEC as well?

Just remove the red wire from the connector plug. Lift the little tab on the plug holding the connector in place, slide out the wire/connector, flod it back over the cable, and heatshrink it to the cable. That way, you can easily reverse the procedure if you want to.

There's no internal BEC, if you look at the specs on the page all the BEC sections are blank with a / as a placeholder. And it makes sense given this is a HV 5-10S controller.

"flod it back over the cable, and heatshrink it to the cable. That way, you can easily reverse the procedure if you want to." Not sure what you mean by flod?

he meant fold

You guys don't know what flodding is?!?! I'd try to explain, but this is a forum for all ages, and kids might read... :oops:

Does anyone know what the red wire from the battery main is for?

Have you tried contacting OK Hobby?

I think it's a sacrificial contact used to charge the capacitors before plugging in the main bullet connector. Plug in the negative bullet, touch the little plug to the positive bullet where the spark won't hurt the mating surface, then plug in the positive bullet while still holding the little plug against it.

Thanks all. I haven't installed a BEC yet, but I read up on it and a CC manual said that if there's an onboard BEC, the red wire needs to be cut from the ESC wire going to the rx, or something to that effect. What will happen if you forget to cut the red wire?

The two BECs might have a domestic dispute, someone knocks over a candle, and before you know it the house burns down. Basically... :lol:

Hehe, what should I do then? I'm not sure if there is an internal BEC on this ESC.

Well normally if an ESC doesn't have a BEC circuit to power servos and such it will be labeled "Opto-isolated". This is usually found on high voltage ESCs. I have never come across an ESC that was NOT opto-isolated AND had no BEC...except for those mechanical ones with the resistors.

If you are going to use an external BEC, use a pick/paper clip/razor blade to lift the plastic tab that locks the red wire into the Rx plug of the ESC. Pull the red wire out of the plug, bend it back, and use electrical tape to secure it to the other wires. Make sure the metal connector is insulated by the tape.

Ok, but I don't fully understand the red wire situation, do I connect the red wire to the other wires?

Also, is it possible to connect an RX battery pack to the receiver?

You could use an RX battery pack, but in electric vehicles it makes more sense to use a BEC (at least IMO). They are smaller, lighter, and you don't have to worry about another battery to charge/monitor. Plus the voltage will be consistent, whereas an RX battery pack will drop in voltage as it's discharged.

EDIT: As I already posted, there is no internal BEC on this ESC. I don't think you have to remove the red wire from the RX cable.

Nope. Just remove it's connector from the ESC's reciever plug and tape it to the other wires to keep it out of the way. You could use shrink tube if you want. By removing the red wire you are preventing the external BEC and the ESC's onboard BEC from interfering with each other. The ESC recieves power from it's onboard BEC, and the radio system/servos recieve power from the external BEC.

Thanks guys. An RX Battery pack is just plug and play, right?

So long as its nimh/nicad, yeah, just plugs into the aux/batt slot on the rx. If you use a lipo rx pack, then you'll need an LVC of some sort.

Does this esc have a programming card? If so then the red wire on the signal harness is used to power the "brains" of the esc when programming.

Since it does not have an internal bec I would not worry about it.

What is the difference between Sbec and ubec?

The "S" and "U". :smile:

Seriously, they mean the same thing. S would stand for switching, while U stands for ultra or something like that.