RC-Monster Forums - View Single Post

BrianG · 04.29.2006, 12:17 AM

Thanks. I kinda figured the underside would be the same since that is where the "brains" and BEC of the controller are and that part won't change much between, if at all. However the number and maybe type of FETs will change depending on the current specs of the ESC and the nominal voltage.

The majority of the heat seems to come from the sides where there is no actual heatsink. That's why I'm still looking for pics of the sides. From what I know of how these are built, the FETs are probably stacked on top of each other with only a layer of PCB between them. The fact that they are stacked lets the heat from the FETs from the lowest level heat the FETs above them through the middle PCBs with only the circuit traces of the PCBs acting as a secondary heatsink until the heat gets to the little heatsink on top. If this is built like I suspect, I can procure a piece of mica insulator to electrically insulate the PCB edges from the added side heatsinks to prevent possible shorts (if needed).

After seeing the new Quark ESCs, it seems they have a better heatsink scheme. I think the 125B will be my next ESC purchase. But for now, I'd like to make my current ESC as cool as possible. Even if I did use a fan, it would only cool the heatsink and not do much for the ESCs further down...

	(#3)
BrianG RC-Monster Admin Offline Posts: 14,609 Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Des Moines, IA	04.29.2006, 12:17 AM Thanks. I kinda figured the underside would be the same since that is where the "brains" and BEC of the controller are and that part won't change much between, if at all. However the number and maybe type of FETs will change depending on the current specs of the ESC and the nominal voltage. The majority of the heat seems to come from the sides where there is no actual heatsink. That's why I'm still looking for pics of the sides. From what I know of how these are built, the FETs are probably stacked on top of each other with only a layer of PCB between them. The fact that they are stacked lets the heat from the FETs from the lowest level heat the FETs above them through the middle PCBs with only the circuit traces of the PCBs acting as a secondary heatsink until the heat gets to the little heatsink on top. If this is built like I suspect, I can procure a piece of mica insulator to electrically insulate the PCB edges from the added side heatsinks to prevent possible shorts (if needed). After seeing the new Quark ESCs, it seems they have a better heatsink scheme. I think the 125B will be my next ESC purchase. But for now, I'd like to make my current ESC as cool as possible. Even if I did use a fan, it would only cool the heatsink and not do much for the ESCs further down...