Mamba Max fan mounting

[mtucker]

I am not having much luck keeping a fan on my Mamba Max ESC. I bought two 25mm Sunon fans (3.5 CFM airflow). They are nice and small, but still move a decent amount of air. The problem is the three support arms that go from the fan shroud to the rotor/blade are very thin and weak. I think the big jumps at the race track are causing the arms to break. That leaves the shroud well mounted, but the rotor/blade flopping around.

I used two #4 screws to hold the fan to the heatsink of the MM. I also used small washers to slightly lift the fan off the heatsink. My thinking was if the top of the heatsink wasn't flat it would put a lot of stress on the fan when I tightened it down.
Now that both fans have broke, I think maybe I should have mounted it flat and used some double sided thick sticky tape as a cushion. I would need to put the double sided tape not only under the rotor, but along the shroud. The tape would at least keep the weight of the rotor from pushing down too much on a big landing.

I tried to find a Novak fan at the LHS to see if it was a little more beefy, but they were out. Any suggestions for a beefier 25mm fan or mounting is appreciated.
For now the cool winter nights let me run a full 15 minute main without a heatskink, but I will definitely need a fan when it warms back up.

Thanks,
Matt

[BrianG]

What about glueing some thin flat aluminum to the fan? Cut out a piece of aluminum so it is the same shape and size as the side where the hub supports are, and glue it in place. This should add some structural rigidity to the fan.

If the ESC gets too hot, you could also make a creative, but simple, duct in the body that would direct air onto the ESC. I always favor a passive cooling solution whenever possible.

[bdebde]

I agree about the passive cooling 100%. That was one of the things that really turned me off to the novaks when I first started looking at brushless; having to run a fan. Of course, more research further turned me off of the novaks! Now the proud owner of 2 mamba maxes and a quark; all fanless.

[BrianG]

Yeah, I personally think that if you need a fan, the gearing is not right or things are being pushed too far to heat up that much. Plus, why use a fan when it is in a moving vehicle? Just open the body for some airflow...

[rchippie]

Originally Posted by BrianG

Yeah, I personally think that if you need a fan, the gearing is not right or things are being pushed too far to heat up that much. Plus, why use a fan when it is in a moving vehicle? Just open the body for some airflow...

Brian i respectfully disagree & dont see anything wrong with using a fan. Even with the proper gearing a fan is a nice safety measure. Venting the body is also a good idea & i do this on all my bodys BL or nitro. But with a fan you can get a little extra cooling exactly were you want it.

[sjcrss]

I have allways ran a fan above my controllers.....just so i know that they are being kept cool, besides....a 5.00 fan.....keeping my high $ controller cool, eases the mind a little.....

[BrianG]

That's fine. We are all entitled to our own opinions. :)

I don't like using fans because it adds complexity to the design and wiring mess, etc. I'd rather use a slightly bigger/better heatsink and find a way to get airflow from the moving vehicle over it.

But that's just me and I never said it was the "right" way. :)

[sjcrss]

That's what so great about this hobby, everyone is entitled to thier own opinion , and everyones truck is personalized to their own tastes......which is great.....

[coolhandcountry]

I run a fan on a few things. It falls under what brian was talking about.
I was ussually pushing my system.

[neweuser]

I run a fan on my quark, but never the motor.

[Mike.L]

Originally Posted by neweuser

I run a fan on my quark, but never the motor.

yea a fan on the esc wont hurt anyone, but id prefer to use a heat sink on my motor then a fan...

I have one of the Novak Fan kits for my MM but have not hooked it all up yet to test it out
http://www.shopatron.com/product/pro...=NOV5646/135.0

[Joe Ford]

Fans aren't needed...we designed the controller to run without them...if you thermal the controller you're either geared improperly or there's something wrong with the controller.

[neweuser]

Hey Joe, since your on, not to hijack here, but the mm for the mini's, what lipo cut should be used. The 2s says 6v? But that seems a tad high?

[coolhandcountry]

2s is 2 cells. 2 x 3volts is 6 volts.
If you go lower you going to muss batts.