Quark regenesis!

[zeropointbug]

Here is the Quark mounted... now I am trying to organize everything neatly and so nothing will get cought, or thrashed around. It's getting there.

[florianz]

very cool! THAT'S what I call a a modded esc.

i got some low esr caps, at least the best I could get here. here's a pic of the actual one:


it's a 125a esc, where you see the power cables there are the bigger caps. like that after hard bashing the temperatures are around 30-40 deg. c.

The funny point is: the two other (burned/shorted) esc and this one are super reliable, great throttle response. when I read about all the probs with MMM etc, I don't understand how these cheap esc's are so reliable and rugged. except the bl..dy breaks. I don't have mechanical breaks, but you get used to it...

florian

[florianz]

looks good. but be careful that that the caps don't get "hurt". I had that a couple of times that - due to a crash - the caps cracked. suddenly the esc lost power after some minutes. later I found out that the reason were the caps.

[zeropointbug]

Originally Posted by florianz

very cool! THAT'S what I call a a modded esc.

i got some low esr caps, at least the best I could get here. here's a pic of the actual one:


it's a 125a esc, where you see the power cables there are the bigger caps. like that after hard bashing the temperatures are around 30-40 deg. c.

The funny point is: the two other (burned/shorted) esc and this one are super reliable, great throttle response. when I read about all the probs with MMM etc, I don't understand how these cheap esc's are so reliable and rugged. except the bl..dy breaks. I don't have mechanical breaks, but you get used to it...

florian

Yikes, is that a green eggs and ham sandwich?

[BrianG]

I've added a couple caps to my Quark. Just enough to make a difference, but not enough to be cumbersome:

I don't get it? What are the advantages of those Capacitors?

[florianz]

they help the esc to handle the peaks in current

[zeropointbug]

Yes, it helps the 'micro peaks' in current, the esc needs very low resistance to operate properly, batteries are no match for low esr caps.

And GOOD NEWS, I just went out for a test run, and Viola! It works wonderfully now! Brakes don't cut out anymore when batts are fresh, and the brakes feel different now too, call me crazy, but they do. The motor sounds different too, especially when braking (that digital buzz noise). Only cogged once too, usually cogs quite a bit on fresh charge.

Now I just need to get this motor checked out, it's getting too warm too fast.

[BrianG]

Caps help to shore up the battery for the high current draws during the PWM pulses.

[Arct1k]

The dreaded ripple....

But sadly even artur couldn't save my quark :`(

[suicideneil]

Not a bec issue as such, though running an external one always helps with older style escs. Sounds alot more like thermalling- the heat spreaders & thermal tape tend to let go after a while, then there FETs have no way of transfering their heat to the case which is also the heatsink. Cogging sounds more like either a gearing issue (too high maybe?), or just the software perhaps- not sure if its possible to update it without sending it back to Quark.. good luck that one... :/

[pinkpanda3310]

I thought the bec was only good for up to 4s then you needed an external one above that voltage. Which might be causing the esc to thermal more often. I wouldn't say it is the only reason it's thermalling, just it's not helping.

[ANGRY-ALIEN]

Originally Posted by suicideneil

Not a bec issue as such, though running an external one always helps with older style escs. Sounds alot more like thermalling- the heat spreaders & thermal tape tend to let go after a while, then there FETs have no way of transfering their heat to the case which is also the heatsink. Cogging sounds more like either a gearing issue (too high maybe?), or just the software perhaps- not sure if its possible to update it without sending it back to Quark.. good luck that one... :/

Neil... I opened the esc today and found that the thermal tape was not sticking to the casing the way it should, 1/3 of the pad is covered with dirt, leading me to believe the FETs were overheating quite a bit... I am hoping this is the worst case... I am also thinking cogging is attributed to gearing... Mike shipped the new pinions for me this week, so I hope when I get everything back together the smaller pinions will help to reduce cogging... Is there an easy and safe way to remove the heat spreader from the FETs... and if it's really stock on there... should I bother to remove it?

Originally Posted by pinkpanda3310

I thought the bec was only good for up to 4s then you needed an external one above that voltage. Which might be causing the esc to thermal more often. I wouldn't say it is the only reason it's thermalling, just it's not helping.

Hey Pinkpanda... I'm actually using an external BEC... I clipped the red wire on the receiver lead to disable the internal BEC.

A few pics (I hope it's ok to post photos here):

[BrianG]

Yep, that thermal tape is not the best stuff. It's kinda too bad that this ESC almost requires the internal mod, but once done, it works well even long-term. I still have two 125's that are fully operational as of today.

Panda: All the Quark xxB line ESCs use a linear BEC. And like all linear BECs, should be disabled in lieu of an external one on anything above 2s lipo or 7-8 cells NiMH.

[ANGRY-ALIEN]

Hmmm... Not the best design in the world I guess... should I remove the upper board to get to the other spreader? I notice they're some pins connecting the upper and lower boards... Or is it not that simple? It feels real uncomfortable trying to remove the lower spreader, it's really on there.