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[Neil Martin]

Hello, I was wondering if I could get some advice on some items I've seen on ebay recently. Here's the link:-
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-20A-Brushed-ESC-Speed-Controller-for-1-16-1-18-Car-Tank-Boat-w-o-Brake-/271162274781?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f2287f3dd
 
Has anyone on the forum bought one of these or know anybody else who might have had experience with them?
My boat is an old Billings USCG running twin 380's geared down, it has a very low current draw.
One of the current ESC's has developed a fault & due to the boats age I didn't want to spend too much on replacements.
I know the saying 'Pay Peanuts, you get etc..!' but there does seem to be some good cheap equipment coming from that part of the world these days.
I thought these might be worth a try!
What do you think?
 
Neil.

[vnkiwi]

Hi Neil,
About a year ago I purchased a batch of a dozen of these, direct from the manufacturer, who could also be the e-bay seller you linked to.
I run them in all my boats, and the only thing I've noticed is you can't slam them from forward straight through to reverse, as doesn't work every time.
If you run from foreward, back to neutral and pause for half a second, then reverse comes in ok.
Apart from that, well pleased, especially with the price, and will be ordering another batch soon.
I only run small to medium size boats from 12" swordsman & springer, to more than a metre long sail boats with ancilliary engines with these, and no problems or failures to date. All my boats run NiMH batteries in various voltage combinations, all with the same controllers.
Hope this helps
cheers
vnkiwi

[mudway]

Another catch with them can be that, as they were originally designed for cars, you do not always get an esc with 100% power astern. They seemed to vary from 50 > 70% only on the ones I tried.

[grasshopper]

Sounds to me like those ESC's could be a bit of a bargain and they act like real boat throttles, requiring a pause before going astern (as gearbox changes on the real thing) and the reduced thrust similar to a prop going the wrong way round.

[john44]

Sounds to me like those ESC's could be a bit of a bargain and they act like real boat throttles, requiring a pause before going astern (as gearbox changes on the real thing) and the reduced thrust similar to a prop going the wrong way round.

on the brushed esc. that I have double reverse seems to work, try that,the pause could be
hazardous if used with a fast or large boat.

john

[inertia]

the pause could be hazardous if used with a fast or large boat.
john

Unlikely, John - the specs say it's suitable only for motors up to 380 size. Looks like those 20A are Chinese-sized again..............
DM

[john44]

Yes Dave I think the 0 should be in front of the 2.

john
 

[Hellboy Paul]

Blimey 20 amps through a JST connector!! I wouldn't use a Tamiya plug for that amount of current....


Best bit though is the warranty small print especially section 3, how are we to tell if it is faulty BEFORE you use it??

Plus if you complain to Ebay they will blacklist you!!

Paul..

[essex2visuvesi]

Hi Neil,
About a year ago I purchased a batch of a dozen of these, direct from the manufacturer, who could also be the e-bay seller you linked to.
I run them in all my boats, and the only thing I've noticed is you can't slam them from forward straight through to reverse, as doesn't work every time.
If you run from foreward, back to neutral and pause for half a second, then reverse comes in ok.

This reverse lock is a common feature on Car speed controllers.  It prevents damage to the gearbox and ESC lessening the chance of overload.  To put it another way imagine what damage would be done to your cars gearbox if you engaged reverse and dropped the clutch while travelling forwards at 50mph

The usual way of selecting reverse with this type of ESC is to engage reverse, return to centre and the engage reverse again

For low draw applications on a budget these look like they could be a good bet.  Just remember Chinese Amps are somewhat smaller than European ones.  And as others have said JST connectors cannot handle 20A for more than a split second... About 2-3A sustained is pushing it

[Mad_Mike]

I did a thread on these last year. I buy these 20 amp esc's. There are 2 types available, with brake and without WO brake. The one in the link is the marine version and goes straight into reverse without the brake delay.
Car version with delayed reverse:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-ESC-20A-Brushed-Car-Motor-Speed-Controller-1-16-1-18-/261021706536?pt=US_Radio_Control_Control_Line&hash=item3cc61b2928
Boat version with instant reverse:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-20A-Brushed-ESC-Speed-Controller-for-1-16-1-18-Car-Tank-Boat-w-o-Brake-/271162274781?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f2287f3dd
 
They are actually very good

[knoby]

Had one of these in a small tug running monoperm super on 6v for about 18 months now & its fine. Mind you the motor draws less then 5 amps & the first thing i did was cut the plugs off & solder direct. If it blows up tomorrow I already had my £7.50 worth out of it, but to be honest, its proved to be a good controller.

[richald]

Have a look at . . .

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=32025

This 45A brushed ESC is a great replacement for your model's stock ESC or for
setting up a new brushed power system in your car or truck. It features a low voltage
cut-off for use with lipoly batteries. Its compact and lightweight design make it
ideal for use in 1/10 scale drift cars utilizing brushed motors.

Features:
• Low voltage cutoff for use with Lipoly batteries
• Compact and lightweight design
• 5.6V/2A BEC

Specs:
Continuous Current: 45A
Burst Current: 320A (10sec)
Suitable Car: 1/10 on and off road
Battery: 2 cell Lipo (5-6 cells NI-xx)
BEC output: 5.6V/2A switch mode built-in
Motor type: brushed
Operation: Forward/Brake/Reverse
Dimension: 38x28x22mm
Weight: 40g


PRODUCT ID: 9261000018

best of all price £5.57 each!


Richard

[essex2visuvesi]

45A on a tamiya connector? 
Not wise in my opinion

[Neil Martin]

Thanks everyone for their advice on this one. It sounds like they might be worth a go for my boat.
It is the 'without brake' version I'm interested in. So many of these car type esc's look good from a price point of view.
Then when you use them, you have to brake first! Not much good for a boat.
 
Many thanks,
 
Neil. 

[richald]

45A on a tamiya connector? 
Not wise in my opinion

essex2visuvesi

yes but they're probably chinese amps ....

Richard

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

Can I ask a question please.

When driving these  ' braked'  versions what is the effect of pushing the stick up to drive forward and suddenly releasing it to spring back to off.

Does the vehicle skid to a stop ?        I'm thinking heavy trucks and trailers here.

ken

[Norseman]

45A on a tamiya connector? 
Not wise in my opinion

Anyone fancy doing a thread on the various connector options ... I for one would appreciate it and especially with a few pics.

Dave

[Mad_Mike]

Can I ask a question please.

When driving these  ' braked'  versions what is the effect of pushing the stick up to drive forward and suddenly releasing it to spring back to off.

Does the vehicle skid to a stop ?        I'm thinking heavy trucks and trailers here.

ken

It would just slow down until the inertia of the weight stopped pushing the vehicle forward and then just stop. When you press reverse it kind of puts the motor into a reverse but without actually making the motor go backwards. When you test the motor on the bench you power forwards and then press reverse it stops it dead.

[grendel]

the way the braking works is that you short out the motor, so its acting as a generator and the short circuit makes it draw a high current, thus stopping the motor, proportional braking works in the same manner as speed control, pulsing the short circuit to achieve the proportional braking effect. the middle 'neutral' position is just like putting your car in neutral, just rolling.
Grendel

[essex2visuvesi]

Anyone fancy doing a thread on the various connector options ... I for one would appreciate it and especially with a few pics.

Dave

Sounds like a plan.  If I have time I'll knock one up
only concern is that some connectors for example genuine Deans 'T' connectors handle quite a bit more current than some of the Chinese clones.

[Neil Martin]

Hi,
 
Thought it was time for a little update.
I went ahead & purchased two of these ESCs for £7.50 each P&P free.
I wasn't expecting very much from them, but I am happy to say that they do work & work very well!
I have hopefully attached two pictures of what you get. They are rather small & the instructions a little basic (battery pack just there for scale).
You'll be ok if you have set up an Action or Mtroniks system before.
 


I can't say for certain how much draw you can really put on these, I certainly wouldn't go anywhere near the 20A that they claim.
I would also recommend a fuse somewhere (I put in a 5A fuse on each circuit).
If your boat is a low drain on the battery & you want to get something a bit cheaper than the regular suppliers, then I would recommend these.
Just remember to get the version 'without brake' - link below.
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RC-20A-Brushed-ESC-Speed-Controller-for-1-16-1-18-Car-Tank-Boat-w-o-Brake-/271162274781?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f2287f3dd
 
Neil.

[malcolmfrary]

45A on a tamiya connector? 
Not wise in my opinion

Not just the connectors - I would be highly dubious about that kind of current in the wiring.  Look at fuse wire sizes. 
I got a pair of the 10A versions which also make wondrous claims.  I am only using them on much smaller motors than the claimed max, but do seem to work well with some caveats.  The board is heavily populated with what I assume are output driver chips, possibly I/C transistor arrays.  These claim a given current for each element, and I suspect that these values have been simply added, without too much regard for the overall limit for the package, which is usually much lower.  Just an opinion from experience a good while back, but its all guesswork because none of the chips has a visible number.
The caveats -
1 The deadband is huge.  To get full forward (or reverse) the trim slider on the TX has to be used.
2 Best to remember that they cannot be used on 12v. 
3 Centre off was where it was, which wasn't centre on either of the transmitters I tried it with.  This might say just as much about Hitech and Acomms transmitters.
They will probably be great as bow thruster drivers on 6 or 7.2 volts.  Possibly winch controls.  I do prefer to be able to get full power on the TX stick without fiddling with the trim slider when driving a boat.

[Mad_Mike]

Not just the connectors - I would be highly dubious about that kind of current in the wiring.  Look at fuse wire sizes. 
I got a pair of the 10A versions which also make wondrous claims.  I am only using them on much smaller motors than the claimed max, but do seem to work well with some caveats.  The board is heavily populated with what I assume are output driver chips, possibly I/C transistor arrays.  These claim a given current for each element, and I suspect that these values have been simply added, without too much regard for the overall limit for the package, which is usually much lower.  Just an opinion from experience a good while back, but its all guesswork because none of the chips has a visible number.
The caveats -
1 The deadband is huge.  To get full forward (or reverse) the trim slider on the TX has to be used.
2 Best to remember that they cannot be used on 12v. 
3 Centre off was where it was, which wasn't centre on either of the transmitters I tried it with.  This might say just as much about Hitech and Acomms transmitters.
They will probably be great as bow thruster drivers on 6 or 7.2 volts.  Possibly winch controls.  I do prefer to be able to get full power on the TX stick without fiddling with the trim slider when driving a boat.

I have not bought the 10 amp version so cannot comment on it. However i do own a few of the 20 amp versions and the dead band is fine on all of them.

[Tug-Kenny RIP]

@Neil,

Can you tell me if it  'whistles'  please as I find this feature annoying. It does seem ideal for 7.2 volt running slowly.

Cheers

ken

[Martin (Admin)]

You might get lucky Neil, if you do we'll all be buying them! 
 Let us know how you get on with them on the water.