Watercooling an ESC

[785boats]

The ESC in my PT boat Gets really hot driving 2 X 785 motors with 35mm 3 blade props. The same in the Wallypower 118' driving 2 X speed 600s with 30mm water jets. The third jet has it's own controller. So I figured a bit of cooling might be in order. They must be running close to their rated 50 amps.
So here's a couple of hours work to make 2 cooling plates as opposed to two new ESCs at $90.00 each plus Y harnesses.
Note: you may want to choose a different orientation of the tubes to suit the layout of your boat.
I'll try them on Saturday to see how well they work.
Regards
Paul.

[Frank Hurd]

Thanks for sharing! I hope the tests work out ok!
Frank

[patmat2350]

Looks awesome.
Hopefully the FETs' heat sink tabs are in direct contact with the aluminum case, and preferably the bottom smooth surface, elsewise they're still at risk.

Anyone have a dead Proboat ESC they wanna cut open?

Pat M

[Stu :)]

The FETs should be touching the top side of the case or the 'ribbed' side.

If you've got the room I heard some of those new copper heat pipe CPU heatsink and fan units are very good for the ProBoat ESC.

Stu :)

[785boats]

Hi guys
Thanks for the comments. I was told that most of the heat buildup was at the smooth side. The case & ribs are to draw the heat away. In any case I figured that the more surface area the heat transfer silicon & plate is in contact with the better. The ribs would only give about 30% contact. Anyhow anything is better than nothing. I thought of fans but the water is there and it takes the heat out of the boat. We'll see on Saturday.
Unlike most experiments, this one cost nothing. So I'm in front already.
Regards,
Paul.

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Nice work, And so simple...
:cool:

[offshore1987]

you do know you can buy them and the look totally the same as you've made :D

nice bit of d.i.y though :)

[785boats]

Thanks Umi. It has to be simple or I wouldn't understand what I'm doing.
Offshore. I didn't know you could buy them. Certainly not here in Aussie land.There go the patent rights then. :D :rolleyes:
Paul.

[Ghost 2501]

I may try that in my Najade, she has a Proboat 50esc and it gets a tad warm in the hull

[785boats]

Well. What a success. I ran the ESCs today in both the PT boat & the Wallypower 118'. Before the plates were fitted they would be too hot to pass the 5 second rule. An ammeter showed 48 amps on the 2 X speed 600 jets in the Wallypower 118' on 12 IB4200 cells.
With the cooling plate connected The ESCs were on the cool side of tepid. This was after running them hard until the batteries dropped off.
The motors & batteries also felt cooler. Run time would , I guess, be longer because under normal conditions I wouldn't run them flat out for so long. There would be a reasonable amount of cruising & maneuvering involved.
I honestly could not believe how cool they were. Well worth the effort.
Paul.

[Frank Hurd]

It's nice to have good ideas shared!
Frank

[785boats]

Thanks Frank. It also feels good when something exceeds your expectations.
I think the heat transfer silicon is the key.
Regards,
Paul.

[retoabcr]

You are a guru from how you explained and done your homework and did it, my hats off to you!

[785boats]

Thanks man, but I'm a long way from being a guru on anything.
Last night I made a cooling plate for an outrunner brushless motor. Don't know if it works yet. I took a couple of pics so I'll post something soon for anyone interested. No doubt other people have done the same thing somewhere but we just have'nt seen it.
Cheers.
Paul.