Originally Posted by ajbaker

I agree. His posts contribute absolutely NOTHING. Newbies always try to showcase their lack of experience or knowledge. I haven't blocked anyone from this thread yet. Maybe I need to start with him.
AJ

Agree, but don't block. Just don't bite. Personally speaking, you have been a great help and I like the flow of the chat on here.
Some ideas are great, some I think Mmmm; not so sure, but that's for me to decide.
Keep up the good work... don't bite.

ands

Originally Posted by G550Ted

With aj's conclusion that what he needs is "an external sBEC to circumvent his heat problem."

I DO agree with your statement that it should not toast his ESC.

There should never be an issue of two different 30a ESCs getting "smoking hot" running a stock motor in this model. Something else is going on and I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the BEC portion of those ESCs. 30a ESCs most always have a BEC of at least 2a and often 3a rating/capability which won't overheat with 4 servos even on a 4 cell battery unless at least a couple of the servos are stalled. If all of the controls are working OK then all of the discussions to date are not applicable and using an external BEC (or UBEC or whatever one wants to call it) will not be a cure to his problem.

As NorCalMatCat pointed out, at max power the stock motor draw is about 17 amps. Even on the bench for a couple of minutes I would not expect a capable 30a ESC to overheat. First thing to do is to check the load with a watt meter. Also feel the motor and bullet connectors to see if any or all are getting hot. Does the motor make any strange sounds? What size prop are you running? Does he have another model that he could test his ESC with? Maybe he really is just unlucky and got two bad ESCs.

Bottom line is he needs to do more troubleshooting, and if he can't isolate the problem let us or others know of all the particulars to see if we can offer a possible solution. A UBEC is most likely way down the list as a cure.

Ted

For the most part, I agree. Let me back up to the obvious. If he has a brand new plane and did not exercise the control surfaces, that could be the most likely cause of his heat problem. Since he does not have a watt meter, I was taking my best guess. Since I read your post, it got me thinking about the control surfaces thing. But, to be the most help to him, what else would you suggest that he check? (keeping in mind that he does not have some of the tools that you and I take for granted).
AJ
P.S. For you only, what do you think would happen if it is a control surface problem and he used an external sBEC? Would the ESC or sBEC still get hot? I do not know the answer to this hypothetical situation. I have never tested that thought before.
P.S.S. For the rest - I promise I will get back on topic.

I recommend to anyone that does not have one, go get a Multimeter right now :P You can get one from Harbor Freight for Free to $6 (They often give away with coupons their cheap $5 one), I use it and it works fine, though it only handles up to 10A for amperage reading, but it is invaluable for testing stuff, if you have the money to invest I would get a model in the $20 to $50 range that IS capable of testing higher amps, and in this hobby it is a tool you will find quite valuable, and useful for other things too .

Originally Posted by ajbaker

For the most part, I agree. Let me back up to the obvious. If he has a brand new plane and did not exercise the control surfaces, that could be the most likely cause of his heat problem. Since he does not have a watt meter, I was taking my best guess. Since I read your post, it got me thinking about the control surfaces thing. But, to be the most help to him, what else would you suggest that he check? (keeping in mind that he does not have some of the tools that you and I take for granted).
AJ
P.S. For you only, what do you think would happen if it is a control surface problem and he used an external sBEC? Would the ESC or sBEC still get hot? I do not know the answer to this hypothetical situation. I have never tested that thought before.
P.S.S. For the rest - I promise I will get back on topic.

To be honest I suggested all of the issues that I could think of that might cause his problem. Without more data I don't know. That would include him powering the model and not running the motor to see if multiple stalled servos might be the cause, but I think that quite unlikely. Then again, like you, I've never tested that situation.

Ted

PS - It's not so hard for either of us to banter a point if we stick to the issue, and I mean that in an honest way.

Originally Posted by G550Ted

OBTW. Don't bother to waste your time composing another snarky, threatening PM to me because it doesn't work on adults.

Your friend,

Ted

As usual, you newbies always resort to personal attacks. I actually feel sorry for you.
AJ

Originally Posted by ajbaker

As usual, you newbies always resort to personal attacks. I actually feel sorry for you.
AJ

Ahh... "Newbies", post count, "silliness", "Note that the post was made by the administrator." (meaning you), etc., ad infinitum.

'Nuff said.

Actually someone kindly pointed out to me the meter I mentioned above can do up to 10A DC, but you have to be careful with multimeters and amps because if you go over the spec it's easy to let the magic smoke out of one :P.

Originally Posted by NorCalMatCat

Actually someone kindly pointed out to me the meter I mentioned above can do up to 10A DC, but you have to be careful with multimeters and amps because if you go over the spec it's easy to let the magic smoke out of one :P.

+1. You are right on. My son blew one up by putting it on 10A and then putting the leads across 12v DC on his motorcycle. FWIW - There is a fuse inside. But, I know what it is supposed to protect. My son's meter was "smoked" out. I can only imagine what a high power LiPo would do to it. Good note on using caution.
AJ

Just to add some info. It is the stock setup, engine, prop all stock. The ESC did start to get hot while on the bench. I was not moving any control surfaces while running the motor. I'm not sure why you would want to continually do that anyway. I don't think it is a control surface issue. The ESC was out of the plane at the time. After running it, I did feel the motor and found it to be hot as well. I pulled the fuse apart earlier and checked to make sure that the motor was not rubbing on the foam. It's all clear.

Originally Posted by NorCalMatCat

Actually someone kindly pointed out to me the meter I mentioned above can do up to 10A DC, but you have to be careful with multimeters and amps because if you go over the spec it's easy to let the magic smoke out of one :P.

Most have a replaceable 10amp fuse inside. Install a higher amp fuse and then the smoke will come out if over amped.

Now I need a beer.

Originally Posted by Scooch

Just to add some info. It is the stock setup, engine, prop all stock. The ESC did start to get hot while on the bench. I was not moving any control surfaces while running the motor. I'm not sure why you would want to continually do that anyway. I don't think it is a control surface issue. The ESC was out of the plane at the time. After running it, I did feel the motor and found it to be hot as well. I pulled the fuse apart earlier and checked to make sure that the motor was not rubbing on the foam. It's all clear.

You need to check you motors amp draw with a watt meter. If you don't have one then just replace the motor. That would be the cheapest way out.

Originally Posted by ajbaker

Ha.... The big guy in the video is your son. Right?
AJ

uh..., no.

Originally Posted by NorCalMatCat

Actually someone kindly pointed out to me the meter I mentioned above can do up to 10A DC, but you have to be careful with multimeters and amps because if you go over the spec it's easy to let the magic smoke out of one :P.

Actually most of those cheap digital meters have very limited ranges and can be overloaded. The really cheap ones do not have any fuse protection.

The best way to tell if you have a good or cheap meter is to check what the CAT rating is. A really good meter has a CAT III at 600V. A lesser meter has a CAT II at 600V but may have a CAT III at 200V. The really cheap units won't say what their CAT rating is. They are the ones that will easily smoke or worse electrocute you if you try to measure anything above 50V.

The best way to measure amperage is to use a clamp on meter. Some of the cheaper clamp-ons only measure AC amps. You usually have to spend more get one that has DC capability.

When it comes to electricity you have to decide which is more important; your life or saving a few bucks.

Originally Posted by NorCalMatCat

I do not think the SS stalls easily, it can stall but it's not like stalling a P51 :P

I agree that a P51 or for that matter just about any of the old war birds will easily stall.

I can testify that the SS can and does stall even with the wing dihedral. It will also recover from a stall better than most planes. You just have to learn to override your internal desire to power out of the dive and just let the plane's natural gliding ability to do the work.

It took me at least 2 OS stalls crashes to learn not to panic.