Predator 40A ESC

For review : Predator 40A ESC
Sent by : Fasttech.com
Link : http://shrsl.com/127wr

Finally had the weather and the time on my side to test the Predator 40A ESC .
What attracted me to this ESC was simply that it was ready to go , everything is soldered in place - XT60 plug and bullet connectors for the motor .
To test the ESC my plan was to run it at the rated current and see what happens ( Heat - power sag ) , look for those tell tale signs that maybe everything is not right in the world .

The first prop I tried is a 10.5 x 5 and the motor pulled 30A .. The Predator 40A never got more than barely warm at all ..
So obviously I had to try a larger prop to load up the motor to put the ESC under some pressure as 30A was doing nothing to the ESC .

Danger Danger :

I swapped props and put a 11x6 Master on the motor .
When I did this I also changed the battery , putting the first one on the charger .
As I plugged in the battery and slowly cranked in power . Something strange happened .
The power sagged something terrible ..
Got to run through that check list right ?
Did I over prop the motor = Nope
Was the ESC overloading = Nope

Only thing left is the battery !
So carefully applying power I watched the power meter ..
5 amps / 10 amps and at 15 amps the battery began to collapse , or should that be the voltage was collapsing ...
10 volts , 9 volts , 8 volts , 7 volts
Bad Ju Ju folks - Looks like the battery can not sustain a discharge any longer ..
Much better to find these things out under test conditions rather than say trying to take off with possibly a expensive model ..


Oh well !
With the first battery hitting 4.1v per cell , I thought enough ..

With the Master 11x6 on the motor , I applied power till I hit 40 amps ...
After a while I thought I should check to see if the Predator 40A was at least getting hot ? Nope !
It did get warm how ever , but not hot .
The maximum power I could put through that combo was 42 Amps with the 3s sagging to 10v under load ...
10v * 42A = 420 Watts with the Master 11 x 6
The only thing that approached getting hot was the motor , it warmed up very nicely with the Master 11x6 in place .
I would say I was very close to the comfort ceiling of that motor . Considering that the motor got mildly warm with the 10.5 x 5 @ 30A ...

Sorry guys I did not tach the 10.5 x 5 ..

But for the Master 11x6 = 420Watts / 9060 rpm ( Ranged from 8900 to 9000 )
That motor be a budget motor , intended for a electric control liner ..

Back to the Predator 40A ESC :
I'm really impressed with the ESC , it handled 40A really well . Did not get hot and there was no power sag .
Everything is pre soldered and there is nothing obvious to fault .
Fasttech.com is currently selling the Predator for $14.76 and there are other plug options ( Like the T plug ) , but for $15 USD with everything soldered the Predator 40A is a rather good deal handling it's power rating with no issue's .