RC-smart ESC 100A/60A

I am doing this one in English cause my german is good enough to speak, but lousy enough to make errors in writing.

In our quest for cheap powerfull speed controllers, we found the RC smart ESC 100A. These are very small, very light (82 grams), and capable for motors up to 100A forwards, and 60A backwards, 5 cells to 10 cells (6V to 12V).

When I order these in larger volumes (10 or more) these ESC's cost me 22 euro's a piece, that is including postage and packaging.

We tested them yesterday on the workbench, stalling a Graupner speed 600, and it just got warm, but no more than that.

We did however find a thing that made us a little cautious, so we like to test a little more by building them in a feather and do some actual test drives before we give the go-ahead.

If these test are to our liking, then I can order them for GRA members too. I will have to charge additional postage and packaging unless you pick them up, or we arrange something during an event for instance.

I am not making any profit from this, I am delivering these speedo's at cost.

All specs:

RC smart 100A
6V -12V
100A forward
60A reverse
Low voltage cut off
Battery Elimination Circuit
82 grams incl cable and aluminum housing
waterproof
Altough it is not mentioned in the manual, it appears to have failsafe too.

No I did not, and I am not going to.

Do I really believe they can take 100A continues for a long time? Probably not. But in our use for 5 minutes, with motors switched forward and backwards, i doubt we really will see us reaching that high.

Specificy for raptors, were motor sizes are limited anyway, I boubt you will blow one with ease. I dont rule it out, but the chances for it are minimal.

If you want to know which fets are in there, just buy one.

2 units are 44 euro's. I dont charge for gas, since my boss pays my gas bill. :]

I will not be in Cuijk unfortunatly, because at that time I will be in the Rolls Royce airplane engine factory in England. Maybe I can beg for some Titanium.

I will try to make it to the next MMM event, I just hope my robots survive the UK championships so I will have something to drive.

We just completed test 2.

Scratch the failsafe bit, they do failsafe but sometimes it can take up to 30(!) seconds before it kicks in. So better to use seperate failsafes, either in the receiver or in between speedo and receiver (like FS1 for instance).

Furthermore, we found that the speedo is giving 100% while the stick is on 50%. Not a big deal for most, but I think I'd better mention it.

When you place the receiver, make sure it is very well protected against interference, the speedo's are a bit nervous when youre receiver is getting static.

It does not have braking either, so slamming full forward to full reverse will create sparks in the motor. This is quite normal behaviour for RC speedo's without brakes, just ease of before reversing. If you have to do a emergency reverse, you can, its no big deal for the speedo, its more for the protection of your motor. So dont do it every fight.

Those were the drawbacks, now the plus sides:

1: its cheap.
2: anything up to speed 900 can be attached to them and it works.
3: its very responsive, it handles great.
4: very durable, amazingly durable in fact, I did not expect that.
5: small.
6: light.

Oh, and did i mention cheap?

So, that being said, as a conclusion: These are good durable ESC's, with some drawbacks, which some will mind, some will not. I have come to the conclusion that for 22 euro's a piece at 82 grams, they are usefull for raptors and feathers up to 12V. There are certainly better speedo's out there, but not for this price, and if you failsafe them seperatly they will pass any techcheck.

I will be using them myself also, in a Raptor to be built later in the year.

So if people are still interested in them, I will make a list and see how many I need. If others that showed interest now say no, that is ok, just let me know.

The list so far, just add you name if you want, or let me know if you dont want them anymore:

name - amount

Bugs - 3
alexander - 4
alex - 2
stef -2
Nantheos - 2
marien - 2
Dirk - 2
ibf - 2
Inventor - 2
Ridouan - 1
Flex - 2
marc - 2

26 in total, I have ordered 30, so I have some spares.

I took the 82 grams from the specs of the manufacturer, but it turns out including the cables it is actually 60 grams.

Failsafe is a strange thing. With my Futaba and someone elses Jamara compa, the speedo's failsafe within 2-3 seconds. With the Graupner x412, it takes way longer.

So my advice is to test them on a bench without seperate failsafes for several times. If they keep failsafing within 5 seconds you are ok. If not, additional failsafes are needed (either builtin the receiver or add-ons).

FYI.

No, these are 6V up to 12V only. For 24V you might want to look at Robbe navy 540 for instance.

Or the speedos made by Jan from team Hard.

Or of course my favorite, the Sidewinder, the one I use in Hannibalito, with 2 speed 900's on 19.2V.

But a speed 900 or Viper 900 on 24V is a lot of rpm's. is that what you really want?

The speedcontrollers arrived yesterday. I will give Dennis the speed controllers for the people who will attend Ede and pass them on to someone else that will go to Cuijk.

Unfortunatly I will not be there on both occasions.

If you need them sooner I can send them with the post, for an extra charge (have to check what that charge is).

Ok, for those that ordered the speedo's, here is my bank account information. Within the EU bank transfers are free of charge, when an Iban number is used.

In the comment field, just add your forum name, the amount you ordered (usually 2).

name: L.C. van Miert
city: Roosendaal

Rabobank 14.07.44.207
IBAN: NL72 RABO 0140 7442 07
BIC: RABONL2U

Perhaps someone who comes to Cuijk can take the other speedo's for Germany with them so they can send it to them or arrange a pickup (MMM5 perhaps)?

Televisiestraat 13a stimmt.