Castle Ice 200 vx. Castle Hydra 240

[electric]

If you were picking one to use which would you buy? Thinking of getting an ICE because I am guessing it is newer technology than the hydra 240 and might hold up better.

[scoota]

Hydra series :ThumbsDown01: i have not had a good run with them , i have read some good stuff about the ICE series , i think castle are testing a water cooled Ice esc at present . I have been running 240 swordfish in a pretty hot set up drawing over 200 AMPS & have been impressed with its performance so far ...

[Steven Vaccaro]

If you were picking one to use which would you buy? Thinking of getting an ICE because I am guessing it is newer technology than the hydra 240 and might hold up better.

More than anything it depends on setup. If I was running a 4s boat, I would run a hydra 240. If I was running a 6s boat, I would run the ice. I'm on the other side of the coin, I've been using Hydra 120's and 240's since they were released and still have the same ones.

[electric]

Anyone else on this? Let me ask this another way. How are the ICE 200's esc's holding up? Are people water cooling them or using fans?? Has anyone made an ICE 200 overheat and fail yet?

[video200]

if ice and hydra are your 2 options id go ice. but thats just becose i had 2 hydra`s fail on me WELL within its spec.
never had a ice but i se one of those comming my way for christmas :D

[Ub Hauled]

I actually held a ICE Hydra version in my hands, it should be in the market soon (I hope), it's being tested by a friend and lemme tell ya, he is REALLY putting it through the ringer... that's all I will say.
I hear lots of good things about the ICE for the "fly boys" keep in mind we are a totally different beast, we draw SO MUCH MORE AMPS then they do... it's hard to tell if it'll be reliable or not w/o actually using it in a boat... the biggest issue I had with the Hydras is the inconsistency, sometimes they worked w/o a flaw for years and them you buy and install a new one and it blows on the bench, like it happened to many of us... but keep in mind guys, Castle was there for us when nobody else was, if you can find a little patients with these guys to see if they can get their sheit together, it's well worth staying with them, they do have good controllers (most of the time ;) )
just my 2cents

[video200]

they do have good controllers (most of the time ;) )
just my 2cents

thats just it. for THAT price it should be good every time.
i can swalow that a $50 controller blows up when beeing used close to its spec. but a $250 controller shouldent blow up before it even hits the water.

but beond that. the hydra i have now is working perfectly and have done so for years, but wil i ever have the guts to try it on 6s like it is rated for ? i realy dubt that.

[scoota]

thats just it. for THAT price it should be good every time.
i can swalow that a $50 controller blows up when beeing used close to its spec. but a $250 controller shouldent blow up before it even hits the water.

but beond that. the hydra i have now is working perfectly and have done so for years, but wil i ever have the guts to try it on 6s like it is rated for ? i realy dubt that.

well said :iagree: , the first time i ran a hydra 240 on 6s , yes the bec was disconected , the board got so hot it melted the wrapping around it , i thought ok the shrink rap might have been to tight , put the boat in the water & a few seconds later it blew to peices making a nice mess of inside of the boat...

[properchopper]

.................................................. ..................................I actually held a ICE Hydra version in my hands, it should be in the market soon (I hope), it's being tested by a friend and lemme tell ya, he is REALLY putting it through the ringer... that's all I will say...................

If it's the same Ice Hydra version that I held in my chubby little hands at the 2-lap where it was put through the ringer, it took a dump and quit the first day out.
:crying:

[Ub Hauled]

yup... that's the one Tony, but, i'd rather it happen now then when it's on the street with fools like us buying it... lol that's what testing period is for.
Something else we have to remember is that these guys are aaaaaaall aero guys, the ESCs are build with water coolers but it does not work as effectively as it does in the air... in my opinion, they have to redesign the "case" to allow cooling to happen more efficiently. they should not look like the air ESCs... the fins are made to have air going thru it.

[BakedMopar]

I have been using the Ice 100 & 200 for sometime now. The only one that crapped on me is the one that got flooded in a sunken boat. I have had only one Hydra crap on me also, although that one went for no apparent reason.

What I do like is castle replaced both of them for free. Can you say the same for the other guys?

[v-spec]

What I do like is castle replaced both of them for free. Can you say the same for the other guys?

How long did they take to replace yours? I sent mine in the other day but the website says 3 weeks turnaround? I picked up an ICE lite in the meantime but it's not easy to water cool since the motor wires go into the middle of the board and both sides have fet's with another board covering part of them.

Buddy was supposed to cnc a cooler for it but he's got some big order now so I still gotta wait a few weeks. I'm bummed wanna run my boat!

[BakedMopar]

The HYDRA was actually sent out the day after I contacted them and they sent a pre-paid label for me to send it back. The ICE took about 3-1/2 weeks because they were out of stock when I sent in mines.

[video200]

What I do like is castle replaced both of them for free. Can you say the same for the other guys?

i cant even say that for castle. and what i ended up paying to have my hydra 240 repaired after 30 secconds on the water well within it limits. i could have gotten several Turnigy 180 amp`s.

[andym]

Cant please all the people all the time, 120lv, 240 hv will never touch again. 240LV fantastic I abuse mine and they keep coming back for more. I think that they should make an Ice esc that can handle a true 200amps @ 160deg F. If this means making one that would handle 300 in a well ventilated plane so be it! The environment we run in, No air flow and high amps = HEAT, most guys check with an inferred thermometer but only check the outside ?? Try getting a reading of the fets and caps and you will see large numbers and this IS the problem. Ally water cooling is crap, should be copper at least so as the water flow can draw the heat better. I myself would pay the extra for an ICE esc with copper water cooled heat sinks with MORE fets and Caps.

[sailr]

I have heard the Hydra ICE controllers are being officially introduced this week at the FE Nats in Colorado.

[Jeff]

You saying they will have 50 for sale at the nats? Do they take a CC?

[sailr]

Huh? Where did you get the 50 for sale? I just said they were being introduced. Nothing about quantities, sales, etc.

[v-spec]

I have heard the Hydra ICE controllers are being officially introduced this week at the FE Nats in Colorado.

Hopefully they are as affordable as the normal ICE controllers. I sure hope they don't bump the lower end ICE 100 to a 120 or something with water cooling then add $100 to the price? Guess we will find out soon enough! I'll hold on to my ESC money for the next week at least then.

[Flying Scotsman]

er. I myself would pay the extra for an ICE esc with copper water cooled heat sinks with MORE fets and Caps.

That is very valid and spoken like a true CROW fan :hug1::banana: a bit of footie fun for the unwashed, but this marsupial has it right.

Douggie

[cybercrxt]

I ran my Ice 200 on my 1/8th scale Executone Hydroplane this weekend. Motor is the 1527 1Y 1250kv, 6s2p, x646 prop to start with. Mid 50's for speed. Motor, and batteries came back cool, and I pulled the datalog info from the Ice controller, showed a max temp for only a few seconds of 127 degrees F, and most of the time about 124 degrees F. Pulled a max of 208 amps for a couple seconds, but for the most part 125 to 175amps. I did a BUNCH of off plane, on plane runs with the boat since my local pond is so small, and I only did 1/2 to 3/4 throttle so I know that builds heat quicker as well. I think this controller could be the real deal. More testing and full race course runs will really tell. Mike

[johnf]

I ran my Ice 200 on my 1/8th scale Executone Hydroplane this weekend. Motor is the 1527 1Y 1250kv, 6s2p, x646 prop to start with. Mid 50's for speed. Motor, and batteries came back cool, and I pulled the datalog info from the Ice controller, showed a max temp for only a few seconds of 127 degrees F, and most of the time about 124 degrees F. Pulled a max of 208 amps for a couple seconds, but for the most part 125 to 175amps. I did a BUNCH of off plane, on plane runs with the boat since my local pond is so small, and I only did 1/2 to 3/4 throttle so I know that builds heat quicker as well. I think this controller could be the real deal. More testing and full race course runs will really tell. Mike

Nice. So did you do any water cooling mods, or was that a stock ICE200 out the box?

[cybercrxt]

Hey, it was stock out of the box. I will try and get some pics up soon. It had plenty of room around it so the heat did have a place to dissipate. Throttle range is very smooth on this controller as well.

[tharmer]

Did you waterproof it in any way?
-t

[cybercrxt]

Corrosion X. Just open up one of the end caps, and sprayed a heavy coat, let it drain and dry. Mike

[tharmer]

Thanks. Will do the same to mine.
-t