2 brushless motors off 1 esc ?

[G Doggett]

Silly question time

Is it possible/practical to run two identical B/L motors off one ESC ?

The reason for the question is simply motors are cheap but high amp ESCs are expensive.

Graham.

[Fluid]

It is possible to do this, but not recomended. The motors need to be within 1% of each other on Kv - cheap BL motors vary more than this motor to motor. If they are outside that range they can cause overheating of the motors and ESC. The ESC should be derated if you run two motors - an 80 amp controller should not be run over 55 amps. You are better off running two ESCs.

.

[ReddyWatts]

My first thought is that you would have a problem with the timing pulse not coming back to the controller at the same time from each motor. If they were out of sync, the controller could not stay in time with the rotor. The pulse would also be a double value than normal. If the motors were not exactly the same resistance, one would use more current than the other, trying to run at different speeds.

On a twin drive your loading is different on each motor when turning, so they would need to be in a gearbox running a single drive.

[G Doggett]

Thanks for clearing that up guys.
It was a nice idea while it lasted !
Graham.