Swordfish 300 esc, adding cap bank??

[millzee]

I'd like some confirmation on adding the large etti cap bank onto the sf300 amp speedo. I have a tight spot to fit it into and want to make sure it'll be ok to simply add a short wire ( a couple of inches) from the positive and negative joints (the solder joint where the two leads join going into one before the bullet) and then simply solder the cap board to them???

[kevinpratt823]

108015108016108017
That's basically what I did. I ran a loop from one positive, through the cap bank, then back to the other positive, then did the same for the negative. This serves the purpose of paralelling the power wires at the same time, which is necessarry according to the instructions. Keep them as short as possible, but I doubt it matters much if you go a bit longer. This worked flawlessly for me this past season.

[millzee]

Thanks mate. If already have them joined, one wire off the joint going to cap bank will be fine shouldn't it???

[kevinpratt823]

Thanks mate. If already have them joined, one wire off the joint going to cap bank will be fine shouldn't it???
I would say so.

[millzee]

I made the connection and am hoping it'll do the job required, does it all look correct??
http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/1millzee/Aeromarine%20Sprint%20Cat%2042/esc002_zpsdcd3d588.jpg (http://s1219.photobucket.com/user/1millzee/media/Aeromarine%20Sprint%20Cat%2042/esc002_zpsdcd3d588.jpg.html)
http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd439/1millzee/Aeromarine%20Sprint%20Cat%2042/esc001_zpsb058223e.jpg (http://s1219.photobucket.com/user/1millzee/media/Aeromarine%20Sprint%20Cat%2042/esc001_zpsb058223e.jpg.html)

[siberianhusky]

Those solder joints seriously need to be done properly, that is a failure point waiting to happen. You should never rely on solder to make the mechanical joint. The wires need to be wrapped around each other then soldered.
Those are also cold joints you have there, either not enough heat or the wires moved while they were cooling. A good solder joint should be very smooth and shiny, not granular, dull, rough and lumpy.
Needs to be fixed before use or you may have a very short, smelly first run.

[Southwest]

MR. SH; how do you wrap the 12 gauge wires being they're thick? The only thing that comes to mind is stripping more insulation off the wire and keeping the 2 wires woven. I wonder if stuffing the wires into each other would work. Ok, a light bulb went off; if I cut half the wire off on each wire and dove taiing the 2 to make a smooth surface or is this a PITA!? Thanks!!

[siberianhusky]

Strip enough insulation to wrap or twist them together, I've done it with 8 and 10 gauge wire. The solder joints will be much longer than what is shown above, doesn't matter though, much better than having solder provide the only strength to the joint.

[millzee]

Cheers, I'll redo the soldering. The leads to the cap bank will do the job won't they?

[kevinpratt823]

I'm with Siberianhusky. I wouldn't run it like that. The cap banks don't take a ton of current, so you can get by with piggybacking a solder joint on them. The problem I find with trying to solder something like that in the middle of a run, is that the heat quickly dissipates both ways along the wire and it's tough to get the solder to flow and bond. I'm pretty sure those wires are 8 gauge(much bigger than 12), not sure if you could fit them both into the bullet, but even if you grind open part of the cup(in the bullet) and fit them both in it would still be better. I'm not sure what you're running this in, but if it's even going to come close to the 300 amp rating, I wouldn't want to rely on a single bullet to carry all that anyway..........

[RandyatBBY]

I use 108140 this with a 80W iorn

[fidelity101]

121196My Swordfish 300A has been working perfectly on 8S without a capacitor bank but I'm stepping up to 10S now and I'm wondering if the capacitor bank is "mandatory" on a 10S setup? I used a soldering station and bonded both red wires together using 850 degrees and once the solder was very fluid, I used hemostats to press the wires together while removing heat and allowing them to cool down/lock into place. If I go with a capacitor bank, I'm thinking of using this http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=hef-h%230007&cat=136. Since I run 10S1P and 10S2P, depending on the what I'm doing that day, it's nice having two sets of battery leads. Using the 8mm bullet connectors to go between the capacitor board and the wires going into my battery leads (4" wire leads) seams like an easy way to add the capacitors. The capacitor bank would be approximately 3 to 4" away from the ESC as they would be at the end of the stock wire length, but I'm assuming that's not a problem as that seems to be the intended design. ?

[MarkF]

Iv'e been running mine on 8 and 10s saw set ups in my mono and working fine with no cap banks.

Mark

[fidelity101]

Thanks for the information! The manual says "Strongly recommended over 10S" and I'm only planning on running 10S. I'm also not planning on doing backflips and have my ESC start timing to low to prevent current spikes. The last boat I had this ESC in was hitting 160A and quickly settling to 140A during the straight aways so maybe I can get by without a cap bank.

[Fluid]

Low timing does not prevent current spikes. Current spikes are caused by load, meaning the prop size, hull weight and how hard you pull the trigger. Low current spikes do not always mean low ripple currents. Do you need a cap bank? What is your ripple current? If it peaks over 10% of pack voltage then you will benefit from one regardless of "how it runs". So much depends on battery quality and wire length - just because one guy gets away with it does not mean you can in your boat. ESC longevity is what matters here, along with overall system efficiency. The right cap bank can give better performance on the pond along with longer ESC life.

The cap banks on a pigtail may not work as well as you think, especially on higher rpm/hjgh draw setups. The 'best' is always with each cap soldered across the power wires. This isn't always needed, but it is always the most efficient. Just adding any old cap bank does not mean you have solved the problems.




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[fidelity101]

That makes sense. The Swordfish 300A ESC does not measure ripple current and I do not have a tool for measuring such. I am putting this in a new boat anyway, since my hull was driven over by my friend, so adding a capacitor bank seems like an easy task. Do you not like this design? http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=hef-h%230007&cat=136

It's hifei's design for their ESC...but I can't find that many reviews on it. The copper plate it uses seems like a better/easier way of connecting all the cables together.

[fidelity101]

I added the cap bank before attempting 10S operation just to be on the safe side. The ESC is HUGE by itself, makes for a very interesting installation when adding the HIFEI dual connector cap bank system OSE sells. I'll have to post a picture to show my installation once the glue dries, but I had to build a little shelf for the ESC as the wires come out of the bottom. I moved the cap bank between the esc and motor and then used 8 gauge wire out of the cap bank and into each battery...4" leads. I used a small piece of EPO foam to lift the cap bank off the hull floor and I coated the cap bank with two thick layers of Corrosion X in the unlikely event that it gets exposed to water. I figure the slight elevation off the floor plus the Corrosion X will be good preventative measures.

[fidelity101]

Does anyone know what program settings I should use on the Swordfish? I have it set to 10S, auto timing and LVC of 3.2v/cell but I'm wondering if I need to change something else. When I'm fully stopped and I advance to full throttle, it slowly starts up instead of jumping forward. I'm sure this is better on the batteries but I'd like something in between a jack rabbit and a turtle...current settings are very scale like start speeds (aka turtle)

[RandyatBBY]

A soft start on the esc is good. It depends on the having the correct prop and good lipo to get your boat to launch well.

[fidelity101]

Thanks Randy. I did notice that it came out of the water faster with a 52mm 2 bladed prop as opposed to the 52mm 3 bladed prop. The amp draw went from 130A max to 180A max upon making the switch and my 6200mah 30C battery packs probably took a pretty large dump when trying to provide the power requested.

This was in the Joysway UH-1 hull which looked great but performance was less than desired. The new hull is a 43" Aeromarine Conquest so I'm sure it will get up on step faster as the hull is far superior in performance/design. I noticed several youtube videos in which the Conquest literally jumps out of the water and tries to do a backflip...I definitely do not have that type of power advancement using the low timing on the Swordfish 300A Pro+

This is the type of performance I was talking about in terms of getting out of the water fast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEq_bQTczn8&feature=youtu.be

I'm wondering if the Swordfish will be capable of this type of performance...maybe better batteries will be required?

[RandyatBBY]

I need a little more info how big is the Joysway UH-1. your motor, your prop and cells?

[grsboats]

Yes new batts with higher discharge are part of this equation.Gill

[fidelity101]

Joysway UH-1 is now DOA...selling the remains if anyone wants a project. :)

I am running a 43" Aeromarine Conquest with TP 810kv 5660 5Y motor, Octura B&S 52mm prop and the Swordfish 300A plus ESC on 10S using 6200mah 30C batteries. I've tried running 10S1P and 10S2P for power comparison...the batteries are brand new so I'm sure the performance will increase after a few more cycles. I think the low power start is preventing me from the fast starts...similar to throttle punch on castle creations ESC's. My E-Revo did standing backflips until I reduced the throttle punch. I would like a bit more "punch" when I jump on the throttle but I don't want to fry my batteries. I'm getting a solid 5 minute run time with the packs and the cells are coming in at 3.78 to 3.82v/cell so I think 5 minutes is the right run time. 8 minutes for the 10S2P setup.

Here is a video of the speed runs on my Conquest...it's brand new and these were the first few runs so it's not dialed in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xccHC8CQ6SM

[bonefisher]

Fidelity101... Could you post a photo by chance of the cap bank wiring? Would love to see how you did it...

Thanks!!

[bonefisher]

Fidelity101... Could you post a photo by chance of the cap bank wiring? Would love to see how you did it...

Thanks!!

[fidelity101]

I didn't build a custom cap bank, I just used the one Hifei provides. There are a few OSE members who build custom cap banks but my amp draw is always less than 250A so I didn't bother with anything super fancy.

http://www.offshoreelectrics.com/products.php?cat=ESC+Accessories

Hifei High Voltage Capacitor Bank for running parallel battery packs

It's very easy to solder the leads on with a little flux and a lot of heat...I set my iron to 800F and it melted the solder quickly. The biggest thing to avoid is getting the cap bank close to the ESC housing as the shell is connected to ground...which means BOOM if you touch the positive lead to it. :)

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