Capacitor banks, use? Or not worth it?

[OshkoshMono]

I just soldered mine onto my Etti 150 opto, but now looking back at the cap banks on OSE, they all have all these warnings about them blowing up or....wondering if it's even worth running one. Also wondering if I should have maybe spent the extra money on a better ESC like the: Etti High Voltage 100A Opto Navy Competition Brushless ESC for 12 volts to 60 volts. ??? Also... Dang cap bank makes the esc so long its not gonna fit very well.

[j.m.]

Any capacitor will pop if reverse polarity is applied, and they are supposed to pop. The ends of all cylindrical caps have a indentation in the metal to make sure the cap burst with a little pressure and doesn't explode with even more.

Jon

[norbique]

I designed my own cap banks, and I think they are a must for cheap ESCs which don't have adequate capacitors installed originally.

[bigpapa]

can you post pics of your cap banks ????????????

[norbique]

Sure I can, they're prototypes so to say, no nice green PCB or silkscreen or whatever, but they do their job. Let me find a photo.

Here's the board without the big electrolytic capacitors installed. The solder blobs are vias. I have the Low ESR caps ordered, but haven't received them yet.
A set of schottky diodes and ceramic capacitors go on the other side of the PCB for the transients and for high frequency filtering.

[bigpapa]

does not matter lol as long as it wks

[norbique]

They work nicely. A friend has a 200A Mystery ESCs which have fairly tiny capacitors fitted by the manufacturer. He's powering a KB45 with it in his Super Hawaii. That motor is a monster current eater. After fitting the cap bank the ESC run cooler than before.
I fitted one of my 100A mystery ESCs as well. just to be on the safe side. Though I removed the two original caps before adding the cap bank to save space. The cap bank has 5 1000uF caps.

[bigpapa]

good deal would luv to see a finished one

[norbique]

sorry, but I can post a pic only later. I gave my ESCs to a friend since I don't need them yet. My twin cat project is on halt for now.

[bigpapa]

no problem, if you do not want to post pm me a pic

tks todd

[DISAR]

does it make any difference if you put 6 1000uF capacitors or 2 - 3300uf? do they have polarity?

[norbique]

Yes they have polarity, and reverse polarity current will blow them up. Watch how you solder them in place. As for capacity you can use 2 3300uF instead of the 6 1000uF. Maybe it'll have a bit higher internal resistance.

[BILL OXIDEAN]

Here's a cap bank I composed of Novak parts. the caps are HUGE and benefit the speedo a LOT. My board has extra circuits that benefit it even more, but I'm not sure what they do..

[OshkoshMono]

My install look ok?




I hope this is a good ESC, sure is a space HOG
Also not sure how to tell which wires go to which from ESC to motor??? Better instructions w/ ESC would be nice. Or even a + and - on the ESC board....

[norbique]

Your install looks fine OshkoshMono. Wires between the motor and ESC doesn't matter. If the motor runs in the opposite direction you want, then simply switch any 2 wires out of the 3.
Bill, the Novak capacitors are huge because they're 5000uF each, BUT they're only good up to 10 Volts. So be careful not to over volt them. They usually tolerate some over-voltage but it's not wise to play with them. They may swell or vent releasing the electrolyte, which is stinky acidic stuff.