Swordfish Pro+ 220 Running Hot

[srislash]

I really don't get the aluminum plate. I guess they think it will help disapate some heat from the electronics. Perhaps a cooling plate put there would help. My new Flier Twin 300 has a cooling plate sandwiched in between the two halves in this fashion. I guess they figure it will help keep the board cooler as well.
So I ran my Bling Sunday Rick and sure noticed my ESC warm too. Mind you it was on 5s. Posted the vid in my thread if you want to see how the speed compares.

[rickwess]

That thin silicon pad must be thermally conductive. Neither it or the aluminum plate touch the cooling tubes, just the FET bodies. If anything it just equalizes the temps of the FETs.

I'll take a look at the video you posted.

[David Kingston]

Just a suggestion...
Did you calibrate the throttle.
Ive had some issues with throttle not getting 100% green with SF esc's and spektrum radio.
I set the end points on transmitter to 125% or higher and it seams to work.

At 100% end point it was like i was getting 70% throttle.
If your not getting full throttle it will heat up.

Regards
Dave

[rickwess]

The latest firmware update solved that problem with the Spektrum radios.

[rickwess]

I just ordered this (http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2Pcs-100-100-...-/321419076262) to replace the thin pad that came with the ESC. At 2mm thick it's much more substantial than what came with the ESC.

While I'm at it, I'll use 1/8" thick piece if aluminum in place of the ~1mm thick piece that came with it.


Edit: I was thinking about this some more last night and with cutting my own thermal pad, I can make it wide enough so that it touches each of the cooling tubes. This should drain some more heat from the FETs. I'm not encouraging anyone to start ripping there SF ESCs apart, but if you do..............Now to wait for the stuff to arrive from Hong Kong.

[rickwess]

So I ran my Bling Sunday Rick and sure noticed my ESC warm too. Mind you it was on 5s. Posted the vid in my thread if you want to see how the speed compares.

Nice. My speed with the m445 seems similar to yours on 4s with the m447.

I still would like to run a 3 blade, but the x447/3 is the smallest I have. My investment in props is about to go up. This is another dirty little secret about this hobby. If they only new the amount of money tied up in that prop box.

[Fella1340]

Thanks for posting the pictures. It surprises me that esc cooling always appears so inadequate. I wonder if allowing the fets to run at a higher temperature is part of the design. It would be easy to envelope the esc's is cooling, yet it's not done. There must be a balance of some kind they are trying to reach. Something else to look into in my spare time!

[rickwess]

More FYI. The 4 caps on the ESCs are arranged as follows:

(-)---[560uf]---[560uf]---(+)
(-)---[560uf]---[560uf]---(+)

They are 35v ZLH.

I think I'm going to go back to my original idea of using an external cap bank even though it's only 4s. I'll configure it like below but need to think about how to neatly tie it into the existing wiring.

(-)---[470uf]---[470uf]---(+)
(-)---[470uf]---[470uf]---(+)
(-)---[470uf]---[470uf]---(+).
(-)---[470uf]---[470uf]---(+)

[srislash]

Did you read Doc's Cap thread Rick? Put the caps direct to the wires.

[TristanJones]

Thanks for posting the pictures. It surprises me that esc cooling always appears so inadequate. I wonder if allowing the fets to run at a higher temperature is part of the design. It would be easy to envelope the esc's is cooling, yet it's not done. There must be a balance of some kind they are trying to reach. Something else to look into in my spare time!

I was thinking the exact same thing.
Thanks heaps for the pictures!

[oscarel]

I just ordered this (http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2Pcs-100-100-...-/321419076262) to replace the thin pad that came with the ESC. At 2mm thick it's much more substantial than what came with the ESC.

While I'm at it, I'll use 1/8" thick piece if aluminum in place of the ~1mm thick piece that came with it.


Edit: I was thinking about this some more last night and with cutting my own thermal pad, I can make it wide enough so that it touches each of the cooling tubes. This should drain some more heat from the FETs. I'm not encouraging anyone to start ripping there SF ESCs apart, but if you do..............Now to wait for the stuff to arrive from Hong Kong.

Wouldn't thinner be more ideal? The pad doesn't have great thermal transfer properties compared to direct contact using thermal paste.

[rickwess]

Wouldn't thinner be more ideal? The pad doesn't have great thermal transfer properties compared to direct contact using thermal paste.

From the reading I've been doing, the thermal conductivity of this material is the same regardless of thickness (within reason). Of more importance is that the pad is thick enough to bridge the gap or conform to the surface its applied to. In this application it also has to electrically insulate.

I'll admit that I'm learning on the fly, but that's part of the fun here.

[rickwess]

Did you read Doc's Cap thread Rick? Put the caps direct to the wires.

I read that thread a while ago and then corresponded with Wayne directly. I have some space limitations but the wires off the cap bank will be as short as possible, use 10awg wire and have no connectors.

[Fella1340]

I bought from pre drilled circuit board from circuit city to make mounting the caps easy. I am using the same series parallel setup you are. The only stuff I could get had trace on one side, a quick trip on the belt sander eliminated that. With a little trimming they will be perfect to hold the caps to connect directly to the wire. Some heat shrink to finish it off. I can do a mock up and take a couple pictures if you like.

[Fella1340]

That silicone padding you bought looks great. I will be ordering some to have around.