Hydra 120

[KevinR100]

Anyone else having troubles with this ESC? We have blown three new ones on 10XL, Titan, 12 4200mah intellect cells, fex drive (free movement) and smaller than usual octura prop.. The same boats run fine on 700 series brushed motors...
What ESCs would give a decent life instead of minuites & seconds?
Thanks,
Kevin

[NorthernBoater]

I have a 120 and a 240 and they both work great. What kind of props are you using?

[KevinR100]

NorthernBoater,
I think that the ones that we have are the new revised esc & we have six ot them, 3 blown & three unused. Props. are usually X445 & M445 but we ran a bit smaller ones until the setup is proven. No esc. lasted more than 20mins. right down to a couple of seconds.
Thanks,
Kevin

[properchopper]

Re :

Kevin, the CC controllors are generally pretty robust, but will smoke if pushed past their limits for any length of time. I've burned some FET's on a Hydra 120 by catching some weeds & trying to throttle them out. I blew up a 125 by plugging in before it was fully dried out after a dunking [ don't ask !!]. Castle's been pretty good about warranteeing them, BTW. I'Ve been using a Hydra 240 for
more "headroom"in my Titan on 12 IB's with a M445 & M545, but tomorrow I'm trying it out with 4S lipo's & will start with the M445 to play it safe.
I plug in my castle link periodically to check the settings ; maybe your settings need to be revised. The link can be bought here & It's worth the $$ to keep an eye on your programming, plus it's easy to use. Also, Castle just allowed me to trade in my 120 towards a 240 for my other boat ; I guess I like the safety factor of a bigger capacity since I push my boats pretty hard.

Tony

[KevinR100]

properchopper, thanks - maybe we should go with the 240amp CC - I have given it a thought before but considered it 'overkill'. Maybe 18cells would warrant it, especially if I run my deltaforce 33" with a kb brushless 1400kv 9 turn. Glad to hear that Castle is good with warranty claims:)
btw what motors are you running? Also, we do have the Clink & had the settings at 'pussy'

Kevin

[properchopper]

re :

Kevin, I'm currently running a 9XL in the Titan. I've run it on 16 cells with a X442 and 12 cells with both an M445 & M545. Since I'm prepping for the Trent Hare Classic race [P-mono class] next month with my new NEU lipos, I'll start with smaller props & work up. Top speed in racewater isn't as important as component endurance; that's why the Hydra 240. Sport running is also pretty stressfull on the electronics when we get the fun factor dialed up as well !! :)

[KevinR100]

properchopper, appreciate the advice. It seems as if we will have to run 240amp cc hydras so our sanity stays intact & hopefully our bank balance.
Thanks for the cells & prop. info..
What do you think about the deltaforce setup I mentioned above with the 240amp?

Kevin

[properchopper]

Re :

Kevin, Good choice. The Delta Force 33 " seems to be the hull that many experienced racers [ BTW I don't fall into that category experience-wise!] are choosing for P-mono. With lipos and Neu motors they'll be the ones to beat. It'll likely be my next boat.

There should be one or maybe two at Legg Lake tomorrow. I'll report back whatever I can learn about them.

As I'm posting here, my landlady knocks & hands me the Hydra 240 package that got delivered earlier today. Too bad I'm too tired to fire up the soldering gun for tomorrow's practice session so I'll have to baby the CC125 in the Drifter during the lipo trials. BTW Castle shipped me two of their new CC BEC modules. Check 'em out on their site ; they are totally cool !

[Jeepers]

Anyone else having troubles with this ESC? We have blown three new ones on 10XL, Titan, 12 4200mah intellect cells, fex drive (free movement) and smaller than usual octura prop.. The same boats run fine on 700 series brushed motors...
What ESCs would give a decent life instead of minuites & seconds?
Thanks,
Kevin

sounds like you have a problem , boat running a little wet maybe? you never said what your temps were, and how long you have run for.

I push my hydra 120 pretty hard with an 8XL and m440 prop and I have had no problems with it but my temps are also staying cool.

[KevinR100]

thanks again properchopper & I will be interested in that info..

Jeepers,
The boats are running as per a race setup - balance is good & only a small portion of running surface is in the water (apart from rougher water) & the prop cone is tight with very little vertical spray. We use a double water pickup, one for the motor & one for the controller with separate outlets. We haven't used a data logger as yet but when we check temps. by finger (high tech.) both are cool. Pickup & exit tubes are kept short as possible. The boats are airbrushed & with a few vinyl cut graphics to keep the weight down. Motor mounts are secure & stable, flex drive runs through a stable & normally bent brass tube & teflon liner. Outdrive has lead/teflon bushes both ends & about 1 deg. left angle for torque, rudder is slightly larger 1.6mm stainless in normal prop. to rudder position. One adjustable knife blade turnfin kept to a position that it really only comes into effect on a turn. Trim tabs are positioned normally & are dead flush with the running surface. Batteries are zapped, matched (battery discharger/matcher) & cycled at least once a week. Race days the batteries are charged at up to seven amps. (hyperion charger) for each pack only once for each pack.
I can't think of much else, if you do, please ask.
Kevin

[Fluid]

Which Titan do you have? The 29 is appropriate for 12 cells but the 40 is really too large for less than 18 unless you are pulling high amps.

Check to insure that the timing advance is set on "1", the lowest setting.

You did not answer the question of run time - how long do you normally run on each charge - stopwatch, not some guess. Overamping an ESC is not the only way to destroy them, overheating them by running high amps too long will do it. How tight is the course - lots of tight turns will raise amp draw a lot on a mono when it wets down in the turn then accelerates onto the straights.

Watercooling is a bandaid that is only marginally effective on most ESCs - even Castle admits this. Relying on watercooling to compensate for an excessive amp draw is only asking for an ESC failure in the future. I cannot believe that your components are really "cool" to the touch after several minutes of running - "cool" is a meaningless term for communicating information. What is the temperature of the caps on the ESCs and of the endbell of the motor - not the temp of the water jacket.

It is possible that the failures of your Hydras were due to product faults - I have seen this happen with Castle and Schulze controllers, especially when the failure is right after the first plug-in. I would send the bad units back to Castle with a detailed letter describing the problems and the setups. I would drop down to an x642 prop if the boat is a Titan29. If it is a Titan 40, then go to 18 cells and a smaller prop like an x442 to get the power you need from volts, not amps.


.

[SJFE]

Kevin it sounds like your boats are setup correctly. As chopper said you just may need a bit more headroom with the amps. Are you getting any thing on the props after you recover the boats like grass, algae...ect? Also how much cable grease are you applying? I have burnd up a motor by having to much grease in the cable . Another thing that is a bit if a stretch but you may want to look @ is the depth of your water pickups in reference to drag. I'm just tossin some stuff out there for ya to think about. It sounds like you guys have your stuff wired tight though. Good luck.

[ReddyWatts]

Fluid, this is an interesting statement. Are the smaller props and less amps more effecient on HV setups? Can you elaborate?

If it is a Titan 40, then go to 18 cells and a smaller prop like an x442 to get the power you need from volts, not amps.

[SJFE]

Reddy it would seem to be the case with my cat. @ 19 volts with the big KB8XL even the k42 seems to be putting an excessive load on motor and esc. It would apear the torque wants to twist the hull out of the water whenn looking real close at the original video in high res. I am of the opinion and have been advised proping down & taking some of the load off the prop will free it up for more speed and less draw. Just my 2 cents. :)..As we know I'm still just learnin here.

[ReddyWatts]

I have been noticing that the smaller props and raising the strut really helps on the HV setups. I guess it is a characteristic of lower KV and higher voltage, it thrives on the higher rpm with less loading.

I was not aware that it was different on low voltage, high current setups.