Test/check an ESC

[petej]

Hi,

I the balun (donut shaped noise suppression ring) in the receiver signal wires touched the metal surface of the two electrolytic capacitors on my Seaking 120A ESC and I saw and heard the spark/pop. Do you know how to check or test an ESC with a digital voltmeter, that is, what to expect on the receiver signal, positive wire and what should you see on the three output leads to the motor?

[m4a1usr]

A DMM on the motor leads wont tell you much. About all you can capture is the peak voltage output if your DMM has that function. If your looking for some value of output an O-Scope is the only way to make an accurate measurement. You can capture the DC square wave peaks, amplitude and frequency cycle. Not sure how you got a spark off the choke around the ESC wires. Unless it was large enough to touch accross the pos batt lead and the case potential of the caps happens to be negative? But only the ends of your caps should be bare, to show the burst disk, which is the confusing part. The choke shouldnt be large enough to bridge that large of a gap. Maybe the arc came as it touched accross both leads soldered to the speed controller. Shrink wrap one or both so you dont have this issue again.

John