I am so done with cheap Controllers!

[photohoward1]

Who is with me or is this a one man quest?

OK if you know me I have some big High Powered Beasts. Tried and fried a Fightercat 3-16s 300amp yesterday. Went out ran a couple of runs on my new R42 - 2230/Neu 10s X457 to and tried the 462. Was running fine but kept bringing it in for adjustment. 4th adjustment it just stopped. No smoke no bad smell. BTW there is no way on earth I was approaching 300 amps. Went home and took of the shrink and the heat sink. THE SOLDER PATHWAYS ON THE FETS WERE A MESS AND FRIED IT. A big glob of solder crossed the connections. Another $175 down the tubes. BACK TO SCHULZE ONLY!


Just a sunday vent. Thanks for listening.

[Rumdog]

I've had probs with the FC controllers too. However, I don't think a schulze is at all necessary. The swordfish controllers work excellent, and are a fraction of the cost

[Doby]

Sucks to hear that Howard...I've got a FC 200 Amper and a FC 300 Amper in a 10S Mono and 10S Cat....two seasons and so far so good (knock on wood)...Guess its just luck of the draw with these controllers..My biggest complaint is that they are not very linear...more of a slow...medium..fast type of switch!

At lease the inside of your boat is still clean!

[Chilli]

I think you hit the nail on the head Doby. Luck of the draw. I ran the 6S FC 300 in my SAW boat and it performed flawlessly. So many others have had problems with these controllers. I'll keep using it but have a Castle Ice as a back up....

[Fluid]

According to the owner of Castle, most ESCs are not really limited by amps but rather by heat. Yes, high amps usually means more heat. But running a controller intermittently without a cool down can mean a lot of heat buildup. That could have resulted in enough heat to cause a failure. Or the controller could have been over-rated....

The problem is made worse by the way some ESC makers rate their products. An AQ 60 amp controller can easily take 80 plus amps without a problem. Some other makers' 100-120 amp controllers fail where the AQ controller does not. Schulze clearly under-rates their controllers and uses more robust parts - they seem to care more about quality than about making a small controller. Large controllers can take a lot more heat if built right.

[iridebikes247]

I'd go swordfish. Sorry you had that experience with FC quite a few people have. a SF240 is an awesome esc I would try it and if you're not happy you can always sell it people are always looking for them.

[properchopper]

Howard - Welcome to the Club. Three of us in SoCal have had the exact same experience with FCR controllers. The solder used during manufacture apparently has a sub-standard melting point. This may (or my not) be mitigated by excess board component hot spots. The solder liquifies and, like lava, flows until it shorts out something in it's path with the predicted results. I recently encountered this with a FCR 240A in a reasonably balanced setup. There ended up being melted solder globs oozed out from under the shrink - the tell-tale evidence.

[Alexgar]

i never used a fc esc but did order some suppos from ben before he started fightercat and i now own some higher quality escs so i agree with your statement that cheap escs are a waste of $$$$

[Doug Smock]

Is the solder the problem?? Look closely at the legs of the fets. Chicken and egg kind of thing.

[jstolz]

I've been fortunate. I have only torched one ESC while running. I have also torched a couple on the bench doing something stupid.

Jay

[photohoward1]

Is the solder the problem?? Look closely at the legs of the fets. Chicken and egg kind of thing.

I say a bit of Both. I like Tony's comments. Puddles of solder. It is the Luck of the draw with the Chinese controllers. It depends on what pre-school class is working the factory that day. No quality control. I have issues with the smaller Swordfish units. the original 120 ampers never worked well. The comment of not very linear is semi true. This one was very linear. My 140 amper is like an on off switch. But I had another that was very linear. Trust me guys in the 25 years of this hobby Schulze has never let me down.

[properchopper]

Solder blob shorting out pins. Was a solder splat under this on the hull

DSC04027-1.JPG

[ENCORE MAN]

Howard, would you like to try a Scorpion Commander ESC. They are slick and program with a remote card. NIB 26 VOLT 180 AMP.
Engineered in Germany, made where every thing else comes from. $ 125 shipped to you. BG

[T.S.Davis]

Didn't we talk about this just last week Howard? Disposable speedos.

I need a big Schulze too but ahhhhhh the money. Maybe I'll make H2O Specialties buy me one.

MGM makes a monster too but very nearly the same cost of the Schulze.

https://www.rocketcityracing.com/Brushless-Speed-Controllers_c_105.html

[photohoward1]

Howard, would you like to try a Scorpion Commander ESC. They are slick and program with a remote card. NIB 26 VOLT 180 AMP.
Engineered in Germany, made where every thing else comes from. $ 125 shipped to you. BG

No but thanks anyway.