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I received this PM from Anton and it would be a waste of excellent information, if I did not share it. Anton, if this upsets you send a message to the moderators to shut it down
Hey, you'r welcome! I burned though 4 controllers learning this stuff, and I do know basic electronics well. But with brushless there are many things at play that do not make sense sometimes. Every time i call Castle, i beg for them to release a white paper or an article explaining in simple language how brushless works, how to set it up right, what to watch for and most important - what kills brushless controllers. I don't think Hydra is a bad controller, it's just there are so many things can go wrong, and people rely on old fashioned "if it ain't too hot to the touch, its running fine". This does not work with high power brushless. For starters, you NEED amp logger like eagle flight V3 for your boat. Make sure to keep it dry, because i killed one when it went underwater. I use conformal coating on everything now, and nothing died due to water yet. You have to know exactly how many amps that prop is pulling. Then you watch for voltage drop of your batteries. 25 - 30 C LiPo's have very low drop and are safe up to their maximum continuous rating. A123 batts have much higher drop and i killed one Hydra 120 HV due to that. Voltage drop was 8 - 10 volts for 47 volt system. That's 21% and that's a lot. My LiPo only sags down to 35 volts for 37 volt system. That's only 5% voltage drop.
Keep wires short as possible, especially on battery side. Long wires have more resistance = more voltage drop = harder on caps = sooner failure. Sometimes, caps can't help at all, and FETs fail. Castle says no longer than 18" of wire for everything combined. Adding extra caps helps, but the spark when connecting power is harder, taking its toll on bullet connnectors.
Check and clean your connectors often. Poor conducting connector will increase resistance and you know what will happen next... I use cotton swab dunked in Acetone on mines after every day of running. Keep them oil free.
MAke sure your flex shaft does not vibrate too much. If you apply forward thrust force on vibrating shaft, it will dig into the walls of the stuffing tube or teflon liner, bringing your amps waay up. That has contributed to taking my ESC number 2 and 3 out.
DO NOT use marine or stuff tube grease all over the flex shaft, without softening it up with some 3 in 1 light machine oil. It makes the shaft too hard to turn = much more unnecessary amps. I don't use that grease at all now, just a little on the stub shaft or the prop shaft between the brass bushing. I put that grease on first, then pour some light machine oil on it. I have teflon liner for the flex, and i soak it either with corrosion x or wd-40 or 3 in 1 oil. That's it. MAKE SURE to turn your shaft by hand, and check if its easy to spin. Some motors like on the supervee27 cannot be turned by hand. Both of my NEU motors turn just fine with slight cogging.
Use 30C LiPo's. They are the best so far in my opinion. Use lipo's with lowest internal resistance you can find. Keep LiPo never hotter than 150 degrees Fahrenheit (not Celsius!) while in operation at any time. Use temp sensor that comes with V3 logger. Store LiPos in metal box, with wire connectors sealed off. Keep them stored at HALF CHARGE in cool place. They degrade much slower this way at about 2 % capacity loss per year. Fully charged in warm place is 20 % loss. After running the last run of the day, i charge them in storage mode, only to half the mAh rated. Then i put piece of silicone tubing on male bullet connector and store away in army surplus ammunition box with the lid closed, but not tight! You don't want an explosion if they burn.
I am done for now, if you have other questions, ask.
Anton Pustovar (AntronX)
Hey, you'r welcome! I burned though 4 controllers learning this stuff, and I do know basic electronics well. But with brushless there are many things at play that do not make sense sometimes. Every time i call Castle, i beg for them to release a white paper or an article explaining in simple language how brushless works, how to set it up right, what to watch for and most important - what kills brushless controllers. I don't think Hydra is a bad controller, it's just there are so many things can go wrong, and people rely on old fashioned "if it ain't too hot to the touch, its running fine". This does not work with high power brushless. For starters, you NEED amp logger like eagle flight V3 for your boat. Make sure to keep it dry, because i killed one when it went underwater. I use conformal coating on everything now, and nothing died due to water yet. You have to know exactly how many amps that prop is pulling. Then you watch for voltage drop of your batteries. 25 - 30 C LiPo's have very low drop and are safe up to their maximum continuous rating. A123 batts have much higher drop and i killed one Hydra 120 HV due to that. Voltage drop was 8 - 10 volts for 47 volt system. That's 21% and that's a lot. My LiPo only sags down to 35 volts for 37 volt system. That's only 5% voltage drop.
Keep wires short as possible, especially on battery side. Long wires have more resistance = more voltage drop = harder on caps = sooner failure. Sometimes, caps can't help at all, and FETs fail. Castle says no longer than 18" of wire for everything combined. Adding extra caps helps, but the spark when connecting power is harder, taking its toll on bullet connnectors.
Check and clean your connectors often. Poor conducting connector will increase resistance and you know what will happen next... I use cotton swab dunked in Acetone on mines after every day of running. Keep them oil free.
MAke sure your flex shaft does not vibrate too much. If you apply forward thrust force on vibrating shaft, it will dig into the walls of the stuffing tube or teflon liner, bringing your amps waay up. That has contributed to taking my ESC number 2 and 3 out.
DO NOT use marine or stuff tube grease all over the flex shaft, without softening it up with some 3 in 1 light machine oil. It makes the shaft too hard to turn = much more unnecessary amps. I don't use that grease at all now, just a little on the stub shaft or the prop shaft between the brass bushing. I put that grease on first, then pour some light machine oil on it. I have teflon liner for the flex, and i soak it either with corrosion x or wd-40 or 3 in 1 oil. That's it. MAKE SURE to turn your shaft by hand, and check if its easy to spin. Some motors like on the supervee27 cannot be turned by hand. Both of my NEU motors turn just fine with slight cogging.
Use 30C LiPo's. They are the best so far in my opinion. Use lipo's with lowest internal resistance you can find. Keep LiPo never hotter than 150 degrees Fahrenheit (not Celsius!) while in operation at any time. Use temp sensor that comes with V3 logger. Store LiPos in metal box, with wire connectors sealed off. Keep them stored at HALF CHARGE in cool place. They degrade much slower this way at about 2 % capacity loss per year. Fully charged in warm place is 20 % loss. After running the last run of the day, i charge them in storage mode, only to half the mAh rated. Then i put piece of silicone tubing on male bullet connector and store away in army surplus ammunition box with the lid closed, but not tight! You don't want an explosion if they burn.
I am done for now, if you have other questions, ask.
Anton Pustovar (AntronX)
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