Castle Ice controllers

[Darin Jordan]

I would certainly water cool it for our P-Spec stuff. My data showed 85-100 amp with peaks of 130 amp and the temperature never got over 120F. It is easy to get excellent thermal coupling in a water cooled adaptation like in post 98 of this thread and it can be done with off the shelf aluminum angle and a dremmel tool.

Good enough... I go to the effort then... I certainly noticed a slow down around lap 5 with my tunnel when the wires started getting hot on Sunday... Keep all the temps down would be a good idea.

[Darin Jordan]

Maybe this has already been covered, but according to the instructions, we can't use the BEC for 4S... Is that TRUE??

Seems odd, since these ESCs are suppose to have a higher powered BEC cicuit. Are you guys using BEC, or not??

[BakedMopar]

No bec is good to 8s. The instructions is confusing.

[Darin Jordan]

No bec is good to 8s. The instructions is confusing.

Cool... that's what I thought. Thanks.

[Flyguy55]

Just my experience , I'm not recommending it to anyone else.
I tested and raced my JAE FE 21 with UL1 , 4S 35C 5000 S & B H7 , and ICE 75 Lite ESC. No heat sink or cooling .

Only had time to make 2 test runs and raced 4 heats .Lubbock TX , temps in the high 90s.
No problems at all . After every run I could hold the ESC for more then 20 seconds.
( battery died in the heat guage I did spray well with Corrsion X but no water in the hull .


I'm sure an ICE 100 would be better when I try bigger props . The ICE Lite 75 worked well with my set up.

Dick Roberts

[Eric Bourlet]

Hey Dick what does a battery dieing in a temp guage have to do with checking the temp on an ICE? ;-) What did the on board logger show ?

[Darin Jordan]

OK... have an ICE 100 on the way. Looking forward to the data logging feature. Next will contact Andy K. to get his instructions for setting the DX3S to work with it without using the Pistix.

[teach]

Next will contact Andy K. to get his instructions for setting the DX3S to work with it without using the Pistix.

Now that would push buying a DX3S over the top!!

[Darin Jordan]

Now that would push buying a DX3S over the top!!

Dang... turns out the 3S doesn't have the throttle curve programming feature... need to use the 3R, which, of course, doesn't yet support the MR-series RXs... Well... at least the ones YOU guys can get can't... (backstory: the original test radio for the Marine upgrades to the 3S and MR-rx testing were done using a modified 3R radio TX, which I still have... and could use, but would be kind of "false advertising", since the 3R really doesn't work with the marine rx's ... )

Time to put a Pistix on order...

[tharmer]

Are the Marine versions of the ICE imminent? I could wait a bit I guess.
-t

[Darin Jordan]

Are the Marine versions of the ICE imminent? I could wait a bit I guess.
-t

They say they are doing them... haven't heard when.

[properchopper]

OK, here's my question(s) : After reading and absorbing comments/results with the Ice 100 on P-Spec motors, I'm gathering the idea that a user-adjustable timing feature will net an increase in overall performance without any dangerous heat buildup in the motor and a non-cooled SC ( I think that's what I understand). So, [#1] Will I benefit by buying one of these critters for my (Insane) P-Spec setup ? { I've been using the UL-1 SC with the UL-1 motor - primarily to demonstrate the ease/simplicity/cost benefit of converting a UL-1 boat to the Insane boat} and [#2] Would I do just as well using a Seaking 180 ( I have one available) set to 15 degrees timing ( which seems to be the number preferred)?

Any thoughts ?

[Darin Jordan]

Any thoughts ?

Tony,

Here is why I am going this route...

#1) The throttle response, especially down at the initial startup, on the PB controllers is a little bit abrupt, so for a boat like my OPC, when I put a good prop on it, it tends to launch out of the water and flip on startup. I need smoother startup control.

#2) The smoother throttle curve will help me to balance the tunnel better at race speeds through the turns.

#3) I like the onboard data logging feature.

#4) I'll save weight over the stock PB ESC.

That's really is. The timing will be nice to have, but honestly, I've never seen a race won with timing. I've finished second to fast boats with UL-1 ESCs, and I just don't think that the timing part makes that huge of a difference... talking 10-degees vs. 15, for example. If you get the prop right for the RPM you are running, the timing really is secondary, in MY opinion...

Bottom line is that I needed something with smoother throttle response, and, even though I have B125s and Hydra 240s here, I thought I'd try something new. The packaging of this ESC fits better into some boats as well. Should sit well up on the ESC mounting platform in the Stiletto.

[properchopper]

Thanks, Darin. Good info. Especially #1]. I clearly remember a P-Spec OPC heat at WW VI where I backed off on the mill lap; got back on too agressively ( you've seen how nervous I get on the scaffold) and back-flipped it . - really slowed down the boat with the "air prop" employed

[Fluid]

Adding 5 degrees to a UL-1 can result in up to ~1500 additional rpm....sometimes. It will depend on how the boat is propped and setup, and how much of a reduction in lap time that means is unknown. But the difference may be noticeable on some boats.


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