ESC for an outrunner motor

[_Ben]

I recently bought a Trail King, and am trying to pick a motor and ESC for it. I’ll be running 3S. Originally I intended to get a 1080 and a Holmes brushed motor for it, but now I’ve seen some threads about outrunners and I’m intrigued.

I’d probably go for a ~2000kV motor if I got an outrider, but I’m less clear on what to do for an ESC. The 1080 seems like an obvious choice for brushed, with the BEC and the program card included, but I’m not seeing a similar one for this use case.

My main requirements are that it have an integrated BEC that outputs 7.4V, be appropriate for crawling, and ideally be less than $100.

An expensive sensored ESC like a Mamba X seems like overkill; might as well get a sensored motor too at that rate. And their cheaper ESCs all seem to have relatively underpowered BECs.

The two ESCs I’ve found that seem to match my requirements are the ezrun and a firma.

Are there any better options I’m missing? Is using an outrider a terrible idea?

 

[mikemcE]

I love my revolver 2200 on 3s. As I crawl I need a large servo at 8.4v, so I run the SW4 with my reliable external bec. The ability to creeeeeeep yet still explode off a rock is there, due to the SW4 firmware and my throttle curve.


Hang up and Drive

 

[durok]

My Revolver-powered Bomber is using an 1800kv HH v1 motor, and a Mamba X - no ESC required, and I switch between 3S and 4S.

It's VERY heavy - I keep forgetting to weigh it on my recently purchased scale - but there are very few stock parts and very thick and weighty stainless links and trailing arms, beef tubes, etc - but it still has plenty of power, and smooth startup.

The Mamba X is expensive, but it can run powerful servos and high cell counts, and I just figure since I'm saving on the cost and extra wiring of a BEC, worth it in the crowded interior of the Bomber cage...

If I use another outrunner in a future build, I'll probably try the SW4 and a BEC, because I'll likely be maxed out at 3S and have more room for the BEC and wiring.

 

[Greatscott]

I am running my HH 1800kv outrunning with a SW4. Throttle control is excellent. But, the BEC in the SW4 is lacking, so an external BEC is required.

 

[themountain]

I r
Are there any better options I’m missing? Is using an outrider a terrible idea?

Did you see this ? ---->
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/electronics/622544-silent-outrunner-esc-less-then-$60.html

 

[Topher Builds]

Stick with a castle esc if you’re using an out runner. You’ll want the tuning abilities of the castle software to dial in the throttle experience.

Sw4 + bec
Micro x + bec
Or mamba x

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Stick with a castle esc if you’re using an out runner. You’ll want the tuning abilities of the castle software to dial in the throttle experience.

Sw4 + bec
Micro x + bec
Or mamba x

^^This.

 

[Voodoobrew]

I don't know if I would use an outrunner in the trail king. the motor gets housed inside that scale engine and if it rubs on the plastic it will be bad. I would find a post saying its been done if I were you. That being said if you get an outrunner I would get a cheap quadcopter esc, None of the crawler ESC's do a great job running outrunners in my opinion. They are either too loud or they cog too much. Thats why I wrote this post Silent outrunner and ESC for less then $60
Even if you don't load the custom firmware the stock firmware is still almost as good as the castle esc' but at a fraction of the cost.


The holmes hobbies facebook fan page has quite a few posts about the sidewinder have some pretty rough startup with the revolver. Its probably just settings because there are just as many showing great startup.

 

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I don't know if I would use an outrunner in the trail king. the motor gets housed inside that scale engine and if it rubs on the plastic it will be bad. I would find a post saying its been done if I were you.

The holmes hobbies facebook fan page has quite a few posts about the sidewinder have some pretty rough startup with the revolver. Its probably just settings because there are just as many showing great startup.

I've done it, Revolver fits in a TK without issue.

That's the fb crowd not paying attention to the fairly specific and very clear information the Holmes has laid out for how to tune the esc. I set mine up according those specs and the startup was nearly as good as on my puller pro/Mamba X combo.

I hated the noise though. Ran that combo for one day and then sold it at a loss. I wish I'd seen your silent esc option before I got rid of it as I really like the compact size of outrunners...

 

[Benp]

My Gspeed came with a 3bros 2000kv Yellowjacket and Castle Sidewinder micro 2.

Zero issues. Smooth startup and great low speed control.

I hooked up the Castle link and it’s programmed to what HH recommends in his videos.

In my Trx4 I ran a Revolver 2500 and Mamba X.

Again smooth startup/ great low speed control and also programmed verbatim to HH video recommendations.

When Holmes new quiet esc comes out I’m definitely going to try it out.

 

[durok]

I don't know if it's partly the extra weight that my Bomber carries or the setup (I also followed JRH's recommendations to the letter) or the gearing (stock 12t pinion, stock 64t spur) but the startup is incredible - and the noise may be somewhat annoying at very low speeds (I don't have a problem with it - ever heard an open-header-equipped big block V8?) but it smooths out at higher RPMs...

But I will of course JUMP on HH's next ESC release, as I have high hopes for more crawler-specific features!

 

[_Ben]

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

I ultimately got a SW4, as that seems to be the consensus position, and the Mamba Xs I've owned worked great. I also reviewed how hard it is to attach an external BEC and realized it seems to be a pretty easy soldering job, so I'm not concerned about the underpowered BEC anymore.

I may try to do the silent ESC mod later, especially if the noise turns out to be awful. But past experience has made me leery of messing with electronics firmware.