Recommend me an ESC for my first 700

[mverhorst]

Hi All,

I'm looking to piece together my first 700 and am struggeling on the ESC department.

The bird is properly going to be a Synergy or Forza 700. The motor a Scorp 4525 520 and I want to use the Vbar gov.

My flying could be descriped as captian tail in... (try to do some sports and big air)

So far I've been realy happy with me two Hobbywing ESC on my X3 and X5 but the HW160A is a bit steep in price range and not to sure it will play nice with the Vbar gov.

So I'm realy looking for a modest workhorse of an ESC to use on a 700 with the Vbar gov.

Please recommend me one...

Regards,

Menno

[LinusLarsson]

I would go for a CC Edge 160. A 120 will also work as long as you don't go bananas on your flying.

[raptor90wm]

I picked up a used heli jive 120 for my first 700 electric recently, and put a heat sink on it.

I went with kontronik because I use Bavarian demon fbl unit, and it has no gov

I couldn't be happier with my decision.

I then fitted a jlog with a spectrum tm1000 to give me battery consumption, so I never use a timer, and just fly until I have reached my limit for mah.

I will never run my flight packs too low now.

If you are going to use the v-bar gov then a castle esc is a great recommendation too

[mverhorst]

Thanx all...

As an side note. I'm going 2s lipo or life for rx voltage...

[raptor90wm]

If everything can take a 8.4 volts, I would use direct 2s lipo to power everything, but don't forget to always check it and charge it.
If using a 2s reciever pack, try and use 2 leads into the fbl unit from the reciever pack.

Bec or 2s lipo is personal preference to be honest.

Bec is very hady, just plug in your main pack and fly, but it's another thing that could fail.

2s reciever pack is great but don't forget to always know it's state of charge.

I have never used a life recierver pack, so I can't comment on that.

[MotorG525]

No need for a 160amp esc on a 4525 size motor, edge 120 is an easy place to start. I would not invest in an expensive esc right now, your going to crash there's always the chance of damage

[mverhorst]

Originally Posted by raptor90wm

If everything can take a 8.4 volts, I would use direct 2s lipo to power everything, but don't forget to always check it and charge it.
If using a 2s reciever pack, try and use 2 leads into the fbl unit from the reciever pack.

Bec or 2s lipo is personal preference to be honest.

Bec is very hady, just plug in your main pack and fly, but it's another thing that could fail.

2s reciever pack is great but don't forget to always know it's state of charge.

I have never used a life recierver pack, so I can't comment on that.

I'm using dmss xbus so I have rx voltage telemetry on board...

[19trax95]

I'd say a scorpion commander 160 opto(no bec)

I have one on my x7 and it has the 4520 520kv motor as well. It runs cool most of the time, and in the hot summer days, it never got more than warm.

[gunny_jeeves]

There is a really good esc here (RotorStar 180HV) at around $200.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html

It's in the East Coast Warehouse so no shipping from China and it is made by YEP. (Excellent and you can use active freewheeling also)

The 120 amp version is what I have on my Mostro 700 and it's doing great! That saves you almost another $100. (Also, like your motor, they both can go up to 14s)

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html

[LinusLarsson]

No warranty on Scorpion motors if using YEP ESC though.

[j bomb]

Just an FYI, if you plan to use a LiFe pack for your Rx, the voltage telemetry won't be of much use. The discharge curve of a LiFe is such that the voltage remains pretty much constant right until the pack dies, a low voltage alarm might not give you enough time to land. I use LiFe packs myself and they work very well, but it's best to monitor mAh consumption rather than voltage to determine how much is left in them. I always recharge after a certain number of flights (giving myself some headroom for safety) regardless of what the voltage is.

As for the ESC, as others have mentioned, Castle and Hobbywing are popular choices for those who don't want to spend the money on Kontronik. Also, 120A should be fine if you're not really hard on the collective or running a huge motor.

[ah_liang]

I have use YEP120HV, YEP180HV, YGE160HV, JIVE120 and Kosmik Cool 200. I will recommend YGE to use with vbar gov on the ultimate motor to be safe.

[mverhorst]

Originally Posted by j bomb

Just an FYI, if you plan to use a LiFe pack for your Rx, the voltage telemetry won't be of much use. The discharge curve of a LiFe is such that the voltage remains pretty much constant right until the pack dies, a low voltage alarm might not give you enough time to land. I use LiFe packs myself and they work very well, but it's best to monitor mAh consumption rather than voltage to determine how much is left in them. I always recharge after a certain number of flights (giving myself some headroom for safety) regardless of what the voltage is.

As for the ESC, as others have mentioned, Castle and Hobbywing are popular choices for those who don't want to spend the money on Kontronik. Also, 120A should be fine if you're not really hard on the collective or running a huge motor.

Thank you for your insights. I am well known how a LiFe pack behaves. Got on on my Tx. As soon as it drops to 6.5V I charge it. Knowing that a 700 setup will draw much more than my Tx I will need to charge it before that point and land ASAP as the voltage drops to 6.5. (Will set an alarm for that).

Point is that I prefer a LiFe over a LiPo is that it doesn't care about how you store it, full, empty, half way... It just doesn't care...

[mverhorst]

Thanks everyone for chiming in...

Keep um going...

Scorp 160 seems very nice also...

Thing about YGE is that I don't like the way they are build...

[Luvmyhelis]

Originally Posted by mverhorst

Thanks everyone for chiming in...

Keep um going...

Scorp 160 seems very nice also...

Thing about YGE is that I don't like the way they are build...

I have flown most the esc's out there at one time or another. The YGE is nearly bullet proof. As are the much cheaper Yep clones. HW works also. As long as the esc allows the use of an outside gov for your Vbar, they will all work quite well. For just getting started and doing basically training up to hard sport. My pick would def be the Yge or better yet the Yep for the $$$ issue. I still fly hard core 3d with a modded (heat sink added) Yep and it has been flawless. Two of my larger Kde gen 3 equipped 800s fly with YGE 160s, but I am looking to upgrade one to a 200a version just to be safe for the Goblin 800. The newer King Kong that MD helis has is quite promising also. Some very good reports on the last versions.

[mverhorst]

I've made up my mind.... It's going to be a Scorp 160A opto...

Thanks everyone for chiming in...

[fastblade]

Originally Posted by gunny_jeeves

There is a really good esc here (RotorStar 180HV) at around $200.

+1 on this esc... Have it on my 12s.... highly recommend it... besides my YGE320 it's the only esc I haven't literally blown up!

When you do fly hard on the 4525 ... It likes to amp spike (just to small for crazy 3d)... Here is a flight using a CC edge 160... I blew up 2 CC's 160, Kosmik Kool 160 (thermal shut-down), scorp 130 with that motor...

Plus you can go 14s with that esc if you choose so... (I highly recommend 14s)

[Atomic Skull]

Originally Posted by LinusLarsson

No warranty on Scorpion motors if using YEP ESC though.

As if they will be able to tell.

[Atomic Skull]

If you are budget minded and don't want to buy a cloned ESC then a ZTW Gekko 150A HV is around $120.

http://www.altitudehobbies.com/ztw-g...sc-opto-no-bec

The instructions call for you to install extra plugs on your batteries for the anti spark lead but there's no reason you can't do it Hobbywing/Scorpion style inline with the positive lead instead. Or alternatively you could just forget about the anti spark lead and put an AS150 anti spark connector inline with the positive lead instead. Or you could just forget about the inline anti spark and just use AS150's on the batteries as well.

[Thestructured]

You're going to get a lot of different responses here because some people are smacking the crap out of their 700's, while others that might be new to them are not going to be flying so hard.


A 700 on 12s with a lower end motor and esc is still going to feel crazy powerful compared to many smaller helis. I've used the edge 120hv and currenty have a 160hv in my 700 and they're both great and common options.

The 120 is fine for driving the smaller motors, I'd recommend the 160 for the larger ones. The 160 stays cool to the touch even driving the align 850mx motor, where as the 120 was hot running an align 800mx motor. Never had any problems with either and they're in the $150-200 price range.