What's inside: ESCs 

Thanks, I have spent days trying to understand an ESC, an you have done it in 7 min's, well done

From DC to AC! Duh, now I understand the 3 wires and the fact that they can be connected in different positions. Thanks for that mate.

I am new to RC, but not to electronics and for some time I wondered how ESCs worked. Given their low cost, I can see why most people buy them instead of make them. Very nice job keeping it simple, yet not to the point of inaccuracy.

i am watching you from years , you are a great passionate person and make very helpful videos. keep going

This was a nice review. I had not ever considered cutting away part of the heat shrink for cooling purposes! Keep up the great efforts and respect from Apache Junction, Arizona

One additional note is the early ESC had a opto sensor to synchronize the motor spin direction to the ESC control circuit.These were called "sensored" ESC units. Most today don't use this (some car ESC are still sold as sensored types). The sensoreless ones shown utilize the EMF filed that is generated by the motor windings and magnets, this signal gets processed and then used as a basic sync method to know where the motor shaft is during acceleration. This is the not the best way to do it, sometimes sensorless motors get what is called "cogging" due to the EMF signal not syncing up well.

Thank you for doing such a good job on your videos! It's nice to have someone explain this in the detail that I need! Your videos are invaluable!

My knowledge of these beasts has just taken a quantum leap thanks to you very clear video ;-)

Wow, great job. you have a pleasing and proper voice for these vids. well done sir!

Another informative video, and another great job buddy! Keep em' coming.

Hi Bruce, Can you do a deeper technical video on this. I know you have a electronics back ground and I would like to have your opinion on some of the common ESC's from an electronics point of view. Most of them are based on the Atmega 8 and are easely flashable. I'm building a quad and got the 30A HK's (the ones with the blue wrapper) I flashed them with the SimonK firmware. The quad + camera is rather expensive and I would not want it to fail and crash because I was to cheap to by better ESC's. Thx!

Great video, from your videos I understand selecting the right ESC and what motor, ESC and battery can be paired up, but do you have any videos with the equations behind selecting the optimal engine, prop and battery for a fixed wing EPP plane?

where can I find the connection and function information on the 4 wire connector for the small ESCs that come on a Phantom 2. Also what is the current rating of it. I see no heat sinks on the FETS- is this a common failure mechanism

Thanks for the awesome info A few questions if I may .. I have a speed controller with two smaller capacitors on the board with a common earth as well as the two big ones. I've replaced the big ones as one blew. And both the small ones as They were rusty. The speed controller still doesn't work. Is this likey to be the fets ? Why would my one large capacitor have blown ? Thanks so much in advance

great vid! I have a hubsan h501s that I transferred all the components to a f330 frame and It uses 12 amp esc (just had one burn out), I'm trying to figure out if i could use a alternate esc besides the oem? Also could I even go higher amp and diff motors?

Thank you for one more informative video, Bruce

Cheers, I like your explanations of things. I would like to know if all BLDC ESC's can operate a PMDC brushed motor and what is or would be the best way to connect it. I know that some BLDC ESC's can, specifically Castle brand but I think that You need the Castle Link software to do it. Their instructions show the connections of the output wires having 2 of the 3 tied together and connected to the positive terminal of the brushes and the remaining output wire connected to the negative brush terminal. They were listed by color and I've forgotten which go to what connection. Any explanative help would be appreciated. I don't want to use a Castle controller if I don't have to.

Very informative mate, as usual! Great vid!

Which microcontroller is used in the ESC shown in the video ?

That really explained so much-bl---- great video that has made me realize how it all works-one just gets an esc from HobbyKing as cheap- but to know what they do related to your motor and battery is crucial-Thank you!

We also, strangely enough, pronounce half and calf omitting the L.Can't we all enjoy each others dialects and relish in the fact that we are able to communicate globally so easily now and share great knowledge and experiences?Thanks Bruce,really enjoy your vids! Happy Flying y'all !

hello Bruce Thank you for the great info. Im new to electric powered rc and recently bought a trex700 I poped the esc open and sodered new leads to make them longer I didnt relize the motor was ac and now ive relized since I dont have a O Scope im not going to be able to test it what should I do. thank you mb

Great videos. Have you done a video on properly matching your motor, ESC and battery?

Thanks for the video, very educational and clear. You also have the perfect narrating voice for this type of video - keep up the good work :-)

Nice video! I can say I learned something today :)

isnt it pulsed dc/pwm? i was under the understanding the polarity never reversed/ it never went bellow 0v.. you can get those fets cheap on ebay and 40-60 usd for a hot air rework station...cant recall if you had one, (thought i saw a rigol scope and the hakko station I wish i had bought...they left off a button on mine lol) im sure you are aware you could probably do it with just your iron as well.

hi there, i have a question regarding esc wire length. some RCgroups topics are talking about maximum lenght (about 20 to 30cm) and never go longer some are talking about never touch power wire and add lenght to 3 wires that goes to motor some are talking that if you go above 30cm of wire, you have to add capacitors on power wires, and eventually add other every 20cms effectively, some companies (YGE, Castle, Schulze....) are selling kits with extra capacitors. What's you technical advise on that ?

I just crashed my Vision+ V3 so hard the poor phantom bounced twice and the battery went flying in the opposite direction. One ESC cracked in half, the body is shattered, the internal battery plug became unmounted and the motor was crushed. I was able to test and it still has power. The gimbal works and it also communicates with the vision app. However, when I tried starting the motors none of them spun. Of course I wouldn't expect the broken one to do anything but should that one ruined ESC and motor effect the other motors? Is this normal? I already ordered the body, a 2312 motor, an ESC v2.0 and an internal battery plug.

Excellent mate,keep them coming.

how would you test those escs for damaged smds to replace? i have 3 kiss escs that look perfect, nothing looks damaged on them but when i run them they dont turn on and they get hot, any tips?

Great job, and thank you for all the hard work! good video!

thanks for your review ,what can i do for not burning more esc , i match lipo battery current with motor and esc ,i use my esc in boats ,i am very careful to have adequate cooling and not too big props otherwise they draw more current and burn ,but whatever i do they also burn sooner or later .i normally use cheap esc like hobbyking,i m afraid to buy an expensive esc coz i ll be afraid to burnt it also

Hobbyking have told me the ESC's on thier out the box quad (BlackWidow260) are 20a, however I dont think they are! I dont understand how they can sell a product and not be able to confirm what ESC are on it :( anyone know?

Great video, thanks for sharing the info!

FIRE!!! well... white smoke at least... I am running naze32 full board with afro esc 12 amp flashed with BLheli on DYS be1806 2300KV Motors. as soon as I plug in power the motor that is connected to the ESC that powers the Naze starts to smoke. I have motor stop enabled. the Naze still works. I ordered new motors and as soon as I powered up again... White Smoke from the new motor... please advise. Software issue? dead ESC? Is there a simple test I can perform? thanks in advance!

greetings First off Im new to this so go easy on the tech stuff ; ) I purchased a racing quadcopter equipped with 4 sk 12a speed controllers. We replaced NEW 1 of the controllers do to a crash. I have all connections in the proper configuration however the motor runs at a slower speed than the other 3 motors on the quad. WIth this limited info that I provided can you give me any advice on what we did wrong thanks

Just crashed my quadcopter. It did the death roll from about 50 ft. Anyway it broke one of my booms and smashed just a little of one of the two capacitors on the esc. When I arm the motors the motor in question jumps,pits and sputters and the other three spin just fine. Could this be a esc problem. Thanks for any help in this matter. Love your videos

Great video 👌🏻

I have an unlabeled ESC that looks identical to the one in your initial thumb image. I'm trying to figure out how to program the brake. Can you tell me what model that is or how to program the brake on it?

What are the 3 IGBT on the Microcontroller side for? right side, opposite to the DCDC (UBEC). I opened a citrix stock spec car controller and it looks similar to this one with an ATmega and those 3 IGBTs on the right side.

It is also good to mount the ESC in a way where it will get airflow for cooling if possible.

Awesome video. Have always wondered whats inside but havent broke anyone yet so havent had the chanse to open :) Thank you

Can you hook up an normal dc motor to the ESC? The one with only two wires? Or do you absolutely need a 3 phase motor. Just getting into the hobby myself.

Thanks for sharing the video !

Very interesting Bruce. Saves me from peeling thing off just to see whats there! LOL

How does esc now motor position to apply voltage to coils (basically where is the feedback to keep the rotor and state in-sync? On DC brushed motor its physical position between brushes and comutator (I don't know if that correct terminology and spelling) to know when to power next set of coils. Is it detecting voltage through unpowered coil while other are getting power at that instant? Ex 1 2 on 3 off, 1 3 on 2 off, and so on? And is the signal into esc (from flight controller or receiver) just varying voltage or pulse frequency to tell esc whether to speed up or slow down motor? I am assuming esc doesn't provide feedback to controller or receiver. Yeah I know recently receiver controller an esc for servo. Controller controls esc In application such as quadcopter motors.

Youre a great teacher sir, Thanks!

hey bruce, any chance you could make a video on where to place ferrite rings on a rc model plane, particularly a fpv plane? would love that!

Hi, I had trouble understanding the 3 wires coming out until a friend at my local hobby store told me that to reverse any two wires will reverse the motor. Then it clicked, these are nothing but 3 phase motors. Knowing that, I understood what the ESC is doing in replicating a public utilities electric generator (all are 3 phase). But instead of cycling between the phases at 60hz, it can be sped up or slowed down electronically. This technology is now used in HVAC to make super efficient airconditioner units by taking the AC current, turning it into DC and feeding it to an ESC to drive the 3 phase motors at a variable speed. This saves energy by never having to load up trying to compensate for an environment change in so many degrees.

How does the ESC make the motor beep when you power it up?

good info Bruce, keep the how it works segment going.

Hi, how different is an esc from a what you have shown here to an esc that is in a brushless cordless drill?

Thankyou for the informative video, I have an ESC a friend donated to my collection and I noticed that it gets warm not HOT just warm with no juice going threw, just being connected to the battery. Is this normal?

What is the name you used to describe the switches? It sounded something like "fitz".

excellent description, thanks

Great series of video, I'm coming back to Rc after a 20 year lay off, its all changed, bloody hell not half. One issue I have is navigating your videos and finding the basic series. Have you any suggestions?

Great video!

Does the ESC maintain a fixed RPM at a specific Throttle setting? What happens if the propellar spins faster than that RPM? Will the motor be commanded by the ESC to slow down? Does the Throttle setting control fixed RPM or Fixed Wattage or Fixed Voltage or Fixed Current? Which one?

Finaly a video not related to FPV nice to see this kind of information, it really helps us the new kids on the block to understand the science behind electric power. Thanks. How about one on how to use the GWS Servo tester and what is the meaning of all the adjustments and numbers.

whats the little tan squares? has silver most time on each side? i have issue i see of mine burnt and esc turns off after a crash with tree branches but i dont wanna risk running if this is critical part its a dys xs20

Hi Bruce. whats a good way to attach a heatsink to those fets?

I want to replace the MOSFETs in my mamba phoenix rated for 50v 160a continuous. I need an ESC that can output 30v at 400a. I was wondering how feasible it would be to Replace each MOSFET with ones that can handle 30v (instead of 50). another thing I saw online were stacking MOSFETs on top of each other.... i already made an enormous cap pack using 6 35v 4700f (in parallel) so replacing the MOSFETs looks like it would be harder than stacking an extra one right on top.. oh and I'm going to use 2 larger cooling fans along with the stock heatsink. any suggestions?.... my brush less motor is rated for 25v 350a continuous; something like 7200w. (200km/h+ 1/8 rc car)

If I have a 40a esc do I need a higher 40c discharge battery to cope with it or will the battery have to much power being pulled out of it?

Hello. Is there a way to check if a esc works properly ? I have a hex using 6 of them, and after a few minutes of flight it "jilt" i suspect a defective esc but am unable to locate wich one. Thank you for these great videos .

hi there I'm making a quadcopter for the first time and I found three types of light weight esc (ACS-55A+HS,Wasabi ECO Brushless Regler and HobbyKing 60A BlueSeries ),do anyone known which one is the best or if there another type that is good for me thanks

Great tutorial! Thank you!

Are their any Silicon Carbide transistors available to replace the Silicon Transistors? Sure they cost a lot more, but they would make the controller much smaller!

what does the orange wire (orange red grey) on the ESC do I found out it is the "signal" wire but what does that mean?

Great vid. Thanks. Is your esc under the same stress whether its running full throttle or partial throttle?

Fantastic...very nicely you have explained it. Sir, can you please clear a doubt of mine, that do PWM signal affects the activation of MOSFETs in ESC?? As what I was assuming till yesterday, that if we apply PWM signal for say forward then all the MOSFETs activated for carrying current and three phase switching will only vary as per the PWM signal value. But I got a weired problem with my Seaking HV130A ESC, that at 40% throttle value and 25A current consumption, the ESC got fried and when I asked the reason of this, I got the answer as the MOSFETs will open fully at 100% throttle only. And lesser throttle will partially open the MOSFETs and hence it generates more heat, consequently ESCs fried. So what is your opinion on this issue?

i need a esc to turn a 24 volt 6s rc turbine i purchased to make a fan with. i would like to replace the receiver with a basic knob. can you post links for a inexpensive esc and speed controller? please,thank you.

Great video! One question though: How can regenerative braking be programmed?

hey, did you ever post the parts list of what you run in your axn?Im pretty new to the hobby, and it would help alot. thanks for the vids. there great.

Great video Bruce. Keep them coming, can you do a video on brushless motors? What all the ratings mean, how to find out how many polls ect..

Can an esc be repaired??? My esc no longer works and i think it has fried two of my recievers.I think maby somehow its putting too much voltage to my recievers and frying them.Thanks.

Entertaining and educational! Thanks. :)

Nice vid. Im familiar with a few of those components but i now look at my esc's like they are alot more complex besides what they do.

Is there a way to bypass the receiver. say I wanted to connect directly to power source. with out having to use remote control?

Looks the ESC generates a 3 phase signal. I was wondering where is the ground then, which would need 4 wires. Right?

How often you should change for your model?

I am interested in running a two motored craft . I am interested in them running on opposite directions ( 1 ) I see no reason that the motor element will not cope with this process ? ( 2 ) is it possible to get the controllers to put out the required power just by reversing the wiring from the ESC ?

whats the diffrence between the bec and esc i want to build a multirotor do i need 1 bec and 3 esc or how would i need to go about choosing whats best

So, no hall sensor need in engine or whole construction?

Is cause of board failure attributed to FET, MOSFET, resistor, cap or other discrete component and rarely affects the chipset itself?

Great video! I never thought about converting DC and AC power. I'm not sure if you have any experience but could you do a video on how to rewind a brushless motor?

How hot is too hot for an ESC? My rc plane (Hobbyking Bix3) came with a 20A ESC and I noticed it gets quite warm (almost too hot to touch) after a flight. The plane has a 1400kv brushless motor. Is this okay?

Hi got a question. I thought that in order to reverse the motor you could just switch the ac leads, but not moving the ground. Is this possible?

I connected. My xxd 30a esc with 1000kv motor then to a 11.1v battery. One of the voltage regulators started to heat and melted the heat-conducting rubber. What could cause this?

Hi Bruce was wondering if you would show us how to repair the capacitors and where exactly to solder them on the board thanks keep them coming

Thanks Bruce, love the back to basics. One thing has always concerned me, some ESC's have coloured out puts but most are just all black. How import , or not, is connecting the ESC to the correct motor wire. I still live in the land of + & - , still don't fully understand how these new mortors work.

what do the specs on a esc actually mean. could you please do a video on it.

What do I feed the white wire to make it work?

Pretty sure that round thing you pointed at @3:55 is an inductor (coil). FET=Field effect transistor

so if i had a 160A i can run 4 wire from sbec? if thats the case cant i run all 4 motors off 1? im stuck on this. yes im new

Some 3A & 6A Brushless ESCs have only 2 wires entering & leaving .... So how to make the 3rd wire for 3 motor phases.

Hey Bruce, what are these three SMT 8 legs chips next to motor wires? FET drivers I guess?

did i hear you say that the heat sink might fall off what there are not fastened down to the board ? have not opened one yet but have cut off some of the heat shrink off the around the heat sink

I got an blackfoot rc for my son, it was the mechanical control. I want to bring it up to date. I need a cheap esc with bec, what would you do.

Bruce, I noticed that when I change a ESC from something with plenty of AMPS to a ESC that is sized more appropriately for the motor (smaller), The motor seems to run faster and is more powerful. Is this possible, and why?

Hi Bruce: Had a crash with my Heli and now my 35Amp ESC is not working. What would be the proceedure to confirm that the ESC is broken and if it is, would there be a method to fix it?