ESC location, under motor or in the center plate?

[SamaraMedia]

So I'm building a Tarot X6 with KDE 4012 400kv, KDE triple props and 55 amp esc's. The build plans call for the esc to go under the motor but the 55 amp esc are a little large to fit in the space provided and I would need to cut the long motor leads to accommodate this setup. I would prefer to mount the esc's inside the center plate but means I need to bore out the hole at the end of the arm to allow the three motor leads to fit through instead of the stock motor and esc wires provide for the under motor setup. I've already bored out the ends for the three motor leads and located the esc's inside the center plate but wonder what others feel is the best location for the esc's. DJI S900 has built in esc under motor. Hexacrafter, Aerovonics Cinestar and a few other heavy lifters have esc's inside the center plate area. T-Motor and KDE both offer their bigger motors with extra long leads to reach inside the center plates so I wonder what other builders here prefer for esc location.

Thanks,

John

 

[sk8brd]

i prefer to put them under the top centerplate. its just the way I've always done it, i like short esc wires to the pdb as well. i don't know if theres a huge benefit to having them under the motor other then to keep them cool with prop wash but i never had a problem with that. if you run long esc wires then many say to run capacitors on them because of inductance.

more info-
http://multirotorforums.com/threads/escs-and-extended-power-wires-should-we-add-capacitors.19336/

 

[SamaraMedia]

Thanks sk8brd, appreciate the link!

I've been used to putting the esc's in the main centerplate as well with a PDB centrally located and esc's soldered directly but this frame design has its own PDB which use a shielded cable, 18" long and a microphone style plug at the end.

I purchased the esc's, KDE 55amps, used here on MRF and they came with 4mm bullets, my guess previous owner used a PowerHungry PDB, so I'm soldering on bullets to accept this and make changing esc's later easier. I was trying to keep as much original equipment in tack so didn't plan on cutting the power cable down but after reading the link you posted I will be cutting them to about 4 inches plus the 4mm bullets.

I've attached a couple photos. The PDB has the landing gear control taped on top so that is what the extra little wires are.

 

[sk8brd]

cool... looks good....i have those motors on a build i never finished yet but not those esc's...from the test i seen on kde's site those esc's look great and look to perform much better then the turnigy's i was going to use. if i had more cash to spare at the time i ordered everything i would of defiantly went with those esc's cant wait to see it air..update this thread when you get thing flying!

one more thing---depending on the time you got the 4012's the shafts got updated. kde said they can swap them out for me to the new shaft's but i never sent them back cause i never finished the build. if you got them recently i think your good as they were changed to the bigger shafts during the production of the motor last summer i believe. there were a couple failures on the 4014 motor on freefly's forum and guess the 1st batch of 4012's used the same shafts as the 4014. there were never any reported failures that i know of on the 4012's but kde did update the shafts out of precaution on the 4014 and 4012

http://forum.freeflysystems.com/ind...o-x8-with-kde-4014-into-the-water.4598/page-6

this is just something to think about not saying you would have some failure but thought i should give you the heads up just incase you didn't know as if it was me i would like to know.

 

[SamaraMedia]

I do recall that shaft issue now that you mentioned it. Bought these used, maybe I'll contact Patrick to see if there is a way to tell if they are new enough or have had the upgrade. I'll update the post as I go. Thanks.

 

[tombrown1]

John I just finished my build with the same frame. I prefer the escs on the center plate to keep esc wires shorter.

I just ran the wires outside the arms and taped them down. I don't really care about looks too much.

She's flying great overall. Using t motor motors and props. Love the way she folds up! Very easy transport. I also got some ez removing prop adapters. Just roll the props up in a t shirt and stow in the toolbox. Very convenient.

Best,

Tom

 

[SamaraMedia]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the info, which quick release prop adapters did you go with and where did you get them? I'm going to try the KDE triple prop adapters with DJI 15X5.2 blades for now but always looking for options. Fired up the motors last night after going through a re-configuration of the radio since I added the new motors and esc's. Everything fired up on the settings I had from the previous setup, maybe because it's all KDE stuff I originally set it up with, but pleased so far. @SleepyC had suggested I use my iPhone and bubble level app to level the motor mounts, that worked out great! Thanks Sleepy. Also put my iPhone on each boom with an app for vibration and they all seem very good, slightest bit of vibes on two arms but nothing that should be a problem, we'll see once we spin the triple props.

Working on the Quadframe V2 DSLR gimbal as well, I think I screwed up the windings on the yaw motor over the winter, V doesn't have the motors in stock so I need to order from RCTimer directly or find a similar replacement. I bought a T-Motor gimbal motor that I thought was the same dimensions but come to find out the depth of the RC motor is 23.5mm and the T-Motor is 24mm so it doesn't fit in the cage mount and the mounting holes for the vertical arm to attach to the gimbal are not the same so I will need to make an adapter plate to go between them.

What are you using for a gimbal?

John