What is the max temp should the Novak 5800 ESC and Motor run at?

[toofastkx]

What is the max temp should the Novak 5800 ESC and Motor run at?

First time out with the Brushless in my Yokomo super dogfighter 2 geared with a 19 pinion (20 is stock). The temp at the esc was 190 degrees. The system never thermaled. This seemed kind of high.

I'm a nitro 1/8 scale racer first time with electrics. Have to admit with the new battery capacities, brushless, and huge run times it is now worth it to have an electric setup.

[jocktheglide]

might want to PM Charlie about the temps on the novak system it seems lately a lot of folks have been cathing their systems on fire lately (2 for me) for some odd reason. I know my motor does not get hot, but my esc does.

[toofastkx]

I give up.. tried every pinion from the stock 20 down to a 17. Can't get the thing to stop thermalling. Foing with the lehner set up

[jocktheglide]

send charlie a PM or novak.

[toofastkx]

I think I figured out the issue. No heat dissipation. What I did is add vents in the body and a 2 x2 fan cpu fan mounted ontop the esc. Now the esc runs cool

[J mAn]

Mine fried the firss time I ran it... well i didnt run it i hit throttle it coasted for a couple feet and poof.... It was slightly used so im waiting for teh receipt from the guy i got it from...

[toofastkx]

my first one did the same.
I think alot of issues with the novak could be answered with vents and perhaps a esc fan.
I ran mine back to back packs for 2 hours at 10 minute runtimes per pack. Not one hickup from the system.

I almost went with a more expensive setup (twice as much). I fixed the problem with a dremel and 5 dollar fan.

[alpinesky1]

All brushless esc. work alot harder and creates more heat....
with the comeing years of new technoligy, our
BL esc. should run alot cooler, but for now cpu fans our are friends, me living in florida am looking at getting a C40 motor and Hacker master controller, or the Schulze U-Force..... and will still need a fan:mad: ....oh well....


btw anyone remember the brushed motor heatsinks that could hold ice/water/dry ice, too help cooling in the early 90's, mabey someone should make a setup like that for our bl controllers:cool:

[OptimaMan]

Was doing some tests today to see if I could thermal the Novak. Got my B4 geared 7:1 and ran back and forth slamming on brakes etc. After a few minutes, I noticed it was getting slower. I took some temperature measurements and the motor was 150, batteries were 125 but the controller was 295!!!! What temp does it shut down? It got REAL hot and started to smell kinda smoky. I'm not sure if that temp shutdown really works on the Novaks.


A few minutes later, the thing still works fine. I guess 7:1 is definitely a no no with a buggy.

[End Overend]

OptimaMan,

Trust me, the thermal protection works, sometimes too well.

I recently sent in my Novak because it couldn't make it through a full GP3300 pack with out going into thermal shutdown. There was no binding in the the trany, gearing was fine and gear mesh had no problems.

I think some of the problem with overheating could be with 4wd vehicles. I never had an overheating problem when running with my B3, in fact I doubt the ESC temps ever got above 140 degrees in my B3. My newest replacment motor/ESC (Novak replaced the one I sent in for thermaling) is doing fine in the XXX-KE I traded for. The ESC get's hot but only into the 190's now.

My guess is the added stress a 4wd buggy puts on the system is enough to put it into thermal shutdown, even when geared properly.

As far as the thermal shutdown point, I'm guessing it's in the 230-240 degree range, with 190's seeming to be normal by the end of a GP3300 pack. I know they can get pretty hot. Motors generally run in the 120-150 degree range.

My question to brushless ESC makers is whey are they not building a small cooling fan into the ESC if they know they have to work harder and therefor get very hot? It couldn't be much of an extra expense considering the cost of the system already and it might save a lot of money in warranty repair and reputation.

[robnjr]

Hmmm….my SS5800 ESC just feels a little warm after 2 back to back runs with 7 cell Pirana 1900 hump packs (see the Novak SS5800 in my B4 = 40+ mph! thread for details). My battery is a LOT hotter than the ESC, and the motor is about the same temp (by feel) as the ESC. I’d guess they were about 120-130F. Outside temperatures were in the 50s when I was running 47MPH with a 6.5 final ratio. I was full throttle most of the time, up and down the street. The body was on the Pro3, and I haven’t made any modifications for extra ventilation.

This is a brand new SS5800 from Tower Hobbies (not a used one bought on Ebay). Are your ESCs that get this hot new systems? Maybe Novak has made improvements in the newer ones that let them run cooler. It’s well known that the SS had problems when it first came out. I would expect that newer systems have been modified by Novak to deal with these issues. After all, it makes sense both financially and for their reputation to have a more reliable system. I would think that the SS is constantly being improved by Novak, although they don’t make this fact public, since it’s admitting that the older units had problems. That’s why I bought a new one from a company that has high sales and fresh stock. Any other thoughts on this? Or maybe the Pro3 just doesn’t stress the SS5800 as much.,,,

[OptimaMan]

Actually, the SS5800 doesn't get too hot going back and forth on my street. Just when I was TRYING to burn it up did it get hot! :) Pretty stupid huh? I would go 40 feet full throttle, slam on brakes, full throttle slam on brakes, etc. Probably did it like 40 times in a row. But's it's fine now. Nothing is wrong and it works flawlessly, but the temp sensing thing did NOT shut off the controller even though it was close to 300 degrees F!!

[glassdoctor]

Just for the record, I have raced several times with a Novak I bought last summer in a buggy and 4wd. My contorller would often read 220-230 after a full run. I think it was normally around 190-200 after a 5-6 minute race. I have never had it thermal even in a XX4. But it does run hot, and I haven't run a fan with it yet.

What I have heard is that Novak tweaked the thermal cutoff because they were running so hot (like Optima's 295!)... then we heard about them thrermalling too soon, when they were not even that hot.

So it seems to be a little trail and error to get things consistent. Maybe they got it nailed now.

I don't discredit Novak about it though... I don't think it's been a huge issue, % wise. And this is the only big issue they have had. Overall they have performed very well and have proven very reliable for almost everybody.

Maybe it's time for them to make a new more powerful setup with a new fan-cooled esc, and k/v motor options like all the other bl stuff....