Little cooling help for MM Muggy?

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by lydiasdad

I never understood why so people are against using fans. Even if you are geared correctly, the cooler the esc the better.

I don't know about other people's reasons, but I don't like them because A) adds wiring complexity (albeit small), B) Just something else to go wrong, and C) if you are relying on a fan for reliable operation, then if it breaks/goes bad, you generally don't know it until you thermal.

IMO, fans are for an improperly designed system. With adequate airflow and/or a little extra heatsinking, any ESC should run right. If not, either gearing is too high, battery voltage or ESC current rating is too low for the power you want, or any combination of these.

And this is from someone who doesn't like temps any higher than 30-40*F above ambient temperature.

[lydiasdad]

Originally Posted by BrianG

I don't know about other people's reasons, but I don't like them because A) adds wiring complexity (albeit small), B) Just something else to go wrong, and C) if you are relying on a fan for reliable operation, then if it breaks/goes bad, you generally don't know it until you thermal.

IMO, fans are for an improperly designed system. With adequate airflow and/or a little extra heatsinking, any ESC should run right. If not, either gearing is too high, battery voltage or ESC current rating is too low for the power you want, or any combination of these.

And this is from someone who doesn't like temps any higher than 30-40*F above ambient temperature.

A) I think the extra wiring is negligible. B) True. C) I agree a fan should not be used to compensate for bad gearing. However, adding a fan to lower the operating temp is always good. Even if the esc is only 30* above ambient a fan might lower it 10-15*. Lower temps means longer component life and more efficiency.