Advisory: HK 320A "High Voltage" brushed ESC.

[Sixtysixdeuce]

Just to let eveyone know, this ESC being sold several places as a 4S capable 6-16V unit absolutely will not take more than 10V, at least not pushing a 540 can.



I've had really good luck with the smaller version of this ESC, so I decided to give this one a go in a budget buggy build. It lasted about 20 seconds on 3S, then it flat out died. The seller was exemplary, sending a new one out immediately without requesting a return. I soldered my leads on the new one, and once again, after just a few blips of the throttle, dead. This time, though, it didn't completely fry, just burned the main power-in copper strip on the PCB, so I bridged it with solder, and we're now GTG on 2S only

This is not to say that these are bad ESCs. Quite the contrary, actually; they are an excellent value. But they are not capable of the input voltage claimed, period. Hook it up to 3S or 4S, or dual NiMH, and you'll cook it.

[bobcat202]

this ESC being sold several places as a 4S capable 6-16V unit absolutely will not take more than 10V, at least not pushing a 540 can.

I would say that you got a defective unit. a lot of people have said that it is reliable especially if it is a high voltage version of the smaller one.

It lasted about 20 seconds on 3S, then it flat out died. The seller was exemplary, sending a new one out immediately without requesting a return. I soldered my leads on the new one, and once again, after just a few blips of the throttle, dead. This time, though, it didn't completely fry, just burned the main power-in copper strip on the PCB, so I bridged it with solder, and we're now GTG on 2S only

You must have done something wrong with it because i have run 5 540 motors, two on each esc, on 3s and i have used these on 3s for more than a year. if you provide cooling, they will survive. Unless you fried the BEC which is rated at 1A not 2. I have fried an esc just buy foolishly using multiple servos and the end result was catastrophic. Here is the link to my 4wd offroad robot as proof of my claim.

http://letsmakerobots.com/node/34285

[Sixtysixdeuce]

You signed up here just to defend these? Interesting....

I'll have you know that that replacement unit died on the second 2S pack, after I posted this advisory. This is in a vintage gold pan buggy with a Reedy Radon 17.5 turn, geared 20/81-not steep at all. It did the same thing as the first, losing reverse function and then dying completely.

if you provide cooling, they will survive. Unless you fried the BEC which is rated at 1A not 2.

Why should I have to provide cooling above and beyond the fan they come equipped with? As well, if the BEC can't power the receiver and one standard servo (in this case, Associated XP DS1903MG), then it's useless.

I tried to go cheap, I got what I paid for, and now the buggy is brushless with quality components. I'm glad you have have good luck with this unit, but it proved junk for me on two occasions, both well within the claimed limitations of the ESC.

[Coelacanth]

I can't comment on these units but I had my doubts seeing the exact same generic pictures plastered all over eBay. The complete lack of any obvious branding was enough to make me stay away. Lots of decent, cheap electronics are coming out of China these days, like EZRun, Bullistorm, Leopard, etc...but the no-names like this unit don't give me much confidence. That said, the fans that came installed on some EZrun ESCs I've worked with were noisy pieces of crap. On one, the fan section was mis-aligned and actually rubbed on the underlying heatsink. I ended up buying a nice Novak fan at the LHS for about $10 that was the exact same dimensions, installed with the exact same mini white connector, and was smooth and quiet.

No doubt these products cut corners to be as cheap as they are, and I'll bet the fans are one area where they do this.

[slow_jun]

Hobbywing is the brand of Ezrun,Ezrun is the lower model (budget racing) which is brushless sensorless and the hogher model is the zerun (sensored brushless).

Bought my First HW 2009,still have it today.

[bobcat202]

You signed up here just to defend these? Interesting....

Who said i did?

Why should I have to provide cooling above and beyond the fan they come equipped with? As well, if the BEC can't power the receiver and one standard servo (in this case, Associated XP DS1903MG), then it's useless.

you should because they are cheaply made and the manufacturer does not seem to address the fact that for 4 Mosfets running a at a time 4 forward and 2 for reverse (6 in total), you need more than just a cheaply made measly 30mm by 30mm heatsink coupled to a 30mm fan. If you are running mosfets close to their maximum settings, they get really hot and eventually fail.

for example look at the Sabertooth 2 x 12. its a 12 amp dual channel esc. look at the heatsinks its has for each channel and compare to the heatsinks the cheap ebay esc's which are "rated" for higher loads have and you can see the difference.

like i said its probably a faulty one or you may have done something wrong to it, or just bad luck. other people on other forums have run them to higher voltages, used them effectively on boats and i can personally say that i was able to power up my 3 servo robotic arm using servos as actuators. (two at a time not all at the same time though)
anyway the servo BEC is quoted to be a 5v 2A BEC more than enough current for one servo but servos usually run better at their maximum rated voltage in most cases 6v.