dnts
Veteran
Location: Israel
| Electronic Speed Cooking (ESC)From the description of the problem I can come up with an explanation but one you will not like to hear...
A standard DC ESC uses a FET transistor (kind of an electronic high speed switch) to pulse power into the motor. The pulse rate is high and the motor speed is adjusted by what is called "duty cycle" which is the rate of the pulse ON time to the entire pulse width. This switch must be operated fully on or fully off. At those two extreems, the switching element does not get hot as no energy is dissipated in it. If the switch is allowed to work half way between ON and OFF, it develops heat due to the power consumption which is the result of the voltage drop (non zero) and current (non zero as well). The motor will spin slowly (current is low in motor terms) but the ESC will heat up severely and puff smoke from the FET. If quickly terminated, it can be saved. Otherwise the FET will burn and break the circuit. The controller chip must not allow the FET to reach this state, however, during startup period, the controller might get stuck in such a way that the drive to the FET is halfway.
Moral of the story - throw that ESC away and buy a decent one (Castle, Jeti, and others). It might be a life saver. |
