ESC Speed controller Question ?

[wonwinglo]

Even Wonwing gets stuck on occasions and needs help ! here is my question-

Having just ordered some Outrunner motors as part of my ongoing electrification program I needed some suitable ESC (Electronic speed controllers ) as you know the Outrunners incorporate a brake which means that there is three wires emmitting from the motor,red/black/white,ok so far so I go to hook these up to the ESC and find that the three wires coming from that are all pale blue in colour ? so does this mean that it does not matter which wire attaches to any of the red/black/white,I am a bit reluctant to hook these up until I find out more ? there is no mention of this in the sparse instructions.

Surely the return brake wire must be a separate wire.

I need clarification on this before proceeding as there will be a lot of power going into this from a lithium battery.

[Guest]

Barry, not knowing what I am talking about but offerring merely food for thought I would have expected the three wires to be a negative, a positive to the motor and a positive to the brake. I would then expect the two positives to be switched over so that only one is supplied at any one time.

To this end I would expect to have to know which is the negative lead.

I can't see a lot of harm coming to it if you connect it wrong as this could mean you connect a switched positive to a negative but I would definately share your concerns.

Maybe a bit of evaluation with a lower voltage supply to try to determine what does what may be worthwhile.

[Greyhead]

Barry

With brushless motors it doesn’t matter which wires go where, if when connected the motor runs in reverse just swap any 2 wires.

Grahame

[Guest]

Is there not a standard connector on the end of the wires?

[wonwinglo]

No James,just three bared pale blue wires,never seen anyone use the same coloured wire for different functions before ? I will solder them together when finalised,will test them out with choco connectors to make sure I have the right ones.

Is there not a standard connector on the end of the wires?

[wonwinglo]

This is the one,note the three pale blue wires,I am now wondering if the + - on the left of the ESC correspond with the wires on the right ? and the centre is the return wire,it seems logical.

[Guest]

I hae an idea here Barry. Being brushless it must generate torque with a rotating feild which I am sure will be generated by the three wires as in a three phase motor. As Grahame says it does not matter which way they are connected as reversing the direction of rotation means simply switching over any two wires.

I also think this is how the braking effect is acheived, by briefly switching over two of the wires internally.

I am quite sure that if there way any requirement to identify the cables they would be coloured so I am certain that it does not matter which ones you connect up. If the motor spins the wrong way switch any two around.

[Guest]

these brushless setups as grey head has mentioned do not require a definite connection order, being AC motors , if it turns the wrong way then simply swap two wires, and hey presto

[Guest]

On the Brushless motor controler the + and - only apply to the input from the battery. As mentioned the order of connection of the three output wires only affect the direction of Rotation of the motor. The Brushless controller effectively gives three phase output. Ensure that you have the correct type of controller for the type of battery you are planning to use as LI-PO batteries must not be discharged below a specific voltage. They die! period.

[wonwinglo]

Yes Bob it is suitable for use with Lithium,I got caught out with that one the very first time and wrecked two expensive batteries.