New brushed summit XL2.5 ESC gets really hot?

[nebulous.cow]

Hey all,

Just got my new mini summit and threw the FPV gear on, it's a blast! Already tore up the yards.

Anyway, it goes into thermal shutdown really easily. I thought I was hitting LVC at first (2s lipo) but the voltages were good, and I know its thermal because for one, the esc gets way too hot to touch, and two, if I blow on the heat sink for a couple seconds, it goes back to normal.

Entirely stock except 2s lipo, It's in LVC mode and otherwise runs great. I don't remember ever having a shutdown on my old XL2.5 esc on my old mini e revo.

Checked the gear mesh as well, it's perfect. Im doing a lot of slow speed tooling around, but if I do a lot of high throttle driving, it will overheat faster. No obvious binding in the drivetrain either.

Any tips? If this is just how it's gonna be, I may look into modding the heat sink and getting a bigger one or a tiny fan or something.

-Mike

[cooleocool]

How much weight does your FPV gear add? How hot is it outside?

[nebulous.cow]

It's tiny stuff. Maybe the weight of a golf ball total. It did this before I put that stuff on too.

Warm out, but not desert heat yet. 70s? Pretty normal...
I actually drove it around today again and it did okay, didn't notice any cutoffs but man, that thing still gets incredibly hot. I was driving mostly on street, I am not sure what would happen if I tried to plow through just a bunch of grass... Seems worrisome just how hot it gets for pretty chilled out driving.

-Mike

[cooleocool]

What sort of run times are we talking about?

[nebulous.cow]

Hmm I got over 30 minutes out of a 1800mah 2s the last time I got out to fpv it around my yard. Esc screaming hot the whole time but it ran okay. Mostly tooling around but still got wide open on the throttle many times. Seems normal from others reports...

-Mike

Hmm. Today drove it again and this time for sure it had a thermal shutdown. Again just tooling around my yard... Only got halfway through the battery. Why???

-Mike

[vic2367]

maybe add a fan to the ESC ?

[nebulous.cow]

Yeah thought about that, just have to find one.

Mainly just bummed that out of the box it has an overheating problem, stock. Like traxxas could have easily put a bigger heat sink on there...

-Mike

[grizzly03]

There is a mod where you can flip the tranny gears. It would help but you will lose speed.

[nebulous.cow]

Oh wow! By any chance know the gears to swap? That might be good actually.

Thanks!
-Mike

[grizzly03]

Here is a good thread about it. It shows a picture "How to". How-to-do-transmission-flip=tranny+flip

[vic2367]

or contact traxxas and see if they could replace the ESC ?

[nebulous.cow]

or contact traxxas and see if they could replace the ESC ?

Maybe? I am just not sure if it is actually defective...

-Mike

[Remonster]

Maybe? I am just not sure if it is actually defective...

-Mike

Hey Mike,

I just received my brushed mini Summit (brand new) and I did have two thermal shutdowns with the 2820X 2S Traxxas LiPo. It seemed like as long as I'm keeping a fairly quick clip and not going from fast to slow, I can avoid it. I'm considering lapping the top of the FETs on the ESC and putting on a heat sink. We'll see how some future driving goes.

Otherwise, this car is a lot of fun. I've learned from many years of nitro Revo's and TMaxxes to have a healthy amount of throttle restraint so that probably helps! With the 2S LiPo, full throttle is properly "too fast" - only reserved for the occasional goose and high speed pass.