RC Electronic Speed Control

Every RC vehicle or airplane or any other sort of machine needs an ESC to properly function. An ESC is an electronic speed control that is essential for proper functioning of an RC machine. An ESC basically controls the flow of current from your battery to the motor. So with an ESC, you can control the amount of flow of current from the battery to the motor and, therefore, control the speed.

ESC Types

The very first thing you should keep in mind is that the ESC for brushless motors and brushed motors are separate. You cannot use them interchangeably because brush and brushless motors don’t work the same way. There are, however, a few brushless ESCs that might work with the brushed motors as well but make sure you check that before buying.

How to select an ESC

Now selecting the rc esc is not that hard because you must have already selected the motor that you will be using with the powering system.

For selecting an ESC, you need to consider the amperage (usually mentioned by an A and called load) that you can find on the motor. Amperage of the motor gives you an idea about how much current the motor will draw. But since your motor might draw, and usually it does, more than the mentioned current on it, its good practice to get the ESC that can handle more than the mentioned Amps on the motor.

This is important because it’s an assurance for the scenario where your motor draws more than the recommended current which is dangerous for your equipment. A general rule is to get an ESC with 20% more Amps as that of the motor just to be on the safe side. Plus the ESCs get heavier with the higher Amps as well so you need to consider that too.

If you aren’t sure which Electronic Speed Control to get or you are confused between 2, 3 ESC then a good idea is to always get the electric speed controller with the highest ratings. This is to ensure safety of your equipment because higher Amp ratings of ESC might be an overkill and might put a little more weight but it is safer then picking the one that might cause failure.

Burst Rating

ESCs usually have a max burst rating which means how long your ESC can handle the max current flowing through it. So keep that in mind as well. This is important because your ESC can handle the max burst for 10-30 secs before getting into the danger zone.

BEC

BEC is another important factor that should be kept in mind while buying an ESC. BEC is battery eliminating circuit. A BEC basically lowers down the voltage of your battery so that it can safely be given to other components like servos. Usually an ESC will have its built-in BEC but you can also get an external one as well.

ESC charts

You will find a lot of Electronic Speed Control tables on the manufacturer’s website and on other resources that are very useful. These charts and tables will give you an idea about how big is the electric motor speed control, how much it weighs, how many cells of battery it can handle and all assorts of other stuff. So it’s always a good idea to make sure as well.

Usually you will find the recommended battery size on the ESC as well.

Remarks

This is pretty much what you should keep in mind before buying an Electronic Speed Control. It’s just the matter of getting the right combination of the voltages and current for your application. But if you do it carefully then you will have an awesome RC vehicle at your service in no time.