If necessity is the mother of invention, then being cheap is the father! At one time I had a Traxxas ESC cooling fan. I won't get into how I lost it, but the darn thing cost me $25. In addition to that, I had an Integy 2 fan motor heatsink. That one cost me $16. Both of the Integy fans exploded eating rocks. So with those two gone and the Traxxas fan missing, I decided to look for a better “cheaper” solution. Here's what I come up with... 2 – 5v fans (see below) 1 – JST female connector pigtail Double faces mounting tape Aluminum Sheet (1.0625” x 6” x .025”)
Sunon MagLev 30mm 5v Side Vent Blower Fan Specifications: 30mm x 30mm x 10mm thick 8000 RPM 1.1 CFM 5 VDC 0.65 watts 0.13 Amp 0.26 Inch-H20, Static Pressure 30 dBA, Noise 10.5 gram weight http://store.reuseum.com/Sunon_30mm_MagLev_Side_Vent_Blower_Fan_p/Sunon-Fan-070711.htm
First Prototype: This one offers better protection from the rocks but also restricted the intake somewhat. It proved the theory and kept the ESC cool even on a warm afternoon and 2 LiPo packs. The friction fit held up to several crashes and a few jumps. It stayed in place no problem. Note: During this test cycle I ran three of these fans on the single ESC fan tap with no noticeable problems. In the refinements I plan to only run two on the ESC fan tap because I plan on mounting two fans on the motor heatsink that I'll tap into the receiver.
Second Refinement: The design was to turn the first prototype inside out. The aluminum mount was much easier to fabricate and the wedged friction fit was proven to hold up. The fans mounted vertical will shed the stones. Step 1 Fold the aluminum
No and Yes. The ESC hasn't been too warm to hold my finger on it. But it being one of the most expensive components, a little insurance is good. I've been running 7.4v 2S1P 5000mah LiPos for about a month now. And I've changed the gearing from 13/54 to a 14/52. I've noticed the motor heating up now without a fan. So I'm going to fit a twin blower to the motor heatsink next.
Heat is a bi-product of incorrect gearing and tuning. Save your time and money and look at your setup to try and keep things cooler. Heat is "dispersed" or absorbed in electronics, just because you keep the heat sink cool doesn't mean that the internal "fets" (voltage and frequency regulators) aren't still burning alive internally. This same principle applies to guys who run cars on a track so to speak. When they have an overheating problem they increase cooling capacity without looking for the root cause of the heat. This in turn may keep there engine cooler on a guage (as would be your heatsink) but is still doing internal damage over time to the engine by it still running to hard. Check your setup and make the tweaks. I run ZERO heatsinks or fans on any of my BL stuff and have yet to have an issue.
BTW, how do your fans breathe? It looks as if there mounted directly without means of through ventilation. If the fan is just mounted on a piece of aluminum it will do nothing. It must have air coming through.
Sinistercad; Thanks for the technical view. I'll recheck my setup, especially the pinion gear mesh. Most of my fellows here don't run any fans either. But they also have not applied any mods or upgrades. I only have this one RC vehicle, so I'll bling it to a fault. The fans are side vent blowers.
Sinistercad; Thanks again for the heads-up on my setup. I found that the pinion gear mesh was too tight. All fixed for now.
