Mounting a cooling fan on a HobbyWing 120HV

[TheBum]

I flew my 7HV for the first time Saturday and after my last flight, which was somewhat gentle, I temped the ESC at 143F, so I'm thinking a fan may be in order. I figure a 60mm fan would be the way to go.

How do most people who run fans on this ESC mount the fan on the heat sink?

[TheBum]

I found a 50x50x10mm fan at Fry's. I ended up using zip ties with some fuel tubing to add a little more gap for incoming air.

[TheBum]

I did find out how to attach the fan with bolts, even though I'm not doing so at the moment. You can get M3.5 or #6 machine screws and screw them in between two adjacent fins.

[TheKingPhisher]

Thanks for the info.

Are you running 12S?

[Papabill]

how do you power the fan?

[TheBum]

Originally, I used 3 cells from the front pack's balance lead, but it was too easy to forget to plug it in. So, I added one of these:

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/products/swadjhv

[TheKingPhisher]

I'm not liking the idea of using the voltage step down as that is just one more extra part that could fail. If using a BEC probably better to hook it up to that.

[TheBum]

Originally Posted by TheKingPhisher

I'm not liking the idea of using the voltage step down as that is just one more extra part that could fail. If using a BEC probably better to hook it up to that.

It's just that much more load on the BEC. Plus, the fan I used moves a lot of air because it runs at 12V (overdriven to 13V). I'm also planning to loop the temp sensor for my TM1000 telemetry unit around the ESC so that, if the fan fails, I'll get a high temp alarm before the temperature gets critical.

[TheKingPhisher]

I don't think those little fans draw that much current, you might want to take a look at the specs...they shouldn't be more than a couple hundred mA at most.

[TheBum]

Originally Posted by TheKingPhisher

I don't think those little fans draw that much current, you might want to take a look at the specs...they shouldn't be more than a couple hundred mA at most.

160mA. It's a moot point anyway because the BEC and electronics can't run at 12V. Did I mention that it moves a lot of air? I think it actually helps cool the motor too.

[TheKingPhisher]

I thought you were running a HV setup that's why I suggested hooking up to the BEC and I'm well aware that it does cool down the ESC as I've been running fanned ESCs for over a decade on my R/C cars...in fact even my little Hobbywing 35A car ESC has a fan as standard from the factory...