how hot is to hot?

[BIG JOSH]

How do you no if your esc and motor are running to hot? Probly a dumb questionbut motor and esc feel hot after mild sport flying.

[papa38]

What's your throttle curve set at? My motor and esc actually run hotter at a lower % setting. Esc's are actually switching the power off and on more at lower settings,to keep the motor going at a slower speed,which makes them get hotter.The switching is what builds the heat. If you run at 100%,it will stay cooler because it is not having to switch the power on and off.Make sense? The motors are actually more efficient at higher rpms. Jeff

[banditpowdercoat]

Acctually, most ESC's switch at a contant rate/frequency. ie 8khz, 12khz, 16khz settings. What does change is the ON time. The more speed the motor requires, the more ON time compared to OFF. PWM. Pulse Width Modulation. And it is a myth that ESC's heat up with slower speed. Log any ESC temps vs rpm/ I have done it with my CC Lite 50 and 120HV. Slower speed, less ESC temp. It's also laws of electrical physics as you are passing less current through the ESC. It's OHM's Law as well
Olden ESC's for Brushed Motors did speed control by wasting electricity to heat. But new Brushless controllers do not. they are On or OFF.

Now the Motor, how ever, can possibly get warmer. Motors want to run a specific RPM and put out a specific power level. If you reduce the voltage, and the load is sufficient, the motor can draw more current than it would if it was spinning faster. Thus, more current=more heat in motor. This more current flow can possibly add more heat to the ESC IF the current is above the amounts at the higher headspeed. Again, More Current, more heat.

If Motor and ESC are sized properly, lower HS will not substantiate more current though and you will not get higher ESC temps

And if I cant hold finger on motor for 2 seconds, I feel it's getting hot. ESC should be 15 sec maybe. But my heat tolerance might be different than yours.