Afro ESC

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Southernhammer
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Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:16 pm

Afro ESC

Post by Southernhammer »

Posting this here as it's a real simpleton question so people only have to answer if they feel like dealing with someone as basic as myself!

I have an Afro ESC (link below though mine was thankfully a bit cheaper) but I'm struggling to wrap my head around how to use it. Will it need it's own power or will it get it when connected up to the receiver?

I've been playing around with it but really don't want to break it so any advice on how to hook it up to something as simple as an N20 would be hugely appreciated!


https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 1081733227
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Kyro
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Re: Afro ESC

Post by Kyro »

this esc will need its own power supply to work... you can link the battery leads from this and your drive esc together and power both from 1 lipo. if this version has inbuilt bec, thenyou wilk want to disconnect the red wire from either this or the drive esc so that they do not fight eachother... (red wire from center of futaba plug that connects to your receiver)

i use the 20a version of this with built in bec but they make 2 versions, with and without bec... so see which yours is and wire up accordingly
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Kyro
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Re: Afro ESC

Post by Kyro »

also, this is a brushless esc and cannot be used with brushed motors like n20's... this esc is usually used in weapons for antweights like the dys be1806 bldc motor

you want a brushed esc... you can get some good ones cheap, or great one for a price... look for dual esc's as these will run 2 drive sides from 1 esc... otherwise you would need to hook 2 single esc's together like i mentioned above and if using this for a weapon that would make 3 esc's hooked together... quite a thing for a first build...

let me find you a link or 2 to some cheaper esc's, simmilarly there is the awesc or the nano 2 lite (rarely in stock) that spring to mind
Last edited by Kyro on Sun Dec 01, 2019 6:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Team Rocket
Trappist 1(4wd grab 'n' lift)
Ton 618 (4wd expanding bot)
Io(4wd flipper)
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Kyro
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Re: Afro ESC

Post by Kyro »

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-8AX2-Dual- ... 2749.l2649

this is a fairly new esc i have been experimenting with that so far has been great... it has built in mixing (although i turn this off and do my own through my transmitter)

so its pretty much foolproof when you have the basics down


i hope this helps
Team Rocket
Trappist 1(4wd grab 'n' lift)
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Southernhammer
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:16 pm

Re: Afro ESC

Post by Southernhammer »

Thanks, I'll admit the distinction between brushless and brushed is confusing to me so I still have trouble with it. Will look at the ESC you posted. I'm glad I can just link up a battery to both ESCs though so should be able to make that work.

Thanks for your help!
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LimaHotel
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Location: West Devon

Re: Afro ESC

Post by LimaHotel »

Brushed motors have 2 wires that go in : positive and negative. They are reliable, simple, but relatively powerless for their size. They're great for drive because of how simple they are - a stalled (not spinning) brushed motor will keep trying to spin.

Brushless motors work very differently. 3 wires go in, and the esc has to carefully time when it gives power to a complex ring of eclectic coils in order to push the magnets around the outside. Brushless motors are crazy powerful, but won't recover from a stall without resetting the throttle, and are generally more complex. They're typically used for weapons, and are usually drone outrunners.

The escs for brushed and brushless are not interchangeable. What an Esc does is take the power from the battery and the signal from the receiver and then output something to make the motor spin at the speed requested by the signal from the receiver. Brushed escs just vary how much power they output to the motor. Brushless escs vary how quickly they pulse the coils to push the magnets around.

Tl:dr: brushed = good for drive, have only 2 wires per motor.
Brushless = good for weapon, 3 wires per motor.
Esc goes between motor and battery, and turns signal from the reciever into how fast the motor spins.
(escs also often include a BEC output which steps the voltage from the battery down so you can then run your receiver off the same battery as the rest of your robot, by going via the esc.)
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