ESC
General ESC Questions
- What is an ESC?
- 4 in 1 ESC or individual?
- Is it okay to have a larger rated ESC for a motor? What about the other way?
What is an ESC?
An ESC or electronic speed controller’s primary purpose is to control the speed of the motors. It gives the motors an appropriate amount of current to spin based on the FCU’s commands.
A beautiful explanation of how this is achieved can be found here.
4 in 1 ESC or individual?
This is more of a personal choice, and each has its pros and cons. The biggest advantage of having individual ESC’s is that if one fails it is easier, cheaper to swap than to change the complete ESC. Conversely, though a 4 in 1 ESC takes up a lot less space and can be easily stacked with a matching flight controller. So, ask yourself - redundancy or efficiency?
Is it okay to have a larger rated ESC for a motor? What about the other way?
Having a larger rated ESC is perfectly acceptable and recommended. On the other hand, having an ESC which is rated lesser than the motor’s maximum current draw is a recipe for disaster. This is because the MOSFETs in the ESC are not rated for such high currents and burn up when such high currents are demanded by the motors. It is important to be very careful in these calculations because even if one motor or ESC fails the drone will crash immediately.
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