Brushless Motor and ESC FAQ

A: Gearing will depend on the car and the track. Brushless motors have a lot more torque than brushed motors. As a result they are being geared much higher then what we gear brushed motors. As we get some more testing done with these motors in different cars we will be able to answer this better. Here is a rule of thumb though for mod motors (7.5 or less). Take the wind of the BL motor and double it. This is an approximate Brushed equivalent. (ie. 6.5 X 2 = 13T) Start gearing the motor the same as the brushed equivalent and go up from there. Keep an eye on motor temps. Try and keep the motor under 160 deg F and never hotter then 180 deg F. You can adjust gearing based on track conditions. The more gear you give the motor the faster it will go but temps will go up as well. For the 10.5, 13.5 and 17.5 motors we are finding you need much taller gears to get these motors to work at there full potential. More info on these motors will come as we get more track time.

A: It is recommended to run the fan at all times. A cooler ESC is a more efficient ESC. for 10.5 and higher BL motors the fan does not seem to be needed. If you don't want to run it. Keep an eye on the ESC temps. They should be below 160 as well.

A: The sensor wire is required for the ESC to keep track of where the rotor is in the motor. The enables the ESC to ensure the motor is always spinning in the correct direction and gives smoother low speed feel. It is recommended to use the sensor wire at all times. All Brushless motors can work without the sensor wire. If you need to you can run without one but make sure you program the speed control for sensorless mode (if you are using a GT)

A: Banzai believes they have the best combo of speed control and motor on the market today. The speed control is very important when it comes to BL motor technology to get the most out of your motor. The GT speed control is one of the most programmable speed controls on the market to get the most out of your brushless motor. With that being said you can run any 540 size sensored or sensorless motor with the GT speed control. You can also use the Banzai BL motors with most other speed controls. The motors will run in both sensored (with sensor wire and compatible censored speed control) or sensorless mode (without sensor wire and a sensorless speed control).

A: Due to how the BL motors work you need a speed control that has 3 phase wires and is programmed to run BL motors. You cannot run a BL motor with a brushed only ESC. 

A: The Banzai GT speed control is one of the most advanced and adjustable speed controls on the market today. What is even better it is also one of the easiest to adjust with the included programming box. There is similar information included with the speed control but I will hit on some of the things we have learned running these in offroad.

Lets go through the different settings one by one.

First off verify all the throttle settings on the radio are set to the factory settings with all EPA's at 100% and throttle neutral a 0.

Setting 1 Running mode. For racing this should always be set to #1 since reverse is not legal for racing.

Setting 2 Drag break force: We have been running this setting at 20% (level 4) as this has given us a close to "brushed" drag feel. Set this to your personal preference level.

Setting 3 Low Voltage Threshold: Set to the appropriate level if you are running a lip. Set to non-protection if running NiMh or NiCd cells.

Setting 4 Start mode also called DRRS: This setting is where the GT speedo shines. With the massive amount of torque BL motors can produce, the car can become very hard to control on surfaces with lower levels of traction like we run in offroad. The lower the level setting the smoother the motor will feel. This setting will take start up torque away from the motor. Similar to how old brushed ESC's used current limiters. There are 9 levels to chose from. We have been running levels 2-5 for offroad conditions. We have found the higher levels too aggressive for offroad where there is limited traction. Levels 2-3 for loose track conditions and 4-5 as traction improves for high traction clay or blue groove tracks.

Setting 5 Maximum break force: We have found that at least 75% setting is required. You can turn it all the way up to 100% and then adjust out breaks on the radio if you like. Less then 75% breaks and the car will not have enough mid air control to bring the nose down over jumps.

Setting 6: N/A you should not be running reverse for racing

Setting 7 Initial Brake Force: If you like lots of brakes you can turn this setting up but to maintain linear brakes set this to level 1 = Drag Break force

Setting 8 Neutral Range: Factory setting of 2 works great. If you like more or less dead band (amount you need to move the throttle before anything happens.) this is a personal feel setting.

Setting 9 Timing: This setting is something unique to the GT for a sensored motor. Most all other sensored ESC's will require you change the timing on the motor if you want to adjust this. The GT will do this through software like a sensorless motor. This setting does essentially the same thing as adjusting the timing on a brushed motor. Less timing is more torque a little less top end. More timing is a little less torque and a little more timing. More timing is used for more open flowing tracks. Turn down the timing for more technical tight tracks.

Setting 10 Motor type: Self explanatory

Setting 11 Over-heat protection: Set this to Non-Protection. There have been some issues with the ESC when this is set on. If you run the fan there should be no heat issues for the ESC and motor temps should be monitored with a temp gun. You can purchase an temp gun for about $25 at your local hobby shop.