Why are Castle ESCs so expensive?

[jimbo--jones]

Boomer, you just add a capacitor in parallel with your main connecting wire. All you do is connect the resistor, before you connect the main cables together.
The resistor slows the rush of current, letting the caps charge slower.
After a sec or 2 you can connect the main cables together and then disconect the resistor.

say the resistance of the main connecting wires are 0.1ohm, and you are using 20 volt batteries,

I=V/R so therefore the current rush will be 20/0.1=200 amps.

Say you connect a 10ohm resistor 1st, the rush would only be 20/10=2 amps.

Im using 1/2 watt 47 ohm resistors then connect the main cables a few seconds after. only draws 0.42 amps then and the sparks are gone.

[ray schrauwen]

I have read that some people are informed that the spark lets them know the esc is working, well yes an no.

Yes if it sparks it is working but, if the caps fail and esc blows who gives a *!***!***!***!**.

O.k. I followed Chris from our club and from the Schulze web site between 20 ohms & I think 50 ohms is good. I would say 1/2 watt, or 1 watt, larger is always better.

I use 33 0hms I think 1 watt.

I just solered it inline with 2 aligator clips.

Plug in POS+ first, then NEG- but with the resistor clipped inline, wait about 10 seconds and then connect the negative lead.

The key is to keep the resistor plugged in while you make direct contact. If you disconnect the resistor, you will get a spark still, the longer disconnected the larger the spark since the caps are discharging as soon as they loose power.

It's very simple on 2P setups but for 1P some others have used a permanent resistor solered to one lead with the other lead bent over so you have to keep it connected.

I think I have a pic of that too.

[ray schrauwen]

Boomer, you just add a capacitor in parallel with your main connecting wire. All you do is connect the resistor, before you connect the main cables together.
The resistor slows the rush of current, letting the caps charge slower.
After a sec or 2 you can connect the main cables together and then disconect the resistor.

say the resistance of the main connecting wires are 0.1ohm, and you are using 20 volt batteries,

I=V/R so therefore the current rush will be 20/0.1=200 amps.

Say you connect a 10ohm resistor 1st, the rush would only be 20/10=2 amps.

Im using 1/2 watt 47 ohm resistors then connect the main cables a few seconds after. only draws 0.42 amps then and the sparks are gone.

Thank you, more & better info!

[jimbo--jones]

I am 100% with Ray on this subject.
All ESC's are good if used properly.
Last season I was using Doby's SV-27 very old ESC several times with good quality cap installed.. Ohh wait! There was propably few other guys using this ESc before me in emergancy on few diferent boats, motors and props. Well, guess what? This ESc is still going and going like Energizer Bunny...
T-180 from China is made using USA's FEDS.... and on and on. Capacitors is the key in my opinion and that is why I will allways use them to mod my ESC's
Just my few cents....
Robert

They look like normal caps? Id be carefull if they are. They heat up way more than rubycons.

[LiPo Power]

No temp issues so fare....

They look like normal caps? Id be carefull if they are. They heat up way more than rubycons.

[Boomer]

Ah!This helps. Thank you
Boomer

[JackBlack26]

I am 100% with Ray on this subject.
All ESC's are good if used properly.
Last season I was using Doby's SV-27 very old ESC several times with good quality cap installed.. Ohh wait! There was propably few other guys using this ESc before me in emergancy on few diferent boats, motors and props. Well, guess what? This ESc is still going and going like Energizer Bunny...
T-180 from China is made using USA's FEDS.... and on and on. Capacitors is the key in my opinion and that is why I will allways use them to mod my ESC's
Just my few cents....
Robert

Do the extra caps just get added as shown, to the power wires?

Coming over to FE bats from land bases R/Cs I can tell you that NO ONE in the industry can match Castle's customer service and their eagerness get you back to playing with your toys. I had a Mamba Monster ESC go bad and they sent me out a new one before I sent the old one in using my CC as collateral. No questions asked. I highly doubt Hobby King will do that. But unfortunately our economy forces some of us to look for cheaper replacements since there isn't much money to spare for this expensive hobby now days. If it were up to me, I would run nothing but Castle electronics, motors included. But because I'm jobless and only my wife is working right now, I have to make due with whats available in my price range.

[ray schrauwen]

Good points Blackjack.

One day I hope to own a Schulze 40-160 or better, one day....

[Boomer]

In conclusion

I sure appreciate all the really great input to my inquiry. I am going forward to install capacitors on my boats! Very helpful information!!

I am a sucker for outstanding service and quality, but driven more by the actual value being offered, not by price. A low price might get my attention, but I will take the time to check out the actual value being offered, which I am doing here via this thread. A price that is too low, can be an invitation to problems.

The issue here, at least to me, seems to be that the margin (profit) Castle has set for their products, maybe a bit more than current market conditions permit to capture the value hunters. I hope their business is doing well, but if they haven't noticed it yet, the economy is in the "toilet" and that most of us are having to cut back (perhaps way back) on just about everything. I know I sure am!

For this discussion, I think we are safe in concluding that Castle adds value to their products, and that there are a number of you that feel their added value is worth the difference in price between these two companies ESC's.

We have also read reports of failures and successes with both products, so we know both work, and both fail. We have read reports of outstanding service from the Castle team, and not so great service from the Hobby King folks, but in time, they will come through and provide replacements. In most cases the failed or defective product has to be returned before a replacement can be sent. (which is the norm) It is clear, by the reports here, that the Castle people are the clear winners when it comes to timely responses to any problem. It is reasonable to conclude that Castle products and other high end ESC's may in some ways be of higher quality than the Turnigy products.

I would certainly give Castle products a shot if they were a bit more realistic with their pricing. If the consumer can by two or perhaps even three of your competitors equivalent item, for the same price as one of yours, you are facing some serious long term market share issues, and possibly worse long term bottom line issues.

I'd like to believe that the good guys win, but in the last decade, I am not seeing it. The market drivers have changed. I buy American products when and where possible, but it is very hard to find things that are actually made here. It really is tragic !

Again, thank you all for the great discussion and tips! Super job.
Boomer

[JackBlack26]

Boomer, if it helps you can get on the Tower Super Savor club and get a Hydra 120 for $152.99 which still qualifies it for free shipping too. That's a $25 savings + shipping.

When I've returned things to Castle they have taken care of shipping too. Since I left them a CC as collateral and they sent me out a new unit, they included a return label and package for the defective item to be returned to them. IMO, this is the type of service that warrants the higher prices.

I placed and order with HK a while ago and it got canceled for some reason, on their end. I could not get a hold of anyone on the phone, of course. Once I finally got someone through their site on "chat", they told me they knew nothing about my $150 or why they canceled it. Then they told me it was payPal's fault, lol. Paypal was telling me that they had withdrawn the money from my account and it was definitely in HK's account. After filing a dispute and waiting on my $150 for 10 days, Paypal returned it. Asides from that, shipping is usually double the price of one item, if you want it in 7-10 days, and if you get a return authorization for an item that has failed, you flip the bill for the return of a $60 item back to China. How long you will wait for a replacement, I don't know as I have much rather throw the item away than waste any more money on it.

I have had great luck with their $14.99 2S 20-30 LiPos though considering you can get about 6 of them for just over $100 shipped. Cant beat that!!

Just something else to consider.

Rafael

[Boomer]

Rafeal
Good tip! I checked it out - costs $9.99 for a year. Worth a try. Thank you.

Boomer

[Boomer]

Bondo
That is very cool. Thank you and Ray and all that have replied.
Merry Christmas Guys!
Boomer

[Jmauld]

Boomer its almost an old story at this point. American company designs an innovative product. Sends it to china to be developed. Chinese companies rip it off and sell it for half the price. American company goes out of business. Shame on us for giving our manufacturing capability away.

Send an email to castle and let them know you prefer a USA made product, or just turn your head and buy the cheapest thing you can find from china. Your choice.

[Boomer]

The powers to be at Castle determine their margins and are the ones that should be paying attention to the market conations, trends etc. They are big boys, and if their strategy is to sell a product at more than double what others are selling theirs for, that is their choice. There are even more expensive ESC's out there so, there are many choices for us.

Manufacturing off-shore sadly, is a reality of our times. Too many people are to blame to start naming them.
I looked at all of my RC boats and planes and am sad to report that every darned one of them was made in China. Would I rather buy American? Absolutely, and yet we continue to buy them. Why are they made over there? So we all can afford to buy them.

I hope this can be turned around at some point, but not going to hold my breath. For now, I will continue to shop around to find the best value for my dollars.

Merry Christmas to all
Boomer

[ray schrauwen]

You will see changes soon enough. The Yuan is to be re-valued in the new year. How much is the question.

Eventually as China becomes a bigger consumer and the price of their goods goes up, hopefully the USA will get rolling again, more competition with prices more competitive.