[somanywelps]

Originally Posted by ruckus

Be careful talking about motor issues, Somanywelps is likely to claim you imagined those failures and demand you furnish links to each..

Even the "jr" controllers of today put out more continuous amps than the "race" controllers just a short time back.

He's running the motors above 600A continuously. You're gonna have a bad time if you don't stay in the rated values.

[Yukon_Shane]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

You've got good hearing if you can hear the motor "sing" with the controller in quiet mode. I can hear it, too, but just barely.

Rigid mounting of the motor is almost certainly contributing to this.

What motor are you using? Are you maxed out on the motor amps setting?

I'm using a warp 9. The motor amps are maxed at 600, battery at 500.

Ya I'm fairly certain it's the motor mounting that's amplifieing this sound. I'm plotting a rework of the mounting that will likely eliminate the sound in the cab. it's far from being a real problem, just one of the hundred or so improvements I'll be working on now that I'm on the road.

[mk4gti]

Originally Posted by Yukon_Shane

The one thing that I wasn't expecting though was a high pitched noise under throttle. It's not very loud but it's at a frequency that's kind of annoying. I've switched the controller from performance mode to quiet mode and the sound is definatley improved but it's still there.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Another vote for high pitch sound, even in quiet mode.

Don't mind too much, sounds like the car is turbo-compressed

[Tesseract]

Originally Posted by mk4gti

Another vote for high pitch sound, even in quiet mode...

The controller abandons the higher frequency when it gets too hot, so if you aren't using liquid cooling you might as well not even bother with quiet mode.

[lowcrawler]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

The controller abandons the higher frequency when it gets too hot, so if you aren't using liquid cooling you might as well not even bother with quiet mode.

Is that point 65 degrees C, by any chance?


Is there any harm to routinely taking the Soliton (Jr) up to 85C?

[Tesseract]

Originally Posted by lowcrawler

Is that point 65 degrees C, by any chance?

Yep.

Originally Posted by lowcrawler

Is there any harm to routinely taking the Soliton (Jr) up to 85C?

Yes, the higher the operating temperature the faster ALL electronics will die. The heuristic, or rule of thumb, that is commonly used is that every 10C increase in temperature over 25C cuts the lifespan in half, so going from 25C to 85C cuts the lifespan by 64x. Whether that's a tolerable reduction depends on what the lifespan is to begin with, but that's not something we can practically determine without adding significantly to the cost of the product. It's unlikely to exceed 1000 hours at 85C, based on the statistical summation of the MTBF of all components at that temperature, however.

[lowcrawler]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

It's unlikely to exceed 1000 hours at 85C

Bummer.

I bought the Jr. because it is advertised that it could be run on air for reasonable driving (couple of miles on the freeway, mostly 40mph driving)... I didn't realize that, for all practical purposes, it can't.

...well, not without crushing the lifespan.


Now to redesign my car... Hrm....

[Tesseract]

Originally Posted by lowcrawler

Bummer.

I bought the Jr. because it is advertised that it could be run on air for reasonable driving (couple of miles on the freeway, mostly 40mph driving)... I didn't realize that, for all practical purposes, it can't.

Seriously? 1000 hours spread out over 30 minutes per day and 5 days per week is 7.7 years of operation. On most controllers you don't even get a choice of how to cool them, so your complaining about the fact that we give you a choice, but strongly recommend liquid cooling over air, seems a bit churlish. Heck, prior to us coming along not a single other controller manufacturer thought it was important to use a weather-resistant enclosure, and I can guarantee you that exposing the guts of these things to moisture, dust, bugs, etc, sure doesn't help their lifespan, either.

[lowcrawler]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

Seriously? 1000 hours spread out over 30 minutes per day and 5 days per week is 7.7 years of operation.

You know, I didn't do the math and simply 'mind-thought' "hey, 1000 hours doesn't sound like a lot".

Apologies, it was a gut emotional reaction.

That said, I'm still feeling a need to go with liquid now knowing I'm only looking at 64x the 'wear'. That said, if I can keep it around 75 I'd be happier... so I'm going to see if I can do it without a complete redesign. First thing I'm going to test is simply filling the channels...

And as for me 'complaining'... yes, I am to a certain extent. I'm not trying to be offensive, as I think your products are still the best on the market and I'd buy it again in a heartbeat (and if this one dies, I'll be buying another).
... But I don't think it's crazy that if one of the selling features is that it can be air cooled (which, like it or not, is a huge selling point for many of us trying to keep our builds simple)... it should actually be able to be air cooled to a reasonable level that doesn't take 98% of it's life away. As is, my small car without a lead foot rides on the freeway at 60mph at 80C in normal temps (21C) and 85C in warmer temps (29C)... and spikes to 75c just getting up to speed from a stop sign on a 35mph road regardless of temp. (all temps at which I'm significantly derated)

[ElectriCar]

I water cooled my 1 from the beginning. In fact today I drove it more than 100 yards for the first time. After a bit I heard a noise like a vacuum pump that wouldn't stop so I pulled over to investigate. As I was about to get out it dawned on me it was the coolant pump. It comes on at either 30C or 40C I think. Didn't really pay attention to the temps.