Does the Torox 185 come with a cap pack?

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DaniC

DaniC

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Corally RC's
  1. Kronos XTR
Hi Guys,

Simple question, does the Torox 185 ESC come with a cap pack? The Hobbywing Max8 does comes with one, uninstalled so you can chose if you want to put it on or not. Some people say the Torox 185 is a rebranded Max8, but I'm not convinced it is as it supports higher amperage.
I don't see anything about a cap pack on the specs or the manual, and I see they sell it separate so I guess it's not included?
Also, while we're here, how do you know when you need a cap pack or not? On my Traxxas MAXX I have a Max8 and didn't install the cap pack and seems fine (running 4S), I'm wondering about the Torox 185 on the Kronos XTR.
 
DaniC said:
Hi Guys,

Simple question, does the Torox 185 ESC come with a cap pack? The Hobbywing Max8 does comes with one, uninstalled so you can chose if you want to put it on or not. Some people say the Torox 185 is a rebranded Max8, but I'm not convinced it is as it supports higher amperage.
I don't see anything about a cap pack on the specs or the manual, and I see they sell it separate so I guess it's not included?
Also, while we're here, how do you know when you need a cap pack or not? On my Traxxas MAXX I have a Max8 and didn't install the cap pack and seems fine (running 4S), I'm wondering about the Torox 185 on the Kronos XTR.
Click to expand...
https://www.corallyforum.com/threads/cap-packs-when-and-how.212/
 
The Punisher was the first car to come with the cap pack, I think it was a running change and eventually all of them had it, but I'm not sure. If you get an ESC from a Punisher, you definitely get it, if you don't, well, you might.
 
If you do decide to run a cap pack and can solder, save yourself some cash and make your own. (YouTube tutorials)

For the money you'll spend on a premade pack you can order significantly larger caps and plenty of them. Do a little research on capacitor microfarrads (uF) and voltages. (YouTube)

Additionally, double check the cap pack you're considering buying to ensure it's rated high enough for the volts you're going to run. I've found plenty on the market that are far under voltage for 8s and some good only for 4s. The worse part is that many retailers don't list what volts the caps are rated for.

Capacitors also come in different quality, cheap is cheap.
A cheap prebuilt cap pack of nominal uF size is a waste of money when you could have soldered up own pack.

You can't have too many caps unless you run out of room, then you have just enough.

When you consider the long term effects of current ripple on your expensive ESC you'll see that a proper cap pack is good insurance. Inexpensive, good insurance.

Just my 2 cents
 
Corey said:
If you do decide to run a cap pack and can solder, save yourself some cash and make your own. (YouTube tutorials)

For the money you'll spend on a premade pack you can order significantly larger caps and plenty of them. Do a little research on capacitor microfarrads (uF) and voltages. (YouTube)

Additionally, double check the cap pack you're considering buying to ensure it's rated high enough for the volts you're going to run. I've found plenty on the market that are far under voltage for 8s and some good only for 4s. The worse part is that many retailers don't list what volts the caps are rated for.

Capacitors also come in different quality, cheap is cheap.
A cheap prebuilt cap pack of nominal uF size is a waste of money when you could have soldered up own pack.

You can't have too many caps unless you run out of room, then you have just enough.

When you consider the long term effects of current ripple on your expensive ESC you'll see that a proper cap pack is good insurance. Inexpensive, good insurance.

Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Awesome advice! I'll seriously consider this! I can solder no problem and I have a good understanding about how electricity works etc, in any case if I get stuck I can always ask my dad, he's and electrical engineer. 😀
 
Dr.AB-Racing!!!!!!!!!(y)(y)(y)(y)(y)
 
Corey said:
If you do decide to run a cap pack and can solder, save yourself some cash and make your own. (YouTube tutorials)

For the money you'll spend on a premade pack you can order significantly larger caps and plenty of them. Do a little research on capacitor microfarrads (uF) and voltages. (YouTube)

Additionally, double check the cap pack you're considering buying to ensure it's rated high enough for the volts you're going to run. I've found plenty on the market that are far under voltage for 8s and some good only for 4s. The worse part is that many retailers don't list what volts the caps are rated for.

Capacitors also come in different quality, cheap is cheap.
A cheap prebuilt cap pack of nominal uF size is a waste of money when you could have soldered up own pack.

You can't have too many caps unless you run out of room, then you have just enough.

When you consider the long term effects of current ripple on your expensive ESC you'll see that a proper cap pack is good insurance. Inexpensive, good insurance.

Just my 2 cents
Click to expand...
Good Advice!
I still need to do some for my arrmas.
 
DaniC said:
Awesome advice! I'll seriously consider this! I can solder no problem and I have a good understanding about how electricity works etc, in any case if I get stuck I can always ask my dad, he's and electrical engineer. 😀
Click to expand...
Well then, you should listen to him! Lol

I've done my research but he would understand this stuff properly.
Ask him what "dirty current" and current ripple does to electronics over time. I think I've got the important parts right but I'd really like to hear from an actual professional on this topic.
 
Corey said:
Well then, you should listen to him! Lol

I've done my research but he would understand this stuff properly.
Ask him what "dirty current" and current ripple does to electronics over time. I think I've got the important parts right but I'd really like to hear from an actual professional on this topic.
Click to expand...
Will do, I'll see him in a couple of weeks and I'll try to find time to talk about this. A nice opportunity for me to lure him into RC, I'm sure he would like the hobby, I'm not sure he would like the extra expense. :ROFLMAO:
 
Ok so I've taken @Corey 's advice and I've started doing some research on capacitors to see if I can start building my own cappacks. From what I can gather so far there's two basic ratings to look for, maximum voltage a capacitor can withstand and the capacity which is typically measured in microfarads (symbolized µF). Cappacks are build by connecting multiple capacitors in parallel.
The cappack that comes with the Hobbywing Max8, and the one TC sells for the Torox 185 is rated for 35 volts (that would be 8S max) and has 4 capacitors with a capacitance of 470µF each (1880µF total capacity).

So based on this I think I'll stick with 35V capacitors as it's 2S over the intended application, and I'll probably get higher capacity capacitors, but not too high so that they're still of a reasonable physical size, I'm thinking 680µF each, and will probably go for 6 in parallel for a total of 4080µF which would give 117% more capacity than the stock cappack.
Now there's the question of the circuit board to mount the cappack, the smallest I could find are 2x8cm or 2.5x6.4cm, I think I like the 2.5x6.4 better, what do you guys think?

In terms of pricing it's a no-brainer! I can get 10 PCBs and 20 capacitors for half the price of the stock cappack.

Am I missing something? Is there some magic formula to calculate the perfect cappack size or is it just the bigger the better?
 
You've got it right that max voltage is critical.

For capacity, bigger is better. I'd go as large as you can reasonably fit in there. Caps do get hot when overworked, going big will help them run cooler.
I've not found a formula for an ideal size, only warnings not to go too small.

Marine grade heat shrink tube is highly reccomended but don't forget to waterproof the pack before heat shrinking.

I thought you guys would like the savings by building your own packs.
 
Corey said:
You've got it right that max voltage is critical.

For capacity, bigger is better. I'd go as large as you can reasonably fit in there. Caps do get hot when overworked, going big will help them run cooler.
I've not found a formula for an ideal size, only warnings not to go too small.

Marine grade heat shrink tube is highly reccomended but don't forget to waterproof the pack before heat shrinking.

I thought you guys would like the savings by building your own packs.
Click to expand...
Maine grade heat shrink?! Didn't even know that was a thing! What other ways of water proofing are recommended? A layer of silicone before the (normal) heat shrink?
 
I like "liquid Tape" for this sort of thing, it's messy but it works great. Silicone conformal coating is good too.

Marine grade heat shrink is more abrasion resistant but you could double up the regular stuff if you already have it and be just fine.
 
DaniC said:
Hi Guys,

Simple question, does the Torox 185 ESC come with a cap pack? The Hobbywing Max8 does comes with one, uninstalled so you can chose if you want to put it on or not. Some people say the Torox 185 is a rebranded Max8, but I'm not convinced it is as it supports higher amperage.
I don't see anything about a cap pack on the specs or the manual, and I see they sell it separate so I guess it's not included?
Also, while we're here, how do you know when you need a cap pack or not? On my Traxxas MAXX I have a Max8 and didn't install the cap pack and seems fine (running 4S), I'm wondering about the Torox 185 on the Kronos XTR.
Click to expand...
I am a little new to electric rc racing myself. The Torox 185 used by Corally does come with a cap pack. There are two XT90 connectors coming from the motor when using this with one battery the loop connector is plugged into the one with the cap pack on it. As to whether you need one or not I can not help you as I said I am a bit of a novice. All I can say is my Python buggy on 6S is a flying machine even on a rough playing field.
 
I bought a TOROX 185 esc and Kuron Motor for my Kronos XTR back in November 2021.

It came with a cap pack and dual plugs. This configuration allows the user to choose between single 6S packs, 4S or 2x 3S packs etc. I'm sure people have been tempted to try 2x 4S but this will certainly result in magic smoke.

The cap packs are arranged purely to reduce voltage spikes as the ESC supplies pulses to the motor. Potentially, spikes could cause premature failure of the ESC, even when operated well within the rated current handling stated in the specs.

I used to use them in 1/10th racing to preserve the life of my (very expensive) Novak GTB ESC's, which I used for Touring and Buggy for Super Stock and Modified racing.

A great article on this can be found here:

Cap Packs on ESC's
 
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