# navak thermal



## kra2y (May 31, 2008)

i have a havoc esc and a novak 17.5 and my motor thermals but it only reads 145. what is the thermal setting in the esc. novak says safe range for motors is up to 165.


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## XXX-Steve (Oct 23, 2008)

I think 165 is when the motor actually starts to damage. The cut-off on the ESC makes it so that the motor never reaches the temperature where it can become damaged.

You might want to take several readings on different points of the motor, too.


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## ta_man (Apr 10, 2005)

kra2y said:


> i have a havoc esc and a novak 17.5 and my motor thermals but it only reads 145. what is the thermal setting in the esc. novak says safe range for motors is up to 165.


When the ESC shuts off the motor can vary with the motor (because the thermal sensor is in the motor).

I have two 5800s that I have run with the same Havoc speed control in a Slash. The Slash is kind of heavy for a 1/10th car so it puts more load on the motor. One of those motors will run until I reach the cutoff on my 5000 LiPo. The other thermals in around 10 minutes even though I have a heatsink and a fan on it and the temp reading is only about 130. Of course, that is the ouside of the can. With the heatsink and fan cooling the outside, the motor is probably warmer on the inside where the sensor is. But I have no way of measuring that.


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## kevinm (Jan 16, 2002)

I was told by Novak tech. support that the thermal shutoff is supposed to be at around 170°F. Their website has a document that says 175°F is the maximum safe _external_ temperature.

http://www.teamnovak.com/tech_info/information_updates/novak_motor_doc.pdf

What are you using to measure the temperature? One thing most people don't realize is that infrared temperature senors are not very accurate when it comes to metal, due to a property called "emissivity". Some temp. guns allow you to change the emissivity setting. The Duratrax unit I've got comes preset at 95E, but suggests values of 21E for sandblasted aluminum and 77E for anodized aluminum. The 77E setting seems about right (I compared it to a contact temp. gauge) when aimed at the center ring of the motor, but I've noticed that it reads much lower when aimed at the ribbed end caps, probably because they're shiny.

Of course, it's also possible that either the ESC or the sensor in the motor has a problem. The sensors can be damaged by a crash or even when inserting a rotor.


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## kra2y (May 31, 2008)

i asume its the sensor in the motor. i have a gtb with a 13.5 novak in my xxxt and it never thermaled the other day and the temp was 195- oops. it was realy hot and i switched to a smaller track


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## kevinm (Jan 16, 2002)

Some of the newer GTBs do NOT check the motor's temp. sensor. "Novak Two" posted a while ago that they raised the limit to 190 for some, then removed the limit completely when "serious racers" complained about thermalling. Guess I'm not a serious racer. I'd rather have it thermal than let the smoke out.


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## kra2y (May 31, 2008)

i have the original gtb


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## NovakTwo (Feb 8, 2006)

kevinm said:


> Some of the newer GTBs do NOT check the motor's temp. sensor. "Novak Two" posted a while ago that they raised the limit to 190 for some, then removed the limit completely when "serious racers" complained about thermalling. Guess I'm not a serious racer. *I'd rather have it thermal than let the smoke out.*


Our new Havoc 1S, Havoc 2S, and Havoc 3S controllers all have the temp motor overload protection circuitry enabled. Motors and controllers are often pretty easy to overheat and damage under certain conditions, so we limited the motor exchangeability in these systems. You can only use Novak motors 8.5 turns and above.


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## NovakTwo (Feb 8, 2006)

kra2y said:


> i have a havoc esc and a novak 17.5 and my motor thermals but it only reads 145. what is the thermal setting in the esc. novak says safe range for motors is up to 165.


You may need to email [email protected] with your question. 



> *Please make your initial email as detailed as possible. Include:*
> 
> ~ warranty claim?
> ~ speed control (brand/model)
> ...


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## kra2y (May 31, 2008)

the infared temp sensors are acurate reading motor temp if you take the reading over top of a sticker on the can. its a way of getting around the emmisivity thing.


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## kra2y (May 31, 2008)

did some testing. the havoc thermals all my motors at 145 exactly. the same motors with the gtb thermal at exactly 155. my thermal sensor in the 13.5 doesnt work . 145 is awfull low for thermal temps


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## kra2y (May 31, 2008)

novak two
do you know the temp setting for the motor thermal. im getting 145 with any motor and a havoc. novak site says there safe untill 165 so why so low on the thermal sensor. cant use like that


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## NovakTwo (Feb 8, 2006)

kra2y said:


> novak two
> do you know the temp setting for the motor thermal. im getting 145 with any motor and a havoc. novak site says there safe untill 165 so why so low on the thermal sensor. cant use like that


I'll check with Steve and get back to you.


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## CustomWire (Jan 12, 2009)

kra2y said:


> did some testing. the havoc thermals all my motors at 145 exactly. the same motors with the gtb thermal at exactly 155. my thermal sensor in the 13.5 doesnt work . 145 is awfull low for thermal temps



i was told by novak gtb didnt have motor temps only esc temps ... mmmm the plot thickins


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## NovakTwo (Feb 8, 2006)

CustomWire said:


> i was told by novak gtb didnt have motor temps only esc temps ... mmmm the plot thickins


We removed the "blue wire" software from the GTBs years ago. I talked to Steve about this issue and I PMed Krazy last week to suggest contacting [email protected] directly for assistance. 

No GTB "plot thickening" happenin'.........
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You may need to email [email protected] with your question. Before emailing, take a moment to review the instructions originally included with your Novak Item:

Novak Instruction Downloads



> *Please make your initial email as detailed as possible. Include:*
> 
> ~ warranty claim?
> ~ speed control (brand/model)
> ...


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## kevinm (Jan 16, 2002)

Is there a way to tell if my GTBs have the motor thermal protection in them (aside from over-gearing)? Maybe by serial number?


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## NovakTwo (Feb 8, 2006)

kevinm said:


> Is there a way to tell if my GTBs have the motor thermal protection in them (aside from over-gearing)? Maybe by serial number?


How old is your GTB---we removed the motor overload protection years ago. What motors are you using? The GTB motor over-heating protections only worked with Novak motors. If you have a very old GTB, you can send it in and replace it with any one of 5 GTBs for a fixed price. No up charge for a different version.

Overgearing, advanced timing and bad(weakened mag material rotors) can all seriously overheat and damage your motor, and often your esc.


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## kevinm (Jan 16, 2002)

I've got 2 "normal" GTBs (both pretty old), one spread spectrum, and one 4-cell. There's no need to replace them, they all work fine. I'm just wondering if there's a way to tell whether the thermal protection is enabled and if so, at what temperature. They all have a label with what appears to be a serial number on it. Would this tell which version they are?


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