Maximum length of basic ESC signal wires

Hi,
Could someone let me know the maximum length that I can use for the yellow, brown, red signal wires. I would like to have around 5 metre length. Would there be a delayed control ?
Thanks.

Hi Gary,

The yellow and brown wires (PWM and ground) are the only ones necessary for passing along the signal The red wire is just a 5V power output from the BEC, you don’t need to use that one if you don’t need to power anything with it.

Are you only extending the signal wires, or the main ESC power wires as we well? The danger with extending the power wires is a mismatch of voltage between the controller and ESC stemming from the voltage drop over a longer power cable. In this case, if the thruster is run at high current and the voltage is sufficiently mismatched, the signal will distort and become invalid. This will cause the ESC to shut down- in extreme cases, it could damage the ESC or controller. If you are extending both the power and signal wires this should only be about 2m total to be safe. You could get away with a longer length if you used very thick power cables to minimize voltage drop.

If you only need to extend the signal wires, then this should be fine, and will not cause a delay in response. I’m not sure how far a standard PWM signal can travel, but 5m shouldn’t cause an issue.

-Adam

Hi Adam,

Thanks for your quick reply.

Noted, only the yellow PWM and black ground are required for the ESC signal, for which 5m length will not cause a delay in response. Also noted the red wire is only for a 5v power output, not required for the signal.

So I can use the 5V BEC power supply to power a servo motor close to the ESC so no drop in voltage, but need to extend the servo motor signal wires (presume yellow and black same as the ESC) to 5m to my motor controller so hopefully no delay in signal to the servo motor also.

I will supply the main power to the ESC from a battery near the ESC so this will not be extended.

Best regards,
Gary

Gary,

Yes that sounds right. With a battery right next o the ESC, this setup should be fine with no issues.

-Adam

I use a couple of CAT6 boards from ServoCity for long runs.

Phil

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