Has a worthy ESC been born? The Castle XLX2 looks to be an excellent ESC.

[RaceMechaniX]

Here goes a new thread guys on looking at the Castle XLX2 for model boats. Beta testers have been reporting 400A, 500A and even 600A running with this new ESC and failures are not that common. This is an 8S rated ESC which power just about anything we can throw at it and you get a 100% potted/waterproofed ESC with Castle excellent logging. I watched several guys run them at a recent TT in Huntsville and was sufficiently impressed to pull the trigger and look at modifying one for marine use. So here goes the details.

Basic images:
Castle XLX2 Pic 1.jpg

Castle XLX2 Pic 2.jpg

Castle XLX2 Pic 4.jpg

How it stacks up against the King:

Castle XLX2 Pic 5.jpg

Castle XLX2 Pic 6.jpg

Cont'd

[RaceMechaniX]

Cont'd:

Castle XLX2 Pic 7.jpg

Castle XLX2 Pic 8.jpg

Basic dimensions:

Castle XLX2 Pic 10.jpg

Castle XLX2 Pic 11.jpg

Castle XLX2 Pic 12.jpg

Cont'd

[RaceMechaniX]

Cont'd:

Castle XLX2 Pic 13.jpg
Fan Removed.
Castle XLX2 Pic 14.jpg
Fan shroud removed:
Castle XLX2 Pic 15.jpg

Castle XLX2 Pic 17.jpg
Fins removed.
Castle XLX2 Pic 23.jpg

The fins come off pretty easy with a side to side bending of a pair of pliers. A small rib is left over which can be sanded down.

Cont'd

[RaceMechaniX]

Some elbow grease later the stock heat sink is sanded fairly flat and ready for a water cooled heat sink to be glued on.

Castle XLX2 Pic 25.jpg

I have designed a two part water cooler for the XLX2 and am working with Gabe at Stump Fabrication to make a small production run of coolers.
I'll work on a "how to" convert the ESC to water cooling after I check the fitment.

Castle XLX2 cooler.jpg

Hopefully this all pans out and we will have a great 4 cell, 6 cell and 8 cell controller for just about any motor combination. Castle are working on an HV version but no dates yet that I know of.

-Tyler

[ray schrauwen]

Thank you Tyler for doing this. Looks like a winner!

[fweasel]

Awesome. I have a converted Mamba XL2 that has always performed well for me and would love to use more Castle ESC's in other builds. It's also compatible with the Futaba telemetry which would be pretty cool to have without the need for external sensors.

[Panther6834]

I'm guessing, the mounting holes are perfectly aligned with the ESCs original fan mount screw holes. Yea, I know what I just said could easily bring up a dozen innuendos...lol


~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[NativePaul]

Have they sorted out the issues with them burning up when attached to low impedance motors now?

I heard good reports of the ESCs capability on release, but it wasn't long before repots of burnouts in use and on plugin came out. I have lost a castle on plugin myself in the past, and it scared me off. Last I heard Castle were saying don't use one with high KV motors or any D winds.

For my use this is a SAWs ESC, and all my SAWS motors are D winds that are high KV.

[RaceMechaniX]

Paul,

I know Castle struggled with the early release of the new XLX2 and had to recall a number of ESC's but I believe that has all been corrected. There are guys running these in 1/5 drag cars running absurd KV's. These are motors like TP4070's, LMT 3060's and Neu 1530's. Even the old Schulzes struggled with the 1D's. It sounds like Castle has improved the commutation control and is able to handle the hot winds. I sold all my 1D, 0.5D and 0.5Y motors years ago since no ESC would get along with them otherwise I would test one for you.

-Tyler

[HTVboats]

Tyler,
Thanks for the info and while reading I thought a great project for Gabe at Stumpfab. and you were ahead of us there. One of the hardest questions for new boaters is what ESC for high power 200+ amps. I also like Castle and this seems to be an easy conversion. One question is it doesn't look to have the usual "cap bank". Are you going to add caps?
I know 8S (S class) is not a popular racing class (other than scale) but I like it over Q. Everyone that runs P or P/L has 4 cells that allows the move up to "S" with their existing batteries.
Keep the info coming.
Mic

[LibertyMKiii]

Well dang, I was hoping this would be my competitive secret in boating. Prepare to see lots of new records and broken drivelines!!!

The XLX 2 is an amazing ESC and runs very cool. Looking forward to your cooling block Tyler!

Some early production XLX2 ESCs had shorting issues into the base of the esc due to not enough isolating thermal paste used on the bottom board into the lower aluminum ESC case.

For reference on smaller boats the Mamba Monster X 8s esc is very close in power with a very compact size. The MMX8s will run a bit warmer, but still runs much cooler than the XLX (original) or the MM2 ESCs. One thing to note is that the MMX8s stops reading/logging the amperage at 400a, but will go beyond as it is not amperage limited.

I had set a 1/7 scale Arrma Limitless world record on 2s at 86 mph with the MMX8s ESC and a TP4050.

[donhuff]

HUFFRACING has been running a couple of the xlx2 esc for a few months now and have had great success with them. At the record trials Tyler spoke about, in my P-limited mono on some SAW runs, we were pulling 414 amps (2575kv and abc 2015-17-45) and the controller got up to only 118*F. And this was after 3 or 4 passes. Our Q mono was pulling a tad under 400 and it stays cool also.

I have converted to water cooled similar to like Tyler is doing, only I leave some of the fins breaking off only the ones on the outside edge. Then I make a water box to go over the fins that are left. I feel putting the water directly on the fins get the best cooling. I had a couple at the shop that I just converted for a friend, and have more coming in tomorrow. I'll get a few pictures to show how I'm doing it.

I have also converted a few of the smaller x-8s. This one is a better fit in a limited boat and pulls 250 amps without a hickup. It does seem to get a little hotter, but it's about half the size of the big one.

[longballlumber]

What Castle connector size is potted into the motor side board?

[LibertyMKiii]

What Castle connector size is potted into the motor side board?

XLX2 is 8mm and the mmx8s is 6.5mm

[LibertyMKiii]

Tyler,
Thanks for the info and while reading I thought a great project for Gabe at Stumpfab. and you were ahead of us there. One of the hardest questions for new boaters is what ESC for high power 200+ amps. I also like Castle and this seems to be an easy conversion. One question is it doesn't look to have the usual "cap bank". Are you going to add caps?
I know 8S (S class) is not a popular racing class (other than scale) but I like it over Q. Everyone that runs P or P/L has 4 cells that allows the move up to "S" with their existing batteries.
Keep the info coming.
Mic

The XLX2 has excellent ripple suppression. Very few people find that they need an additional cap pack.
The MMX8s, however often does need the extra capacitors. Especially on 8s.

I recommend running without initially and pull the data logs. If the ripple voltage is high then add the cap pack.