Check out the latest Quadrant BLHeli_32 ESC from X-Racer. Many thanks to FPVModel for giving us this opportunity to test these ESC’s.
Learn more about choosing ESC for mini quad. You can get the Quadrant BLHeli32 ESC from FPVModel:
- 25A: https://www.fpvmodel.com/x-racer-quadrant-2-6s-25a-32bit-blheli_32-esc-dshot1200_g1287.html
- 35A: https://www.fpvmodel.com/x-racer-quadrant-2-6s-35a-32bit-blheli_32-esc-dshot1200_g1299.html
Unbox
The Quadrant 25A came in a nice plastic box with foam padding while the 35A came in anti-static plastic bags.
What is Special about the Quadrant ESC?
Following the previous clever design of the BLHeli_S version, you can choose to solder the 4 ESC’s together as a single “4-in-1” ESC board and stack it under the flight controller. Or you can also install them separately on the arms. This gives great flexibility how you want to build your quad.
Left: DYS F20A 4in1 ESC; Right: Quadrant 25A ESC
Normally with 4in1 ESC, when you damage one ESC you would have to replace the whole board. But with the Quadrant you can replace just the faulty ESC by desoldering it.
All 4 ESC’s are identical so you don’t have to worry about getting different ones for each corner.
One thing I noticed was that these ESC’s don’t seem to line up very well on the table when I was taking photos. I have been told the easiest way to solder them together is to:
- File the rough edges carefully
- Use a frame or old FC/PDB and bolt it on with standoffs to use it as a jig to hold the Quadrant ESC in place before soldering
- If you are concerned with current draw, you could also flip it over and solder both sides
Limitations
If you like using it as a 4in1 ESC, the Quadrant doesn’t provide the wire connector like many other 4-in-1 ESC’s have. The connector keeps all the wires simple, clean and all in one place but in the case of Quadrant the signal wires are at different places and could be a little bit messier.
Signal wire connector on 4in1 ESC
It doesn’t have a onboard 5V or 12V voltage regulator, so you will still need a PDB if you want those voltage output for your gear such as FPV setup or FC/RX. The best thing to do would be to combine the Quadrant with a flight controller that has the voltage outputs you want. For example the Betaflight F3 has 5V/3A output.
By the way you will also need to get your own electrical wires for the power, and signal. 18AWG for power (positive and negative) and 28AWG/30AWG for signal and signal ground should do nicely.
Specification
Both 25A and 35A versions are capable of:
- Running BLHeli_32 firmware
- 2S-6S Lipo voltage input
- Supporting DShot (up to 1200), Multishot and Oneshot
Left: Quadrant 35A BLHeli32 ESC; Right: Quadrant 25A BLHeli32 ESC
You can see there is a current sensor on each of the ESC’s. In the future this will be used for monitoring current usage. There is also TX and RX pinout which will be used to connect to the FC for telemetry etc.
However there is some differences in the physical property between them.
25A XRacer Quadrant
- 25A current rating, 30A burst
- Weigth: 3g
- Size: 18mm x 24mm
35A XRacer Quadrant
- 35A current rating, 50A burst
- Weight: 3.3g
- Size: 20mm x 24mm
BLHeli_32 Firmware
The new BLHeli32 firmware is full of possibilities. The X-Racer Quadrant BLHeli_32 ESC’s come with firmware version 32.0. Here are the default settings:
Setting up FC passthrough to connect the ESC’s with BLHeliSuite32 configurator the first time was a bit tricky, here is how: https://oscarliang.com/blheli-32-esc-fc-passthrough/
Testing
I am using them as separate ESC’s in my mini quad as the stack is getting a bit too tall. It’s pretty easy to solder, but you will need quite a high temperature for me it was 450 degree Celsius. I wish they could include some electrical wires as well.
They are so smooth and barely getting warm after a flight. My setup is:
- XRacer F303 FC
- DYS Fire 2600KV motors
- DAL 5040×3 Props
Here is a flight video with the Runcam Split camera:
5 comments
I have the 35a BLH_32 version and I like them but it’s worth mentioning that the signal and telemetry pads are all on the same end of each esc so when you want to use it as a 4-in-1 it is a little harder to hinge your stack. The other thing is when soldering these together as a single board it’s very important not to try and bend them to see how strong your welds are. I can definitely see these pads lifting off doing so, so it’s important to get VERY hot and trust your connections. The biggest struggle I had was getting the 4 ESC’s hot enough at the same time and you’ll probably even need to change your tip to ensure more contact area and less time heating the boards.
Hello,
Very helpful article. I have a question. Is the X-Racer Quadrant 2-6S 25A 32Bit BLHeli_32 (or the 35A) ESC compatible with the F4 Betaflight controller?
Thanks,
James
One thing that I didn’t see on this review that would be super helpful for someone looking into using these as a 4 in 1 is to highlight on the esc where the signal wires go. You talked about the signal wires and the lack of connector on the esc, but I still have no idea where the signal goes on the esc’s. And if you mentioned this somewhere and I missed it is apologize. Thanks!
No LEDs?
Would look cool in 4in1 mode to have 2 LEDs face up adn 2 face down in the body of the quad.
No LED… but I agree :)