Balloon Stops ESCaping Heat

Balloons are great for protecting your receiver and some other internal parts on your RC. But I read a tip in an old RC book the other day that suggested wrapping your ESC in a balloon to protect it. What?! Wait a minute I thought to myself. That doesn't seem like a very good idea. Sure, less dirt and debris will get in, but what about what can't get out?

An ESC, pushed hard, heats up quite a bit. All wrapped up in a mostly airtight rubber suit airflow would be non-existent. And airflow is what helps cool the ESC down. So you end up with a burned out ESC to replace. Those things aren't cheap!

But even if the ESC survives the heat, what happens to hot rubber? It melts. You now have all those nice and shiny heatsinks covered in melted balloon goo. You'll spend way too much time cleaning up that nasty mess. Wouldn't you rather be racing?

After reading that ESC/balloon tip I did some poking around online. It's always possible I was missing something. I wasn't. Over at Misbehavin' RC they caution against balloons on the ESC too. They also have some suggestions on alternative ways to protect your ESC. Scroll to bottom for Speed Controller balloon alternatives. In the Beat Your Truck forums, 'sloppy' offers one less than ideal way to use a balloon and avoid overheating but he says a waterproof ESC is the best choice if you need to keep the water out.

You can't believe everything you read so do your research and get a second or third opinion if you read or hear about a tip that seems to contradict what you know about RCs. Find out what can go wrong or right before doing anything to your RC. After all, this can be an overly expensive hobby if you let it.