Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller

I’ve always been a firm supporter of Castle Creations, when it comes to choosing a Brushless Electronic Speed Controller for my electric powered helicopters. Unfortunately, since moving back to South Africa, I haven’t been able to find a supplier that was willing to ship to me. That actually turned out to be a blessing as I decided to check out the Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller from Hobby King.

The Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller is a full featured, programmable brushless speed controller that costs just over $20. One would think at that price it would be lacking in some of the features of the far more expensive offerings from the well-known brands. I am happy to report that it lacks none of the features one would expect and in fact adds a few that are not available on the Castle Creations Phoenix Ice series.

Specifications

• Cont Current: 40A
• Burst Current: 55A
• BEC Mode: Linear
• BEC : 5v / 3A
• Lipo Cells: 2-6
• NiMH : 5-18
• Weight: 33g
• Size: 55x28x13mm

First Look

When I received the Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller, I was surprised by its size, it’s quite bulky but surprisingly light. The actual motor cables are a perfect length for mounting the motor anywhere on a 450 size helicopter. One thing that irritated me was the lack of banana plugs on the cables, luckily I have a lot of spares lying around. Overall I was extremely impressed with the quality and appearance of the Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller.

Flight Testing

I mounted the Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller in my new Mini-Titan E325. Its size made it perfect for mounting just below the battery tray on the bottom plate. On spooling up the helicopter sprung to life quite quickly, obviously its Soft Start is not really that soft, so I connected the programming card and set it to Super Soft before spooling up again. The second spool up was extremely smooth and helicopter performed as expected. I went through three battery packs on the first day with various C ratings and the Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller performed flawlessly. Punch out were smooth and on landing I was impressed by how cool the Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller stayed.

Although I am strictly a helicopter pilot, my brother is an avid fixed wing supporter, so I let him test it in a few of his high powered foamies. He was equally impressed by how well it performs and has asked me to order a few for him.

Digging Deeper

I’ve made it a habit of using external BEC’s, even when using well known brand name Electronic Speed Controller’s. So I wanted to see if the claimed 3A built-in BEC was up to the task. The Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller makes use of switching technology to provide output for the BEC, which is far superior to the linear output claimed in the specifications. So it shouldn’t have any problems supplying all the current you need for your Receiver, Gyro and Digital Servos.

Conclusion

If you are in the market for a new Brushless Speed Controller and don’t want to break the bank, then I highly recommend you check out the Turnigy Plush 40A Speed Controller. Don’t let the price tag fool you, this is one serious piece of kit.

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