Review: KISS24A Race Edition ESC

Today I received the new KISS24A Race Edition ESC from flyduino. I covered some of the details about 2 weeks ago and now I will try to write a small review of it. I have tested it with the T-Motor MN2206 2000kv and the Scorpion M2204 2300kv on 3S and 4S LiPo. I made a test with a 6S LiPo battery too, even it is rated for max 5S.

The dimensions are almost exactly as announced: 19.55 x 26.94 x 4.19mm. This is my first KISS ESC and I am impressed by the build quality. I like the black color too. Here is a picture of the KISS24A compared to the FTV LittleBee 20A ESC. It has no BEC too, so you can’t power your flight controller directly from the ESC.

ESCs

As well as the LittleBee 20A, the new KISS24A has gate drivers for faster switching. You can see these on the picture bellow. The KISS24A has a 32bit STM32F051 MCU running at 48MHz. The firmware is a custom one, neither SimonK nor BLHeli. But you have same features like OneShot125, active freewheeling and active braking (a.k.a damped light on BLHeli). It also support a new OneShot42 and a standard PWM signal.

STM32F051

The AON6512 FETs should handle up to 150A on paper, but I haven’t exceeded even 25A with those small motors. The KISS24A has a temperature and current protection, so there will be a smaller chance to destroy it.

AON6512 FETs

Typically for KISS series you get an ESC without any wires, so you should solder these on your own. I haven’t experienced any problems, except for one. I soldered the signal-ground wire on the wrong pad. You should solder the signal wire to the pad bellow the PWM label and the ground wire on the left of the GND label. Not to the pad bellow the TLM label!

Before I go to the motor thrust data, I should mention that the active breaking feature works great. The motor stops from 100% throttle to 0% immediately.


T-Motor MN2206 2000kv – 6×4.5 propeller – 4S 16.000mAh 10C Multistar

  50% Throttle   362g thrust   4.06A current
100% Throttle 1127g thrust 22.96A current

The KISS24A performed a bit better than the LittleBee  – 67g more thrust. This should be due to the higher RPM supported by the custom firmware.


T-Motor MN2206 2000kv – 6×4.5 propeller – 3S 1300mAh 45C Zippy

  50% Throttle 214g thrust   2.59A current
100% Throttle 671g thrust 13.79A current

I should mention, that the Zippy 1300mAh battery was not fully charged (12.5V). So a bit better results could be achieved.


Scorpion M2204 2300kv – HQ 5×4.5 propeller – 4S 16.000mAh 10C Multistar

  50% Throttle 272g thrust   3.55A current
100% Throttle 790g thrust 18.85A current

I got 769g thrust with the same motor and propeller combination, but with an Afro Race 20A ESC. The KISS24A performed slightly better again – 21g more thrust.

It stays cool all the time and I haven’t experienced any sync issues. At least not on 4S. Made a short test with a 6S battery, but got some sync problems. Well, its not rated for 6S and its normal. I will solder an electrolytic capacitor in the next days and will try again. I am also planning to test its telemetry function. Subscribe or like the Facebook page to be notified about these updates.

Summary: I will try to keep it super simple: the new KISS24A Race Edition ESC have very nice features, is well made and performs great.

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