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The model 4020 caught my eye right away because it’s intended for use 0n 60-inch-wingspan 3D planes, which is pretty much all I’m flying these days. I got one, installed it in my AJ Laser 230z 60, and put a Watts Up meter on it with four speed controls: An EF Airboss 80, two CC Phoenix Edge Lite 100s, and a new CC Talon 90. Here’s what I got with a Falcon 16x7 propeller:
Edge Lite 1 -80 amps, 1680 watts
Edge Lite 2 –80 amps, 1640 watts
Talon –77 amps, 1550 watts
Airboss -85 amps, 1840 watts
I have no idea what is going on between the Airboss and the 4020. No, I’m not going to put the Laser into the air with the Airboss, as much as the wattage makes me want to try it. Over-amping an ESC that much has to be asking for trouble.
Even though the Edge controllers put out a bit more wattage, I installed the new Talon in the plane just to try it. It worked out well, and I’m going to leave it in the plane. I have three HS-7245MH servos in the Laser, with an MKS HV9767 on the elevator, but I’ll eventually go all-MKS on it and they draw a lot of current, so that 20-amp BEC on the Talon will be required.
See the photos below. We can safely assume AJ’s intent with the 4020 was for it to be a direct competitor to Extreme Flight’s Torque 4016T. The installation dimensions are identical and it’s almost the same weight.
However, the 530KV rating of the 4020 got my attention. As strong as the 500KV Torque is, I really wanted to see what the faster-turning 4020 might be like, and this morning I put the Laser into the air with it and got just the results I was expecting.
As you would think, the 530KV motor is a little more powerful, but it drains the batteries slightly more. The Laser is friskier with the AJ motor, for sure, but it comes down showing about 3.65 volts per cell on the 40C 3300 mAh batteries I use, compared to the 3.75 volts per cell I usually see with the Torque.
Best of all about the new motor, it may be as cool-running as the Torque. Temperatures today at the field were in the high 70s F., and the AJ motor was coming down at a little above ambient, just as my many Torques do.
So, the conclusion we can draw from this brief, un-demanding, un-scientific “test” is that we have yet another very good motor available to us for our five-foot-wingspan planes. No, the 4020 has not rendered the 4016T obsolete by any means, but based upon what I saw today, the new motor is a very viable alternative, and is definitely worth considering.
Reviewed by: Michael Morrissey from LONG BEACH on 7/3/2017
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