NigelH Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 HiI bought a Hobbyking SS Heli Series 50-65A ESC. I hooked it up to my motor, an AR6110 and a LiPo and bound it to my DX7. I found that after I had spun the motor up and then throttled down to zero power, the ESC would reboot itself. I would hear the startup tones and I had no control of it until it had finished. If I throttled up again, after a pause the ESC would reboot again. It has to be a full reboot as the soft-start is enabled again.I have eliminated the following bad connections - all connections are good.the motor - I've swapped it out for anotherthe battery - I've tried twothe RX - I've also tried an AR500brown-outs - no flashing LEDs on the RXs It doesn't even look like a faulty ESC as I bought a HiModel 50A heli ESC and that does exactly the same thing I've made sure that the throttle stick was fully back before binding and tried it with the trim on neutral and fully pulled back. I've tried it on two models, reset first, one an Acro and one a Heli.Someone suggested that the throttle range needed to be programmed and I followed the advice with both ESCs, connecting the battery while the TX was on with the throttle on max, and pulling fully back after the first set of tones (not the first of the programming options).If been flying electrics for about six years and not seen anything like this.Any suggestions would be really appreciated.Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 Hi Nigel, that does sound a little weird to say the least. Are you using the BEC circuitry or seperate Rx pack? might be worth eliminating the bec (but I am really grasping at straws here). Have you tried a different make of TX? I have heard that some brands do some funny things on the throttle channel. I do note on the hobbyking site that at least one other has had a similar problem. So it may be a fault, but as you say you are getting the same problem on two of them. Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 15, 2010 Author Share Posted May 15, 2010 Thanks Danny. Yes, I'm using the BECs but two have two different ESC doing the same thing is weird although I reckon they may be more or less the same anyway. You know how those Chinese guys work. I'm not able to try another TX and RX thanks but I agree that this could be the key issue as the DX7 is the only common thing here. I've seen that comment in the reviews. Thanks for bothering to look yourself. He also mentions that the second time he throttled up it wasn't a soft-start. He didn't realise that you really don't need soft start once you're airborne for obvious reasons So, I'm not sure that he fully understood his ESC either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 Nigel I've not seen your problem but I have had one or two minor issues with Spektrum gear and budget ESC's. I beleive the problem may be that the Spektrum Rx gives out no pulses on the throttle channel until it has connected to the transmitter. Meanwhile the BEC has powered the ESC, the ESC has seen nothing on the throttle channel and then does see something. Just as a test, are you able to disable the BEC (remove the red lead from the receiver plug) and power the receiver with a receiver battery? Switch on the receiver first, once the lights are steady then connect the motor battery. Or try a servo tester to drive the ESC, see how it acts then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 15, 2010 Author Share Posted May 15, 2010 Chris I inserted an extension lead between the RX and the ESC and cut the red wire in the extension. I followed your suggestion but it made no difference at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Richards Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Nigel, can you try putting a servo on the throttle channel and see how it reacts just to make sure there is nothing crazy going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Bruce I plugged a NIMH into the batt socket and a servo into the throttle channel and it all worked as expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Nigel have you ever had either of these ESC's working properly? If not then all I can think of is that you have the terrible coincidence of two faulty ones. Or there is a compatibility problem between Spektrum and these ESC's But reboot sounds like power is momentarily lost from the ESC, I can't see how this can happen in a BEC enabled ESC as it powers it's self. Clutching at straws, is there anything at all in the wiring that could still be a bad connection? wire to battery, wire to plug, inside a servo plug? Is there any way you can borrow a different make of radio? Or a servo tester? To eliminate the type of pulse coming from the Spectrum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Nigel this doesn't help you but it shows that other people have had the odd ESC problem with Spektrum radio. Hope it's OK to link to another forum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Posted by Chris Bott on 15/05/2010 22:48:34:Nigel I've not seen your problem but I have had one or two minor issues with Spektrum gear and budget ESC's. I beleive the problem may be that the Spektrum Rx gives out no pulses on the throttle channel until it has connected to the transmitter. Meanwhile the BEC has powered the ESC, the ESC has seen nothing on the throttle channel and then does see something. Just as a test, are you able to disable the BEC (remove the red lead from the receiver plug) and power the receiver with a receiver battery? Switch on the receiver first, once the lights are steady then connect the motor battery. Or try a servo tester to drive the ESC, see how it acts then. But this would surely only be an issue if the Tx was being switched off and the Rx then is required to re-connect with it - it shouldnt affect the normal high /low throttle scenarios encountered whilst in normal operation IYSWIM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Hi Nigel, if you cannot try another Tx, I would do as already suggested by other forumites and try a servo tester, that should prove if its the Tx/Rx causing the issue. Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 No Chris. I bought them both this week for my HK450MT and neither have worked properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 The 'quote' function isn't working. It appears in the windows but then it clears. Yes Chris, I've done the wiring checks. I have two full set ups. I've been soldering for thirty six years and I'm sure that the connetions are good thanks. As they are Spektrum RXs, if we lost power we'd be seeing the LEDs flashing to indicate a brown-out. I don't really want to be buying a servo tester as I've already spent about £35 on two ESCs that don't work and someone has suggested spending another £40 or so on a third. This has been a nightmare project. I've also had a pinion that wouldn't fully slip onto the motor shaft despite them both being 3.175mm. In order to keep moving forward, I drove a 50 mile round trip to get another £5 pinion only to find that the motor had only two of the mounting holes tapped. That's gone back and I had to buy and wait for a second motor. I bought some genuine Align screws from eBay and they're long overdue. I also bought a HiModel ESC programming card from BRC. Plugging either ESC into the card, following the exact sequence in the 'manual' produces no lights at all. BRC tested it and sent it back as no fault found. Edited By Nigel Hunter on 16/05/2010 13:06:55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Posted by Nigel Hunter on 16/05/2010 13:03:42:The 'quote' function isn't working. It appears in the windows but then it clears. Yes Chris, I've done the wiring checks. I have two full set ups. I've been soldering for thirty six years and I'm sure that the connetions are good thanks. As they are Spektrum RXs, if we lost power we'd be seeing the LEDs flashing to indicate a brown-out. I don't really want to be buying a servo tester as I've already spent about £35 on two ESCs that don't work and someone has suggested spending another £40 or so on a third. This has been a nightmare project. I've also had a pinion that wouldn't fully slip onto the motor shaft despite them both being 3.175mm. In order to keep moving forward, I drove a 50 mile round trip to get another £5 pinion only to find that the motor had only two of the mounting holes tapped. That's gone back and I had to buy and wait for a second motor. I bought some genuine Align screws from eBay and they're long overdue. I also bought a HiModel ESC programming card from BRC. Plugging either ESC into the card, following the exact sequence in the 'manual' produces no lights at all. BRC tested it and sent it back as no fault found. Edited By Nigel Hunter on 16/05/2010 13:06:55 Quote function works fine for me Nigel as seen by this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 To extract a piece from your last post" As they are Spektrum RXs, if we lost power we'd be seeing the LEDs flashing to indicate a brown-out"Chris is describing a scenario of boot up delay whilst the Rx locks onto the Tx GUID, and this is not the same thing at all as a brown out which is a power loss, not a signal loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Yes I see that Timbo. Same again here. It doesn't show in the editor. Also, my comment 'No Chris. I bought them both this week for my HK450MT and neither have worked properly' was also a quote. And editng now to say that THIS was a quote of what Timbo said. Edited By Nigel Hunter on 16/05/2010 13:30:29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Thanks for the link Chris. I've found a good few people who have the same issue but the only answer seems to be setting the throttle range by starting with the throtte at the top and then pulling it back. However, these ESCs do not react in the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Where abouts are you Nigel? I wonder if you are near another forumite who could help out with a servo tester or Tx/Rx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 South Yorks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 OK no good for me then, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Thanks Chris. Don't beat yourself up about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 I have now been able to connect both ESCs to a 35MHz (non-computer) radio. I started the motor up on each occasion and then pulled back the stick. Funnily enough, they both did the same thing as before. So, I've used different motors, different batteries, different RXs (AR500, AR6110 and a 35MHz GWS) with two different ESCs and both ESCs reset themselves in all configurations. I've had loads of ESCs and never seen this before. Edited By Nigel Hunter on 16/05/2010 18:01:50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 Sounds like you've done absolutely everything possible now! You must already have concluded that they are both faulty. I hope you can return them and get some that work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelH Posted May 16, 2010 Author Share Posted May 16, 2010 Posted by Chris Bott on 16/05/2010 18:09:44: Sounds like you've done absolutely everything possible now! You must already have concluded that they are both faulty. I hope you can return them and get some that work. Yes, apart from jumping up and down on them. I've already been invited to send the first one back but was holding onto the chance to get it working. In fact, I took the connectors off and put them back on again to keep looking for a solution. I've also been told that I can send the second one back and have a replacement. However, I'm not too keen on trying yet another one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mackey Posted May 16, 2010 Share Posted May 16, 2010 It is unusual though to have two units both faulty in the exact same way. Bad luck I guess, still at least you can exchange them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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