programming an ESC

[kc]

I fitted a brand new Turnigy Plush 40amp to a model that had flown well previously. The only thing that was changed was the ESC ( the original ESC was removed because I needed a spare for another model)

I had some difficulty getting the Turnigy Plush to work but eventually it seemed to work well enough so a take off was tried but the motor seemed to make a funny noise and didn't achieve enough speed along the ground for a good take off so was aborted. My clubmates all agreed the noise was unusual. Discussion with knowledgeable members suggested the timing was incorrect. Quite possibly i had accidently changed this.

So a Turnigy Programming card was bought which revealed the timing setting was set to low. But what should the setting be?

The model uses a BL2814/ 8 on 3S Lipo with a 10 by 7 APC. Very normal fixed wing model setup for a 3lb plane which has flown well previously on the default settings of the other ESC.

What other settings should be used for Timing, Cut off volts, Soft start, Brake etc for a fixed wing model?

Edited By kc on 26/04/2017 13:51:15

[Bill_B]

A quick answer for a fixed wing club model is thus:

Timing: Auto

Cut off Voltage: No less than 3V (3.2V is safe).

Soft start: Off

Brake: Off

Hope that helps.

[Simon Chaddock]

kc

By far the easiest way to identify the problem would be to substitute the Plush with another ESC that is known to work, ideally its original one!

With an average club plane set up it would be pretty unusual for it to require anything other than the default ESC settings so it does look like something is wrong.

"I had a bit of trouble getting it to work" is a worry. Like most electronics if correctly connected they simply work but if anything is connected wrong it can be permanently damaged - instantly!

[Dickw]

Posted by kc on 26/04/2017 13:50:34:

...................So a Turnigy Programming card was bought which revealed the timing setting was set to low. But what should the setting be?

The model uses a BL2814/ 8 on 3S Lipo with a 10 by 7 APC. Very normal fixed wing model setup for a 3lb plane which has flown well previously on the default settings of the other ESC.

What other settings should be used for Timing, Cut off volts, Soft start, Brake etc for a fixed wing model?

Edited By kc on 26/04/2017 13:51:15

I am used to timing in degrees where a 2 or 4 pole motor would be in the 0 to 10 degree area, and an 8 plus pole motor would be in the 15 to 30 degree area, so i am guessing low timing would be for a high revving inrunner and high timing would be better for an outrunner.

Try something other than "low timing" - I doubt it will do any harm.

Dick

[kc]

Thanks for the comments. Actually I expected there would be a known way of calculating the timing setting rather than just trying out another setting. This particular motor seems to have 12 windings and is 1000kv

Using the program card I reset everything to default and default timing is Low. Every setting was already the default except Brake which was previously ON, now it's OFF but I don't expect this will affect the situation.

So next time I take the model out I will try another timing setting unless anyone else has any advice.

[kc]

Simon, there is another thread here which reports a similar problem getting a Turnigy plush to work. I couldn't get mine to work until I swopped to a blank Tx memory and played around with reversing the throttle ( it's Futaba which is opposite to most TX in this respect as we all know) But exactly what I did to get it working is unclear but I think it was switching on with a throttle that was NOT reversed made the difference. Probably to do with thottle travel extent I expect .

I find reliability is helped enormously by not playing around with any part of a model if it's working well, so i don't intend to swop the old ESC back into this model and mess around with another model that is working well ( 1078 flights on that one up to today) In particular i dislike pulling Rx connections out and replacing them on these tiny modern Rx! Just as back in the old 35 Mhz days i never changed crystals normally. Don't meddle and if it aint broke don't fix it is my motto. But I also watch my models very closely and at the least sign of a glitch I check or replace an item.

[Denis Watkins]

From another forum KC

Most ESC's come with Hard, medium and soft timing. Hard timing is recommended for 6 pole motors and will give you the most power and headspeed and less battery time-- medium-less power, better for inrunner motors and soft-- lowest power but longest flight time.

[Peter Jenkins]

As I understand it, an in-runner needs a low timing setup and an out-runner needs a high timing setup. You cannot use the same timing for both types of motor.  It sounds like you have an out runner but it's on the low timing setting.  Move to medium or high and see what happens.

Edited By Peter Jenkins on 28/04/2017 01:11:32