Programming ESC's for I2C/PWM converter

[Bartman]

Hi all,
I'm trying to get my ESC's all set up but I've got a couple of questions about programming them
there are 8 lines on the programmer
1 Brake
2 Battery Type
3 Cut-off Type
4 Cut-off Voltage
5 Start Mode
6 Timing Mode
7 Music/L
8 Governor Mode

I think I can guess what some of them should be

1 OFF
2 LiPo
3 Soft Cut
4 Low
5 Soft or Normal
6 ????????????????
7 FOr my ESC's I'll leave the music off, thank you
8 ????????????????


Any help would be greatly appreciated.
THanks,
Bart

 

[Bartman]

after doing a little research it appears that the ESC timing can be set to low or middle to start and Governor should be turned off.
Bart

 

[Macsgrafs]

Take off soft start, if your in a decent & need to rip her open, then there could be a 15 second delay!!!!

What props have you gone for?

Ross

 

[Bartman]

Good point Ross, thanks. I learned a lot last night trying to get the ESC's sorted out. First of all, who here knew that the motors are doing all the chirping? I had no idea the sound was coming from the motors!! I thought the ESC's had a little speaker or something that made the noise and I never really cared any more about it so I was happy to believe it but it's the motors making the chirps! Who knew?!

Also very important to know, the motors have to be attached to the ESC's before anything can be done with the ESC's. I thought I could configure and calibrate the ESC's without the motors attached but apparently it doesn't work that way. I'll try to get the motors attached, the ESC's programmed and calibrated, and I should be pretty close to flying.

As for the ESC settings (using the Turnigy programmer), I think these are the way to go for starters, timing can be adjusted after flying a few times

1 Brake -- OFF
2 Battery Type -- LIPO
3 Cut-off Type -- SOFT
4 Cut-off Voltage -- LOW
5 Start Mode -- NORMAL
6 Timing Mode -- MID
7 Music/L -- OFF
8 Governor Mode -- OFF


ESC timing is still something of a mystery. I'm guessing that the pulse to the electro-magnet can be adjusted to occur a little early to give the permanent magnet a stiffer shove as it goes by but this may or may not result in more power. Apparently, efficiency can suffer and reduce flight times. There doesn't seem to be any one answer so by starting at LOW or MID you can establish what you've got and then see what the other settings do for you. Maybe more power, maybe better flight times but there also seems to be an equal chance power and flight times will go down.

That's it. It was a very educational evening in the Bartman house last night.
Bart

 

[Macsgrafs]

It was about 3 years ago I first learned that it was the actual motor that makes the beep beep beep sounds, great stuff
I'm still not sure how it works, but it must work like a speaker....magnet....coil.....etc etc
As for the timing, if it squeals when under load....up the timing.

Ross

 

[rockynz]

Hey Bartman, check out this link to Mat's site. You should set battery type to NI xx

http://kiwirc.com/kiwirc/2011/03/10/multicopter-esc-settings/

 

[Bartman]

i wonder why the batteries would be set to something other than Lipo?
i'll have to PM him and ask him to please explain it to me.
thanks,
bart

 

[matwelli]

they are set to nixx so as to essentially disable the low voltage cutoff

if ya batteries start to die, you can limp the 'copter down, and maybe only wreck a batt

if the ESC hits LVC (low voltage cuttoff) then you are toast, multi drops like a lead brick and damages whatever it can !

 

[matwelli]

get a programming card when using turnigy/hobbywing/rct esc's and you dont need to solder the motors to them while programming

my daughter sets up mine, using the attached photo (helpfull when setting up 32 at a time )

 

[matwelli]

opps double post

if you are a kiwi "double post....all the waaay" from a TV ad

 

[Bartman]

they are set to nixx so as to essentially disable the low voltage cutoff

if ya batteries start to die, you can limp the 'copter down, and maybe only wreck a batt

if the ESC hits LVC (low voltage cuttoff) then you are toast, multi drops like a lead brick and damages whatever it can !

Mat,
That makes sense, thanks for the quick reply.
Bart

 

[Mactadpole]

With my RCTimer 30A esc's I first had them at medium timing and there was some clicking at min. gas. I upped the timing to high and it went away. At some point I will set them back to medium and see if there is any difference in flight times and temps.

Shawn

 

[crcr]

Can someone please help me here, I am trying to check my settings and set the battery setting as Matt recommends, I am using Turnigy Plush ESC’s on an X8 which only have the signal wire that goes to the converter board. (the + and - wires have been removed from the ESC)

These are the steps I've been doing.
1). I unplug the ESC #1 signal wire from the PPM converter board and plug into the signal pin on the Turnigy programming card
2). Then plug in a 4.8 NiCad into the Batt pins on the card
3). Then plug the main packs in
Motor #1 beeps but there are no lights on the card. Am I missing something here? do I need to push any buttons on the card first before it will work?
The ESC’s are all set up on the X8 and I have tried disconnecting all the motors on all the other 7 ESC but still no go.
Thanks
Craig

 

[Crash]

I removed my ESC wires on one of my quads and had the same problem. I believe it is a ground issue. IOW: There's no common ground between the NiCad and the ESC. Get 5V power and ground from another source that shares the ESCs ground. I believe I pulled power off the receiver to power the programmer card.

Also, The ESC must be powered at the same time or after the programmer card.

 

[matwelli]

Crash has it, you have no return path (ov - black wire). you dont need to remove the black wire from the plug, and yes, you need to power up the ESC (if you left teh red wire in as well, you couldback feed the ESC thru the programing card and power it up that way)

Handy tip from Mat

Step 1 - always program the ESC's before instalation, just plug in the program card to the esc, apply power (using clip leads) to the ESC +/- leads and do the setup.

Step 2 - attach a motor without prop to the esc, plug esc into RX throttle channel and preform the throttle calibration, and then test spin the motor for correct direction

The above steps, make sure every thing is set, everything spins correctly, and leesens the chance if doing a beautifull install, only to have to rip it apart due to a dud ESC or motor

 

[crcr]

Excellent, thanks guys. I'll get the power from the receiver also