I've Had It With DJI ESC's.....advice?

Simon Templar

Simon Templar

Member
Setup:

F550/AerialMedia Heavy Lift conversion
(read AVROTO's)
DJI 30A opto ESC's
WK-M (no waypoint)
Graupner 11x5 props
AeroXcraft F550 Landing Gear
AeroXcraft VTR125 NEX-5 gimbal
Nanotech 4S/6000mah (and similar) batteries





In the two months since adding the extra weight of the HL conversion, gimbal, and etc...along with higher current draw of the Avroto's....I have been forced to replace three ESC's due to their in-service failure under a load. Luckily, in the past I have been able to regain stability and control prior descending below field elevation. A simple moderate throttle pop-up can send it tumbling when an ESC bottoms out.

Today.....I wasn't so lucky.


I am sick and tired of dealing with the matter and tiptoeing around flirting with the limits of these ESCs, not to mention todays' costly example. I have emailed DJI a number of times asking for advice re the matter, and all I have gotten by way of response has been 'go away, ask your dealer'. Oddly.....my dealer seems only to bother to answer emails which imply impending sales.



So....any suggestions as to replacement ESC's? 45A or greater and compatible with a WKM??? (as always....extra brownie points for items easily had inside the CONUS for a cash outlay totaling less than my left arm or leg)



Thanks,


....sT
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
those ipeaka 40 amp simonK are working good for me on a 3.6-3.8 kilo hex with same motor, but your heading into ice 50 territory after that.....
 






mbsteed

mbsteed

aerial video centric
I would suggest ordering a spare just to have on hand as a ready replacement or for testing. Whenever I buy motors or ESCs that is what I do. It has come in handy already.

I will have to look at my programming card to see how it is setup - I will try and remember to post that. Mine were regular not Opto - I just cut the red wires but you shouldn't have to do that with the Opto versions.
 

Simon Templar

Simon Templar

Member
I always order spares...just a habit. You should see my collection of NIB props. (Indeed, I'm about to start a Disco build because I realised I have enough parts sitting about in my spares box to build several just by purchasing the framesets.)




....sT
 

C

crcr

Member
Simon Templar said:
What are you programming them with, and what settings do I need to program?

.....sT
Click to expand...

I too am interested in this. I have been looking into the 45amp Opto with the WKM. Has anyone tried the V2 Maytech ESC's? just wondering if they are any better than V1?

Are all you guys using the Maytech with the WKM?

Thanks

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R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
mbsteed said:
Maytech is an option.

http://www.mikrokopter.us/shop/dji/dji-frame-motors-arfs/mt40a-mt40a-opto-v1

I am currently running the 30A version of these but would have gone with these had they been available at the time, those came out after.
Click to expand...

Instead of spending the $$ for the Maytech, order a set of these instead for $10.47 each http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...0A_BlueSeries_Brushless_Speed_Controller.html
If you want 40A go with this one for $18.33 each... http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...0A_BlueSeries_Brushless_Speed_Controller.html

EXACTLY the same hardware and firmware for a lot less cash and available in the US warehouse. I've had both the Maytech and Blue Series unwrapped on the bench and there is no difference, the manuals are even the same with minor wording differences here and there. Currently using a set of these on my Cinestar 6/WKM with SimonK firmware driving AXI 2814-22 motors, they are definitely up to the task.

Ken
 
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kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
they sell a programing cable too now so programing them is alot easier than fidgiting with a clothes pin and bunch of stripped copper wire.........

it is basicaly what ipeaka does for ya, 40 amp were $23
 

C

crcr

Member
RTRyder said:
Instead of spending the $$ for the Maytech, order a set of these instead for $10.47 each http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...0A_BlueSeries_Brushless_Speed_Controller.html
If you want 40A go with this one for $18.33 each... http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...0A_BlueSeries_Brushless_Speed_Controller.html

EXACTLY the same hardware and firmware for a lot less cash and available in the US warehouse. I've had both the Maytech and Blue Series unwrapped on the bench and there is no difference, the manuals are even the same with minor wording differences here and there. Currently using a set of these on my Cinestar 6/WKM with SimonK firmware driving AXI 2814-22 motors, they are definitely up to the task.

Ken
Click to expand...

Ken,

That is a little different to your post here? http://www.multirotorforums.com/sho...-compatible-ESCs&p=19917&viewfull=1#post19917

If those 40amp Hobbyking Blue series esc's are exactly the same as the Maytechs then I'm all for it, just wanting to make sure they perform the same as the Maytechs.

I thought one of your crashes was caused because of reflashed ESC's? or are you saying that the SimonK firmware is the only safe firmware?

Do the Maytech ESC's need reflashing at all, or do they work with the WKM straight out of the box?


Thanks
Craig
 

R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
crcr said:
Ken,

That is a little different to your post here? http://www.multirotorforums.com/sho...-compatible-ESCs&p=19917&viewfull=1#post19917

If those 40amp Hobbyking Blue series esc's are exactly the same as the Maytechs then I'm all for it, just wanting to make sure they perform the same as the Maytechs.

I thought one of your crashes was caused because of reflashed ESC's? or are you saying that the SimonK firmware is the only safe firmware?

Do the Maytech ESC's need reflashing at all, or do they work with the WKM straight out of the box?


Thanks
Craig
Click to expand...

That was before I had a Blue in my hands and was able to open it up and verify they are the same thing. Whichever Chinese factory makes the Blue Series for HK also makes them for Maytech along with writing the firmware. There aren't that may operations that actually design and build ESCs though they do at times customize them to vendor request if needed but often the same hardware is sold by a half dozen or more vendors the only difference being the label, color of the shrinkwrap, and the price.

The Cinestar crash was caused by a bug in the SimonK firmware that has long since been fixed, the current set of Blue Series on the Cinestar has been flying with the newer SimonK firmware without a problem since about March of last year. The Maytechs that were on it when I made that post have also been reflashed and are in use on other multis in the fleet.

If you set the Maytech to 16kHz update rate they fly better than a standard ESC that only does 8 kHz but they aren't even close to how smooth the reflashed version is, there is a very noticeable improvement when used with a WKM and the current SimonK firmware.

For the cost I will never buy Maytech again, it just doesn't make sense when I can buy exactly the same thing for 1/3 the cost, the other 2/3 is simply paying for a name and marketing hype.

Ken
 

Simon Templar

Simon Templar

Member
OK...time for a SimonT stupid question....


where do I get the SimonK firmware to flash with?


...sT


PS: Wish you'd posted just two hours earlier.......Maytechs enroute as we speak (er, type).
 

C

crcr

Member
Simon Templar said:
OK...time for a SimonT stupid question....


where do I get the SimonK firmware to flash with?


...sT


PS: Wish you'd posted just two hours earlier.......Maytechs enroute as we speak (er, type).
Click to expand...

From Ken's post I take it that the Maytechs will work fine standard if you increase the refresh rate to 16Khz, but work even better if flashed with SimionK firmware?


@Ken,
From what I gather flashing ESC's is not easy? or maybe it is once you have done a couple??

Is there anywhere that you can buy Maytechs or the likes that have already been flashed and will work great with the WKM?

Craig
 


mbsteed

mbsteed

aerial video centric
Okay here is how I programmed my Maytech, see the programming card in the image below - I also had to manually program in the 16Khz because that is not an option from the card (see the manual). I didn't bother with the flashy thingy because it just seemed too fidly for my liking and it was about that time that the bug was in the code. I don't know the difference between V1 and V2.

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R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
crcr said:
From Ken's post I take it that the Maytechs will work fine standard if you increase the refresh rate to 16Khz, but work even better if flashed with SimionK firmware?


@Ken,
From what I gather flashing ESC's is not easy? or maybe it is once you have done a couple??

Is there anywhere that you can buy Maytechs or the likes that have already been flashed and will work great with the WKM?

Craig
Click to expand...

The Maytech will work either way, 8 or 16kHz. In the standard 8kHz mode they're no better than any other out of the package PWM ESC, bumping the refresh rate to 16k helps because you're doubling the rate, SimonK firmware puts the ESC into 16k mode as the default setting among other things like removing the throttle filtering.

How easy it is to flash depends on the ESC and how familiar you are with doing that sort of thing. I've been a systems engineer for longer that I care to think about so it's nothing new to me, if you've never updated firmware on anything it may be more than you want to tackle. Assuming you do have the ability and the proper tools it's pretty straight forward, you just need to make sure you have the correct .hex file for the ESC you're going to flash, use the wrong one and you could very well release the magic smoke on power up. The Blue/Maytechs are a real PITA mainly because they don't have programming pads all in a row as the older Turnigy Plush/Hobbywings do, you have to solder connections to the proper pads in various spots on the ESC itself, time consuming and you need to be good with a small tipped soldering iron as the contact you're connecting to is da*n small and there's not a lot of room for error. The good news is that once it's been flashed with the SimonK the ESC now has a bootloader that will allow future updates via the servo connection but the first time around has to be done the hard way.

RCTimer sells ESCs already flashed as do a few other places. I don't know for certain what hardware they use but this one has the look of a Blue/Maytech from the outside with the dual capacitors side by side on the power feed end and it comes already flashed http://www.rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=781&productname=

I'd have to see one without the shrink wrap to be able to tell if it is the same hardware as Blue/Maytech but the bottom line is that its probably as good as any other choice out there at the moment in that price range. If you've got deep pockets and $$$ is no object there are other choices and some interesting development projects going on right now that will bring more and better options to market in the coming months.

Ken
 

C

crcr

Member
Thanks Ken, appreciate your input.

RTRyder said:
The good news is that once it's been flashed with the SimonK the ESC now has a bootloader that will allow future updates via the servo connection but the first time around has to be done the hard way.
Click to expand...
So are you saying if we can find some Maytechs that have already been flashed (regardless of firmware version) we can just plug the ESC servo plug into ??? to update the SimonK firmware to a newer version? What exactly is this plugged into to do the update?

Have you used, or do you have any thoughts on the Tiger ESC's with the WKM?

Craig
 
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