E-Tech SimonK ESC to Naza v2 - settings?

[ChrisRL]

Greetings!
Need a little help here with what seems to be two totally different standards of programming - one set for the Naza v2 FC's Motor/ESC setting requirements, and another for the E-Max 20A ESCs and E-Max MT2216 810kV I'm trying to mate with it.

According to the Naza V2 installation manual, what I need to be programming into the ESCs are these parameters:
P1) Ensure ESC's travel midpoint is at 1520us. Do not use midpoint at 700us (microseconds).
P2) Governor OFF
P3) Break OFF
P4) Normal Startup (???)



And according to the E-Max/SimonK ESC programming manual, these are the available parameters to be programmed:

D1: Brake type OFF (got that one), low, mid-low, mid, etc.
D2: Timing mode: Low: 0 degrees. Mid-Low: 8 degrees. Mid 15 degrees, mid high 23 and high 30. Low advance timing is recommended for high inductance and low kV motors. High advance timing is recommended for low inductance and high kW outrunner motors. If some high kV motors shake at high RPM, the High timing mode is recommended. (I'm guessing that my 810kV motor is a low kV motor?)
D3: Start Force: 13 options. Select the corresponding start force according to the load of the motor. (what on earth does that mean?) 0.03, 0.05, 0.09, .... 0.75.... 1.50 (WTF? What blimmin' units are these anyway?)
D4: Curve Mode: 4 options: OFF, Low, mid, high. Default is OFF
D5: Control Frequency: 2 options: 8kHz and 22kHz. The option is the drive frequency of the motors. (???)
D6: Low-voltage protection: 4 options: 2.8v/cell, 3.0v cell, 3.2v.cell, off. If the low-voltage protection is detected, the currently-set cutoff option (D6) will be selected. (got that part)
D7: Cutoff mode: 2 options; Soft-Cut and Cut-off. Soft: gradually reduce to 31% of current power on D6 LVC detection. (got that). Cut-off: no gradient. In the Low-Voltage Protection condition, if you push the throttle to 0% and then to 100%, the motors will be restarted. But since this is already in LVC, power will be low or zero.

E1: Low-voltage Protection: Whether to shut down the motors at once or lower the power at the LVC threshold depends on the values set as Cutoff mode, D7 (?? what??)
E2: Loss of signal Protection: Power will be gradually reduced to 0% on loss of signal and motors will be stopped. Will be restarted upon return of signal. (I'm guessing OFF for this one!)
E3: Overheat Protection: over 100 degrees C, power lowered to less than 75%. Over 105 degrees, down to 50%. over 110 degrees, down to 25%. Over 115 degrees C, power down to 6.25%. Full power resumes when system temp falls below 100 degrees C.

So you can see that only P3 in the Naza manual has a corresponding control point on the ESC, which is D1.
Everything else doesn't match at all.

[This is not my first build and yes, I do know what most of the parameters mean, in and of themselves. I'm just having a hard time with the Chinglish, and also with the fact that whatever language these people are in fact speaking, they don't seem to be speaking the same language to each other - at all.]

Bottom line, I can't seem to draw any equivalence at all between the two systems.
Is there any?


What can I safely set to default and thereafter ignore?


Thanks!
Best
Chris

 

[RENOV8R]

Short answer - I've had 3 or 4 sets of SK ESCs and never had to change the default settings. Just calibrate and go

 

[ChrisRL]

Thanks for your advice!
Tried that.
Is it normal for an EMax motor to emit smoke for the first second or so of startup? I had a whiff of it and immediately shut it down, but there was no overheating, nor was there any of the typical electrical short smell. ESC seems okay, no overheating. Perhaps lubricant?

I did the usual calibration before assembly, and ran a 1-minute test on each arm before putting the drone together, no problems. Uniform beeps on all arms, everything fine. Connected the FC etc., and calibrated again via Naza Assist 2.4, then fired it up and - smoke off the #4 motor.... yuk.

So I've disassembled the drone and will be re-setting and re-calibrating each arm again, and carefully check for any damage or abnormality as I go. I do have an LC inductance meter so I'll check that motor out too.

 

[RENOV8R]

It sounds like you've set it up correctly, I'm assuming that your throttle positions are showing correctly in the GUI (-100, 0 & +100) and you've done the stick calibration. Magic smoke is never a good thing, check (if you haven't already) and make sure your mounting screws are the proper length and not making contact with the motor windings.

 

[ChrisRL]

Yes, throttle positions OK and stick calibration done. Mounting screws - will check again, but I'm fairly certain they're okay - this a set of replacement motors, so I re-used the original ones, but I'll put in a set of washers to stand them off some, just in case.
Thanks, and I'll keep you posted!

 

[ChrisRL]

Renov8r, a quick question for you. I have gone through many different SimonK ESCs in the past, and what distinguishes the generations apart, for me, is their beep sequences - i.e. some are the original do-re-mi beeps, in a certain tone, some lower or higher, others louder or quieter. The newer ones have a different beep sequence.
My question is this: can one tell, from listening to the beeps, what generation firmware is installed? And which firmware versions interact properly with which others?
I'm asking because this hex drone I've been building has led me through a merry hunt for matching ESCs - it's an older drone and so the original ESC firmware has been replaced - since one of them caught on fire awhile ago, I've had to replace all 6 to get current ones that at least beep the same.
Need I have done this?

 

[RENOV8R]

I'd say that even if they have the same beep, they could definitely still have different firmware. You should never mix and match different models of ESCs IMO, it's basically all or nothing. noticed that RCTimer has a pretty good deal on these
http://rctimer.com/product-500.html

 

[ChrisRL]

Thanks, m8!
Thought so. But more, I just couldn't stand the cacophony of different beep sequences all going off at once - kinda hard to tell if they were all in sync or not
Yes, this time I was smarter and bought extras of everything, just in case.
I've found that even ordering the same set of ESCs from the same supplier yielded a mis-matched lot of various versions, boards, components... they couldn't even deliver a set of 4 that was a real set. Had to order three sets of four to get six ESCs that matched. Then I sent the rest back, got replacements - and they were a different version again from the others.
Most frustrating! Not so much the money, since they don't cost so much, but the shipping times from China, etc.
I guess that's why people pay more for matched and programmed ESC sets. By the time I was done matching, if I'd charged by the hour...
Thank goodness this is mainly a hobby!

 

[RENOV8R]

Agreed, it wouldn't be a hobby if we didn't have these problems to solve. It would just be a job......