ESC's
- Thread starter TomWolves
- Start date
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fengshuidrone
Guest
I'm assuming that is supposed to say 3 of my 4.
Did you calibrate them to your transmitter one at a time or all at once?
TomWolves
Tom Wolves
Yes! sorry I must have had my "shift key" down when I was typing 3. fengshuidrone, do you mean bind? as the ESC's are preprogrammed. I did bind the transmitter to all of them at once. I do believe binding only has to do with the receiver though. I don't understand when you wrote "calibrate them to your transmitter one at a time or all at once", could you give me a little more direction cause I don't know how to calibrate the ESC's to the transmitter. Thank you very much for your response. Have a great day!
T.W.
T.W.
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fengshuidrone
Guest
No, binding an RX to it's TX is different than what I'm talking about. When you calibrate your ESCs you are setting the range of your TXs throttle stick into the ESC. The ESC has to know the lowest throttle position and the highest throttle position. During this process the ESCs beep at you (it's actually your motors doing the beeping, usually one beep at full throttle and two beeps then a little song sometimes after the low throttle has been recognized) to let you know when its done correctly. This is normally accomplished by plugging each ESC one at a time into the throttle channel of the RX (signal to signal, power to power and ground to ground.) Plug it in to the RX with the throttle all the way up in full throttle position on the TX and the TX turned on. Then plug the ESC into the battery. Make sure your props are off when doing this. Now, when its all plugged in and the TX is turned on, when you plug your battery in the ESC should beep twice to let you know its ready. Then return the throttle all the way to low. The ESC should acknowledge this with whatever it is that it does then (they don't all make the same noises.) Do this to all of your ESCs until done. You can also do all four at once using a parallel connector made for this purpose. You can buy them (the parallel connector) online too. Here's one at hobby krud that can do 8 at once. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__76534__8_in_1_Throttle_Calibration_Hub_1pc_.html
Your particular ESC may need done with a different procedure than what I just described, I don't know. There's probably hundreds of YouTube videos on this subject and there is probably one on there that is a how to for your ESCs. Might be easier if you use a video. Back a couple of years ago when I built my first multirotor I found lots of good tips at this guy called Painless 360 on YouTube. Here is a link to his excellent video on the ESC calibration process:
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fengshuidrone
Guest
Well, I tried.
TomWolves
Tom Wolves
Yes you did, I appreciate your help, at least I can rule out that step. I am thinking they are bad ESC's, as I re-soldered them all because the companies tech said it is likely cold solder joints. They still don't work, but they are getting power to the motors as I see them jerk a little and they do beep. When I calibrate the throttle I hear them go through their beep steps. Again thank you for your advise.
violetwolf
Member
And you calibrated the endpoints of your tx in your flight controller as well?
TomWolves
Tom Wolves
I don't think the calibration of endpoints has to do with my ESC's problem violetwolf., but if you could enlighten me on how to calibrate the end points I would give it a try. If you are referring to moving the gimbal sticks in a + shape moving from left to right, then up and down, that doesn't work either. Thank you for your thought though.
violetwolf
Member
Yes, you have to "teach" your Flight Controller where the endpoints of your sticks are. This is calibrating the flight controller. Then you can calibrate your ESC's through the controller so you know they are all seeing the same throws.
It is extremely unlikely you have bad ESC's ... one maybe, but three is unheard of.
It is extremely unlikely you have bad ESC's ... one maybe, but three is unheard of.
TomWolves
Tom Wolves
violetwolf, I don't even have my FC hooked up yet!, I am at the step of the build where I just want to configure the spin to see what way the motors are spinning. According to the instructions of the build here is the link.
http://www.learn.parallax.com/step-23-configure-spin-direction-motors What you told me "It is extremely unlikely you have bad ESC's ... one maybe, but three is unheard of." this is what parallax said too! they told me to do a continuity check on the ESCs But I don't know has as I tried and I don't get any reading even on the good ESC that works (runs a motor) I still don't get any reading on that one either.
http://www.learn.parallax.com/step-23-configure-spin-direction-motors What you told me "It is extremely unlikely you have bad ESC's ... one maybe, but three is unheard of." this is what parallax said too! they told me to do a continuity check on the ESCs But I don't know has as I tried and I don't get any reading even on the good ESC that works (runs a motor) I still don't get any reading on that one either.
violetwolf
Member
Your Flight Controller should be hooked up. Hook it all up, and then calibrate the TX, then the FC, then the ESC's in that order.
TomWolves
Tom Wolves
I just want to check the rotation of the motors. You don't have to have the FC hooked up in order to do this. All you have to do is hook the receiver cable to the throttle of the receiver, connect three wires from the ESC to the motor, turn transmitter on with the gimbal in low position, hook-up the battery and then give the motor a little throttle and the motor should turn. In my case it just beeps. Only one out of four motors work. Now with the good ESC I hooked up all the wires one by one to test all the motors and all the motors spin.
violetwolf
Member
.
You tried it your way and it didn't work.
You came here asking for help.
You received it.
You ignore the input and keep doing it your way...
Why continue to post
You tried it your way and it didn't work.
You came here asking for help.
You received it.
You ignore the input and keep doing it your way...
Why continue to post
violetwolf
Member
Add me to the "I tried" list.
TomWolves
Tom Wolves
violetwolf, I finally got the ESCs calibrated. I didn't need to hook the FC in order to test the ESCs. Thank you for your advise. I had to do a throttle range test first with each ESC. Not all advise on this or other forums is the right advise. I am new at building and if I have doubt or questions I will ask whether right or wrong. I do appreciate your input. Thank you
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Bartman
Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
which flight control system are you using?
TomWolves
Tom Wolves
hello Bartman, I have the ESC problem fixed. My problem is now the flight Controller 'HoverFly Open". I have all the esc wires and receiver wire hooked up to the FC. When I turn on the transmitter then the battery to the quad it just beeps, and the FC flashed a purple LED light (should be green flashing LED)