303 replies to this topic

[Falco]

gngng  tried the wiiesc hex file from Falco on a F-40A
<trimmed>
esc didnt say anything on powerup, but capacitors got hot -.-

flashed it back to simonk bs_nfet.hex .... hooked it up to the motor ... BANG

Dang!  The F-40A is a bs.hex type ESC, not a bs_nfet.hex type, so it makes sense (unfortunately) that it did not work. 

...and Tom Sn0w's RapidESC Database, which helps you look up which firmware variation should work on your particular ESC.

I'll edit the 'instructions' and try to make that more clear.  Totally missed that you were looking to use my posted file (but it is more than interesting that it was the SimonK bs_nfet.hex actually blew the FETs... that may well be a useful clue; why the difference?).

So you need a bs.hex file for the F-40A.  You could compile your own file for that (like Berkley did) or I can send you one.  Did you have a spare ESC?

A visual cue that it might not be an all n-FET ESC is the fact that the FETs were in two sets of symmetrical rows, and if you could manage to read the lettering on them you'd see that there are two types of FETs.

Ken

[Aerhead]

Fabian

I'm very interested in your project. I'm building a 3.5Kg octo and have been thinking I should flash the ESCs. The motors I have are a cheap pancake motors from TCtimer.
http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=709&productname=
The ESC are 50 amp because there cheap and can take 6s lipos. http://rctimer.com/i...34&productname=
I get 2Kg of thrust with a 3000ma 6s lipo and the motor gets just warm at three miniuts of one Kg thrust with a 10 x4.5 porp.
The MT-4006 have much the same specifications the Rctimer motors so I would guess the software you come up with would work for them.
Keep up your good work. There are many that will be able to use the software.
Larry

[Brian]

Fabian

I'm very interested in your project. I'm building a 3.5Kg octo and have been thinking I should flash the ESCs. The motors I have are a cheap pancake motors from TCtimer.
[url="http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=709&productname="]http://rctimer.com/i...09&productname=[/url]
The ESC are 50 amp because there cheap and can take 6s lipos. [url="http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=634&productname="]http://rctimer.com/i...34&productname=[/url]
I get 2Kg of thrust with a 3000ma 6s lipo and the motor gets just warm at three miniuts of one Kg thrust with a 10 x4.5 porp.
The MT-4006 have much the same specifications the Rctimer motors so I would guess the software you come up with would work for them.
Keep up your good work. There are many that will be able to use the software.
Larry

Those motors are really designed for lower voltages and bigger props. Have you tried e.g. a 12x6 prop on 4S? According to the spec sheet, that provides ~1400g of thrust and keeps the motor within design specs. That's a total max thrust of 11.6 kg, which is more than enough for a 3.5 kg octo.

[Enthlapy]

Fabian

I'm very interested in your project. I'm building a 3.5Kg octo and have been thinking I should flash the ESCs. The motors I have are a cheap pancake motors from TCtimer.
[url="http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=709&productname="]http://rctimer.com/i...09&productname=[/url]
The ESC are 50 amp because there cheap and can take 6s lipos. [url="http://rctimer.com/index.php?gOo=goods_details.dwt&goodsid=634&productname="]http://rctimer.com/i...34&productname=[/url]
I get 2Kg of thrust with a 3000ma 6s lipo and the motor gets just warm at three miniuts of one Kg thrust with a 10 x4.5 porp.
The MT-4006 have much the same specifications the Rctimer motors so I would guess the software you come up with would work for them.
Keep up your good work. There are many that will be able to use the software.
Larry

MT-4006 - 24pole RcTimer- 12 pole.........

[Falco]

Hey Larry,

<trimmed>
I get 2Kg of thrust with a 3000ma 6s lipo and the motor gets just warm at three minutes of one Kg thrust with a 10 x4.5 prop.
<trimmed>
Keep up your good work. There are many that will be able to use the software.
Larry

If you mean the wii-esc software, I have to point out that we're adding nothing to it but a tiny compile-time tweak to the timing, and a bunch of compatibility testing. All the coding credit goes to quax, Simon, and ziss_dm!

The RCTimer 50A ESCs that you linked to are a rather odd type. They're known as the 'rct50a.hex' in the RapidESC terminology (see the RapidESC Database; in the chart there are pics linked that you can use to confirm exactly which ESC you have). I do not know of any wii-esc variant that would work for that, at this point. If you want to use wii-esc, it's probably easiest to get one of the supported ESCs. You might have success with your existing 50A RCTimers by using the RapidESC rct50a.hex file, but again, confirm with the pics from the chart before testing.

I do agree with Brian that you will likely get better results (and improved efficiency) with some 4S batts and larger props (it will sound better, too)!

Those motors are really designed for lower voltages and bigger props. Have you tried e.g. a 12x6 prop on 4S? According to the spec sheet, that provides ~1400g of thrust and keeps the motor within design specs. That's a total max thrust of 11.6 kg, which is more than enough for a 3.5 kg octo.

Ken

[Falco]

MT-4006 - 24pole RcTimer- 12 pole.........

Hey Enthlapy, good to see you here. Still planning on your testing this weekend? We hope to hear more about it!

Ken

[Fabian]

Dang! The F-40A is a bs.hex type ESC, not a bs_nfet.hex type, so it makes sense (unfortunately) that it did not work.



I'll edit the 'instructions' and try to make that more clear. Totally missed that you were looking to use my posted file (but it is more than interesting that it was the SimonK bs_nfet.hex actually blew the FETs... that may well be a useful clue; why the difference?).

So you need a bs.hex file for the F-40A. You could compile your own file for that (like Berkley did) or I can send you one. Did you have a spare ESC?

A visual cue that it might not be an all n-FET ESC is the fact that the FETs were in two sets of symmetrical rows, and if you could manage to read the lettering on them you'd see that there are two types of FETs.

Ken

meeh totaly my own sillyness... no real sleep, no current limiter, no checking the values the flashtool selected for the f40, and jumping the gun on flashing it i guess.
I am still not 100% sure what the esc actually is now... on the pics it looks like all the same.
I do have plenty of spare esc's so no worries there, and i also got a badge of plush 40A and mystery 40A incoming if something goes horribly wrong =)

I tried downloading the wiiesc compiler and source as shown on their wiki however i ended up having a paths problem as the 'make' couldnt find the included files -.-

You will want the "Mystery20A" target for the F-40A board.

...is what simon suggested

bit confused right now .. and yeah i would love to be able to compile the source myself .. i have a linux vm down in my workshop but no clue how to actualy compile it as the .cmd files of the wiiesc are all windows -.-

[Enthlapy]

Hey Enthlapy, good to see you here. Still planning on your testing this weekend? We hope to hear more about it!

Ken

Not yet ;( my comp is down till monday. But Simons firmware is solid on those Rc Timer Motors Have alittle update on my TBS log.

[Fabian]

I do have one of the rctimer 50A esc's here too but since it got no programming pads at all its not very re-flashing friendly for me.
Gonne go order me an adjustable power supply first now i think, then maybe do another trip to the basement and check out those fets type from up close...

Btw the thing of "compability" seams also a matter of the prop weight it seams, i did a test run with a unflashed esc today and a much lighter weight cf prop (cf-16gr vs wood-36gr ) and i have the feeling that the issue got alot better.

[Enthlapy]

Yea, it’s to do with the pole count. ESC Motor timing is definitely related to load, whether its prop or the AUW. Some are more noticeable than others.

[Aerhead]

Those motors are really designed for lower voltages and bigger props. Have you tried e.g. a 12x6 prop on 4S? According to the spec sheet, that provides ~1400g of thrust and keeps the motor within design specs. That's a total max thrust of 11.6 kg, which is more than enough for a 3.5 kg octo.

Brain

Thinks for your input. I'm building a test of concept octo and I'm not to interested in efficiency yet. I other words a disposable octo. Big props on an octo makes them hard to control in wind. I have tested the RCtimer motor and the octo should hover with 7 g/watt. Not to bad for a cheap motor, and there's a lot of punch left for payload and turning.
I have a couple of extra 50 amp ESCs and I'll flash one and see how it works.
Larry

[Aerhead]

Not yet ;( my comp is down till monday. But Simons firmware is solid on those Rc Timer Motors Have alittle update on my TBS log.

Enthlapy

Thanks for that info. I was guessing that timing for a 12 pole motor would be less critical. Now if I can find how to connect all the wires I'll be able to flash. I've done the I2c conversions a couple of years ago so this should not be too hard.
Larry

Edited by Aerhead, 23 June 2012 - 04:19 PM.

[Enthlapy]

Enthlapy

Thanks for that info. I was guessing that timing for a 12 pole motor would be less critical. Now if I can find how to connect all the wires I'll be able to flash. I've done the I2c conversions a couple of years ago so this should not be too hard.
Larry

I cant do a full explanation, but i think pole count efficeny load and esc timing are directly related. I actaully wan to ask James about timing, i think in the long run it will boil down to the right timing for the right load. The higher the pole count the stronger the motor will be with a low KV. The lower pole count will be less stronger but will be able to swing a load more efficenlty with the right timing.

[Aerhead]

I cant do a full explanation, but i think pole count efficeny load and esc timing are directly related. I actaully wan to ask James about timing, i think in the long run it will boil down to the right timing for the right load. The higher the pole count the stronger the motor will be with a low KV. The lower pole count will be less stronger but will be able to swing a load more efficenlty with the right timing.

Enthalpy

I know James is working hard on the timing issues with the OP ESC. The difficult thing with timing is that the zero crossover point gets distorted at high load. I would think with high pole counts, timing distortion happens more quickly.

[gs4322]

Falco,

Getting ready to flash the F-30 ESC with the posted Falco_revA_WiiESC_Mystery20A_nFET.hex. Just need some clarification on the method used to flash this revised firmware.

1. Copy Falco_revA_WiiESC_Mystery20A_nFET.hex to the direcorty where avrdude.exe reside.
2. from the DOS (windows) command line "cd to the directory where avrdude exist"
3. Run this command from the command line > avrdude.exe -c usbasp -p m8 -U flash:w:Falco_revA_WiiESC_Mystery20A_nFET.hex

Is this correct?

If not, can u post the correct method.

Thanks

[scottevil]

that is correct.

[Falco]

avrdude.exe -c usbasp -p m8 -U flash:w:Falco_revA_WiiESC_Mystery20A_nFET.hex

Is this correct?

As Scott said, it looks correct (but I'm on my phone browser, and cannot confirm for certain). Whatever you have beyond "flash:" is the path of the hex to flash, so I don't think that you want that extra "w:" to be there. If the w: is in there, it will likely just fail and report an error, but can't damage anything.

You could also use LazyZero's (sp?) KKmulticopter flash tool. Lots of people use that successfully. It's on the first page of the RCG thread I linked to.

Ken

[scottevil]

As Scott said, it looks correct (but I'm on my phone browser, and cannot confirm for certain). Whatever you have beyond "flash:" is the path of the hex to flash, so I don't think that you want that extra "w:" to be there. If the w: is in there, it will likely just fail and report an error, but can't damage anything.

You could also use LazyZero's (sp?) KKmulticopter flash tool. Lots of people use that successfully. It's on the first page of the RCG thread I linked to.

Ken

it's the correct syntax, "

avrdude -c usbasp -p m8 -U flash:w:filename.hex"

[Falco]

Thanks Scott, that's what I get for goin' by memory!

K

[actionplus]

Just tried out these
http://www.hobbyking...grammable_.html
with my Gaui Scorpion (1050) motors with 9" blades on the MQ-1 frame that fmlive sent me as a test rig for the boards that I fix.
Flies great. Some punch it has.

But I do notice that the esc is pretty hot. I also read that these will get hot and may fail. Anything I load onto it that won't heat the sucker up?

Thanks