Wiring and programing the seaking 180

[ericwpg]

Hello I've broken down and ordered the hi modal Seaking esc and card and 1450 panther and and now scrounging for tips on how to make it work when it gets here.
I've been reading all your posts (fantastic!) and just want things to work this time.
Will the motor plug into the esc or is it the wrong size of connector. Where do all the plugs go? Is there soldering involved? Thanks to whoever answers.

[dag-nabit]

There will no connectors on the ESC. The motor will come with the correct size barrels for the bullet connectors already on the motor, these will need to be soldered onto the ESC wires.

You will also need to get battery connectors and probably some wire to build the wiring harness for a series connection to the ESC.

Hope this helps
Kevin

[ericwpg]

Thanks dag-nabit Will the Traxxas radio gear plug right in then?

[JPriami]

Sure will. I use my stock radio system in mine.

[dag-nabit]

Hello I've broken down and ordered the hi modal Seaking esc and card and 1450 panther and and now scrounging for tips on how to make it work when it gets here.
I've been reading all your posts (fantastic!) and just want things to work this time.
Will the motor plug into the esc or is it the wrong size of connector. Where do all the plugs go? Is there soldering involved? Thanks to whoever answers.

The photo below may help.

You can just wire the power wires the same configuration as the stock ESC. I have added an extra plug to allow some versatility.

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w71/daidavies/Spartan/601592ee.jpg

Kevin

[ericwpg]

I am new to forums and to have the two absolute best guys answer my silly questions so quickly and accurately makes me extremely happy. Thank you guys soooo much. I bought a Yugo based on packaging and i have the team from Ferrari telling me how to make it perform. I'm sorry but no customer service even holds a candle to you guys please accept my sincere thanks. ericwpg@hotmail.com

[dag-nabit]

Hey, no problem, where do you think we learned a lot of what we now know. Forums and experience.

I still come here looking for answers.

Kevin

[tomjr]

What is the timing i should set for the t180 esc running on 1500kv lepoard motor.
And also the voltage cut off.
Thanks in advance

[dag-nabit]

The Leopard 4082 1500 is a Y wind motor, you should be OK to start with the timing advance at 15* (factory default). You can adjust timing up or down if you want to experiment with it to see if it runs better on a different advance. Watch your temps on ESC, Motor, and Batteries while evaluating performance.

This is based on general practice, not experience with this setup. JPriami is running that setup and I'm sure he will share with you what he has been running.

If you draw the voltage down below 3.0 volts in any cell you can/will damage it. So you want to set your voltage cut off above 3.0v per cell. (above 9.0v on 3S Battery)

Fully charged voltage should be around 4.2v per cell.

You will most often see recommendations for 3.2v or 3.3v per cell for cutoff.

The cutoff will kick in with batteries running under load, and when you check the battery voltage at rest they will read a bit higher (approx .3v per cell higher).

So when you check your 3S batteries after a removing them from the boat they should read somewhere around 3.5 or 3.6v per cell, or between 10.5 and 11.0v total voltage. if your LVC is set, and working, correctly.

I believe the choices for the T180 are 3.0v 3.2v and 3.4v with factory default at 3.2v. You should be OK with factory default.

If you go 3.4v you add an extra margin of error to protect your battery from accidental draw down, but it will also shorten your run time with the LVC cutting out sooner.

I'm not sure if the Turnigy/Seaking ESC is capable of monitoring individual cell voltage, or if it monitors total pack voltage. But reading the owners manual my interpretation is that it monitors total pack voltage. That is why it is important to set the LVC voltage a bit higher than 3.0v. If the battery is getting close to low voltage, and one cell is running a bit lower than the others, then you get a big amp spike power draw on the battery, that one cell could drop below 3.0v and not be noticed by the LVC.

Hope this makes some sort of sense.

Kevin

Here is an excerpt from the actual manual.

3. Low Voltage Cutoff Threshold: This function prevents the lithium battery pack from over discharging. The ESC
detects the battery’s voltage at any time, if the voltage is lower than the threshold for 2 seconds, the output power
will be reduced 50%. Please replace the battery pack as soon as possible.
Warning! If you ignore the low voltage cutoff phenomenon and keep running the boat, the battery pack will be
seriously damaged!
a) How to calculate the cutoff threshold of a whole battery pack:
The cutoff threshold of a battery pack = The threshold of each cell * cells number
For example, if the threshold of each cell is set to “3.2V/Cell”, and the battery pack is 3S (3 Cells), then the
cutoff threshold of this battery pack is 3.2*3=9.6V.
b) If you are using NiMH or NiCd battery:
NiMH and NiCd battery are not easy to be damaged, usually you needn’t worry about the over-discharge
problem, so you can set this programmable item to “No Protection”.
4. Timing: There are many differences among structures and parameters of different brushless motors, so a fixed
timing ESC is difficult to compatible with all these brushless motors. It is necessary to make the timing value
programmable.
Please select the most suitable timing value according to the motor you are just using. The correct timing value
makes the motor running smoothly. And generally, higher timing value brings out higher output power and higher
speed.