Brand new Z.T.W esc won?t work

[montymike]

Got my new 300 amp Z.TW. Seal in the mail with program card soldered on Leeds programed it hooked it up to radio transmitter receiver that I knew worked . Thing just beeps in motor otherwise does not work. I have various esc?s first one that did not work at all. Any help please thanks mike.

[fweasel]

Did you calibrate the throttle?

[Jesse J]

Same for me until I tried a pistix. Is there another solution?

[plinse]

You can not set up the ZTW controller with the progbox alone, you always have to calibrate it to the RC.
If the ESC does nothing but beeping it has not accepted the calibration.

If you think that you did a calibration with your RC and the ESC did not accept it, it might be the pistix-issue.

With my Graupner SJ RC I just need to programm 2 mixer to enlarge the travel, even though it is a colt transmitter. 0-100% is often not enough to be accepted by the ESC but using 2 mixer I can get -150% to +150%.
This works well with every ESC so far including the ZTW 300A Seal. Without the mixer I would have problems with many ESC.

It also took me quite some time to get the ZTW running. Since I got it calibrated it just works like any other ESC. Setting it up with the prog box alone is not enough. It is my only ESC that is so "complicated" but with a 300A ESC I appreciate that they make sure that the motor does not start running by mistake.

[Rich]

I'm having a problem with my ztw 300 too. I have a spektrum radio system set to 150 both directions. It calibrates but the throttle has no resolution. I give it throttle and it spins the motor but it doesnt vary speed with the trigger movement. I just held full throttle and is spins up a few seconds later shutters, then spins fast. Any idea what's going on? I'd really like to get this boat in the water!

[fweasel]

I'm having a problem with my ztw 300 too. I have a spektrum radio system set to 150 both directions. It calibrates but the throttle has no resolution. I give it throttle and it spins the motor but it doesnt vary speed with the trigger movement. I just held full throttle and is spins up a few seconds later shutters, then spins fast. Any idea what's going on? I'd really like to get this boat in the water!

Try reversing your throttle channel in the transmitter setup, then re-do your calibration procedure.

[Rich]

I tried that it didnt work. I played around with it some more on the software and got it to work. It seems the soft start setting was making it act weird. I hooked up a different motor, tried 3 different radios and messed with the settings somehow I got it to work. Weird...not sure what I did but it works!

[hispeed10k]

I tried that it didnt work. I played around with it some more on the software and got it to work. It seems the soft start setting was making it act weird. I hooked up a different motor, tried 3 different radios and messed with the settings somehow I got it to work. Weird...not sure what I did but it works!

Where do you find the software for them as i am having a issue with mine doing almost the same thing!!! Brand new 200A!!!

[Peter A]

Where do you find the software for them as i am having a issue with mine doing almost the same thing!!! Brand new 200A!!!

I found with my 200 that I had to manually program it with the tx before the program box would work, bit of a thing getting used to the beeps!. Until then it would not even connect with the program box, after that no problem. make sure your throttle is at zero trim.

[Rich]

Where do you find the software for them as i am having a issue with mine doing almost the same thing!!! Brand new 200A!!!

Look at the ztw 300 on offshoreelectrics he has a link for it in the description.

[hispeed10k]

Look at the ztw 300 on offshoreelectrics he has a link for it in the description.

Not seeing a link there...??

[hispeed10k]

I found with my 200 that I had to manually program it with the tx before the program box would work, bit of a thing getting used to the beeps!. Until then it would not even connect with the program box, after that no problem. make sure your throttle is at zero trim.

What's happening with mine is once i take my finger off the throttle and i turn the wheel, the esc engages and spins the prop. I added a battery to the reciever and it stopped!!! But i know this is not supposed to happen!

[Rich]

What's happening with mine is once i take my finger off the throttle and i turn the wheel, the esc engages and spins the prop. I added a battery to the reciever and it stopped!!! But i know this is not supposed to happen!

My bad it's not there but here https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ztw-usb-201000010

What do you mean by wheel? Are you using a pistol grip radio?

[hispeed10k]

My bad it's not there but here https://www.offshoreelectrics.com/proddetail.php?prod=ztw-usb-201000010

What do you mean by wheel? Are you using a pistol grip radio?

Thanks for the link!! Yes i'm using a pistol grip radio...7PX Futaba.

[Rich]

Thanks for the link!! Yes i'm using a pistol grip radio...7PX Futaba.

Do you have a mix programmed? That's the only thing I can think of that would cause that to happen, or the esc is plugged into the wrong channel

[hispeed10k]

Do you have a mix programmed? That's the only thing I can think of that would cause that to happen, or the esc is plugged into the wrong channel

No mixing programmed

[NativePaul]

What's happening with mine is once i take my finger off the throttle and i turn the wheel, the esc engages and spins the prop. I added a battery to the reciever and it stopped!!! But i know this is not supposed to happen!

Sounds like you have the ESC plugged into the wrong channel, then blew the ESC (or possibly the RX, but ESC is more usual) when you plugged the RX battery in without cutting/removing the red wire in the ESC to RX lead.

[Rich]

Sounds like you have the ESC plugged into the wrong channel, then blew the ESC (or possibly the RX, but ESC is more usual) when you plugged the RX battery in without cutting/removing the red wire in the ESC to RX lead.

I agree with native Paul on this one that esc has a built in bec. You shouldn't need an rx pack unless you removed the red wire. Are you plugging into the rx with the longer rx lead? The short one is for programming.

[jaike5]

Pick up a Shultz 40160or61 save yourself a ton of grief!

[Rich]

Pick up a Shultz 40160or61 save yourself a ton of grief!
If they were still around.

[oscarel]

If they were still around.

And affordable.

[hispeed10k]

Sounds like you have the ESC plugged into the wrong channel, then blew the ESC (or possibly the RX, but ESC is more usual) when you plugged the RX battery in without cutting/removing the red wire in the ESC to RX lead.

I have the esc plugged into the correct channel...channel 2!! And the battery to the reciever was a last ditch option that was done after everything was turned off. I should add here that i ran the boat with the esc over the weekend and it worked fine. It's just that if the battery isn't plugged into the reciever, then it will spin the prop when you turn the wheel.

[hispeed10k]

I agree with native Paul on this one that esc has a built in bec. You shouldn't need an rx pack unless you removed the red wire. Are you plugging into the rx with the longer rx lead? The short one is for programming.

It's plugged in with the longer lead. See my answer to Native Paul too.

[NativePaul]

So the motor was running when you pulled the trigger as well as tuned the wheel? I though you meant it only worked when you turned the wheel.

That sounds like a radio issue, is it programmable? Can you reset it to factory defaults in case you accidentally put a mix on it, or the factory put settings on it for QA then neglected to reset to defaults afterwards? Is the TX battery charged? Is it a brand name Radio with a service department and support? Do you have a known working ESC you can test it with?

[hispeed10k]

So the motor was running when you pulled the trigger as well as tuned the wheel? I though you meant it only worked when you turned the wheel.

That sounds like a radio issue, is it programmable? Can you reset it to factory defaults in case you accidentally put a mix on it, or the factory put settings on it for QA then neglected to reset to defaults afterwards? Is the TX battery charged? Is it a brand name Radio with a service department and support? Do you have a known working ESC you can test it with?

The motor works fine as it should when you pull the trigger. The strange thing is once you are not pressing the trigger and you turn the wheel, the esc engages and spins the prop. But plugging a battery into the reciever stops it and everything works fine. I will try and get a video of it later when i get in from work. Oh and i use a Futaba 7PX that works quite fine will all my other boats....electric and gas.

[Rich]

Hmmm weird problem. Do you have another radio to try it with?

[plinse]

It really sounds strange but I observed some more issues on the ZTW that I don't like.

ZTW300 Seal, nominally it is Opto :olleyes::

Minus of the HV-Batterie and Minus of RX lead is the same. A friend ran two motors and 2 ESC, he removed the red wire from the RX lead and it worked well. Some others I know had burned minus wire on the RX. On an opto controller it actually should not be connected to the high power circuit :glare:
One colleague tested to use such an additional opto-module that is made for plugging in between RX and ESC and it worked. It is cool that it worked but on the other hand it should not work...
For the not so electrical guys as an explanation: The optocoupler separates 2 electric circuits optically. You have one LED going in and a photo-sensitive transistor going out. Without electricity on the rear side the photo-sensitive transistor would not work. Putting 2 optocouplers in series, the first one should have no electricity on the rear side and should not be able to operate the LED of the second one. But it works on the ZTW300Seal which means that there is something wrong with the electrical "opto-separation" :thumbdown:
Just to get some understanding I plugged my ProgBox to the RX-lead. It did not work but the display was not complete dark anymore. There was some electricity on the RX-lead that should not be there on an opto-ESC.
Wikipedia has a nice gif to explain the function of an opto coupler:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optokoppler#/media/Datei:Optokoppler.gif
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optokoppler#/media/Datei:Optokoppler.gif

A usual Opto-ESC connects Impulse (white or yellow wire coming from the RX) with "+" of the LED having about 300Ohm as a resistor in between and Minus of the RX wire to the low side of the LED. "+" is not used and there should be no connection of RX-side and HV-side...

Would you really trust an electronic device that has functions that you don't understand?
Using this "unexpected electricity" by using a second opto-module to separate the "burned minus wire-issue" you rely on this electricity being reliable. On the other hand this electricity should not be there, it says that the ESC has an optocoupler, obviously it does not have one or it is installed having a different understanding of how to do it and minus can be measured to be the same on HV side as well as on RX-side. Strange. I really don't like it and this is also why I have a pair of ZTW300 Seal lying around. I just don't trust them.


ZTW200 Seal... It has a BEC and just works well for me in a 2 motored boat. I use a self made Y-connector that does not connect + to the RX and a RX Batterie. I had to update the Firmware to get a reliable startup but now it is fine. Before the startup had issues with any motor I tried (4092 SSS, 4082 Surpass Rocket, 1950 Lehner), with the new Firmware it is fine, currently driving Neu 1527 2300kV, it is a 6s setup.

I have no interaction of servo and ESC BUT I also had some issues with modern high power servos. The newest HV-Servos are also quite powerful and sometimes also have brushless motors. Using such a servo I would always choose a separate RX-Batterie and not use the BEC if there should be one. The new, fast 20+kg with 0,0xsec Servos can be really cool mechanically-wise but electrically they are also quite demanding and on the limit of current BEC and RX-Connectors.

If I look at the topics above on how trustworthy the ZTW are designed according to optocoupler, ... I am not sure whether the BEC-supply is reliable and what reactions on sudden load on the BEC you have to expect. The only ZTW I am currently using are the SEAL 200A and I don't use the BEC as the boat has 2 motors, I have to separate one +-wire going to the RX anyway and I have a high power HV-servo so I wanted a separate RX-Batterie for that reason as well so both +-wires to the RX are separated. This works well.

What I did see is that when I have the motors running, coming to a stop one motor sometimes has a short peak to speed up for about half a second.
With all the topics above making the ZTW not so trustworthy this is just one additional detail...

On the other hand there are also positive things on the ZTW.
Most ESC-Manufacturers use a very tight dimensioning of the capacitors.Turnigy has 3000?F on a 180A ESC on the board, Flycolor has 2240?F on a 150A ESC with lousy connection to the main board, the 200A ZTW have 6 capacitors of the same mechanical dimension as the 180A Turnigy have instead of 3 capacitors AND they are connected to the water cooling :thumbup1: It is a pity that I can't read the numbers on the caps there but that fore they have the connection to the water cooling.

But the ZTW have many topics that I don't like. When I had discussions with the vendor whom I bought the 200A Seal from I made several videos. When the motors reached high speed the EMC really challenged the sound-recording of my cellphone. You can hear the EMC-emissions in the video as a random noise that does not exist in reality :tape:
... just another detail ...

[jaike5]

And affordable.
Sch. is half the price of an MGM that don't work, and now one cooked ZTW with an other having to replace it your at the same price point with a hole lotta grief!! Just say'n!!

[jaike5]

If they were still around.

Just sold two. First thing I do when I get on here is check the swap shop!

[Rich]

Just sold two. First thing I do when I get on here is check the swap shop!

Are you a dealer for them?

[jaike5]

No.

[plinse]

Are you a dealer for them?
He would be out of work then. Schulze stopped production several years ago. When you google it you will find information on their bankruptcy published in January 2013 and the last chance to get something repaired was in the end of 2017.
Schulze Hardware was cool and really ahead of time but today it is old equipment you only get 2nd or 3rd hand, you never really know the prior life and if there are issues coming up there is no support any more. Old electronic parts are difficult anyway as many manufacturers stop producing certain parts after some time and keeping up service for old parts would require constant development and figuring out replacements, ... sometimes it is little effort, sometimes a show stopper.

As no new parts are produced for many years now looking for Schulze equipment is the nostalgic approach and no solution for many people anyway.

[Timely]

My 200 amp run continuously, I?m sure I messed up the throttle calibration. How do I start over I?ve got a spectrum DX3 tx/rx system . With aTP4070 1750kv motor , kinda over built a Sonic Wake as a joke at first ? Now I?ve got a lot sunk into it , I?d surly like to see it run like it should ? QUOTE=Peter A;751071]I found with my 200 that I had to manually program it with the tx before the program box would work, bit of a thing getting used to the beeps!. Until then it would not even connect with the program box, after that no problem. make sure your throttle is at zero trim.[/QUOTE]

[Rich]

My 200 amp run continuously, I?m sure I messed up the throttle calibration. How do I start over I?ve got a spectrum DX3 tx/rx system . With aTP4070 1750kv motor , kinda over built a Sonic Wake as a joke at first ? Now I?ve got a lot sunk into it , I?d surly like to see it run like it should ? QUOTE=Peter A;751071]I found with my 200 that I had to manually program it with the tx before the program box would work, bit of a thing getting used to the beeps!. Until then it would not even connect with the program box, after that no problem. make sure your throttle is at zero trim.[/QUOTE]

Make sure you calibrate the esc. Turn on the radio hold full throttle, then turn on the rx. you should here the motor beeps after a few seconds, then go to full reverse, you should here beeps, then go to neutral. It should be good let us know.