Esc's and throttle travel = Problems!

[Steven Vaccaro]

Ok, so I read this on a Stiletto read,

"Made a test run today using a 150% throttle travel setting on my DX3s. Noticable differences. Now feels like I'm getting all the power this boat can give. More linear on the trigger from 0 to 100%. Increased speed with new setting.

I've noticed similar instances with other esc's. I would bet this is one of the reasons some esc's fail in short order. The user is running at 80-90% and never realizes this. Making the esc work very hard and inefficiently. Castle has a led that goes solid when full throttle is achieved(even then I've found customers that didn't realize this), but with other esc's there is no indication of full throttle which can cause even more confusion.

I now always calibrate my throttle, then bench test while increasing the throttle distance function/travel to see if there is a difference in rpm. With castle esc's I problem with the link so when I pull the trigger about 90% of the way, the esc is 100%.

[Darin Jordan]

Ok, so I read this on a Stiletto read,



I've noticed similar instances with other esc's. I would bet this is one of the reasons some esc's fail in short order. The user is running at 80-90% and never realizes this. Making the esc work very hard and inefficiently. Castle has a led that goes solid when full throttle is achieved(even then I've found customers that didn't realize this), but with other esc's there is no indication of full throttle which can cause even more confusion.

I now always calibrate my throttle, then bench test while increasing the throttle distance function/travel to see if there is a difference in rpm. With castle esc's I problem with the link so when I pull the trigger about 90% of the way, the esc is 100%.

Steven, I've never noticed this issue with my DX3S radios, so I was a little surprised when I read this.

However, if people are touching the throttle on the TX BEFORE the ESC has fully armed, this could be the result. Otherwise, all of my Spektrum TX settings are simply factory 100% for T and B, and my ESCs have always achieved 100% throttle.

I DO believe, however, that it may be possible for increasing the ends to perhaps make the throttle feel more granular, but I haven't tested that part. My 1/10th scale uses a factory Stiletto ESC, so I'll use it to test this and give it a try.

[Steven Vaccaro]

Please dont take it as a specific radio issue. I use spektrum, but I had a customer with another radio brand have a similar issue the just a few weeks ago. He's a member of this board. Also I'm not saying its an epidemic, but its something to look for on setup.

[Darin Jordan]

Please dont take it as a specific radio issue. I use spektrum, but I had a customer with another radio brand have a similar issue the just a few weeks ago. He's a member of this board. Also I'm not saying its an epidemic, but its something to look for on setup.

No, No... I wasn't taking it as a specific radio issue... just saying that I've never had to adjust it like this with the ProBoat ESC...

I HAVE had to adjust it like this for the AQ, and some other ESCs... I think it all depends on how the ESC programmer set up the granularity of the steps in the throttle curve.

[Steven Vaccaro]

I was kind of trying to speak in generalities. I should have worded it better. I never had that issue with a proBoat esc. Mine always program the endpoints correctly. I've seen it on the castle and some Asian esc's.

[properchopper]

No, No... I wasn't taking it as a specific radio issue... just saying that I've never had to adjust it like this with the ProBoat ESC...

I HAVE had to adjust it like this for the AQ, and some other ESCs... I think it all depends on how the ESC programmer set up the granularity of the steps in the throttle curve.

Darin, could you explain "granularity". Not sure of what it means. Is it "throttle curve" or "expo" ? I recently programmed a milder curve on my Fut/VS-1 to help eliminate the tendency to backflip when getting on the throttle from rest. Is this an example of this? Thanks

Steven, excellent point about CC's "full throttle" indicator LED. Be nice to know if I'm "there" on all my other assorted SC's.

[Darin Jordan]

Darin, could you explain "granularity". Not sure of what it means.

When I say this, I'm referring to the actual digital jump in throttle for a given movement of the throttle stick/finger. If you zoom in on the actually "step" progression of the throttle advancement inside the ESC, you'll see it's a series of XX milliVolt or ??? steps. The size of these steps is what I'm referring to. A single step would be a simply on/off switch. The more steps you add, the more progressive the throttle feels....

[properchopper]

When I say this, I'm referring to the actual digital jump in throttle for a given movement of the throttle stick/finger. If you zoom in on the actually "step" progression of the throttle advancement inside the ESC, you'll see it's a series of XX milliVolt or ??? steps. The size of these steps is what I'm referring to. A single step would be a simply on/off switch. The more steps you add, the more progressive the throttle feels....

Got it !! As an example of "poor granularity" I have a heli that won't hover at a fixed altitude, it's either going up or down - [eleven bucks for the 30 amp SC may explain this]. Not adjustable in the SC's - too bad !

[simo71]

Darin,
My finding's were well after the ESC done it's start up & motor had been pulled from leg, I got into this as i felt the throttle feel was not very positive or had enough steps. I first went to 120% on the travel & no change, then 130% & end up with it at 150%....Much better positive feedback from the ESC.

So it was when I did this the motor's peak revs had seemed to increase (by ear) to confirm I went back to 100% throttle travel & increased the throttle travel while on the trigger, this is where I found the increase in motor RPM.

[ALD]

Good job Simo71- You solved the issue. I use the 150 setting on my radio and made a big difference.

[Darin Jordan]

Good job Simo71- You solved the issue. I use the 150 setting on my radio and made a big difference.

Dang... I'm going to try that! That should allow better cornering performance in the Stiletto as well. One issue I had with the stock ESC was the abrupt jump from "full" throttle to just a little less throttle.

I'll report these findings to ProBoat as well. Might be subject for an inline product improvement.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

OH, and I'll get some real numbers on my test bench as well to validate that there is, indeed, and measurable difference.