Ned Help Pleasssssseeeeeee Swordfish 240Hv,s going itno LVC

[wetsleeves]

I have a cat running twin leopard brushless motors, 2 swordfish 240 HV esc
running 10s lipo's in parrallel.
The 2 Swordfish 240 ESC seem to be going into lvc, even though the packs are 100% charged.
The boat would run for about 3 seconds then slow down to a stop. Release the
trigger, pull again and it would run again for another 3 seconds and do the
same thing.
I had the LVC set to 10s and soft cut out at 3.3v. I decided to set the LVC
to auto and see if that would fix the problem but still the same thing.
Packs are 2 fully charged 10s 5000 mah hooked up as a 10s 2p setup. Packs
are thunderpower 30c 5000mah.
Boat ran good when I first bought the esc early on in the year, then i didnt
use the boat for a few months , now this.
Motors, esc's and batteries all cool.
I changed the receiver and y cable to make sure that that wasnt the problem, changed the receiver battery,
but I'm still getting the same result.
I read on the swordfish site that the esc would go into auto shut down if there was a signal lost or
interference. I thought maybe the servo might have been interfering with the reciever so I diconnected it but still the same thing
Im using a futaba fasst 2.4 ghz radio set on HRS mode.
ESC are less than 12 months old. Its strange how both ESC are doing the exact same thing.
Any ideas would be apreciated.

Peter

[Diegoboy]

If you have another set of batteries, try them in the boat with no changes (other than batteries)
If you don't, try to borrow a set from a nearby boating buddy if you can

[Flying Scotsman]

Eliminate LVC settings if that is possible on that ESC.

Douggie

[Fluid]

Since both controllers used to work fine, and are now doing the same thing, the problem is probably not the controllers.

- was the FAAST set on HRS the last time you used it?
- is the transmitter still set on HRS?
- what is the voltage on the transmitter?
- what is the voltage of the fully charged packs?
- did the receiver get wet recently?
- have you tried a different receiver?
- have you checked the power and motor wiring to make sure there is no intermittent contact?


.

[Steven Vaccaro]

Did you contact Michelle yet?

[wetsleeves]

To answer a few questions.
The transmitter has always been set to HSR mode and I put in a different receiver and still get the same result.
The voltage of the receiver pack is 6v.
My 10s pac when fully charges are 42v, and ballanced within 0.010 v
The power motor wires have all had electrical tap tapped around the bullet connectors and heat shring so nothing can short out.
Here is a pic of how the esc are connected. They are connected in parrallel with the batteries.
2011-12-13 18.43.47.jpg
I will connect the esc up seperatly when I get a chance to there own battery pack and see if that makes a difference.
The batteries have been cycled once before I used them.

Steve I did contact Michelle and got a responce last night. Here was the responce
Yes, such phenomenon usually happens when LVC works or when losing signal.
Were the battery packs once damaged because of over discharging in previous using?

Please try to set LVC of ESC at '4 cells', and set cut-off voltage per cell at '3.0v', and do a testing again.
If the problem is still not fixed, then the ESC needs to be shipped back for checking the hardware.

Thanks for your reply.

Packs have never been discharged any lower than 3.8v a cell. When the boat was running I would only run her for around 2-3 minutes and bring her in.
I will try and set up the esc separatly as as I get a chance and see if that makes a difference.

Peter

[Boaterguy]

so is there 1 10S 10 000mah 30C pack splitting into both ESC's? that would only give you 300 amps or 150 amps for each ESC, that isn't very much and if you are drawing lots of amps on startup it could be dipping the voltage below the LVC. if you have higher C rated packs try that.

[wetsleeves]

No there are 2 10s packs wired in parrallel. I did a little bench test yesterday and even pulling the trigger softly to see if it would run longer and it did the same thing.
I dont think its the batteries that are the problem but you never know.

[drwayne]

reprogram (check)them and recalibrate them on connect.
10cells,. 3.2V ... medium start .. soft cutoff ..
Do you use antispark connect ? Make sure the esc switch is OFF until the connect procedure is complete.

As Jay said above.. unlikely both fail at same time

[thomaslambo]

I had the exact same problem occur with my twin motor cat. I made a half dozen two run passes and everything ran fine. Keep in mind this was under SAWS conditions running extreme setups.

I was using two 240a Swordfish controllers running on 8 cells. The issue turned out to be one bad ESC that was causing the problem. Both ESC’s were connected to the receiver with a Y harness with one power source (the bad ESC was confusing the system). I removed the Y harness and ran 2 separate connections to the receiver. However, I first tested each side of the boat separately on the bench and was able to isolate the bad side/ESC and replaced it with a new one. The next run was full power again and it ran fine until I blew the other ESC two thirds into a full power run.

Either way, I would suggest isolating each side completely and then test them separately to see what happens.

FYI, I sent both controllers back to Michelle and they repaired them under warranty (only cost was shipping).

Good luck.

[Flying Scotsman]

An interesting problem....are the motors new and have you bench tested the system at full throtlle for longer than a second prior to this issue.

Douggie

[JIM MARCUM]

Good info, Boyd. Never thought about the Y connector/one bad ESC isue before. You've probably saved me a lot of grief. JIM

[wetsleeves]

I had the exact same problem occur with my twin motor cat. I made a half dozen two run passes and everything ran fine. Keep in mind this was under SAWS conditions running extreme setups.

I was using two 240a Swordfish controllers running on 8 cells. The issue turned out to be one bad ESC that was causing the problem. Both ESC’s were connected to the receiver with a Y harness with one power source (the bad ESC was confusing the system). I removed the Y harness and ran 2 separate connections to the receiver. However, I first tested each side of the boat separately on the bench and was able to isolate the bad side/ESC and replaced it with a new one. The next run was full power again and it ran fine until I blew the other ESC two thirds into a full power run.

I will isolate each side and do a bench test this afternoon.
I changed the y harness as I thought that may have been the problem but no luck.
I always use an anti spark resistor when I connect my esc as not to damage the caps.
Douggie, the boat was running fine until I put the boat away for a few months. Motors are as old as the esc which would be less than 12 months.

Thanks for the replies.
Peter

[Fluid]

I had the exact same problem occur with my twin motor cat. I made a half dozen two run passes and everything ran fine. Keep in mind this was under SAWS conditions running extreme setups.

I'm glad you found out the problem and were able to get it fixed. Too bad it couldn't be fixed that weekend - I REALLY wanted to see a 100 mph pass!


.

[wetsleeves]

I isolated each motor and esc and ran them seperatly, (one at a time) and both did the same thing. Only ran for a short period of time then slowed right down.
I tried both batteries on each esc with the same effect, so its got me beat.
I will go through all the soldered joints again and make sure there is no dried joint.
I disconnected the y harness and plugged the esc straight into the receiver, one at a time and it still didnt fix the problem.
I will recheck all the connections on more time and see if any thing is loose.

[MarkF]

Like what Boyd said above. When his started doing what yours is doing it was because the controllers went bad. Time to send them in and get them checked out and fixed.

Mark

[thomaslambo]

I'm glad you found out the problem and were able to get it fixed. Too bad it couldn't be fixed that weekend - I REALLY wanted to see a 100 mph pass!


.

Hi Jay,
I'll be back in March with a half dozen controllers in hand and get that 100 MPH+ run

[thomaslambo]

I isolated each motor and esc and ran them seperatly, (one at a time) and both did the same thing. Only ran for a short period of time then slowed right down.
I tried both batteries on each esc with the same effect, so its got me beat.
I will go through all the soldered joints again and make sure there is no dried joint.
I disconnected the y harness and plugged the esc straight into the receiver, one at a time and it still didnt fix the problem.
I will recheck all the connections on more time and see if any thing is loose.

I tend to agree with Mark but if you have the extra gear I would try one last test.
Take one of your controllers and connect it on the bench to a different motor, rx, and battery, using a differnet model no or transmitter and test it again (or give one ESC to a friend and let them test it in another boat).....if it fails under those circumstances then send both controllers back to the Michelle.

Good luck

[drwayne]

Do you possess one of the handy balance plug voltage checkers ?
Take note the pack voltage when the setup slows to a stop.
Those cells, though charged to 4.2, may have poor loaded voltage sustainability.
Try a different pack !
Doh .. is your Tx flat .. there's a failsafe there too !
W

[wetsleeves]

I tried a different Tx pack with the same effect and I dont have a voltage checker, only the one thats on the charger.

This morning I bench tested the system using different esc and all was ok motors ran perfectly. could throttle up and down with great response.
I will ship the esc's back today and get them fixed. Its just strange how both played up together. Will keep you all posted of the outcome.
Thanks to everyone who helped out, it is much appreciated.

Peter

[Fluid]

And here I thought that the Castle controllers were the only ones with problems and the Swordfish were trouble-free...

j/k. I am very glad the OP identified the issue - I forgot about the Y connector effecting both ESCs, good catch Boyd! It is looking like I won't be there to see the 100+ passes in March, darn!


.

[thomaslambo]

And here I thought that the Castle controllers were the only ones with problems and the Swordfish were trouble-free...

j/k. I am very glad the OP identified the issue - I forgot about the Y connector effecting both ESCs, good catch Boyd! It is looking like I won't be there to see the 100+ passes in March, darn! .

Sorry you won't be attending the March event, you'll be missed.

[wetsleeves]

OK, just received a email from Michelle from Hifei and they have fixed both ESC. Apparently both esc had a resistor which became oxidized and that was causing the problems.
I will let you guys know how they preform when I get them back.
A big thanks to hifei for the quick response, but the real test will be when I get them back into my boat.
I have some plastic dip here at home, do you think when I get my esc back I should give them a dip and waterproof them?

[thomaslambo]

Peter,

Was wondering where you stored your boat in between runs (and what temperature ranges it was exposed to)?

[Flying Scotsman]

Use Corrosion X

Douggie

[drwayne]

OK, just received a email from Michelle from Hifei and they have fixed both ESC. Apparently both esc had a resistor which became oxidized and that was causing the problems.
I will let you guys know how they preform when I get them back.
A big thanks to hifei for the quick response, but the real test will be when I get them back into my boat.
I have some plastic dip here at home, do you think when I get my esc back I should give them a dip and waterproof them?

make sure all your gear is thoroughly cleaned and dry before putting it away.
"oxidized" is a polite way to say it got wet
as mad douggie suggests, corrosion X is a great preventative to corrosion.

[wetsleeves]

I stored the boat on the boat shelf in the garage, it was winter here but we dont get really cold winters like you guys get in the USA. Our winters here we still were shorts an T-shirts. I do make sure after I run the boat, that its dry. Boat doesnt leak and I always tap the hatch down.
I will go and buy corrosion x and spray the esc when I get them back. I suppose water will get into anything if given half the chance.

[drwayne]

I stored the boat on the boat shelf in the garage, it was winter here but we dont get really cold winters like you guys get in the USA. Our winters here we still were shorts an T-shirts. I do make sure after I run the boat, that its dry. Boat doesnt leak and I always tap the hatch down.
I will go and buy corrosion x and spray the esc when I get them back. I suppose water will get into anything if given half the chance.

Dont tape the hatch down for storage.
Whatever miniscule droplet of water that is inside cannot escape and may reek havoc.
Nothing is ever 100% dry
Corrosion X on all electronics, and a roll of soft tissue/toilet papery stuff will do the biz to absorb any remaining moisture.
Humidity is a killer also..

cheers and good luck
W.

[wetsleeves]

You misunderstood me, I always tape the hatch down when I run the boat. After I have ran the boat an cleaned it, I store the boat with the hatch off for about 4 days to a week to let any water that may be in the hull evaporate. Then I place the hatch on and leave it.
I will try the tissue paper thing. Do you roll tissue paper around your electronics, or just place it in the hull?

[drwayne]

just pack it in.. loose paper has more surface area for absorption.

regs
W