Castle Creations HV 85... Lost it's programming

[MLaBoyteaux]

Did some extensive modifications to my E-Raptor over the weekend and took it out for some test flights today. I installed an AP-2000 and made some major mods to the camera mount.

I moved the throttle off idle and the motor SURGED to life, nearly folding the blades back in the grips. WTF!!!!!!

I immediately moved the throttle back to off and the head slowed to a stop. It felt funny, like it had a brake. Hmmmmm. That's weird. I rotated the main gear and it's missing some teeth. CRAP.

Suspecting something's gone wrong with the ESC, I brought the bird home and plugged it into the PC. It immediately gave me a warning

"The following settings will be set to their default values:
'Motor Timing' setting is set to an invalid value."


When I read the settings from the ESC, this is what it was set to:
################################################## #####
# Castle Link Data File
# Created: Monday, October 23, 2006
# Do Not Edit This File By Hand
################################################## #####
Brake Ramp: Very Slow
Cutoff Voltage: Auto Li-Po (*)
Hex55: 85
Brake Strength: 50
Direction: Forward (*)
Spool-Up Speed: 8
Throttle Type: Airplane: Auto Calibrating (*)
Current Limiting: Very Sensitive
Brake Delay: .6 sec (Delayed) (*)
Motor Start Power: 0
Throttle Response: 5
Motor Timing: Standard Advance (*)
Cutoff Type: Soft Cutoff
PWM Rate: 13khz (*)
Governor Gain: 50




These are the settings I had programmed on the 14th:
################################################## #####
# Castle Link Data File
# Created: Saturday, October 14, 2006
# Do Not Edit This File By Hand
################################################## #####
Brake Ramp: Very Slow
Cutoff Voltage: 40
Hex55: 85
Brake Strength: 0
Direction: Forward (*)
Spool-Up Speed: 8
Throttle Type: Heli: Governor High
Current Limiting: Disabled
Brake Delay: .6 sec (Delayed) (*)
Motor Start Power: 39
Throttle Response: 5
Motor Timing: Standard Advance (*)
Cutoff Type: Soft Cutoff
PWM Rate: 13khz (*)
Governor Gain: 50



It doesn't appear that the ESC reverted to the default settings. Some seem to be defaults, but not all of them.

I'm calling Castle Creations tommorow, but so far I'M EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED in their ESC. I installed this one 10 days ago and have only made 2 flights with it, as I was waiting for parts for the camera mount to arrive.

I think I might need to switch to a Schultze and try to strong-arm my money back from Castle :arggg:

[AZ ChopperCam]

FYI... I've had my 85HV on mine for many months now with around 15 hours of flight on my E-Raptor with no issues. A few weeks ago I thought the ESC was cutting out but it ended up being a bad motor bearing.

So far my 85HV has kicked a$$

[MLaBoyteaux]

Called Castle. Got a recording that all of their support staff are at a trade show through the 27th and don't bother leaving a message. :arggg:

I reprogrammed the ESC and tested it in the driveway by starting it up. I didn't let it spool up, as the main gear is missing a couple of teeth, but it appeared to be acting normal.

While installing the AP-2000, I had to reset the model on my Futaba 9C transmitter because of the swash type change. While on the bench, I tested the throttle setup by spooling the motor momentarily without any blades.

At first, the ESC wouldn't arm. Hmmm. Thought the idle trim might need to be set a little lower. Still wouldn't arm. Then I realized the throttle channel has to be set to "reverse" for the CC ESC to work. I reversed the throttle in the transmitter and then the ESC armed and would energize the motor.

I wonder, if it's possible because of the throttle being reversed that I could've inadvertantly put the ESC in program mode while trying to get it to arm?

When I applied power, it would've been at full throttle, but my throttle curve in normal was 0-100-100-100-100. So it would've powered up at full throttle, but I moved the throttle to half stick which should've been the same as going to idle, not mid stick.

What are the odds that I would've randomly moved the throttle in the proper sequence to enter the program mode and forced the ESC to revert to it's defaults?

[Teej]

Roughly similar to my freeroll hold 'em tournament last night where I went all in with aces in the pocket and a guy called after flopping 2 10s and he picked up the third on the river. :arggg:

[WillJames]

Yes you could have Mark. I have had the occasion of putting my Hacker 77-O in GOV mode by turning on the model with my Extreme program in the radio. I have also had one occasion where I did it and the motor direction was reversed. I started taking my hacker programmer to the field with me in my fightbox. Never happened again while I had the box with me... :DOH