Why does my Align 75 amp ESC keep resetting??

[Drew816]

Ok, two days in a row I've had my ESC reset itself. Luckily on the GROUND of course, but both days I've flown one or two flights before hand, all is well and then I go to plug in the next set of batteries and I'm in programming mode. My stick is LOW (Throttle OFF) so I'm not purposefully entering programming mode, it's just as if the unit's lost it's memory of my settings. No biggie except again I lost flying time having to reset and reconfirm my settings and that's torquing me off!!! :arggg::arggg::arggg:

Luckily I have the settings memorized, I use the same settings on my 35X ESC as my 75 (as it turns out) and I got in the habit of listening to CONFIRM that my settings are in place before flying (Thanks for that bit of advice again Don - 500Driver!); 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1.

Thoughts? Is my unit going bad? Am I plugging in the batteries wrong as to irritate the ESC, will I win the lottery anytime soon?

[mysticmead]

describe how you connect the batteries.... it might be the connection sequence that is causing it to reset..

[Drew816]

I'm using a series connector setup and I've plugged the first battery in on each side over time with no 'issues' that I've recognized. I'll start to keep better track of how I do this, maybe do the 'tapped' connector first (BEC and Lipo alarm taps) and then do the next one in sequence and see if that gives me consistent results.

Odd, very odd...

[mjdee14]

are you hooking up main batts in HH mode...? I have noticed my align esc seems to beep when I hook it up like it's going through the different modes....I haven't paid much attention to it and I'm not sure if my original settings are in there or not.....only flew it about 5 times so far....

I need to reset it as I do not really feel much difference between the z20 and z30....or at least as much as I thought it would be.

[Drew816]

are you hooking up main batts in HH mode...?

Yes, Normal mode startup is all I fly at this point so no Rate Mode for me (as of yet).

I have noticed my align esc seems to beep when I hook it up like it's going through the different modes....

Running through it's self check is normal, the "All Clear" startup signal followed by the series of 5 'checks' with various number of beeps telling you what your settings are. What's NOT normal is the ESC starting up in Programming Mode on it's own every three flights especially when I'm not trying to enter that mode; the throttle is at idle so WTF-unk?

[Mikej]

Have you asked the people that you bought it from about a replacement ? If it is faulty I'd get it changed.

Cheers,
Mike

[michael88997]

check to make sure ur solder connections havent broken loose and its bein held on from the shrink wrap...


I need to reset it as I do not really feel much difference between the z20 and z30....or at least as much as I thought it would be.


if you cant feel a difference then you have something setup wrong because theres a huge difference lol

[mysticmead]

when I connect my batteries, I connect both lipos to the series connector and then plug it into the ESC. maybe connecting one battery at a time is what is causing you ESC to reset..

[mjdee14]

when I connect my batteries, I connect both lipos to the series connector and then plug it into the ESC. maybe connecting one battery at a time is what is causing you ESC to reset..


that really shouldn't make a difference becuase you don't get anything with the first batt, since it's in series, the connection is still open until the second batt is connected....then the esc gets 22v....just like if you connected both batts then the one deans to the esc.....

I just think if that was the case.....it would cause many people the same problem...

[michael88997]

yea i connect my series connector to my esc and never take it off at the field and just plug in my batteries one at a time so i dont have to take my canopie off... mine kept resetting when my connection came loose but the heat shrink luckily held it for the rest of the flight

[mysticmead]

it was just a thought.. never know with some of these things :D


still trying to figure out how you can change batteries and not take off the canopy though

[michael88997]

lol i wasn't saying i change them with the canopie on... what i was saying is i put the batteries on and all i have to do is plug them in... i dont have to take the canope off when im fixin 2 fly

[mysticmead]

ahhhhh... was gonna say.,.. nice trick and how the hell did ya do it.. taking the canopy on and off sucks. Hmmmm maybe a123.. then just charge in the heli :D

[Drew816]

I checked out the connections, they're all in good shape on the ESC to Series Split side of the equation. I'm going to check out all my Lipos as well AND keep track to see if maybe it's one specific set of batteries that's doing this (which I don't think it is).

I'm also going to consistently plug in the Lipos on power-up from here on out, I'll start on the 'empty' side and then the #2 battery which as the Y connector for my Lipo alarm and the Castle BEC will be plugged in. Maybe plugging that in first was giving power to the BEC confusing the ESC?? Or maybe this is all opposite and the BEC should be plugged in first? I'll be consistent and report back; regardless the ESC should NOT be entering programming mode this often so somethings screwy... I'll also call my LHS that I purchased it from and let them know just in case there's a problem later.

I forget who did this diagram originally (thanks again whoever it was!) but I added my setup with the Y Connector off of one of the Deans connecting to the CC BEC and the HR Poly. So my intention is to plug this into the Red Wire side of the Series Connection, the non-split side and see how the system reacts...

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218/Drew816_photos/Ycable_Andrews_3.jpg

Happy Flying!

[Mikej]

I checked out the connections, they're all in good shape on the ESC to Series Split side of the equation. I'm going to check out all my Lipos as well AND keep track to see if maybe it's one specific set of batteries that's doing this (which I don't think it is).

I'm also going to consistently plug in the Lipos on power-up from here on out, I'll start on the 'empty' side and then the #2 battery which as the Y connector for my Lipo alarm and the Castle BEC will be plugged in. Maybe plugging that in first was giving power to the BEC confusing the ESC?? Or maybe this is all opposite and the BEC should be plugged in first? I'll be consistent and report back; regardless the ESC should NOT be entering programming mode this often so somethings screwy... I'll also call my LHS that I purchased it from and let them know just in case there's a problem later.

I forget who did this diagram originally (thanks again whoever it was!) but I added my setup with the Y Connector off of one of the Deans connecting to the CC BEC and the HR Poly. So my intention is to plug this into the Red Wire side of the Series Connection, the non-split side and see how the system reacts...

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p218/Drew816_photos/Ycable_Andrews_3.jpg

Happy Flying!

Aw shucks it was nothing :):)

I use a Dimension Engineering SportsBEC which runs at 6S reducing the need to worry about such things - the BEC isn't ON until both packs are fitted

[phunk]

Just a wild guess, but does your receiver have a failsafe mode that's incorrectly set to high throttle? Maybe there's a brief high-throttle situation when between connecting the battery and it sensing the transmitter.

[Drew816]

Yeah, thanks again MikeJ!

Ok, just did three flights with no ESC problems. I plugged into the 'non-tapped' side first, and all seems to be fine. I'll of course continue this procedure and report my results.

Now onto the next problem, my Cell Pro 4s seems to be charging REALLY slow and it's on board indicator for voltages is inconsistent. I noticed this yesterday, it was a little slow to recharge and today, good grief! It's set at 2C for recharging, plug in a battery and it shows XX% left, let it charge for a while and it's getting nowhere; plug it back in and it MIGHT actually be higher than indicated before or maybe not. WTF-unk?

Also my first flights with 550 blades; MAN are they 'lofty!' These things just want to keep the bird up in the air and surprisingly I didn't really notice too much time lost despite their extra heft...

[Pinecone]

BTW the Castle BEC is fine with 6S, so you don't need to run it that way.

And Efliernz, here on HF, has a nice 6S lipo alarm that doesn't need that wiring either.