New 250 DFC, 3GX and stock 15amp ESC...stock BEC not up to the task??

[M Carr]

Anyone having issues with the stock 15amp ESC/BEC powering the electronics on this heli? I think I had a power reset on the 3GX today causing a crash. I think the BEC is to blame but not 100% sure. Works fine all day long on the bench but thats not with running the motor. After a few minutes of hovering/slow circuits the ESC is fairly warm but doesnt seem to be what I would call too hot.

I got two test hovers in and a few circuits to test eveything, Flew smooth and VERY stable. Almost hands off hovering its that good.... Decided to switch to IU and the tail goes crazy wagging back and forth... Gain too high I'm guessing. Few seconds later Heli takes a hard left and plants itself into the dirt. As I was walking up to it to check damage I hear the 3GX unit doing its initializing as if I just plugged the battery into it....Luckily not much damage, looks like just a new Main shaft and servo horn will get it going again.

I'm thinking Maybe a seperate BEC is a better solution than the stock 1.5amp BEC can supply?

[Shogun71]

Sorry what is IU??

I have the same kit coming without the 3gx, I am hearing some issues with the stock esc, wondering about upgrading before building....

[lcc014]

Originally Posted by Shogun71

Sorry what is IU??

I have the same kit coming without the 3gx, I am hearing some issues with the stock esc, wondering about upgrading before building....

IU - Idle Ups.

[bj660raptor]

ive never used any of aligns bec's internal or external,i always found that if the esc burns up i still want control of my heli. I have a dfc pro on the way and ill be using the castle 10amp bec,20 bucks you cant go go wrong.

[walkera4g3]

Originally Posted by M Carr

I got two test hovers in and a few circuits to test eveything, Flew smooth and VERY stable. Almost hands off hovering its that good.... Decided to switch to IU and the tail goes crazy wagging back and forth... Gain too high I'm guessing. Few seconds later Heli takes a hard left and plants itself into the dirt. As I was walking up to it to check damage I hear the 3GX unit doing its initializing as if I just plugged the battery into it....Luckily not much damage, looks like just a new Main shaft and servo horn will get it going again.

This is not an ESC issue. Listen to what your saying. It's a 3GX issue You're settings on the 3GX are incorrect. I've seen several videos so far with the 250 PRO DFC and they are flying smack with the stock ESC! Don't buy another ESC. Don't buy anything that you don't need

I've got the Align ESC and it will power up my 220Watt motor! It's just right!

[Shogun71]

Originally Posted by walkera4g3

This is not an ESC issue. Listen to what your saying. It's a 3GX issue You're settings on the 3GX are incorrect. I've seen several videos so far with the 250 PRO DFC and they are flying smack with the stock ESC! Don't buy another ESC. Don't buy anything that you don't need

I've got the Align ESC and it will power up my 220Watt motor! It's just right!

I may need to PM you on the zyx setup on a 250.

I am glad I did not go 3gx!

[walkera4g3]

Just make a new thread there are several guys here on HF that have finished building their zyx 250 including Icc014, we'll all try and help you. I'm still building mine!

[M Carr]

Well just did some more bench testing.....

Powered everything up WITHOUT the motor and stirred the sticks to see what happens... Takes about 30-40 seconds of continuous servo movements (all 4 servos moving and 3GX working) to get a complete shutdown and reboot of the system. Checked multiple times and it does the same each time.

Checked links and moving parts for binding but dont really feel anything that could possibly cause it. Collective pitch acceleration is set to 0 in the 3GX menu and servos are not binding in the corners either.

Hmm, not sure what to do to fix this issue other than a seperate BEC unit, problem is there isnt much room to install one.. AND I would rather not if I dont have to.

[Mathieas]

M car,

When you do this with your servos does the linear regulator get really hot? What kind of current are you pulling? I opted for the CC BEC myself due to others reporting similar issues. I like you was concered about space and I am dreading the install.

Jonathan

[esmoglo]

I ran my 250 DFC Pro kit up during a few short flight checks came inside after the flight to adjust the 3GX powering thru the ESC (disconnected motor wires) and I got a shut down two times ESC was significantly hot.

I used an external power source CC BEC with a 2S lipo regulated at 5V and removed the ESC for powering the 3GX system and no shut down of the 3GX at all when moving the servos. I was testing and adjusting for just under an hour on/off quite a few times no issues or shut downs.

I suspect the ESC’s internal BEC is the issue yours getting hot? Did you check it? The stock BEC setting is 5.5V you think this is too much for this ESC? I have very little faith in Align ESC’s went thru countless 450 ESC’s and two 550 ESC’s not that great.

What is a good option for the 250 since size is primarily the main issue.

[Shogun71]

This is the one I am considering but....

http://www.rotorquest.com/product_in...ducts_id=98658


The bec is only rated for 2 amps...

Ahhh noticed it is a switching bec, should be more efficient, cooler, and more consistent.

[JoeW]

YGE's fantastic, especially if you have VBar but I'd recommend the Castle Creations 25A, it's 3A but I've not run in to a problem with the 3GX running a single sat, and a DS95i on the tail.

Once you use the CC gov mode, you'll wonder why you would ever use anything else.

You can get one from GreatHobbies, another fine Canadian company

There's also some cooperation between CC and Align right now, they're working together on some features that they're being a little tight lipped about still.

CC just slipped 'Castle link live' in to their latest firmware builds but haven't said anything more than it sends data to other supporting devices. Align says they are working with CC and the new 'throttle calibration' in 2.1 of the 3GX code is for a soon to be supported feature in conjunction with CC.

My money's on Gov and telemetry support.

[esmoglo]

YGE 18A LV ESC looks nice wonder how it fits the heli? Must say these little birds can be qutie a hassle VS the larger ones but I knew that when I got the kit.

[youturnjason]

What voltage are you running on the BEC? I would get shutdowns at 6v and as soon as I switched to 5.5v haven't had a shutdown since.

Also not sure if the 3gx has a servo refresh rate option? But I noticed on my beastx if I set cyclic servos to 200hz they would use alot more current than at 65hz, and didn't really notice a performance difference between the two options.

[esmoglo]

5.5v is the stock setting from Align per my 250 DFC Pro manual I left it alone

[JoeW]

The CC 25 is fixed at 5V for the BEC. You only get an adjustable BEC with the ICE series.

I was running an external CC10A BEC at 6V, but took it off as an experiment and find it's just fine with the 3A @5V

I still run the BEC on my scale fuse. Lights, telemetry and more weight for the cyclic servos to move around.

3GX does not have an adjustable servo rate.

[M Carr]

Voltage is set at 5.5 and yes the ESC does get quite warm. Not sure what kind of amperage the servos are pulling but it must be a fair amount to get it to shut down in the short time it is taking mine to do it.

I have 3GX units on my 500 and 550 and have never had either of them shut down or give any problems at all. Using stock Align esc's on those with Castle Pro bec's.

I think I can get a Castle 10amp unit on top of the radio plate right under the main gear, I may go that route and call it done. Could try a 25 amp Castle ESC but not sure if that will really fix it or not.

Where can you get the YGE controllers? been looking but all I can seem to find is the 60 amp controller.

[JoeW]

And to the OP,

I'd suggest that the 3GX probably reset as a result of the crash... if the wag was that bad, the vibes could have caused it to do a bad correction, planted it in the dirt and then probably reset when all your cyclic servos and main blades were trying to move the dirt... caused too much of a current draw and reset.

I find with setup it's safer to start with low gains and work my way up. Though I've had some pretty bad wag while setting up 3GX 250s it's never caused a reaction I couldn't correct in flight, or switch to a known good flight mode to tame the wag.

[M Carr]

Possibly, but it also resets itself here on the bench during testing too. Can get it to do it everytime around the 30-40 second range while stirring both sticks continuously.

[esmoglo]

Nankinhobby sells YGE ESC's

Its the Align ESC its a pice of and well documented since the first Trex 250.