ESCs will not arm

[grimbeaver]

My friend picked me up 2 planes and 3 eMax BLHeli 12a ESCs at Flite Fest last year. Finally built them and they won't arm with my Hitec Optima or Minima receivers. Seems this was a known issue back in 2015 (https://github.com/bitdump/BLHeli/issues/77). I tried 1-wire programming them with a DYS v2 programmer and an Arduino Uno but neither would connect. What is the fix for these? Why are they running such old firmware?

 

[ElectriSean]

IIRC this family of ESC's has to have a couple of components removed to be able to connect/flash new firmware. Search on RC groups for a detailed description. I imagine they are running old firmware because they are old ESC's, and I believe they come with a customized version of BLHeli that they got lazy about keeping up with.

 

[Steelydanfan]

BL Heli ESC's are hard to arm for a beginner ! Grrrhh....

Hello, as a beginner , I am finding the BL Heli ESC ( 20A) hard to arm with my transmitter. I can't believe they expect you to go through seven series of short/long/short beeps to set all of the parameters. Not going to happen for a beginner, Flite Test.

Having said all of that, I am planning on buying a program card for ESC's . Here is my question: Are program cards brand specific ? In other words, a BL Heli program card will only work with BL Heli ESC's ? Alternatively, is there an "open" ESC program card that will work with most brands of ESC's ? If there is an "open" ESC program card, a brand recommendation would be great.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[quorneng]

Steelydanfan
Do you mean "arm" or "program" your ESC?
The ESC should arm by itself once te battery oi connected provided the transmitter is turned on, correctly bound to the receiver and the throttle (and throttle trim) are at the minimum position.
Programming an ESC to set the various parameters is as you say much more complex but as a beginner should not be necessary the factory setting should be quite adequate.
BL Heli ESCs are intended primarily for drones or helicopters so have a wide range of parameters to suit those applications. Used in fixed wing many are just not required.
What is your application?