esc replacement

Drago

New member
Hi all i need a little help got my 1st race quad for xmas i got the Eachine Wizard from banggood =/Thay messed up and did not send me props and bind plug. After getting a plug of a m8 I find that one motor is not working. So they are now sending me a new esc and the props the only thing is there sending me a different esc to what is on the quad. So what i need to no is will this esc work with the other ones that are already on there or do i need 4 the same.

the esc on the quad are Eachine 20A BLHELI_S ESC
Item name : 20A BLHELI_S ESC
Con.Current : 20A
Peak Current(10s) : 25A
Input Voltage : 2-4S
BEC : No
Programming : YES
Firmware : Blheli_S
Weight :7.9g
Size(PCB) : 27*12mm

the one they are sending is Racerstar RS20A 20A BLHELI_S
Specification: ( Test Table)
Brand Name: Racerstar
Item Name: 20A BLHELI_S ESC Electronic Speed Controller
Model: RS20A
Con.Current:20A
Peak Current(10s):25A
Input Voltage: 2-4S
BEC: No
Programming : YES
Firmware: Blheli_S
Weight:7.9g
Size(PCB):27*12mm

thanks for any help
 

makattack

Winter is coming
Moderator
Mentor
Specs-wise, they look identical except for name. I wonder if Eachine and Racerstar are one in the same and are just different branding?

The more important thing, in my opinion, is to check that you are running the same version of blheli_s on all four ESC's. Since you'll be getting a single newer ESC, potentially with a different revision of software on it, you may find that to be the biggest issue. Just reflash them all to the latest blheli_s using the SPF3 / cleanflight (but presumably, you're using Betaflight) passthrough.

Personally, I've found on one order of ESC's from the same identical vendor and manufacturer (ZTW), two had different versions and setting of blheli. Two had the version that defaulted to damped light, and two didn't. I think that would have resulted in a poorly behaving setup if I hadn't caught it and flashed them all to the latest.
 

Drago

New member
ok cool so can i flash blheli with betaflight when it is all ready on the wuad or do i need to connect the esc some other way taking them off the quad
 
Last edited:

Montiey

Master Tinkerer
Betaflight is a port of Cleanflight, no? Then yes, Cleanflight should act as a programmer / hub for flashing the ESCs through BLHeli. However, only if the ESCs support flashing over the servo connectors. If not, then you will have to tear into them and wire up the programmer pins manually :(
 

makattack

Winter is coming
Moderator
Mentor
The easiest way to flash these now is having them ALL connected to the flight controller (in your case, SPF3, running betaflight)

The only confusing thing is that in blhelisuite you still need to select the "silabs cleanflight" method to flash.

My only recommendation other than flashing is that you will need to do this with the fc, and esc's powered up. If you don't have a current limited power supply, I HIGHLY recommend, for safety sake, that you use a current limiting device like this:

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/sho...AVE-YOUR-ELECTRONICS!-BUILD-A-SmokeStopper™-!

To replace the ESC on the Wizard, you'll need to do some desoldering and soldering, so why not add just a little bit more with a few low cost items and give yourself some peace of mind?

BTW, I just got the Wizard myself, having ordered it ages ago. Interesting setup. I just started picking it apart. They took some short-cuts, and ended up adding the following mods to make it how I like it last night (it was a long night!):

* Soldered additional wires from the PDB to the SPF3's VBAT pads so I can get pack voltage in telemetry.
* Added header pins to UART1 so I can plug in a bluetooth module for setup
* They had the servo connector plugged into the PPM pin, so I move that to UART3 to run SBUS with a X4RSB (naked version). I added a SMART port telemetry connection from the UART2 TX pin to the X4R smartport pin.
* Added a buzzer to the empty buzzer pads. It's a little tight, but I was able to directly solder the buzzer to the board. I just can't use the one standoff nut to hold that end of the board down, but it seems secure enough.
* Found my esc's were flashed with a "beta" version of blheli_s 16.1 (at least, blhelisuite came up with a warning about that version being a beta release) so I reflashed them all with the current 16.6 release. Seems to run well. I haven't flown it yet, but definitely can flash via the SPF3 and it was easy peasy.
* The VTX is a odd little jobbie... I couldn't find accurate documentation for it, and just can't quite figure out the dip switch settings to get them to match the frequencies I use most.

I used this for my current limiting setup:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthre...imited-Programmable-9A-Lab-Bench-Power-Supply

Just a quick note: I was trying to do things on a quick and dirty way, and in soldering the VBAT wires, I decided to just add fresh solder to the existing power plug solder point on the PDB. I believe they use lead-free solder. It took a lot of heat to get my 60/40 solder to stick well, and even then... it's sketchy (but shiny!)

Desoldering the ESC's might be a little tough without a good soldering iron.

Given what I did, I probably would have been better off buying individual parts and building it from scratch. I just couldn't believe the deal and equipment setup that came with the low cost. It really is a pretty nifty setup.
 
Last edited:

Drago

New member
makattack did you flash your esc with the flightboard passthrough as im sat here trying to connect to them now but cant get BLHelisuite to do it

complete noob here
dont worry got it working now =D
 
Last edited:

makattack

Winter is coming
Moderator
Mentor
I'm glad to hear you got past the issues. I still haven't flown mine. Partly due to weather but mostly due to how they set this thing up. Doing some tests on the bench, I noticed something I experienced on my own multi rotor build where I got lazy and didn't ground the escs signal lines. I had a lot of noise that affected the escs and the fpv system.

I'm going to add ground wires to them but it's now going to be a real PITA to squeeze them in.

Here is a great explanation from a fellow ft community member:

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=FeN6b-4mLVo
 
Last edited: