Solved Flite Test 35A ESC ? Is it programmable?

[RustySocket]

I received my power pack C today and am just playing around with it a bit. When I connect the ESC to my receiver and power it up I get no beeps, no lights on it or anything. It runs the motor fine so there doesn't seem to be anything wrong other than I expected to have to set it up using my transmitter.

My previous experience with ESC's was with my Align Trex 450 Heli. The ESC required you to go through a series of transmitter stick positions and counting various beeps to set it up for Heli use the first time and I expected to have to do something similar with this one. Maybe my memory is failing me as it has been some time and I can't find my notebook for my heli right now.

Is this ESC just dedicated for airplane use and is not programmable for use with other applications, or is that not even necessary anymore.

 

[Spacefarer]

It shouldn't be necessary to program it 99% of the time. The only things you could really add would be esc braking if it's supported, or a better startup from a standstill for high resistance situations. Most escs can adapt to any motor you plug them into. About the beeps, I'm not sure why it doesn't give any, but if it works it works I guess.

 

[RustySocket]

So in case anyone else searches for this, here is the information I got from FT regarding the ESC's being included with their newest Radial Power Packs:

"For this esc they are not programmable other than throttle calibration. For this take the prop off and set the throttle to neutral. With the radio on and the ESC off set the radio to full throttle and plug in the ESC. The motor will make some beeping noises. When it stop set the throttle to low. It will make more tones. After that power cycle the ESC. You will then have proper end points and throttle range. "

In my case, I wasn't hearing any tones, because the tones come from the motor and not the ESC. I didn't have the motor connected when I first powered it up.

 

[chrisvdv]

@RustySocket you can program the BLheli software via a Arduino board and the BlHeliSuite. Unfortunately there is a problem with the FT35 Amp ESC. When you connect the ESC with the BlHeliSuite it reports it to have 20 amp software on it.
I have reported this to Flite Test and they are in the process of finding out from the supplier about this. There are numerous videos on Youtube showing the process.

 

[RustySocket]

@RustySocket you can program the BLheli software via a Arduino board and the BlHeliSuite. Unfortunately there is a problem with the FT35 Amp ESC. When you connect the ESC with the BlHeliSuite it reports it to have 20 amp software on it.
I have reported this to Flite Test and they are in the process of finding out from the supplier about this. There are numerous videos on Youtube showing the process.

I may look into that in the future. I think I have a Arduino Uno board somewhere. At this point I'm not going to worry about it much anymore. I just wasn't getting the expected behavior when I first connected it. Short of possibly setting it up in a Heli someday I don't really know why I would _need_ to change anything. I have a terrible habit of getting side tracked on minor issues and losing track of the big picture... something like firware not matching, or a read out reporting the wrong information would set my OCD off and I will never get this biplane done and in the air. So for now... I will just pretend I didn't read anything about it and try to move on... lol

Flite Test has done a good job of branding and marketing. They have created a system that for the most can get novices in the air pretty quickly and I can see how having a ESC that is less complicated from the setup standpoint is a good thing for the masses.

 

[perlmonkee]

So in case anyone else searches for this, here is the information I got from FT regarding the ESC's being included with their newest Radial Power Packs:

"For this esc they are not programmable other than throttle calibration. For this take the prop off and set the throttle to neutral. With the radio on and the ESC off set the radio to full throttle and plug in the ESC. The motor will make some beeping noises. When it stop set the throttle to low. It will make more tones. After that power cycle the ESC. You will then have proper end points and throttle range. "

Thank you for this. Being rather new to the hobby, I spent more time than I care to admit trying to figure out why my brand new ESC wasn't spinning the motor until ~40% throttle input and was starting to think it was somehow faulty. Now that I know what to google (ESC throttle calibration) I can see this set of steps is practically universal, but again in my defense: this is only my third build and isn't something I've encountered yet.

 

[sprzout]

This is one reason why i'll stick with their ESCs (or Emax's) when it comes to configuration. They RARELY need stuff changed.

I bought a Beatles 20A ESC off of Amazon, and it claims to have all these auto settings - but when I connected a motor and tried to test it, it didn't work. Looking at the programming instructions, I find that it is configured from the factory for inrunner motors, not outrunners, So I change it. Then I find out that the timing is NOT set for automatic timing. So I change that, and discover that it doesn't like the pole count in the motors. I tried changing that, and the blue smoke was let out of the ESC.

That's pretty much set me to spend a few bucks more for something a little more quality.

 

[RustySocket]

Thank you for this. Being rather new to the hobby, I spent more time than I care to admit trying to figure out why my brand new ESC wasn't spinning the motor until ~40% throttle input and was starting to think it was somehow faulty. Now that I know what to google (ESC throttle calibration) I can see this set of steps is practically universal, but again in my defense: this is only my third build and isn't something I've encountered yet.

It is all part of learning. No defense needed.

When I post a question I think to myself could I possibly be the only one who has experienced this situation, and then I try to figure out the best way to word the question. When you are new to something, figuring out how to compose the question is nearly as difficult as solving the problem itself. When I do find answers I typically do try to post some sort of followup or solution to help others.