KK2 ESC Confusion.

LeBurgh

Junior Member
Hey guys, so I've asked around and got a few different answers, but can you plug four 15 amp multistar ESC's (switching BEC's) straight into the KK2.1.5 (HC)? Or do you need some 'remove red wire' disabling shenanigans? Cheers.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
LeBurg,

First off, welcome to the forum!

If you've got multistar 15's in hand, then yes, it would be best to remove and tape off the center pin from *some* of your ESCs to keep the SBECs from fighting. Leave M1's center pin in, and if running a tri or camera gimbal, leave M2's pin in as well. M1's power is connected to the board's power bus, and M2-8's power line are connected to each other and isolated from the board. having more than one power source connected together *could* cause them to fight amongst themselves.

If you don't have multistar 15's in hand . . . consider a different ESC. The "safety" features HK designed into them has a strong tendency to shut down to "save" the ESC, but in reality causes the airframe to crash . . . the annoying part -- the ESC is easy to confuse into thinking it's in danger, so it will shut down and force a crash when everything is perfectly safe. Thank's HK :p
 

ttprigg

Member
Hey Crafty Dan-
Thanks for the comment, I was just getting ready to make an order... Wondering what ESC (s) you like for an initial attempt at a knock-around quad. as for the motors, I was thinking about trying the either the "improved" blue-wonder that they offer at Strong Motors or the hexTronik DT750 from HK.
Thanks
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
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ttprigg,

Depends -- if you want to get into flashing your own ESCs (eventually), I'd recommend the F-20A or F-30A as a go-to -- not bad with the stock rom, but among the easiest to flash yourself to simonk.

For pre-flashed, the Afros seem to get good reviews here as do pre-flashed F-20A's, blueseries 20A's and Mystery 20A's, but those you'll be dependant on the guy who pre-flashed it using a good ROM (and Identical ROMs). There are a *LOT* of no-name ESC's that are getting the Simonk treatment and rebranded as "premium" multirotor ESCs. In some cases they're good ESCs made better. in some theyr'e poor ESCs with a nicer ROM to hopefully cover over design defects. if you don't know what's under the shrinkwrap, it's hard to tell which is which. Caveat Emptor.

Outside the simonk realm but still in the not-yet-crazy-expensive, the DJI ESCs rate well, but be aware, they typically mount a female bullet connector at the board instead of three leads -- not a bad thing, but something to keep in mind when piecing things together.


As for motors, looking at your suggestions . . . the "improved" blue wonder from Keda looks unimpressive . . . until you look at the 3000kv model! That HAS to be a typo!!!! the 1700 can't top out at 10A and the 3300 top out at 19A!!!! Either way the top end is not much better than the regular 2370's on most of those motors and the crazy-numbered 3000kv motor is unsuited for multirotors. Even at 210W, the prop is too small and the pitch too steep at that RPM to do anything but scream across the sky. Even if that's your goal, there are better motors for racing quads.

The DT750 is a bit of a workhorse -- an old workhorse, but a reliable one. mounting props and balancing the motor bell are things you'll have to take some care with, but it's pretty well understood at this point -- if you go this route, search or ask about these issues before you finish your build.

There are much better motors on the market these days than either of these, but which will depend on what you want to do. I can say the Sunnysky motors are very popular for MR right now, and I like the ones I've gotten -- very solid build, very powerful or very fast motors (depending on which you buy). T-Motors are nice, but starting to get pricey. Supo's have always been a good go-to motor, but I don't think they've built a short-shaft motor yet . . . a pitty . . . otherwise they're good motors.
 

Crash_Expert

Aerial Photographer
On my Tricopter, each of my ESC's has its own 5v 2amp BEC's.
I never remove the red wire and just plug them in directly.

YMMV

C_E
 

joshuabardwell

Senior Member
Mentor
On my Tricopter, each of my ESC's has its own 5v 2amp BEC's.
I never remove the red wire and just plug them in directly.

If they are linear ESC's, and if you do not draw more current than the least-rated ESC, I think you will be okay here. The ESC's I bought for my quad explicitly say that you can plug them in without removing the red wire.

If they are switching ESC's, it's imperative that only one be plugged in.
 

Montiey

Master Tinkerer
From my understanding, and assuming that controller board gets power from a motor port, you should disable all but one BEC by clipping the power line and removing a small sement.

I don't really know, just an idea.
 

joshuabardwell

Senior Member
Mentor
From my understanding, and assuming that controller board gets power from a motor port, you should disable all but one BEC by clipping the power line and removing a small sement.
I don't really know, just an idea.

If you are going to disable a connector, it'd be better to pull the pin out (by lifting the retaining tab) and then fold it back and tape or shrink-wrap it. That way if you need to use it at some point, you can just slide the pin back in again.
 

LeBurgh

Junior Member
Hey thanks guys! (especially craftydan, quite amazing to be a newbie on the forum and have one of the guys ive seen on flitetest reply :) )
Yeah I've already got the multistars on the way. (although the package might be lost).
If I do have to re-order, which substitute from HK would you recommend? (are the ones above from HK?)
Also would the multistar ESC programming card allow for some of those annoying features to be disabled?
Cheers for your concise, helpful advice.
 
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Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
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Leburg,

I hang out here quite a bit, but the community here is pretty awesome, and we all pitch in what we have :)

The afro's are available through HK and aren't bad at all from what I've heard. The rest are available unflashed, but you'll have to go elsewhere to get pre-flashed. if you're handy with electronics, buying unflashed F20A's and flashing later isn't a bad way to get flying and experiment some time later.

Unfortunately no, the safety features can't be turned off via programming card. There's a a good chance a re-flash to SimonK would make it all go away, but I haven't played with them to say this for certain. Looking at pics of that ESC's board, not an easy ESC to flash -- you'll need the overpriced flash socket and a USBASP since it doesn't have programming pads
 

DDSFlyer

Senior Member
On both of my multirotors (Bat Bone tricopter and anycopter hex) I have KK boards and Afro ESC's with all wires connected into the board. I thought about disconnecting the power lead but ended up not and haven't had a problem. But I just threw away the bags and they said that they had linear BEC's on them and that seems to be the key
 

LeBurgh

Junior Member
Okay thanks, il just have to be careful with my multistars :p (even though I am getting a usbasp to program the KK2, I wouldn't be bothered enough or confident enough to meddle with ESCs)