Idiots Guide Needed - ESC, RX & Motors!

Please post all questions and answers in here. This way people can easily see if someone else has the same problem.

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bigsi111
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Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2016 8:11 pm

Re: Idiots Guide Needed - ESC, RX & Motors!

Post by bigsi111 »

Thanks everyone.

I've ordered various bits and bobs and will report back when they arrive.

Am I right in assuming that you solder the power leads together for each ESC to connect to the battery?

Cheers

Simon
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BeligerAnt
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Re: Idiots Guide Needed - ESC, RX & Motors!

Post by BeligerAnt »

Yes, connect both ESCs to the battery (via a switch). When you connect the ESCs to the receiver you need to cut one of the positive wires (usually red) so one ESC connects all 3 wires (positive, signal and negative) and the second one only connects signal and negative.

This is because the ESCs include a voltage regulator (power supply) for the receiver. If you connect two supplies to the same load they "fight" and one (or if you're unlucky, both) may be damaged.

A weapon servo can be powered from the receiver, but if it is a powerful servo and can handle 7.4V you might be better off powering it directly from the battery voltage. In this case, connect the positive wire from the servo to the battery (positive) and connect the signal and negative wires to the receiver.

Somewhere I have a block diagram that explains all this, I just need to dig it out and put it online :)
Gary, Team BeligerAnt
bigsi111
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Re: Idiots Guide Needed - ESC, RX & Motors!

Post by bigsi111 »

Thanks Gary.

When I start, I will document everything so people can learrnfrommy mistakes!
Fenrir
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Re: Idiots Guide Needed - ESC, RX & Motors!

Post by Fenrir »

Also, something I could ask regarding ESCs, if you have ESCs that feature a BEC, could you just ignore it and connect a battery to the receiver and essentially pretend they're OPTO ESCs, or does it not form a circuit? In which case could you find some way to solder the wires so that it does?
Fenrir
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Re: Idiots Guide Needed - ESC, RX & Motors!

Post by Fenrir »

Also, seeing as this is relevant, does the Blade MLP4DSM have built in V Tail mixing? I've tried messing with the trims and things but it just reverses things and no manuals seem to specify. I've got my newest robot all working fine it's just the same problem with the old one in that it needs V Tail mixing and I was hoping it's built in.

EDIT: Just found there's no mixing. Guess I'll look around for another V Tail.
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UserFriendly
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Re: Idiots Guide Needed - ESC, RX & Motors!

Post by UserFriendly »

Fenrir wrote:Also, seeing as this is relevant, does the Blade MLP4DSM have built in V Tail mixing? I've tried messing with the trims and things but it just reverses things and no manuals seem to specify. I've got my newest robot all working fine it's just the same problem with the old one in that it needs V Tail mixing and I was hoping it's built in.

EDIT: Just found there's no mixing. Guess I'll look around for another V Tail.
Actually, you can do mixing on the MLP4DSM, as Rory pointed out on this post: http://robotwars101.org/forum/viewtopic ... ing#p55691

The video on how to do it is here: (mixing is at 2:24), in fact, I'll link directly to that point:
https://youtu.be/dwQ1zDwLjIE?t=2m33s
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Fenrir
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Re: Idiots Guide Needed - ESC, RX & Motors!

Post by Fenrir »

Unfortunately that doesn't seem to work with my transmitter. It's still diagonals for straight forwards and reverse.
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