ESC not arming/running on PWM

[ragedavis]

Unfortunately, the problem occurs on all 4 ESC´s.

[JussiH]

I find it highly unlikely that all 4 ESC´s should have the exact same error, so that leads me to believe that its something in your setup.

Could you by any chance be reversing the PWM wire? (Signal is the outermost pad, denominated by a small arrow)

How did you set the logic power selection jumper - could you by some chance have shorted both pads?

Pls show us some pictures of your wiring and details about the setup used to test them?

You are welcome to send them back here, and if they are dud they will be replaced - but I kinda doubt it. PWM is tested in factory and we have a less than 0.1 percent failure rate on these, so the odds of you having 4 with the exact same error are astronomical...

[LPR]

[ragedavis]

Hey Jussi,
I agree, the chances for 4 flawed controllers are astonomically low, but I´m pretty sure my recievers work just fine.
On any chance, I will test them with an oszilloscope later on.

@LPR:
I tried changing the LO value to 1050 a few minutes ago, but it did not help either. I also tried increasing the range of the PWM signal by manipulating the servo throw of my TX, so when setting it to 130%, I get a value range from 985 to 2015 (once again, measured via my MultiWii and MultiWiiConf). The result should be the same as changing the LO value of the ESC.
Unfortunately, this did not help either.

Rage

[JussiH]

Have you wired the PWM correctly?

[ragedavis]

Oh, sorry, forgot to mention that: yes, I checked for correct orientation of the PWM cable, signal is outmost, followed by 5V and GND. If I had mixed that up, I presume that the ESC would not work at all (red LED blinking, motor windings beeping), but it does. So this is kind of doublechecked.


Concerning a shortcut on the voltage supply selection, I measured with a multimeter, if there was a resistance between the two outermost pads, but there wasn´t.

Rage

P.S. I just talked to someone of our electronics department, and he offered me to to test the reciever signal (via oszilloscope) and the ESC´s with a function generator. Let´s see which results we get from that.

[LPR]

ragedavis

I was able to get the ESC to work by using the other channels from the receiver, roll, pitch or Aux that could get lower than 1000us.

One additional problem I've had might help you get the ESC32 working.
The ESC have needed to have the default values loaded after I have been messing with them for awhile.
I won't hurt anything and it has worked a few times for me.

Larry

[ragedavis]

Hey everyone!

With a descent hint from chschmid, I was able to pinpoint the problem. So, for all future times someone runs into the same trouble, I think, it´s a good idea to write this down.

The startup- sequence of the ESC obviously does the following (presuming default settings in the beginning): It checks, if there is a PWM signal in the range of 750 (PWM_MIN_VALUE) and 2250 (PWM_MAX_VALUE), with an appropriate gap of 2200 (PWM_MIN_PERIOD) and 25000 (PWM_MAX_PERIOD) between two signals. Afterwards, a check is perfomed, if the signal is between 750 (PWM_MIN_VALUE) and 1000 (PWM_LO_VALUE). Only if this is the case, also meaning it is save to arm the ESC, since the motor won´t spin up unless an value of 1100 (PWM_MIN_START) is reached, the ESC gets armed at all!

The solution to my problem was to increase the PWM_LO_VALUE a little (still trying to find a good value, so I won´t give figures just yet). Of course, the TX must be turned on and the throttle stick must be at minimum!!!

So before declaring a ESC32 not arming, try manipulating some of the PWM values, which are, as far as I understand, pretty save to play with, since in the worst case, the ESC just won´t arm at all!

And keep in mind there is a second worst case: the motor could (finally ) start running up, so don´t forget to remove the props first!

So in the end, I´d like to thank all participants for their efford and hope, that, in first place, noone else run´s into this problem, but, second, if he does, he finds the solution here!

[ragedavis]

Hey there!

As promised, I´d like to pass on the value I figured out working with my MultiWii; sorry it took me so long,
but weather and lack of daylight prevented earlier testing...

So, here we go:
PWM_MIN_START 1100
PWM_MIN_PERIOD 2000
PWM_MAX_PERIOD 25000
PWM_LO_VALUE 1050
PWM_HI_VALUE 1950
PWM_MIN_VALUE 900
PWM_MAX_VALUE 2250
PWM_RPM_SCALE 6500
FET_BRAKING 0

Additionally, I changed this
/**************************** Motor minthrottle *******************************/
/* Set the minimum throttle command sent to the ESC (Electronic Speed Controller)
This is the minimum value that allow motors to run at a idle speed */
//#define MINTHROTTLE 1300 // for Turnigy Plush ESCs 10A
//#define MINTHROTTLE 1120 // for Super Simple ESCs 10A
//#define MINTHROTTLE 1064 // special ESC (simonk)
#define MINTHROTTLE 1150

in the config.h for compiling my MultiWii- firmware to:

/**************************** Motor minthrottle *******************************/
/* Set the minimum throttle command sent to the ESC (Electronic Speed Controller)
This is the minimum value that allow motors to run at a idle speed */
//#define MINTHROTTLE 1300 // for Turnigy Plush ESCs 10A
//#define MINTHROTTLE 1120 // for Super Simple ESCs 10A
#define MINTHROTTLE 1064 // special ESC (simonk)
//#define MINTHROTTLE 1150

Hence, now I deliver a more appropriate PWM- signal to the ESC´s, between PWM_LO_VALUE and PWM_MIN_START.

And that´s all to be done to get these ESC´s running with a MultiWii.


Greeting, Rage

[E-Copter]

HI,

for MK BL 2.0 you can try value 1190 / 1197 ms for the minimum throttle command sent to ESC.

(you can check my post o the next thread about this).
But be careful, because on the MK BL 2.0, there is a corelation between the minimum voltage and min throttle value, they are linled together depending of the voltage of the lipo that is connected ( fully charged / partially charged).

BEst regards and hope this helps,

Fabien