.................More questions

[secrtwpn1]

Ok. I connect everything up and turn on the TX and then the power. It works fine. I turn everything off for a moment, turn it back and I get nothing!!!!!!!!! The red light lights up on the speed control, but that's it. Turning it off and gets nothing. What am I doing wrong?????

Thanks again
Farlan

[JWLaRue]

...not enough information.....

Some questions:

• what defines "it works fine?"
• have you confirmed that your battery is charged?
• how fast are you cycling from "on" to "off" and back to "on"?
• can you provide details as to what your setup consists of?

-Jeff

[secrtwpn1]

4 Ch radio
Mtronics 10A micro speed control
SL-8 receiver
Kmc Magnetic switch
Kmc Lipo guard
3 micro servos
11.1V Lipo battery


When I noted it worked fine, all servos and switches, battery worked in conjunction with each other. I shut everything off to make adjustments, and turned it back on and I have nothing. Not sure if my battery is fully charged. I bought a volt meter at Harbor Freight and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it to test the battery........

[apa-228]

You will have a red and a black pair of test leads which you will plug into the lower front portion of the meter according to color. The red is positive, the black is negative. There will be a rotary knob with an arrow head at one location. To use the meter turn the arrowhead on the dial to 20 volts DC. DC might be shown as a straight line, AC will show as a sine wave symbol. Take the red test lead and place it on the battery positive and place the black lead on the battery negative and observe the voltage on the digital readout. There will be an Omega symbol on the meter also, that is for resistance readings. Move the arrowhead to that position and touch the red and black leads together and the digital readout will show zero, and with the leads separated it will show out of range or infinity. The ohmmeter feature is useful for testing wiring connections and wire continuity. Hope this helps you figure out the meter.

[JWLaRue]

I shut everything off to make adjustments, and turned it back on and I have nothing.

What adjustments did you make? What happens if you reverse/undo the adjustments?

-Jeff

[bob the builder]

You turn everything off, just the model, just the transmitter? Does it work again if you wait and come back to it? It sounds like that is the case based on your post, but it's hard to tell.

[secrtwpn1]

I moved the servo leads around to different channels. Powered it up and sometimes I get nothing and other times the speed control accepts speed commands, or I get the rudder and diving plane servos ratcheting back and forth......

[mar7ck]

BEC=1.2A for that model ESC
The ESC has a 10Amp motor limit, this means is that you can only use a DC brushed motor, with a current drawn that motor does not exceed 10Amps under load.
The Discharge Rate of your Li-po pack may be to high for the ESC,BEC.

Hope this helps

[JWLaRue]

The Discharge Rate of your Li-po pack may be to high for the ESC,BEC.

The stated discharged rate for a LiPo battery is an indication of the *maximum* rate of discharge. It's not a minimum. Unless Farlan has a dead short somewhere in his setup it's highly unlikely that he is exceeding (or even coming close to) the stated discharge rate.

-Jeff

[bob_eissler]

Bob is right, it is hard to tell without you being more specific about your procedure. First, make sure the transmitter is on first and turned off last, always, and has a good battery. I would unplug all of the servos and start over with your turn-on procedure. It is not likely this problem is because of the BEC. Don't connect the lipo guard while you are doing this testing. Next plug in the servos, one at a time until it starts being erratic. If it does not behave properly with just the speed control, it is likely that the receiver is not getting a good signal from the transmitter or does not have power from the BEC. One bad servo can make all of the servos erratic. Add the lipo guard when everything is working properly.

[Wheelerdealer]

Sounds like the BEC. I would start by eliminating the ESC from the system, together with the Lipos and power your reciever andservos from a dedicated 4.8/6v battery. If you can confirm the radio side is working, you can introduce the ESC and remove the dedicated Rx battery.

[secrtwpn1]

Ok. I give. Whats the BEC????? I remember this in my RC car days in the 70's........But I thought the gear today didn't have it......

[JWLaRue]

BEC = Battery Eliminator Circuit - used to provide power to the R/C receiver and it's attached servos. The BEC would be connected to the drive/main battery. The main battery would also be connected to the speed controller (ESC). The alternative would have been to have an entirely separate battery for the receiver.

For many years this was the only way to do it, but we now have some speed controllers like the Mtronik series that have a built-in BEC...which means that we can eliminate the standalone BEC and save some space. In essence the Mtronik ESC is the one providing the necessary power to the receiver.

-Jeff

p.s. If you are using 2 Mtronik ECSs, you must disconnect one of the red wires going from the ESC to the receiver....otherwise you will fry the electronics.

[secrtwpn1]

I'm using an Mtronics 10amp esc.....

[JWLaRue]

...and the instructions that came with your ESC should include some words about the BEC....

-Jeff