weird electrical problems - weird electrical problems

[smwarships]

Hello All,

I have encountered a weird problem lately,first of all I will tell you a bit about my sub system.My radio is a Futaba 75MHZ Sky Sport 4 FM 4 channel on channel 72,the sub has a 12V electrical system,my two motors are Behuler 24V,my ESC's are ST-10,the ballast tank is vented using a Subtech "T" valve,the ballast pump is a Greylor 12V pump,the pump is activated by a servo that activates 2 micro switches,I have 4 servos located in the free flood area,these 4 servos operate the bow,stern planes and rudder,all four servos have been water proofed using 3 coats of spray on rubber coating,"O" rings and grease coated on the "O" rings,the "O" rings are located under the servo arms.
Recently I made 2 new WTC's using Lexan tubing,all of the servo connections and electrical connections are sealed with Epoxy.
Today I hooked everything up and turned on the radio and then the power for the subs system,one of my motors started running right away without any throttle movement from the radio,all of the other channels work normally,I can not control the running motor in any way,the other motor does not work at all.I have tried the throttle connection on different channels with the same results,the only units that are not working properly are the 2 ST-10's.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?
Thank you for your time and help,
Darle

Have you had any weird encounters with electronic or electrical RC Systems?
What happend?
What was the fix?

[anonymous]

Hi,

Sounds like something has happened

Hi,

Sounds like something has happened in your speed controllers.

David

[slugejudge]

Hi,

If my memory serves me

Hi,

If my memory serves me correctly, I remember a similar post regarding problems with the ST-10. If they are new and you have had them for a while, Mike had a bad shipment of ST-10s.
Give Mike of Mike's Subworks a call or e-mail. Great guy!

Good Luck, Rick

[smwarships]

Hi Slugejudge,

Mike received a bad

Hi Slugejudge,

Mike received a bad shipment of ST-10's?

What type of problems were people having with them?

Both ST-10's are new and I have had them for a while,just not in the sub and running until recently when I started with water test and trying to get my subs ballast setup properly,that is when I started having problems.

Darle

[Guest]

I ordered some of these

I ordered some of these Thor 15 speed controllers recently-



Just 21 euros each, about $26. That includes tax, which you guys don't have to pay in the US, so knock 17% off that figure.

The controllers are tiny, and work really well.

Andy

[slugejudge]

I remember someone mentioned a

I remember someone mentioned a delay in their building thread because the ESC would not do anything. That had spoke to Mike at Mike's Subworks, and he had a bad shippment of ST-10s. Probably a year or so ago!

Sorry that is all I can recall, Richard

[subtech]

Darle/Richard,

Just thought I would chip

[color=#000000]Darle/Richard,

Just thought I would chip in here, because to my knowledge Mike at Mike's Subworks has never received a batch of bad ST-10's, or if he has, he has never mentioned it to me, or sent any of them back for investigation! Also every ST-10 is checked and tested by me personally both after assembly and again before it is shipped.

The only problem we have had with ST-10's since I took over SubTech from Skip 2 years ago, is that in April this year the company that makes the pcb boards managed to lose our current gerbers and layout files for the ST-10 pcb and sent me 500 of an earlier issue of the board that was 5 years out of date. I then spent 3 months trying to get them to pay for a new set of files and to remake the boards and consequently we have not been able to supply Mike with any new ST-10's since April 2006 until 3 weeks ago.

The ST-10 is a reliable if somewhat low-tech unit (by today’s standards) in that it does not use any surface mount components. However this has always worked to the customers advantage as it can easily be repaired and in fact I have just repaired an ST-10's that Skip supplied to a customer over 5 years ago. Even if it has been dunked in water or connected up the wrong way round, as long as most of the tracks are still on the board, we can usually fix it. One other point about the ST-10 is that it is one of the few ESC's that has a Soft Start" which prevents "slamming" the drive train when going from full forward to full reverse (or vice versa) and it also has very good low speed control compared to many other ESC's on the market today.

With regard to Darle's problem, I need some additional information on your set-up in order to investigate it further i.e.

1) Were the ST-10's working ok previously (I could not make out from your second message if they had been working ok, or if this was the first time you had hooked them up?)

2) I assume that as you are only using a 4 channel Tx that you are using a 'Y' lead to connect the 2 ST-10's to the receiver and also another 'Y' Lead to connect 2 of the 4 servos together (Dive planes and pump servos? or front and rear planes?)

3) How is the Tx trim set on your throttle? is it set to neutral when you first switch on the power to the Rx?

4) What type/model # are the Behuler 24V motors? I assume these are in the WTC, or are these also ilocated n the wet?

5) Are you using a separate receiver battery or a separate BE/VR?

Here's a couple of thing's you can check in the meantime]

[smwarships]

Hello Dave Keogh,

Here are the

[color=#0000FF]Hello Dave Keogh,

Here are the answers to your questions]

[slugejudge]

Hi Subtech Dave,

Please understand, I

Hi Subtech Dave,

Please understand, I was not offended by your indication that I was mistaken, or wrong. I am not perfect. As originally posted I felt that what I had to say was applicable, and I was trying to help someone with a problem. But I did feel compelled to respond.

If anyone believes and promotes Sub tech I certainly do. I have purchased 3 sets of APC-4s and SubSafe-2s this year! I was just relaying information that I have read in a post on another board from a highly respected member of the submarine community. I have XXXX out their name,

Feb 20, 2005, 05]

Respectfully, Richard Strickland

[subtech]

Hi Richard,

Absolutely no offence implied

Hi Richard,

Absolutely no offence implied and none taken.

I remember reading that post (and I also know who posted it!) and again no offence implied, but he was off the mark regarding our QA and testing. Unfortunately I only saw the post some two months after it first appeared when I was searching for some information, but now that it has been re-posted here, all I will say is that he misinterpreted the supply problem and that he was wrong regarding SubTech sending out untested products. ALL of the SubTech electronic products that I have supplied since taking over SubTech in September 2004 have been assembled and programmed by myself and every one, (with the exception of the little BE/VR, which only has the Voltage Regulator chip and two capacitors on the board) is ALWAYS checked, physically plugged into a working Futaba Rx/Tx system and fully tested to make sure that it is functioning correctly without fail, before it goes out the door. Sadly I cannot guarantee that on its journey to your mailbox that it won’t get dropped in a puddle, trodden on, set fire to, or chewed by a dog, but I can guarantee that as long as it has been installed as per the instructions, it will always be replaced if it doesn’t work, and even if it gets connected up the wrong way round or submerged in water (s**t happens) it will be repaired at minimal cost, if at all possible.

Interestingly I just re-read that post again and am I wrong or does it say "Got a new ST-10 from Mike's Subworks today and the darn thing is dead. Won't even do a thing. No servo life, nothing. Hook up the novac Spy and bingo. All the lights are on and everybody is home." Well guys the Novak Spy has a built in BEC (battery elimination circuit) and the ST-10 doesn't, so plug in an ST-10 into a receiver without a receiver battery and hey its not going to work and nor is anything else!! Yep, just like the man said, No servo life, nothing!!!!!!!!!!

Regards,
Dave Keogh – SubTech

[slugejudge]

Hello Subtech Dave,

I can not

Hello Subtech Dave,

I can not complain over any of your products, that I have purchased, and have given them with confidence, as presents. And Mike is one of the greatest people to deal with!!!!!!

But I have not purchased an ST-10, I primarly use Sonik and Novak Spy ESCs. You might have hit upon XXXX's problem, since a certain portion of us use ESCs with built in BECs. Quess, we will never know.

Perhaps, you can make another version of the ST-10 with a BE/VR. While I now have several large subs, I am enjoying the convience of the smaller subs, and see quite a bit of interest in small subs.

Regards, Richard