Emax 20A Won't calibrate.. zero at mid throttle????

[JamesB]

I have a Emax 20A esc that thinks 1500 or 1/2 throttle is zero. it spins one way when you push the stick up, and then spins the other way when you pull the stick down.

Its a simon series. I have the program card, all options are set as standard and same as other emax esc';s i have.

How can I get it back to normal? At no stage can I get the intial 2 beeps...

If the answer is to re-flash then please bear in mind I live in a Computer Bermuda Triangle.. simple stuff never works. I';m not really sure what hardware I would need to do it..?

Any help would be great, I';m just about to give up and get the club hammer out! 

[Ynot6]

if it changes direction, it must be flashed non standard. aero ESCs don';t just change direction.

[kilby]

You have got the ESC into acro mode which as far as I am aware should only be on the BlHeli series of EMax ESCs.

Normally there are 7 items that can have their settings changed, but on the new one there is an 8th which I don';t believe is available via the current programming cards (through you could try stepping to option 8)

Failing that you will have to do them via the direct connection to the receiver method.

The settings for option 8 I believe are:

1 Normal
2 Reverse
3 acro

[JamesB]

@Kilby , I think you are correct. It was ok when first used, then I got confused when doing the throttle cal, must have gone into prog mode.

Trouble is, even thou I have the programming card as you correctly state, there is no 8th option. And I can';t get it into standard programming mode because i cant get the first two beeps.....

[kilby]

What transmitter are you using, you may be able to move the throttle endpoint far enough to get into the programming mode

[JamesB]

Ah, ok its on a turnigy 9x, but I have a taranis available.   I did try to calibrate it with my servo tester as that goes up to 2200 but wasnt enough..
I';ll check the taranis
Thanks

[JamesB]

Well I used a cc3d to output some really quite high values (up to 4000) and still no ';beep beep'; .

I can';t believe I cocked it up! Bah...

[kilby]

Oh that';s not good

According to the docs the Taranis goes up to 2268 if you take the extended limits up to 150% ( it may be possible to go a little past that if you push the trim up to full as well)

I don';t know enough about the cc3d (despite having one in the spares box) and its ESC capability, but would assume you push the slider up to full and then power up the ESCs.

Possibly if you go too high the ESC can';t read the throttle value it';s receiving (sorry I';m doing my speculative programmable impersonation)

I think there is a utility for setting ESC option values from an arduino so it may be worth having a look for that, if it doesn';t have the 8th option possibly the author will add that option if asked.

[JamesB]

Thanks for your help, I think your on the money so far. Possibly I could just wait until the 8th ';reverse'; option was included on the programming card. But I may as well just buy another ESC....

It';s kinda giving up, but its not an expensive item. so is it worth the headache that its starting to cause? Been poking and prodding it on and off all day now!

time for a beer i think, cheers! 

[kilby]

Beer is always a good idea (how often that statement has been proved incorrect)

To he honest I don';t think that the enable configuration value should change because it is in acro mode because full throttle is still in the same place.

I hate to volunteer other people but Phil (Mr Makeitbuildit) may be able to shed some light in the matter as I think he had a quad set up for bidirectional motors.

I assume the programming card won';t step up to option 8?

Have you plugged the ESC directly into the throttle channel of a receiver ?

[JamesB]

Yes, I started with the RX from the turnigy. Then tried a servo tester/cc3d. 

(morning after.....slight beer headache)

[Jazzz]

Did you ever fix this problem I have done the same thing with my esc
And cannot get in to the program mode on the esc
Mid stick is throtal off then if you move the throtal one way or the other the motor spins up but always in the same direction
I';m unable to flash I';m to thick ..and have idear how to

[kilby]

If you have the standard EMax firmware on board the programming card is possibly your only option
http://makeitbuildit.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=75_32&product_id=213 as according to EMax the programming card does work on both the BlHeli & Simon versions (though option 8 isn';t available via the programming card)

You could try moving your stick endpoints to their maximum limits to see if you can get into the configuration mode

[Jazzz]

Thanks I';ll try that and get back

[Jazzz]

No it dosent work I put my tx into heli mode so I had mor control of the end point
Tryed it on a working esc to make sure throtal end points were moving
On the working esc that is not in acro
when you move the throtal end points on the throtal curve function then power up the esc
The esc continuesly beeps until you hit the right point with the tx throtal curve then goes in to program mode

On the esc that is stuck in acro you don';t get eny beeps no mater were the throtal end points are
Even reversing the throtal on the tx and trying again nothing .

This in my opinion is stupid why put a half backed function on the esc and not put eny instructions or worning in the esc institutions
I didn';t buy it from eny companies on here
But if I don';t get eny joy from the company that sold it to me I wont be shopping there again .
I emailed them hours ago and have had no reply to be onset I';ve had no reply to the last three emails over the last week or so
Thay might think my emails are trivial

[Jazzz]

If you have the standard EMax firmware on board the programming card is possibly your only option
http://makeitbuildit.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=75_32&product_id=213 as according to EMax the programming card does work on both the BlHeli & Simon versions (though option 8 isn';t available via the programming card)

You could try moving your stick endpoints to their maximum limits to see if you can get into the configuration mode

I don';t think the program card will make eny difference if there is no fucktions 8 on there
Unless there is a reset function on the card

[kilby]

I don';t think the program card will make eny difference if there is no fucktions 8 on there
Unless there is a reset function on the card

I can';t find the version of the ESC manual that I had been reading previously, but I thought the reverse was before 8.

According to this BlHeli manual the factory reset is carried out via the TX http://abc-rc.pl/templates/images/files/995/1424029485-emax-blheli.pdf

Try asking Philtrum as I think he had tried the BlHeli ESCs on the programming card and may be able to give considerably more info than I can (I have the programming card but only Simon series ESCs)

[Jazzz]

Thanks kilby your right I have the esc instructions and you can only reset with the tx and enter fucktion 8 with the tx
I might have to learn how to flash them if that';s a possible solution

[Xykevinr]

Hi All,

newbie alert!

I';ve got exactly the same problem (escs in undocumented bidirectional mode) on my 12A Emax ESC. Did anyone solve it ?

Kev

[teslahed]

To solve it you need a flash tool so that you can connect the ESC to the BLHeli software program and turn off bidirectional mode.

It';s easy if you have an arduino, have downloaded the BLHeli suite and read through the manuals.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2136895

[egzi]

To solve it you need a flash tool so that you can connect the ESC to the BLHeli software program and turn off bidirectional mode.

It';s a simon series, it has simonk firmware, not a blheli. I have the same problem. I changed direction mode to bidirectional and can';t go into programming mode now. I tried with puls lengths from 0ms to 4ms without success. Additional problem is that I have emax simon series 30A, which isn';t on the supported list of blheli neither simonk. Does anybody know wchich simonk firmware may be valid for this esc, or maybe there is any way to reset settings to defaults using flash tool?

[quadfather]

It';s a simon series, it has simonk firmware, not a blheli.

No, it really really doesn';t.  It';s not BLHeli either, but some concoction of their own.

[PaulJC]

I';ve been through this same problem with EMax ESC';s, they are neither SimonK or BLHeli but there own firmware...

I flashed my 12a ones with BLHeli and threw my 30a ones in the bin...

[kilby]

No, it really really doesn';t.  It';s not BLHeli either, but some concoction of their own.

The older ones are allegedly a heavily modified BlHeli version, the current ones are a slightly less heavily modified version.

Their BlHeli badged ones are almost vanilla BlHeli

It';s really annoying as they are not a bad esc, but the ability to get stuck in the 3D mode is sheer stupidity on their part

[egzi]

I flashed my 12a ones with BLHeli and threw my 30a ones in the bin...

Did you try to flash a new firmware to your 30A ones? I have one in my flying wing. For now I set a 0-100 curve (instead of -100-100) for throttle channel and that gives one direction operation, but still I can';t turn on braking on for example. I thought about trying to flash some blheli firmware but I';m afraid that it can get bricked after that.