ESC Castle ICE 120HV Calibration on Plane

Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
I'm curious about the ESC calibration on the Castle ICE 120HV that I have on my large 3D plane. This is the last step that I need to do before I maiden the plane but I'm unclear about how to do this. In the "Castle Programming" there is a drop down tab that states:

Auto-Calibrate Endpoints
Auto-Calibrate mode will 'learn' your transmitter's end-points automatically, so you should always have the highest resolution possible for your throttle stick. After arming the controller, you must go to full-throttle on the ground so the ESC can learn this value before take-off.

Fixed-Endpoints
Fixed-Endpoints will set zero-throttle and full-throttle points to fixed values so that the ESC does not have to learn from your transmitter. If you are using this mode, you will most likely want to change the EPA settings on your transmitter to allow full throttle resolution with the throttle stick. To do this, turn on your TX and set normal mode in the transmitter for a linear throttle curve (0,25,50,75,100). Bring your high side and low side endpoints on your throttle channel down to 25%, plug in the battery pack with the throttle stick at full (it won't start up), then bring your high endpoint back out towards (and sometimes past) 100% until you hear a single tone. Next, bring your throttle stick down to the bottom position and bring the endpoint out from 25% out towards (and possibly past) 100% until you hear the ESC arm. Unplug the battery pack, wait a few seconds, then plug back in and verify that the throttle is working properly.

Calibrating all my other ESC's, all I've had to do was plug the battery in to the ESC, raise the throttle stick to full, turn on tx, wait for a few beeps, lower throttle stick to minimum and then the esc was calibrated. I've never used an "Auto Calibration" feature before. I'm thinking that I'll be using the "Fixed Endpoints" setup for this plane.

Any thoughts?
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Sounds to me like the Auto option is just like what you are used to. Turn on Tx and raise throttle all the way up, then plug in the plane, wait for beeps and lower it. That is what I'm getting from it anyway.
 
Smoggie

Smoggie

Well-Known Member
Castle end point calibration is unique.

On 'Auto' you have to plug in the battery, let the ESC arm, then holding the plane down go to full throttle and hold full throttle for a few seconds so that the ESC 'learns' full throttle position. You have to repeat this process each and every flight.

The 'Auto' process is a complete 'pain in the ar$e' so I always use the fixed endpoint method (fixed endpoint is compulsory for helis). The fixed endpoint calibration process is easy once you are used to it and only needs to be done once.

Here's a copy and paste from a post by castle tech support on the subject:
The recommended procedure, every time you plug in a battery, is as follows:
(on step 4, there are 2 ways of proceeding)
1. Start with the transmitter turned on at mid-stick.
2. Plug in the main flight battery.
3. When ready to fly, reduce the throttle to zero-stick.
4a. Safely secure the plane and run the throttle to 100% for 2-4 seconds. The speed controller will learn the full throttle position. You are ready for the flight line.
4b. Some people prefer not to run the motor up on the bench. You may taxi the plane to the flight line or set it on the flight line. When taking off, run the motor to full throttle for at least to 2 seconds. The speed controller will set itself during the initial take-off.

And remember, as soon as you disconnect the battery, the speed controller losses the zero and full throttle positions; it must be retaught those positions when it is powered back up.

I hope this makes some sense. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please let me know and I will do my best to help clear things up.

Thomas Porfert
Tech Support
Castle Creations
Click to expand...
 
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Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
Thanks for that! Sounds like ill be setting up the fixed end points this afternoon.
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Learn something new every day. I didn't know you had to do that every single flight. Yea, I would do fixed as well.
 
Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
Thanks guys! I'm going to do the fixed endpoint calibration this morning. If all goes well, the maiden flight of the 12S 74" 3D plane will be tomorrow morning

plane me.jpg

plane me.jpg
 
Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
I was doing the fixed endpoints. That auto calibration just sounded like a hassle. I have a DX8. I was in the servo travel for "Throttle". As per the directions, I moved the high and low ends to 25%. With the throttle stick at high position, I powered up the AR8000 with the rx pack and then powered up the esc. The esc gave a few of the usual start up beeps and then stopped. I started to bring the high end "25%" up and there was a single beep at 70%. I thought that was a bit low, but what do I know lol, so I lowered the throttle stick and began to raise the low end and the esc beeped a bit more at 37% and it sounded as if it had initialized. According to the directions, I powered everything down and waited a few seconds before powering everything up again. I slowly raised the throttle from 0 to full and I could hear a smooth increase in RPM. Now, if this esc has, in fact, calibrated...I should be in good shape. I surely won't complain about the simplicity. I was just surprised about the actual numbers. I just expected different numbers.

Does this sound about right?
 
Smoggie

Smoggie

Well-Known Member
Usually on mine from memory the high end is around the 70-80% mark but I cant recall what I ended up with at the low endpoint... As long as it's working you are fine, if the low endpoint was not 'low enough' the ESC would not arm and the motor would not run.

Worth checking that the trim for your throttle channel is centred, if you had any trim applied that would alter the endpoints.
 
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Derek

Derek

Well-Known Member
Then it sounds like I've calibrated the esc properly. As for the throttle trim....it was definitely centered during the calibration process. However, once I powered everything up again to test it...I raised the throttle to the max and I could hear gradual and smooth RPM acceleration....then when I lowered the throttle to the minimum, the motor was still turning very slightly. I gave two clicks of throttle down trim and the motor stopped.
 
Smoggie

Smoggie

Well-Known Member
On the calibration procedure you should go a couple of % past the point where the ESC beeps then you won't have that problem.
 
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