TECH TIP: CASTLE ESC CALIBRATION - WHEN, WHY AND HOW.
First things first….
You must calibrate your Castle ESC so that it will operate effectively with your transmitter as individual transmitter signals for neutral, full throttle, and full brake vary.
Additionally, anytime the ESC is powered up with a new transmitter or with different throttle channel settings, it will need to be calibrated to the transmitter’s throttle settings.
The ESC may also need to be calibrated after updating to new software.
Now we know the “why” — let’s get in to “how”.
If you are using a Futaba-made transmitter, you will need to set the transmitter’s throttle channel direction to the REVERSE (Rev) position. This is either an external micro switch on the transmitter or an option available within the computer programming of the transmitter. Please start by zeroing out any throttle trim that you may have set in your transmitter.
1. Start with the transmitter ON, the battery disconnected, and the ESC switch in the OFF. Plug a battery into the ESC - If your ESC does not have a switch, hold full throttle on your transmitter before plugging in the battery.
2. Hold full throttle on the transmitter and turn the ESC switch ON.
3. Keep holding full throttle on the transmitter. If all your connections are correct, you will hear one multi-toned initialization “ring” from the. If the ESC’s voltage cutoff is set to Auto-LiPo (the default setting), then the ESC will emit a sequence of beeps indicating the number of battery cells - If the number of beeps does NOT match the number of cells, disconnect the battery and confirm that it is fully charged. After the beeps, the green LED on the ESC will blink rapidly. If the red LED is blinking instead, reverse your throttle channel. After a couple of seconds, the motor will “ring” four times in a row. Next, the ESC will rapidly blink the red LED and the motor will beep continuously. At this point, the full throttle endpoint has been set within the ESC and now it’s looking for the full brake endpoint (red LED blinking).
4. Move the throttle trigger to the full brake position and hold full brake.
5. After a few seconds, the motor will “ring” four times rapidly. The ESC will then blink the yellow LED and the motor will beep continuously. At this point, the full brake endpoint has been set within the ESC and now it’s looking for the neutral endpoint (yellow LED blinking).
6. Now relax the trigger to the neutral position.
7. The ESC will now “ring” four times and flash the yellow LED rapidly to accept the neutral position.
8. After accepting the neutral position, the ESC will “ring” twice, flash all the LEDs, and the yellow LED will illuminate. This is the arming tone and LED indication that the ESC IS NOW ARMED and the vehicle will respond to throttle inputs from your transmitter.
9. From this point on, when you connect batteries and turn the switch on, the ESC will give the initialization “ring” followed by battery cell count beeps (only in Auto-LiPo mode), and then after the arming delay the ESC will “ring” twice, indicating it is ARMED and will respond to throttle application.
Final Check: Once you are calibrated and armed, do one last check before going out and experiencing the Castle brushless difference. Slowly advance the throttle and check the rotation direction of the motor and the color of the LEDs on the ESC. If the motor is spinning in the right direction and the green LED is blinking, then you are ready for a test run. If the ESC shows the green LED with throttle, but the wheels spin in the wrong direction, you’ll need to change the motor direction.
If you have problems calibrating your transmitter with the Castle ESC, check out the video below for a different perspective. You can also see the troubleshooting guide in the ESC manual, visit www.castlecreations.com/support, or contact our world class technical support department via email @ http://home.castlecreations.com/contact-support or via phone Mon-Fri. 9am-4pm CST (913) 390-6939. We are also ready to assist!