Altitude Hobbies Hosted ZTW ESC discussion/ Q & A thread

[SnowDog]

I got a new motor and esc installed in my 41" Edge. I'm pretty excited to see how this land power 45 amp performs.

I think you will find that it performs very well...let us know!

 

[Jwmav528]

Well I tried it out. It doesn't have full power. It will for one or two throttle ups but then it pulses as if it is at LVC. I checked the pack and it was still mostly charged >90%. I have my timing set to auto and all other settings are default. The prop is 12x6 and the pack was a 2200 mah glacier 3s. Everything was fine when I checked it out on my wattmeter.

I am going to start by dropping the prop to an 11x5.5. Any other ideas?

 

[Jwmav528]

I checked the manual and it said that the esc has a thermal protection function where it behaves like LVC when the temperature exceeds 110F. So my first move will definitely be the smaller prop.

 

[gyro]

I checked the manual and it said that the esc has a thermal protection function where it behaves like LVC when the temperature exceeds 110F. So my first move will definitely be the smaller prop.

110 Fahrenheit or Celsius? 110F is relatively low... But if the ESC is too hot to touch, then yeah, it's too hot

 

[Jwmav528]

110 Fahrenheit or Celsius? 110F is relatively low... But if the ESC is too hot to touch, then yeah, it's too hot

I misread the manual. It is in fact 110C. I'm going to recalibrate and attempt to fly again. I'm also going to double check my settings on the programming card that I have for it.

 

[Jwmav528]

Ok so it still was acting up on me. I took the timing from auto to 8 degrees. I don't want to advance it but I wanted to try it without the auto timing feature. It had the typical starting issues of a motor with too low timing. My problem went from constant to intermittent. I'm gonna set it back to auto and see what happens. If it turns out that the auto timing feature is to blame then I'll need to understand timing enough to manually set it. I do plan to drop to an 11x5.5 prop as soon as I get back to Pittsburgh and can stop at my LHS.

So can someone educate me on timing?

 

[gyro]

Ok so it still was acting up on me. I took the timing from auto to 8 degrees. I don't want to advance it but I wanted to try it without the auto timing feature. It had the typical starting issues of a motor with too low timing. My problem went from constant to intermittent. I'm gonna set it back to auto and see what happens. If it turns out that the auto timing feature is to blame then I'll need to understand timing enough to manually set it. I do plan to drop to an 11x5.5 prop as soon as I get back to Pittsburgh and can stop at my LHS.

So can someone educate me on timing?

A smart guy with ESC knowledge says:

The ZTW "auto" timing function applies to all multipole (>6) outrunners. The other settings are for low pole (like 6 w/ a kv in the 3000+ range DF motor), and 16 is for a 2 Pole inrunner. It has to do with the theoretical rpm limit of a motor driven by 3 phase. The ESC's internal refresh rate is 430hz. Meaning if you had a one pole motor (hah- just for giggles) you could spin it at 430,000 rpm. On a 2 pole motor you could go 215,000rpm. And so on. When you are using a typical 12 pole outrunner, the ESC is constantly maintaining phase synch with the motor. If you are using the timing advance on this type of motor, you are going to be hitting the motor with 2 or 3 pulses per phase- and all you are going to do is lose efficiency and generate heat.
Auto is best for all typical direct drive prop applications.

 

[Jwmav528]

Just for giggles I disabled the LVC for the battery because the esc has a built in thermal protection function that behaves like LVC. I'm gonna stop messing with it and put it back to stock until I can get to my shop for the smaller prop. I may be thinking too hard on this and just have the plane over propped. I flew it a little after sunset tonight on a 1300, 1600, and 2200 pack and it held in for a while until I started getting a little hard on it and it acted up again.

Could the motor just not like the auto timing from being over propped?

 

[gyro]

Just for giggles I disabled the LVC for the battery because the esc has a built in thermal protection function that behaves like LVC. I'm gonna stop messing with it and put it back to stock until I can get to my shop for the smaller prop. I may be thinking too hard on this and just have the plane over propped. I flew it a little after sunset tonight on a 1300, 1600, and 2200 pack and it held in for a while until I started getting a little hard on it and it acted up again.

Could the motor just not like the auto timing from being over propped?

No... I think you're going down the wrong path on the timing thing.

Over propping your motor will cause heat which will cook your bearings and ruin the windings. This will not effect ESC timing.

Over amping the ESC will cause it to regulate temp if gets too hot.

Have you run a "simulated flight" on the ground while hooked to a watt meter? If your batteries aren't able to supply enough juice (low c rating, or just being old and "tired") the voltage will sag low enough in flight to cause the ESC to trigger LVC, however checking the packs after flight and with no load will only tell you voltage, which recovers after a flight.

 

[Jwmav528]

So your advice should be to check my voltage under load with my wattmeter with each pack and maybe try out some fresh packs?

I have checked it out on the ground to make sure I'm not over amping anything.