BLX 200 ESC programming.

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Stapleton219

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Arrma RC's
  1. Nero
My Big Rock ESC does not react the way the manual states it should when changing the programming for things like brakes, punch settings, etc. I can get it to make changes but the manual says it should make certain light flash sequences and colors. Mine does the correct flashing sequences but not the correct colors. Just wondering if anyone else was experiencing this same issue?
Also, I have 6 batteries, all new Duratrax 5400 mah, 50c packs. When I run the truck till low voltage cutoff, my packs are discharged at different rates. Not just individual cells, but one pack might be 9 volts while the other is 10.2 volts. The ESC doesn't care about each cell of each pack being 3.2 volts which is the cutoff but it looks for 19.2 volts and doesn't matter how the individual packs are discharging. With the packs being wired in series, you would think they would discharge evenly..? Support claims that the steering servo is powered by the ESC as a whole and does not feed from one particular battery wire, thus would not cause uneven discharge. They actually replaced 2 of my batteries thinking they could be defective especially since they puffed slightly after discharging below 3 volts on a couple cells, but the problem persists even with all batteries being new and less than 10 charge cycles each.
Anyone smarter than me wanna educate me on why this is happening?
 
Stapleton219 said:
My Big Rock ESC does not react the way the manual states it should when changing the programming for things like brakes, punch settings, etc. I can get it to make changes but the manual says it should make certain light flash sequences and colors. Mine does the correct flashing sequences but not the correct colors. Just wondering if anyone else was experiencing this same issue?
Also, I have 6 batteries, all new Duratrax 5400 mAh, 50c packs. When I run the truck till low voltage cutoff, my packs are discharged at different rates. Not just individual cells, but one pack might be 9 volts while the other is 10.2 volts. The ESC doesn't care about each cell of each pack being 3.2 volts which is the cutoff but it looks for 19.2 volts and doesn't matter how the individual packs are discharging. With the packs being wired in series, you would think they would discharge evenly..? Support claims that the steering servo is powered by the ESC as a whole and does not feed from one particular battery wire, thus would not cause uneven discharge. They actually replaced 2 of my batteries thinking they could be defective especially since they puffed slightly after discharging below 3 volts on a couple cells, but the problem persists even with all batteries being new and less than 10 charge cycles each.
Anyone smarter than me wanna educate me on why this is happening?
Click to expand...

On the subject of your batteries, you might have some bad packs. in a series connection, all cells should drain equally, given they are equally matched. if your charger is capable, measure the internal resistance of each pack. try to mate the packs with similar internal resistance, and see if your issue goes away.

Another cause could be a poor connection. check for loose wires, bad solder joints or corrosion on both sides of the connection.

Also, don't worry about your servo. there is no way to specifically drain one pack in a series connection more than the other.

Since the ESC is only connected to the primary pack wires and not the balance plus, there is no way to monitor individual cells or packs, and your low voltage cutoff will activate when your combined voltage of both packs drop below the threshold.
 
Havoc said:
On the subject of your batteries, you might have some bad packs. in a series connection, all cells should drain equally, given they are equally matched. if your charger is capable, measure the internal resistance of each pack. try to mate the packs with similar internal resistance, and see if your issue goes away.

Another cause could be a poor connection. check for loose wires, bad solder joints or corrosion on both sides of the connection.

Also, don't worry about your servo. there is no way to specifically drain one pack in a series connection more than the other.

Since the ESC is only connected to the primary pack wires and not the balance plus, there is no way to monitor individual cells or packs, and your low voltage cutoff will activate when your combined voltage of both packs drop below the threshold.
Click to expand...
Everything is brand new less than 1 month old. Truck and batteries and charger. No damaged connectors or poor connections. I don't have a way to measure internal resistance. I have started mixing and matching my 6 packs based on their performance, that's all I can do without sending the whole truck in for service which is what support suggests, I don't wanna part with my truck for 3 weeks.
 
What I did is get 2 voltage alarms, about 2$ each from Hobbyking and some extension wires for the balance leads. That will let you know if one pack gets discharged more than the other and you can set them to go off at a certain voltage so you can be sure you avoid battery damage by over discharging. (btw, not my ideea, i saw this on this forum also)
 
Stapleton219 said:
Everything is brand new less than 1 month old. Truck and batteries and charger. No damaged connectors or poor connections. I don't have a way to measure internal resistance. I have started mixing and matching my 6 packs based on their performance, that's all I can do without sending the whole truck in for service which is what support suggests, I don't wanna part with my truck for 3 weeks.
Click to expand...

Which charger are you using? it may have an option to measure the resistance.

Also, how are you charging the packs? one at a time or in pairs?

The ESC programming issue is seperate from your battery issue.
 
Wait am I missing something? I thought a 3s battery back is properly charged to run at 4.2 volts per cell? What I do after draining the battery is balance all my batteries, then once all are balanced I do a charge cycle, and since they've all been balanced I'll very quickly get to their max at 5500mah and 4.2v per cell.
 
Stapleton219 said:
My Big Rock ESC does not react the way the manual states it should when changing the programming for things like brakes, punch settings, etc. I can get it to make changes but the manual says it should make certain light flash sequences and colors. Mine does the correct flashing sequences but not the correct colors. Just wondering if anyone else was experiencing this same issue?
Also, I have 6 batteries, all new Duratrax 5400 mAh, 50c packs. When I run the truck till low voltage cutoff, my packs are discharged at different rates. Not just individual cells, but one pack might be 9 volts while the other is 10.2 volts. The ESC doesn't care about each cell of each pack being 3.2 volts which is the cutoff but it looks for 19.2 volts and doesn't matter how the individual packs are discharging. With the packs being wired in series, you would think they would discharge evenly..? Support claims that the steering servo is powered by the ESC as a whole and does not feed from one particular battery wire, thus would not cause uneven discharge. They actually replaced 2 of my batteries thinking they could be defective especially since they puffed slightly after discharging below 3 volts on a couple cells, but the problem persists even with all batteries being new and less than 10 charge cycles each.
Anyone smarter than me wanna educate me on why this is happening?
Click to expand...
Maybe your esc is set to the nimh setting, with no lvc it will drain the battery all the way down till the car stops and will result in puffing your batterys.
 
Balance charging a pack will not guarantee that it discharges evenly, especially under heavy loads. That's why it's important to balance charge them. If all of the cells discharged at the same rate, there would be no need for balance charging, right?

I have 4 of the same packs you're running. I found that if I run them to the cutoff, they get extremely hot, extremely unbalanced and occasionally puffed (temporarily). The reason is that, under heavy load, the batteries actually drop below the voltage the cutoff is set at and if it's not quick enough you can do some real damage to your packs. That's why you hit the cutoff and a few minutes later you can drive the the truck back to you. The packs have recovered and are back above the cutoff voltage. To prevent this, I bought some $2 voltage alarms and set them for 3.8v. When I'm running hard, the alarm will sound on the battery that is taking a beating so I give a rest and run easy until it recovers. Then I can run quite a bit longer until both batteries start to alarm. Then I know they'll be at about 8.5v per cell when I bring the truck in so I can put them in short term storage. Generally, they stay pretty balanced and my charge times are much shorter. The batteries rarely get hot and never puff.
 
Last edited:
mrfurious40k said:
Balance charging a pack will not guarantee that it discharges evenly, especially under heavy loads. That's why it's important to balance charge them. If all of the cells discharged at the same rate, there would be no need for balance charging, right?

I have 4 of the same packs you're running. I found that if I run them to the cutoff, they get extremely hot, extremely unbalanced and occasionally puffed (temporarily). The reason is that, under heavy load, the batteries actually drop below the voltage the cutoff is set at and if it's not quick enough you can do some real damage to your packs. That's why you hit the cutoff and a few minutes later you can drive the the truck back to you. The packs have recovered and are back above the cutoff voltage. To prevent this, I bought some $2 voltage alarms and set them for 3.8v. When I'm running hard, the alarm will sound on the battery that is taking a beating so I give a rest and run easy until it recovers. Then I can run quite a bit longer until both batteries start to alarm. Then I know they'll be at about 8.5v per cell when I bring the truck in so I can put them in short term storage. Generally, they stay pretty balanced and my charge times are much shorter. The batteries rarely get hot and never puff.
Click to expand...
I always just balance charge them so each cell is even at 4.2 and I set all my ESCs to have cutoff at 3.4 instead of the usual 3.2 default.
 
I have battery puff every so often also and was told it's from running hard and the setup using a ton of juice.
As far as the esc not changing settings I also had this issue. I sent my esc in and they got it to change and save settings. Sent it back to me and said it was fine. I then had to recalibrate the esc and reconnect it to the transmitter. It worked for a bit then did the same thing maybe 3 weeks later. I have yet to resend the motor/ esc in a second time, though I plan to.
 

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