Issue with Etronics Pulse radio and BLX100 ESC -- FIXED!

[oceanrising]

I bought a used Granite 4WD 3S BLX, which was stock except for the radio, an Etronix Pulse 3ch somethingy. I bought new 4600mAh NiMH batteries. Perhaps an error, perhaps not. They have been cycled (dchg/chg) twice after I got them. Charger is SkyRC D100 V2.

Battery issue. The car runs quite nicely with until some limiter kicks in. This happens after driving a short while. Power off-on cycle gives a bit full speed drive time but not much. The BLX100 is set to NiMH mode (Variable 1, setting value 2). It is winter here and we have been driving in -4 to -10C freezing. The fans on both ESC and the motor seem to be working ok. I need to check the led signals the next time I get around driving though.

Steering problem. The steering wheel on transmitter just stopped working. Upon power-up the servo turns the wheels to the left and that’s it. The servo responds to the trim and D/R adjustment. Channel reversing works too – it swings the wheels to the right. When I swap the steering servo and ESC on the receiver, the wheels turn ok from the throttle trigger but the motor does nothing from the steering wheel. The ESC is flashing the red LED. This does not seem to be a good thing as per the Hobbywing Max10 manual, which says it is not receiving the throttle signal or it is not calibrated correctly. I’ve reset the ESC and tried re-binding the transmitter and radio.

What would you suggest I try next? I do not have extra radios or ESCs lying around. I am looking at new radios already... and an ESC that is not programming-challenged.

 

[Tex Koder]

When you swap the ESC and servo on the receiver.. You need to make sure the steering trim on your tx is set back to neutral/center or the ESC will not respond... Safety feature to prevent sudden accelerations.

Do that and report back.

 

[Dan B.]

Make sure the trim/expo knobs are set correctly on the radio and recalibrate your ESC. Also, pull the servo horn and let the servo center (power up) before doing final setup. Sounds like that might work out for you.

 

[oceanrising]

Thanks!

When you swap the ESC and servo on the receiver.. You need to make sure the steering trim on your tx is set back to neutral/center or the ESC will not respond... Safety feature to prevent sudden accelerations.

Do that and report back.

Good point. The steering trim is implemented this way: an L/R button that beeps at the neutral position. There are 60 levels to each direction.

Test result: fail. The ESC red led blinks when I have swapped the channels and turn on the power. Adjusting the steering wheel trim does not help.
The throttle controls the steering servo ok but the steering wheel is as if dead.

Make sure the trim/expo knobs are set correctly on the radio and recalibrate your ESC. Also, pull the servo horn and let the servo center (power up) before doing final setup. Sounds like that might work out for you.

Did the recalibration of the throttle. I'll check the servo horn uninstallation tomorrow.

I almost am ready to place an order on an entry level Futaba or Sanwa.
Update: fixed incorrect info about the trim functionality.

 

[oceanrising]

I was wrong earlier about the trim setting in my msg #4 above. The Etronics Pulse 3ch does have an audible beep in the neutral position. It has 60 steps to either direction from the neutral setting. The beep sound rises in pitch the closer you are to the neutral position.

Unfortunately the neutral trim setting does not help. The transmitter steering wheel is just as dead. The horn reinstallation did not remedy this issue. It did make the steering servo a bit more centered though. I think I'll steer towards a Sanwa MX-6, then.

Thank you guys for the tips!

Once I get a new radio I'll get back to the running time issues. It seems to be a more common topic around here. Or, should I just swap it to a Hobbywing Max10SCT or something else?

 

[oceanrising]

Problems solved!

1) Steering was fixed by getting a new radio. Sanwa MX-6 to the rescue. The steering wheel on the old one was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. I'm not that savvy with electronics.

2) The low voltage cutoff with my NiMH batteries was fixed with a new, uncrippled ESC. I was able to find a Hobbywing 10BL60 from the (only) local RC shop in town. I had already bought the Hobbywing LED programming card so tuning the ESC was a breeze.

Now the Granite runs as expected and me and boy got full battery charges' worth of fun with it.