anyone know why my ESC might change the motor direction?

anyone know why my ESC might change the motor direction?
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anyone know why my ESC might change the motor direction? - 3/25/2008 12:39:14 PM

Posts: 6
Joined: 3/21/2008
From: , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline

Hi guys, have a twister 3d storm... still very new to the world of helis but yesterday i spun up my heli and everything was fine, today the motor turns the wrong way and i've not changed anything (or so i think) electronic.

I was adjusting my swash plate push rod lenghts to try and get it all nice and level so i figured i didn't want to run down my LiPo just doing that so i plugged in my receiver battery that it came with. I didn't have the LiPo plugged in at the time but the ESC has a battery eliminator circuit. Could i have damaged the ESC by powering it the wrong way? I had disconnected the motor when i was adjusting the rods so that i could adjust everything so might i have accidently entered a programming mode and reversed the ESC motor direction?

I'm fairly sure i could reverse the motor direction by swapping some of the leads to the motor but that would really be masking the problem instead of solving it!

Cheers. Hope i don't have to buy a new ESC!

Dave

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor dire... - 3/25/2008 1:24:49 PM

Skarn

Posts: 524
Joined: 1/1/2007
From: Pasadena, MD, USA
Status: offline

When you disconnected the motor, you must have switched two leads by mistake. That is the only thing I can think of that would cause this.

Skarn

(in reply to pharcycle)

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor direc... - 3/25/2008 2:55:43 PM

Posts: 6
Joined: 3/21/2008
From: , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline

hey, unfortunatly they're colour coded so that can't be the case. Is there any chance i damaged it by applying 5v to the ESC via the receiver?

edit...

just reversed two of the motor wires and it goes in the correct direction now.... Really weird i now have the blue wire to blue wire, black to red and red to black to get it going the correct direction. This is definatly not how it was yesterday when it was going around fine!

Is it possible that the ESC has a direction option in its programming mode and i've changed it somehow?

Dave

< Message edited by pharcycle -- 3/25/2008 3:19:31 PM >

(in reply to pharcycle)

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor dire... - 3/25/2008 5:35:29 PM

Posts: 712
Joined: 11/5/2007
From: auburn, CA, USA
Status: offline

Could i have damaged the ESC by powering it the wrong way?

yes your lucky your back in the air. most motor wires are not color coded your esc shorted out and now poles are reversed and switching wires has fixed the short. youll be lucky if thats all it is.

(in reply to pharcycle)

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor direc... - 3/25/2008 6:09:51 PM

Skarn

Posts: 524
Joined: 1/1/2007
From: Pasadena, MD, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: pharcycle

Is there any chance i damaged it by applying 5v to the ESC via the receiver?

No, I use my receiver battery all the time to tweak/setup my heli.

I have no idea how that would have happend.

Skarn

(in reply to pharcycle)

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor dire... - 3/25/2008 6:24:50 PM

Posts: 6
Joined: 3/21/2008
From: , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline

srouthouse... Nah, didn't swap the polarity of the battery, just the 3 phase motor wires to get it going correctly again.

Have e-mailed JP distributions to see if i can get a datasheet for the ESC.

(in reply to srouthouse)

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor dire... - 3/25/2008 6:32:56 PM

Posts: 712
Joined: 6/29/2007
From: covington, GA, USA
Status: offline

plenty of esc's offer the option to reverse rotation within the programming. I'm not familiar with that brand so I couldn't say for your case if that is what happened. If you entered the programming mode, there is a possibility that you changed it if you moved the throttle stick around. Find the programming instructions and have a look at them to see if it is possible. If that feature is one of the options, swap it and you should be set.

If it isn't an option, most likely you didn't note the correct direction of rotation the first time. Swapping any two of the wires going to the motor will also solve your issue. I seriously doubt that you cooked anything, be it the bec feature or the esc, if the thing still turns the motor I would say it is fine. Be careful and don't touch wires together, you will be fine.

I'd check the paperwork on the esc because there may be other options that could help you, knowing what you can do is a good thing. Other than that reason, I'd just say swap the wires and move on to the next problem.

(in reply to pharcycle)

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor dire... - 3/25/2008 6:36:13 PM

Posts: 712
Joined: 6/29/2007
From: covington, GA, USA
Status: offline

I've seen both setups where you have three different colors to the motor from esc / or all three wires are the same color. I've had to swap two leads more often than not to get the correct rotation direction, never have a problem with it. Pretty much all esc setup guides I have read tell you to check operation then swap any two wires if you need to reverse direction.

I seriously doubt he has cooked anything if the motor still works. Also, no mention of a puff of magic smoke and resulting stinky electronics.

(in reply to srouthouse)

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor dire... - 3/27/2008 6:14:20 PM

Posts: 6
Joined: 3/21/2008
From: , UNITED KINGDOM
Status: offline

Hi guys, thanks for the replies.

Unfortunatly the entire instruction set for the ESC (as it comes with the twister storm) is limited to a single paragraph about how to mount it and the spec of 11v 3 cel etc. Oh and it has a soft start!

Had a brief e-mail communique with JP distributions and they say that there aren't any datasheets for it and that the ESC isn't programmable. They also said that the esc most likely remembered the configuration of the wires in a reversed state and then when it was powered up again with the wires the correct way around it was reversed... I'm stumped but as redvtr1000 said.. if it still turns its probably ok - and no there wasn't any blue smoke or that unnerving toasted electronics smell!

Just FYI, i'm a robotics PhD student so i'm fairly used to using and not destroying electronics and i know that i never reversed the wires at any point until it wasn't going in the correct direction! Bizzare.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions
Dave

(in reply to redvtr1000)

RE: anyone know why my ESC might change the motor dire... - 3/28/2008 4:05:39 PM

Posts: 712
Joined: 6/29/2007
From: covington, GA, USA
Status: offline

that is wierd.

I'd like to see JPs explanation of the "memory" on a technical level.

(in reply to pharcycle)

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