Hello,

I am the process of setting up a new plane and while playing with the Castle Creations ICE controller I noticed that changing the motor timing had no effect on the current draw while testing the motor. I had expected low timing to result in lower current draws while the high setting to result in higher current draws. As far as I could tell, they behaved the same way. The motor in question is an AXI outrunner. In the past, when using Jeti controllers I could fine tune the motor current draw (if needed) by altering the timing. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Teo

Hey Teo,

I'm not sure what to say except that I had a slightly different experience. I moved the timing on my Castle ICE 80 HV from low to high and back over a series of 10 flights or so and found that high provided no change in RPM recorded by the esc, but did increase the power draw. I could not discern a noticeable change in the amps being drawn, but the net mAhs changed by more than 10% with the high setting having the greater draw of power. I will try to pull out the graphs tomorrow, but my conclusion was that the low timing was best with my Plettenberg motor. I know that is not overly scientific, but at a minimum it offers some added data to chew on


Be sure to let us know what you figure out in the coming days!


Joe

Teo,

Low timing is recommended by Castle for all large outrunners. I've run quite a few outrunners, and have yet to find one that benefitted from medium or high timing. Whenever you are changing timing settings, it is best to check both current draw and RPM....I have seen increases in both, decreases in both, no change, or an increase in one and a drop in the other.

Regards,

Hello Guys,

Thank you for the advice. I ran the tests at night, so I did not take any RPM readings (too lazy to go get the flashlight to have a non flickiring light source). I based my observations on the whattmeter data. What it is interesting is that Castle's recommendation is different from what Jeti recommends, in essence Castle suggests using low advance whereas Jeti suggests using high advance. I have mostly used Jeti controllers for my outrunners while using Castle controllers for inrunners. Where possible, I use the low advance setting since it is a little more efficient and allows things to remain a little cooler. However, if I needed a slight power boost, I would switch to high advance.

So I will go back to the low advance and start playing with different props.

Thank you,

Teo

I will venture out on a limb and state that almost all high pole outrunners need high advance timing (the Pletty needs 24 degrees), however, not all controllers work the same. Most (if not all nowadays) advance or manipulate the timing during motor operation based on some feedback that the esc can see during operation. Some controller may advance the timing during operation more than others, which is why they need to be set at a lower initial point.

For instance, I know that Schulze when set to hard (high) timing, varies between 20-26 degrees during operation, and when set to medium timing varies between 15-20 degrees. Possibly another brand ESC when set to low or medium timing may operate at the same point. So you may think you are running lower timing, when in fact you are not.

The timing protocol for different controllers is not the same as Dave and Chad alluded to. Jeti, Schulze, and YGE for example would run an outrunner on 24 degrees or typically "high" timing while Castle needs "low" setting for proper operation. They all work fine - just need different settings to work with their timing protocol.