Need some electronics help, my AX10 is acting wiggy
 

I got my AX10 kit B from CKRC on Saturday and put it together over the course of the weekend (Other than painting the body). Had alot of fun building it and I finished everything up last night. I'm still trying to figure out the best place to mount the ESC and receiver, but that's not critical right now.

My problem is, I turn on the transmittor, then the ESC and the car begins to spaz out on it's own. The wheels start twitching left and right and the wheels start turning themselves forward and reverse with no input from me whatsoever. I have the ESC ran in to Channel two as directed and the servo run into channel 1.

The kit came with a Hitec Agressor transmittor, a Hitec servo (Forget the model number....6 something) and a Castle Sidewinder ESC. I went through the programming procedure multiple times, but it's not working. I either get a solid yellow light or all of the lights flashing. Once I got it to light green (throttle OK), but when it switched to brakes it went bonkers again.

Any tips? I'm thinking it's just something I'm doing wrong, but if not, how would I know what's screwed up, the receiver or the ESC?

Sorry of the questions are stupid, but I'm so close.... So close to running. I've run out of ideas and need some help, basically :lol:

Mark

did you check for wiring issues? Cold solder joints? Just an idea

It could be number of things. I would start with the simple and obvious stuff and rule that out then go from there.

Are ALL Batteries fully charged?
Are the crystals rx/tx installed?
Is the ESC programmed?
Are the plugs from the servo and ESC connected to the rx the right way(correct polarity)?
Do you have capcitors installed on your motor?
Your tx antenna installed and up?

Start there

I fully charged the battery packs last night (Six cell split pack)
The crystals are installed
The programming seems to be where I'm having the problems...
I tried the plugs each way, it didn't seem to make much difference, other than going from a solid yellow to all of the lights blinking, which I'm guessing is better than a solid yellow. The ESC manual said most receivers put the negative towards the outside of the case, so that's the way I have it now.
I don't have any cap's installed on the motor. I meant to ask about that actually. The transmittor manual showed and mentioned one, but I didn't know it was critical. I'm assuming I can pick one up at Radio Shack?
Tried the antenna down and up, didn't make a difference.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll get it sorted out, I'm sure. It's probably just newb error..... :D

Set your throttle endpoints on your radio to 0..Hold the throttle wide open when you turn the esc on.All lights will flash then just the green one hold throttle till it accepts endpoint then the red led will flash hold full reverse till it accepts this end point..than nut..then it will arm...

this may help...
Something else you need to check is if the esc is programmed for brushed or brushless motor..depending on witch you have...

your problem is the ESC.
The default motor-type setting for your Sidewinder is brush-less, and I bet you have a brushed motor :-P

It was not clear to me when I ordered my ESC, but you want to utilize there software to program it...you are going to need the castle-link cable.
The mamba max (another castle ESC) has a build-in USB plug, but the sidewinder requires an adapter.

give castle tech support a call if you have any questions...I have called a few times, and they have always been super helpful "thumbsup"

X2

Do you have the castle link to program the esc? Both of the two I got came set up for brushless and they wont work without changing the setting. However I was able to program the throttle on my TX even before I changed that setting, so that combined with the fact that your steering servo is twitching tells me it's somewhere in the transmitter and receiver. Make sure your antenna wire isn't touching anything.

sddill: I've gone through the instructions a few times and tried what you said, but it's still acting nuts.

Mr. Manny: I ordered everything through CKRC as a matched set (I assume at least). They included an Integy 45 turn brushed motor. According to their site, the ESC was preprogrammed to crawler specs. I'd like to think that they shipped it out already set up for the brushed motor they included (But you never know :( ) . I'll be pretty annoyed if I have to pick up a cable and software and wait for it just to be able to run.

I've read up a little on capacitors and I'm hoping if I install some it'd cure the problems. I'm also going to neaten up my wiring and try to keep things as far apart as possible, which isn't exactly easy with the space provided, lol.

Hopefully it's just an interference thing. I'm gonna try to contact CKRC as well, maybe they can help out....

Thanks, guys...

EDIT: I should note that I did get it to semi-work briefly where the forward throttle and reverse did work and the steering kind of worked, then it started crapping out again on me. Maybe it's just a wiring or interference issue???

let us know how it turns out! I may need to know what the fix is, as I will be a new owner here in a few days.

I have the same ESC and motor combo and had the same problem.Get the Castle Link and set the ESC to brushed and your ready to go. "thumbsup"

X2 if you are running brushed YOU HAVE TO PROGRAM FOR BRUSHED!!!!!

Don't be offended guys if I say this sucks, lol. You'd think they (CKRC) would have had that setup already..... Bummer. I don't want to spend another $25 just to get it running *sigh*

I think the Castle Link is well worth the money.There are alot of other settings you can tweak on the Sidewinder (drag brake,ect..). "thumbsup"

Absolutely, the castle link will also set the servo volt for the BEC. I have a Mamba Max, did the same thing until I plugged in the USB (non castle link for MM) and ESC was set for brushless.
If they didn't set the brushless default, then they prolly didn't set all the good settings.

Just another theory out there. It may be the Aggressor RX picking up interference. I have run an Aggressor SRX system in my rig for months, and started off glitching like crazy, and I have made many improvements and it has gotten better and better, but I never fully got rid of it. Even with caps installed, and the RX and antennae at the other end of the rig completely away from any real voltage, I still would glitch every now and then (but to the point where I would only notice it 2-3 times in a comp).

A couple of weeks ago, I swapped over to a DX7, and I haven't seen one bit of evidence of glitching.

Just a theory, but I think the HiTec RX's are vulnerable to glitching. Try temporarily getting that RX and antennae FAR away from everything else, and see how it goes.

you can program the basics on the esc with the radio. It says it in the manual. Check to make sure you have the right crystals in the right location ... ie rx crystal tx crystal in the correct place. Antennae tube on?? it helps. I recommend resistors on the motor. I would even try different crystals maybe that frequency is not good for where you are. I also read some here have issues when the antennae touches metal... ie chassis plates.

Also try switching your radio throttle switch... ie if its on normal switch to reverse or visa versa. Then try to reprogram the esc.

Good luck

Have you try re-programming it from the controller yet?

Not yet. I pulled the motor and electronics off of it and will start over with the it. I'm gonna make some mounts to keep the stuff low tonight and pick up some caps from Radio Shack for the motor, then I'll try again. I'll post up the results when I do. I'll probably wind up getting the Castlelink, but will try to get it up and running without it first :)

I tried to avoid spending the extra $$ for a castlelink.
The frustration, associated with my realization that I needed one to simply use my ESC...probably had a lot to do with it.

I wish castle and vendors would do a better job of educating customers of this fact.

Good Luck Welby,
I tried with the assistance of Tech Support, but unfortunately was unable to configure the motor-type without the castlelink :-(


you might want to try your local RCshop, they may have a castlelink you can borrow.

I guess in the end, it's still more affordable then a mamba max :)
and the same castlelink is necessary to program the castle BEC "thumbsup"

The fact that the front wheels are going crazy too, tells me its not the esc. Sounds like tx/rx problems. Check to make sure there are no cuts or such on the ant. and that the crystals match. Did this radio work on something else or is this the first time you have used it? Any time I have had esc troubles it either goes wide open or does nothing. Hope this helps.



Randy