Futaba 4PL Setup, Tips, Tricks & Help

[Harley]

Originally Posted by durrty

Just bought a 4pl because of the recommendations here and Harleys set up vids made it seem to easy and nice. It was all that easy and fast to set up.

2 MM micros, 3s lipo, CC bec, Brood 45t motors.
used Harleys setup vids to set up the 2 esc, dig and proportional dig.

Coming from a 3PMX the 4PL seems to have a huge dead spot in the throttle, i can pull it a quarter inch before it moves the motors.
I set the throttle dead band on the ESC to .0500 almost as small as it will go and it made little noticeable difference.

Am i missing a setting in the radio that i can tune the low end better?

I have only an hour running the radio and new rig and like all but the throttle.

Also how do I reset the radio back to factory settings?

Thanks for any help
durrty

Dis you calibrate both your ESC's to the radio?

You can reset individual models but not the entire radio.

[durrty]

Just re-calibrated the esc's from the CC manual. No change, the issue is not low end control but the amount of wasted travel in the trigger. All the DT switches do what I want. Don't think i need to reset it anymore?

The esc's recognize(blink green) the trigger pull immediately after i pull it off neutral, but the motors dont turn until the trigger gets pulled a good amount more. They make noise like they are getting power but not enough to turn them. That is what I would like to tighten up.

My issue is not that it has no low end and they go from nothing to real fast, the low end control is killer.

thanks

[Harley]

Originally Posted by durrty

Just re-calibrated the esc's from the CC manual. No change, the issue is not low end control but the amount of wasted travel in the trigger. All the DT switches do what I want. Don't think i need to reset it anymore?

The esc's recognize(blink green) the trigger pull immediately after i pull it off neutral, but the motors dont turn until the trigger gets pulled a good amount more. They make noise like they are getting power but not enough to turn them. That is what I would like to tighten up.

My issue is not that it has no low end and they go from nothing to real fast, the low end control is killer.

thanks

Then the problem is between the motor and ESC. Motors are probably a little tight. Also check your gear mesh. Increasing expo is an easy change you can do as well.

[durrty]

Ok, ill mess around more with it.
Might be me too, this is all new from radio to rig right now.

I gotta break into the set as well as the parts breaking in.

Thanks for the assist..

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Today I noticed a problem with my 4PL. This seems to happen on any model for any setup.

When I turn on the radio, POSI setting under channel three is set to D100. I can turn it down to 0, which, I believe, is the default setting. It will stay at this setting, unless I turn off the radio. When I turn the radio back on, it is set back to D100. Here is a short video showing the issue:

Pardon the blurry video, I didn't realize until afterward (when I saw 50 videos of the floor) that my kid had been playing with the camera and the lens was covered in greasy fingerprints.

This error isn't really causing me any issues since I dont use channel three for any of my trucks, but I am wanting to fix the problem, none the less.

Thanks!

Anybody? I placed a call to Futaba Tech Support and got tired of waiting after 15 minutes so I left a message...no return call.

[jdawg53]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Anybody? I placed a call to Futaba Tech Support and got tired of waiting after 15 minutes so I left a message...no return call.

Jeremy
There is nothing wrong with your transmitter. Mine does the same thing. Basically what it is doing is telling you the position of whatever switch/dial you have channel 3 assigned to.
Mine was assigned to the 3 pos switch on the side (SW2). If I moved the switch to the center position my "posi" number would go to 0.
I removed channel 3 from this switch and did not assign it to anythng and then adjusted the "posi" switch to 89 and turned it off and then back on and the value was still 89.

Hope this makes sense, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to pm me.
Thanks
J

[Tommy R]

Hey Harley,

I've got an odd issue I'm wrestling with. It's actually for my Short Course truck, but I'm hoping you may be able to offer some insight anyway. I posted this on RCShortCourse, but didn't get any replies.

Equipment used:
Radio: 4PL
ESC: Stock Losi
Motor: 12T Traxxas (Slash)
Battery: 5000 mah 2s

The Losi ESC can be run with or without reverse. I have it set up without reverse for racing. It still have a braking function.

I want to dial in some braking to the neutral throttle position. The reason is because when I let off the throttle, I want the truck to slow quickly to help with corner entry. Currently, it just coasts/freewheels for too long and I have to let off way too early entering the corners.

Normally, I would simply dial in some brake trim so I would have a bit of braking effect when the trigger is in the neutral position. However, I keep dialing the brake trim higher and higher with no change. Finally, once I get the brake trim up to ~35-40, it will start braking when I let off the throttle. But it's very, very abrupt. It's also inconsistent. Sometimes I let off it'll freewheel, sometimes it'll stop nearly immediately. Obviously, this isn't good.

Could I have a setting somewhere in the 4PL that is affecting/overriding my brake trim settings? Is there a better way to have some braking applied at the neutral trigger position? Expos are at zero. Throttle endpoints are set. Honestly, I have to question if the ESC is the culprit. Unfortunately, I know little about it since very few people run this ESC. It's the stock Losi unit that comes in the Losi short course truck (XXX-SCT).

Any help you could offer would be MUCH appreciated!
Tommy

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by jdawg53

Jeremy
There is nothing wrong with your transmitter. Mine does the same thing. Basically what it is doing is telling you the position of whatever switch/dial you have channel 3 assigned to.
Mine was assigned to the 3 pos switch on the side (SW2). If I moved the switch to the center position my "posi" number would go to 0.
I removed channel 3 from this switch and did not assign it to anythng and then adjusted the "posi" switch to 89 and turned it off and then back on and the value was still 89.

Hope this makes sense, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to pm me.
Thanks
J

Jason, yes, most of that makes sense. I do not recall changing that setting (certainly not for all models), but I guess anything is possible.

Under "Switch", SW1 is off and SW2 is CH3. Is this what you are referring to?

[igbandy]

Just a quick question with reference to receiver`s for the 4PL.

I have seen some sites here in the United Kingdom listing the R2006GS as being compatble with the 4PL.

Just wanted to know for sure, before I buy one to try it out.

[Harley]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Jason, yes, most of that makes sense. I do not recall changing that setting (certainly not for all models), but I guess anything is possible.

Under "Switch", SW1 is off and SW2 is CH3. Is this what you are referring to?

Yup, Ch3 is defaulted to SW2 which is why you are seeing it on all models. If you just move that slider to the center it would read 0 for all models.

This one had us stumped for a minutes. Jason and I had to work through it this morning.

[Harley]

Originally Posted by igbandy

Just a quick question with reference to receiver`s for the 4PL.

I have seen some sites here in the United Kingdom listing the R2006GS as being compatble with the 4PL.

Just wanted to know for sure, before I buy one to try it out.

As far as I know that RX is not compatible. I have NOT tried it, I am only going buy what Futaba lists. If you find that it is then let me know.

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Harley

Yup, Ch3 is defaulted to SW2 which is why you are seeing it on all models. If you just move that slider to the center it would read 0 for all models.

This one had us stumped for a minutes. Jason and I had to work through it this morning.

So, if I go into Dial SW > Switch > SW2.SLD > Typ and turn it to "OFF" for each model, then drop the Posi down to 0, then that should fix the issue? Any negative side effects of changing this setting?

It is weird that this has happened. I am 100% certain that I did not change that value and that it was not like that before.

BTW, thanks to both of you for your help.

[Harley]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

So, if I go into Dial SW > Switch > SW2.SLD > Typ and turn it to "OFF" for each model, then drop the Posi down to 0, then that should fix the issue? Any negative side effects of changing this setting?

It is weird that this has happened. I am 100% certain that I did not change that value and that it was not like that before.

BTW, thanks to both of you for your help.

I'm sure you didn't change it, what happened is the switch got slid back. If you just put the slide to the center position it will be at 0 on all models.

[JeremyH]

Which slider are you talking about? I dont have that channel assigned to any switches on any model.

[Harley]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Which slider are you talking about? I dont have that channel assigned to any switches on any model.

The SW2.sld is default set to channel 3. It's the switch right behind the wheel.

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Harley

The SW2.sld is default set to channel 3. It's the switch right behind the wheel.

Ahhhhhhhh....gotcha! To tell the truth, I didnt even know that switch was assigned to to anything. Haha!

Good to know. I will probably just leave the switch unassigned so that I dont make that mistake again.

Thanks!

[Harley]

Yeah, I unassigned it on the models I use. As long as you know what it does you should be good to go now.

[jdawg53]

Originally Posted by Tommy R

Hey Harley,

I've got an odd issue I'm wrestling with. It's actually for my Short Course truck, but I'm hoping you may be able to offer some insight anyway. I posted this on RCShortCourse, but didn't get any replies.

Equipment used:
Radio: 4PL
ESC: Stock Losi
Motor: 12T Traxxas (Slash)
Battery: 5000 mah 2s

The Losi ESC can be run with or without reverse. I have it set up without reverse for racing. It still have a braking function.

I want to dial in some braking to the neutral throttle position. The reason is because when I let off the throttle, I want the truck to slow quickly to help with corner entry. Currently, it just coasts/freewheels for too long and I have to let off way too early entering the corners.

Normally, I would simply dial in some brake trim so I would have a bit of braking effect when the trigger is in the neutral position. However, I keep dialing the brake trim higher and higher with no change. Finally, once I get the brake trim up to ~35-40, it will start braking when I let off the throttle. But it's very, very abrupt. It's also inconsistent. Sometimes I let off it'll freewheel, sometimes it'll stop nearly immediately. Obviously, this isn't good.

Could I have a setting somewhere in the 4PL that is affecting/overriding my brake trim settings? Is there a better way to have some braking applied at the neutral trigger position? Expos are at zero. Throttle endpoints are set. Honestly, I have to question if the ESC is the culprit. Unfortunately, I know little about it since very few people run this ESC. It's the stock Losi unit that comes in the Losi short course truck (XXX-SCT).

Any help you could offer would be MUCH appreciated!
Tommy

Tommy,
Usually, we program the esc to add drag brake, but you can try this to see if it helps.
Go into the "advanced" menu then "THR MODE" then "NTBRK".
Try playing with this setting.
Info can be found on page 65 of the manual.
Let me know if this works for you.
J

[jeepcj776]

Harley,

I'm having a receiver Problem,

Here's the story, this receiver was in my MRC; worked great. Last night we are out crawling and my buddy's truck wasn't working so we thought it was the radio.
Pulled my receiver from the MRC and installed it in his truck. Truck still didn't work, Put the receiver back into the MRC now the MRC wont work.

Receiver shows that its bound, B1R arms but nothing works, no steering, No throttle.

Is the Receiver Bad, Any Ideas.

Thanks

[YJ_Driver]

Originally Posted by durrty

Just bought a 4pl because of the recommendations here and Harleys set up vids made it seem to easy and nice. It was all that easy and fast to set up.

2 MM micros, 3s lipo, CC bec, Brood 45t motors.
used Harleys setup vids to set up the 2 esc, dig and proportional dig.

Coming from a 3PMX the 4PL seems to have a huge dead spot in the throttle, i can pull it a quarter inch before it moves the motors.
I set the throttle dead band on the ESC to .0500 almost as small as it will go and it made little noticeable difference.

Am i missing a setting in the radio that i can tune the low end better?

I have only an hour running the radio and new rig and like all but the throttle.

Also how do I reset the radio back to factory settings?

Thanks for any help
durrty

I had the same effect with my CC Sidewinders and it's caused by the ESC which starts at a throttle level much lower than your motor can react to.
My solution was to use the Castle Link USB to adjust the throttle curve, I don't know if this is supported on MM Micro. I raised the lowest point of the curve so it would start at 10% then continue linearly to 100%. You may want to do this on the 'brake' curve too.