Futaba 4PL Setup, Tips, Tricks & Help

[Crawllife]

Originally Posted by cyborgx

Hi guys,

I'm waiting for my Futuba 4PLS to arrive these days. Being new to crawling, I'm trying to understand the way DIG functionality work. I've decided to try the dual br mini esc from Holmes for my rig. Say I want front wheel drive with dig - what happens to the rear axle? Will it be blocked completely (by the motor) or do I need some mechanical stuff to get it completely blocked?

The radio,escs and motors do it all. No mechanical parts.

[photocycler]

Originally Posted by YJ_Driver

To setup a DT switch for 3 positions set the Step amount on the TRIM.DIAL screen to 100. See pages 60 and 61 in the manual.

Now be warned, this will not be momentary: from neutral you push the DT switch to start the winch in one direction, then pull the DT to come back to neutral and stop the winch. Do the opposite for the other direction. If you want momentary action you need to physically modify the radio as per my thread since the software doesn't support it.
4PL 3 Position Momentary Switch Mod

If your winch drifts when in neutral you can adjust the trim in the CH3 CH4 menu.

Wanted to revive this thread as I am on the fence between using my 4Pl with the DT etup for the winch or going with the wireless switch for the winch?

Its a RC4WD winch

[Norton]

I use the two DT switches on the pistol grip, one for winch and one for 2nd gear. Wireless sucks, not a lot of range and another thing to fiddle with.

[Tgreer]

I had a 4pl for years and setup my 2.2p a loooong time ago. I no longer remember how to do it. The 4pl finally bit the dust, so now I have a 4pls. Will the dual esc setup be the same on the pls???

[chicklet]

Yes its pretty much the same except for the dig function. For your dig switch on the "DT" buttons you will need to program for "ESC-MD/*3P" and ESC-RT for rear motor trim, which I think is the same on the 4PL. PM me if you have any questions.

[Harley]

As Brit said, pretty much the same. We just went through the programming with her actually. Hadn't had to do that in awhile!

[Tgreer]

Originally Posted by Harley

As Brit said, pretty much the same. We just went through the programming with her actually. Hadn't had to do that in awhile!

Thanks, I've been doing rc crawling for a long time now and this is still my least favorite thing to do and I can never seem to get it right. It would be great if you did a video update and show doing a dual esc setup with the 4pls.

[SimpsonC1]

Thanks for all the great info

[Delbert]

thanks for the awesome thread Harley, i had to dig around a bit to follow the differences from the 4pl to 4pls but it was super easy. keep up the good work dude!

[steveo 561]

Need some help i bought a used 4pl looking to return to default settings. Looked in manuel pdf but did noy see

[Norton]

There is no master reset, go to page 41 in the manual. That's as close as your going to get.

Seems pretty stupid that there wouldn't have a master reset. I'm running the 4pls now and it has one.

[xv-townboy]

Which is better for a 4ws set up.The 4pls or the 3pmx?..i was also wondering if end point adjustments on rear steer can be done independentely of front steer?..Hope my question is clear..Thanks for your time

[dmaddalozzo]

Just finished building my crawler, having issues with channel 2 not reversing. I have managed to set up the dual esc settings and digs. Channel 4 has both forward and reverse but channel 2 only forward. Is this normal?

Also, my motors are not sync'd, rear lags in start up and turns.

I have two Holmes BR mini's

Any info would be appreciated it is my first moa crawler.

[skyraiD]

Originally Posted by chicklet

Yes its pretty much the same except for the dig function. For your dig switch on the "DT" buttons you will need to program for "ESC-MD/*3P" and ESC-RT for rear motor trim, which I think is the same on the 4PL. PM me if you have any questions.

I have setup ESC-RT and ESC-MD/ 3P i can drive foward and backward but i don't have Dig. i can only go back and forward on 4wd set and rear drive with front dig but no dig, and if i dig rear and front driving i have no throttle at all.

[zmaxroad]

sorry to dig this up again...

can a used 2th hand futaba 4pl still be updated by futaba ?
any ideas of the cost to it ?

thanks to anyone with some help !!

[Harley]

Originally Posted by zmaxroad

sorry to dig this up again...

can a used 2th hand futaba 4pl still be updated by futaba ?
any ideas of the cost to it ?

thanks to anyone with some help !!

Only a small number needed to be updated. You are sure yours is one of them? Otherwise, it's most likely just the shipping charges that you'll be looking at.

[generalee7]

4PLS with a R204GFE receiver in either one of my rigs. Everything works fine on one truck but I switch to another and only steering works. I can switch to ANY other model in the transmitter where it says "NO LINK" and steering still works but no throttle. I've tried to calibrate the ESC to the RX numerous times and it recognizes neutral but not forward or reverse. WTF is going on?? This setup worked fine when I first got it but shit went wrong real quick when I binded my crawler to the transmitter. Really wishing I stuck with Spektrum right now

[mikemcE]

Read far too many pages on the 4PL here, I have a 4PLS and biggest issue in setup is setting throttle subtrim....IF its not correct, NOTHING WORKS.....but the display does.

How about an updated thread for the 4PLS ??

[durok]

I can't seem to get to page 111 on this thread.... last post is showing up on page 110, but I see an indicator for page 111 and can't move to it by clicking on the 111 or the forward arrow - strange....

[Hardline]

I pulled an old dual-esc XR10 out of mothballs and followed your Dual Esc video for set-up. Perfect. But the main page shows no indication of Dig or Bias status (other than watching bar-graphs). Do I need to drive with the Dual Esc Setup page showing to get indicators, or is there a better way?