Castle Creations ESC tip thread(brushed)
 

Seems like there are alot of people asking questions about some of the Castle ESC's. I have been running em exclusively for well over 5 years now. I only do the brushless a little on the go fast, so I am not an expert there. But in the crawlers, I can certainly help.


As of this post(and for as long as I can see) I run 2 mamba micro pros on 4S lipo. The mamba max and sidewinder can take 4S also. Castle does not advertise this, or warranty it. But I have been running 4S on my trucks for about 2 years now with no problems.



First and foremost. Calibration:

Make sure your radio has the throttle trim is centered, and not in reverse. Once you have done this, you turn on your radio, and hold full throttle(forward). Plug in/turn on your ESC. It will chime, pause, then beep steadily. Hit full reverse after 3 steady beeps. It will do the same chime, pause, steady beeping. Let go to neutral and it will chime/beep again, then chime that it is armed(same as when you turn on the truck). If you did it right, you're ready to rock.

This is always the first thing I do when I install one of their ESC's on a different radio or re-bind a new RX. If you're having some problems with the ESC arming, or it arms when you give it a little throttle/reverse, then re-calibrate. Just make sure all your throttle trims and settings on the TX are centered and factory. You need to re-calibrate even if you install a used ESC you bought from someone.



ESC settings in the castle link:

Below is a pic of what you should have your stuff set at. There are more settings you can play with, but this is all I use. Also, your lipo cutoff will depend on how many cells you run. Otherwise, all the rest should be the same(in my opinion).

Make sure you dont update past firmware v1.24. I have tested this on the sidewinder and micro pro. Haven't tried on the mamba max, but it should be the same firmware version. You just don't want to install the firmware that has the "Crawler Reverse" option under the "brake/reverse type". You want the latest firmware that has the "213% Crawler full-on" option under the "Drag brake" settings.

The reason for this, is that the crawler reverse blows. It limits reverse throttle, and makes the brake softer. This may work for some. But I think the instant reverse in the settings above, is way better. If you have the firmware past v1.24, all you have to do is go into the software tab, and select v1.24, then hit update.



http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g4...sidewinder.jpg


Side note. If there is a setting you're looking at, and don't know what it effects, the click the little blue circled question mark on the top right of every option. It will open a prompt that will explain every option. Pretty handy.

I have also learned that screwing with the throttle curves doesn't really help much. I always go back to the linear curve. If you want to know more about this, I can explain.




Hope this helps some of you. Post up if you have anymore questions. I would be happy to do my best to help. Get a castle link of you don't already have one. Well worth the $25"thumbsup"





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Thnaks Crhis, ewe r a graet ghuy! :flipoff:

I too have been running Castle Products for some time on 4s, and at one point a sidewinder on 4s with a 21t Holmes Handwound. Never had an ESC fail!

I am currently running a pair of Micro Pros on 3s with dual 35t Holmes Handwounds without issues, and plan to run Chris' new 4s 850's on this setup soon. Hope all goes well! Thanks for another great informative thread Chrissy Poo!

Thanks....I'm running the MMP on 3s in brushed mode. Works great for me!! "thumbsup"

Hello,

i would like a question about the Micro Sidewinders. Running them without any issues for a while now. As i remember i read 15V max. on them, so now here's the question, are they able to take 4s?

Thanks and greetings Frank

Are you referring to the 1/10th sidwinder or the micro?

I have the 1/10th sidwinder and a 35t hh handwound. I have been wanting to try 4s on it for quite some time but was afraid to have the esc let out the magic smoke.. If you mean that you have ran 4s on this esc with success I think I will try it.

I was curious on why this is. I run a mamba 25, BR-XL's, a Mamba Max, Mamba Max Pro, and Mamba Monster and couldn't tell a loss from the new software but I did notice that on my rigs is the throttle is smoother with the newer firmware the 1.24. I love Castle esc's and have used them since I got in to crawling back in 2004. The only thing I hvae never played with are the curves.

Last year I was running a mamba 25 with a brushless outrunner in one of my rigs and I updated to firmware v1.25(I think) and it was nothing but problems reverse was slow and had to double tap to get it to go into reverse, even tho I had it set forward to brake to reverse. Drag brake was non existing. I hooked it back up to the castle link and tried to go back to v1.24 but the problems still existed. I'm not sure if the update did something to the software that couldn't be undone or what. To fix the problem I switched to my spare installed v1.24 only and everything was peachy after that. Sold the other esc to someone to someone to run in a mini T. They had no problems with it in forward only. Has anyone else run into a problem like this?



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Yes, the are able to take 4S. I run them on 4S, and many other people do also.

Sidewinder 1/10th. I always refered to the micros as the mamba micro pro because I thought that's what they're named.

Sweet I will try mine with 4s:twisted:

OK, I have a noob question. I purchased a used MM from a member. It came with the usb cable and the software disc. I have not hooked it up yet because my truck is not complete and I am planning on tearing it down for a rebuild.

So here is the question, is this all I need to program the esc, the usb cable ond software? Plug the cable into PC and esc and open software to program? I would assume the esc needs power to it? The reason I ask is, I tried plugging it in, but the software doesn't recognize the esc.

*EDIT Do I need the Castle Link or just plug straight to the esc with the usb cable?

Yes, install the software. Go to Castle's website and download the newest software update. Read the info in the blue box on that page. You might be having the issues with the Windows 7 thing. I think that is what it is, but I can't fully recall.
Anyways, after that is complete, plug in the esc with the usb cable and the computer should recognize it and open up the program. No additional power is needed. Make sure you update the esc to the latest firmware because you go through and adjust all the parameters.

I hope that helps a little.

Thank you for posting about v1.24. I was about to order new motors. Updating my esc's now.

do you recommend using a brushed system over brushless for an Losi Mrc

I have run Mamba Max's on 4S but currently I have two in my XR waiting for the mamba micro pro's to get of of back order and they will not arm with 4S but unplug the 4S and plug in a 3S and they arm perfect...


Anyone had this problem? any ideas?

can you run a micro pro with a punk dig and two35turn motors with a 2s

Very informative Chris, thanks...side note. I run my auto lipo cut off at 3.2V per cell. Just in case. Had one of my batteries drop down to 2.9V, the others were 3.2 and 3.1...I also always check what the batteries are after I run them each time.

btw, we run the same settings...must be the best way to run them!!!!

Found this thread at the right time. I just started running dual 1/10 sidewinders. and my dig/drag seemed week. I'm going to go re-program and I hope it helps. thanx

Been running V1.29 for a while now and for a MRC at least it works just as well as when i ran V1.24.

Here's my current settings (this is on a MRC)
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4...Clip0002-2.jpg

I really prefer the XeRun Esc's over the CC stuff, but the XeRun doesn't work with brushed motors.



Cheers
Mark

Well just took a step back in time to the advised firmware and it made a nice difference on the drag.

you have a cap on the speed control's ?


dan
:afro: