FXR Programming issues

[Chris_The_Battery_Man]

Hoping for some help here. I am working on a customers truck, and installed a new FXR. I am a castle guy, and now know why.

Heres the issues I have had:

When I first programmed it, it was very touchy on the bottom end. I had it all calibrated to the radio, and it was really touchy. Switched out motors, and still had the same issue. So I threw it on the hotwire, and updated to version 030. When I plugged it back in, the lights worked, but no chiming. I calibrated it, and have no throttle or noise. Plugged it back into the hotwire, went back to version 028, and still having the same problems. There is no voltage getting to the punk dig. Tried programming it once without the BEC attached, and still nothing. Held both buttons down to reset it, and still nothing. It calibrates, and the lights go like they should, just no chiming or voltage(at the ESC). After all this, I tried to re-program 1 last time, updated again to version 030, and STILL nothing!


I am confused here. Anyone have any ideas?

[SMR 510RR]

Strange, the update to the new firmware should have fixed the issue with rough startup.

I would double check all of your connections and eliminate the punk dig for troubleshooting purposes. Lack of any chime would indicate to me a bad connection from motor to ESC so that would be the first thing I would check hence ditching the punk for troubleshooting.

Is there any error code showing on the LED's?

[Charlie-III]

Yep, I like CC better for ESC's!!

I do have dual FX-R's in my Bully though.

I agree, remove the Punkdig for now, firmware 30 is what I use with no issues.

Does the TX have any expo dialed in? That could be the reason for the jumpiness. The "canned" throttle curves in the FX-R are not as nice as setting them in a CC ESC.
Check for hung/sticky brushes, bad connections to RX, etc. Also make sure antenna wire is away from motor wires/ESC.

What radio? If Spektrum, does it have have a servo ground connected to the RX (if the BEC is direct to the servo)?

sidenote, I pull up the settings on the HotWire, then screen print it & save as a "png" (using MS paint) so I know what I started with. It also helps programming dual ESC's as you can't "save" the profile then load it into a 2nd ESC like you can with a CC ESC. Sigh.
PNG's are smaller than BMP's (bitmaps).

[Chris_The_Battery_Man]

Originally Posted by SMR 510RR

Strange, the update to the new firmware should have fixed the issue with rough startup.

I would double check all of your connections and eliminate the punk dig for troubleshooting purposes. Lack of any chime would indicate to me a bad connection from motor to ESC so that would be the first thing I would check hence ditching the punk for troubleshooting.

Is there any error code showing on the LED's?

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

Yep, I like CC better for ESC's!!

I do have dual FX-R's in my Bully though.

I agree, remove the Punkdig for now, firmware 30 is what I use with no issues.

Does the TX have any expo dialed in? That could be the reason for the jumpiness. The "canned" throttle curves in the FX-R are not as nice as setting them in a CC ESC.
Check for hung/sticky brushes, bad connections to RX, etc. Also make sure antenna wire is away from motor wires/ESC.

What radio? If Spektrum, does it have have a servo ground connected to the RX (if the BEC is direct to the servo)?

sidenote, I pull up the settings on the HotWire, then screen print it & save as a "png" (using MS paint) so I know what I started with. It also helps programming dual ESC's as you can't "save" the profile then load it into a 2nd ESC like you can with a CC ESC. Sigh.
PNG's are smaller than BMP's (bitmaps).

I get no error codes. When I program it and plug it in, all the light flare up with throttle or reverse as they should, without even re-calibrating. They do the same after a re-calibration. I know it's not the motors, because there is no voltage coming out of the ESC. I tested for voltage as I was giving it throttle. The expos, and epa's are fine on the radio.

I will try it again tonight without the punk, and also do a screen shot if I have any issues.

Thanks for the help thus far.

[AreCee]

This won't help you immediately but give Tekin's CS a call, they are very accomadating on the phone and one of their techs can walk you through to find the problem.

I had a couple ESCs die after updating and when talking to the tech we determined it was the USB controller that caused the firmware download problem. Tekin replaced both RS ESCs for free.

[Randy P]

Originally Posted by Chris_The_Battery_Man

I get no error codes. When I program it and plug it in, all the light flare up with throttle or reverse as they should, without even re-calibrating. They do the same after a re-calibration. I know it's not the motors, because there is no voltage coming out of the ESC. I tested for voltage as I was giving it throttle. The expos, and epa's are fine on the radio.

I will try it again tonight without the punk, and also do a screen shot if I have any issues.

Thanks for the help thus far.

Chris,

IF the unit isn't chiming it can be a few things. First off unplug and isolate the esc on it's own. Make sure the Fxr's red servo lead is intact on the servo lead of the FXR and is plugged into channel 2. Unplug the servo and separate BEC to eliminate them from the equation.

Power up the FXR with a charged pack. What led's are shown? Should be led 4 flashing over to the left every few seconds. IT should also chime assuming it's hooked to motors. Does it?

If not please re-update the esc. DO NOT interrupt the update process. Doing so can cause this issue you're describing.

IF you need more help, Rpike@teamtekin.com

[Chris_The_Battery_Man]

So I tried it again on its own tonight with no luck. Below is a screen shot of my settings.


When I got home, I de-soldered the punk. The CCBEC was already de-soldered. So now the ESC is isolated. Held the 2 buttons at the same time to do a re-set. Once that was done, I tested for voltage at the motor wires. Nothing. So I plugged it into the tekin hotwire, and updated to version 030, then applied the below settings... still with no luck.


The lights flare up as they should when you give it throttle or reverse. It took a radio calibration like it should. I can see the lights flicker and arm as they normally do. Simply no voltage comes out of the leads. So I suppose I am going to call up tomorrow and hopefully get a new one sent out.

My only guess at this point is that the hotwire is somehow funky. Everything worked fine(except the throttle problem) until I re-programmed. I let it finish the programming process until it says success. Feel like I have done everything to trouble shoot this problem. Can only be the ESC or the hotwire at this point.

[Randy P]

Those settings will not cause the no chime issue, assuming it's hooked to a known good working motor. So do the motors work?

[Charlie-III]

Sounds like an issue with the ESC.

Settings I use in my Bully are a little different.... from the top:

100
100
100
50
off
3
2
2
F/R

Don't know if it will help, just saying.

[SMR 510RR]

Sounds like the firmware update got screwed up somehow (not your fault).

[meffie]

Chris I had the one I bought for my Wraith do the same thing. Initial fireup was fine, updated firmware and poof, no sound, no errors, all lights work fine. No power to the motor from the esc. Tekin replaced it full warranty. I'm kind of wondering if they didn't have a bad run. This is my 6th FXR and I've never had a single issue until this one.

[meffie]

Oh and your settings are fine, but you'll want to set reverse type to "F/R" once ya get it goin :P

[SMR 510RR]

Originally Posted by meffie

Chris I had the one I bought for my Wraith do the same thing. Initial fireup was fine, updated firmware and poof, no sound, no errors, all lights work fine. No power to the motor from the esc. Tekin replaced it full warranty. I'm kind of wondering if they didn't have a bad run. This is my 6th FXR and I've never had a single issue until this one.

I think there was a bad run a month or two back because there was a lot of people on here with similar issues, noticeably more than usual during that time period.

I would assume that it was probably due to a faulty component from one of their suppliers.

The one thing that Tekin does better than anyone else is customer service, they have the quickest turn around time that I have experienced with anything RC related and communication during the process is top notch.

[Randy P]

There are no "bad runs." Please don't spread rumors that have no facts as basis.

[meffie]

I suggested maybe it was an issue because there seems to have been a few now that had the exact same issue. I don't think that qualifies as spreading rumors...

That being said though, Tekin handled it np and I will continue to only use fxrs in all my Rc's. I love em

[Chris_The_Battery_Man]

Originally Posted by Randy P

Those settings will not cause the no chime issue, assuming it's hooked to a known good working motor. So do the motors work?

You're not winning my faith here man. 1 thing I really don't like, is when people don't read my posts entirely before replying, and then I have to repeat myself. I know you have to make sure that the customer is doing everything right, but I have explained everything already. YES, the motors are fine. I am testing for voltage out of the motor leads on the ESC as I apply throttle, and getting no voltage. And as I said in my posts #1 & 7, it just stopped working right after a firmware update. So I really doubt the motors went bad while sitting in my lap to do an update.

I've been doing this crawling thing, and working in the field for quite some time. So I did all the trouble shooting I could before I posted asking questions.

I emailed you also with my # to call me last night...


This has me concerned because I had another one of these ESC's from the same batch, that I sent to a customer in Canada. He sent me his ESC, and wanted me to add another one for his XR. I remember the throttle on the new ESC being a little touchy, but figured since I don't know Tekins all that well, that it was the settings, and he would be able to fix it. Hopefully that's the case....

[Randy P]

Chris, I did read your post. And regardless of you measuring voltage output there are other issues that can prevent that from happening. Should the esc be in a fail safe mode it wouldn't apply power to the motor.

Everyone with experience will tell you that at one point or another they've made a mistake, or missed a step. I am not here to "win your faith." I'm here to help you out with a technical issue if you have one. Besides posting here have you contacted service@teamtekin.com or support@teamtekin.com ?

I've already said it once so let me repost and repeat myself, there is no such thing as a bad batch.

[Chris_The_Battery_Man]

Wouldn't me holding the 2 buttons at the same time clear everything like I am told it will? If so, I am guessing it wont be in fail safe mode. And if it were in fail safe mode, wouldn't it have some LED flashing signals, and/or, would the lights not flare up as throttle is applied? Wondering for potential future diagnosis.

I'm not doubting that I can make a mistake Randy. That's why I posted in here to ask people if there is something that I missed, and listed out all that I have done so far.


But at this point, I will keep the rest of my comments to myself.

I have already talked to someone else at Tekin, and they think that there might have been something that went wrong during the programming. I am sending the ESC and hotwire in to have looked at and make sure they work good.

Thanks for the input fellas. It's kind of a bummer that this happened, and now my customer cant make his comp. But sh!t happens. I'm sure Tekin will take care of it. Don't have any doubts that their warranties are good.

[patrol king]

Could someone post up a pic of their setting screens for front and rear ?

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by patrol king

Could someone post up a pic of their setting screens for front and rear ?

Post 9 is how both of mine are set (front & rear).