No power to motor

[hansmoolman]

Can anyone please help. Just wiring up my first ever crawler and Ive run into 2 problems.

1: Ive no power to the motor...These are 2 pictures of how Ive soldered the wires to the motor (positive and negative)
Battery 1
Battery 2

And this is an image of the motor attached to my ESC (Castle Sidewinder V2)
Battery connected to ESC

I seem to be getting power to the servo to turn the wheels so I know its not my ESC or battery that is at fault. Can anyone spot whats wrong or suggest a fix? The only thing that I might add is that the gauge of wire that is attached to the motor is bigger than the gauge that is coming from the ESC (ive soldered them together in the middle). Might this be the problem, although I wouldnt have thought so...?

2: My servo arm's connecting screw keeps on loosening when the wheels are turned making the servo spin but not the arm.
Again, below is a picture of what I mean. The screw that hold the arm in place goes here.
Where the screw attaches the arm to the servo

This is the screw that I am using (came with the crawlers kit), and the small washer type thing came with the servo (however, no instructions came with it)
The connecting screw and the washer type thing that came with the servo

Does anyone have any suggestions re. either of my issues as I am so close to completing this thing after having it sit on the shelf for the last year (had no time to build due to college work). I am itching to get out onto the rocks....

[Charlie-III]

1-I believe that ESC comes set for brushless, needs to be set to brushed.
2-Did you calibrate the ESC to the radio? If not, the servo will have power but the motor won't run.

Castle Creations | FAQ: 1/10th Scale Products

http://www.castlecreations.com/suppo...s_ed_guide.pdf

[indiana mudcat]

Sounds like Charlie's got the motor issue, you need a metal horn to fix the servo, sounds like the plastic one stripped.

[ROCKST*R]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

1-I believe that ESC comes set for brushless, needs to be set to brushed.
2-Did you calibrate the ESC to the radio? If not, the servo will have power but the motor won't run.

Castle Creations | FAQ: 1/10th Scale Products

http://www.castlecreations.com/suppo...s_ed_guide.pdf

If that doesn't work try using the black and white or red and white motor wires, also check over all your solder connections
+1 on the stripped servo horn my wraith eats them for breakfast

[hansmoolman]

Originally Posted by indiana mudcat

Sounds like Charlie's got the motor issue, you need a metal horn to fix the servo, sounds like the plastic one stripped.

Sorry should have mentioned but no, the horn is metal and the screw holding it onto the servo literally loosened after turning the wheels 2 or 3 times only. The problem is that the screw gets loosened. I might try some thread lock and see if this helps. Thanks for the comment though.

[hansmoolman]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

2-Did you calibrate the ESC to the radio? If not, the servo will have power but the motor won't run.

I do believe that this is my problem. Never calibrated the ESC to the radio....That's what happens when you don't read the manual I guess...D'OH!

Ill try it as soon as I get home tonight thanks.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by hansmoolman

Sorry should have mentioned but no, the horn is metal and the screw holding it onto the servo literally loosened after turning the wheels 2 or 3 times only. The problem is that the screw gets loosened. I might try some thread lock and see if this helps. Thanks for the comment though.

Most of us use metal clamping style horns. At a minimum get a GHracing/Golden Horizons clamping horn.
Robitronics & Imex (?) are even better, but I use the GHracing with good results.

Originally Posted by hansmoolman

I do believe that this is my problem. Never calibrated the ESC to the radio....That's what happens when you don't read the manual I guess...D'OH!

I'll try it as soon as I get home tonight thanks.

Let us know what happens.

[ik632]

The thread on that screw might not be correct. I've had some servos need coarse thread while others used fine. I use a dab of blue loctite to keep it in.

[Trubble]

Before you goob a bunch of glue or threadlock on that servo screw, post up a pic of the BACK of your servo arm. Either the splines on the inside of it are stripped, or it's one of those "fits all" arms that uses inserts and you're using the wrong one, or not using one at all. The ONLY function that screw should serve is to stop the arm from falling off, it should never be expected to 'hold' the arm from spinning, that's why there's splines in there.

[ik632]

That's true. All of the good servo horns I have had required you to press them on to the splined shaft and use a screwdriver to wedge in and get enough leverage to pull them off. I just use the loctite to keep the screw from coming out and letting the servo arm back off.

Trubble is right, the horn will say the number of splines usually and that needs to match the servo.

[hansmoolman]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

Let us know what happens.

So the update is as follows, tried the calibration of the ESC to the transmitter and got power to motor. But when I say power, I mean not constant power. Its like the power cuts in and out all the time, making the motor run in a jerking fashion. I tried the battery directly to the motor and that seems to be running smooth. But the second I hook it up to the ESC the motor start jerking.

Could this be a problem with the ESC (although like I said the steering is working silky smooth - when the screw doesnt come unstuck), or is it a problem with the calibration of the ESC to the transmitter?

I've also cut the wires from the ESC to the motor and re-soldered them thinking that the soldering joints could be the problem but still I'm having the same issues. Its really staring to frustrate me.

Does anyone have any ideas why this could be happening?

[indiana mudcat]

As said, it comes programmed for brushless. You need to set it for brushed as well as set up the correct foward/dragbrake/reverse mode and set the drag strength.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by indiana mudcat

As said, it comes programmed for brushless. You need to set it for brushed as well as set up the correct foward/dragbrake/reverse mode and set the drag strength.

+1......"post #2, item #1", set ESC to brushed mode.

[hansmoolman]

Originally Posted by ik632

That's true. All of the good servo horns I have had required you to press them on to the splined shaft and use a screwdriver to wedge in and get enough leverage to pull them off. I just use the loctite to keep the screw from coming out and letting the servo arm back off.

Trubble is right, the horn will say the number of splines usually and that needs to match the servo.

Yip, that seems to be the problem. I got a metal horn extra with the kit and thats the one thats been giving me all the trouble. Just tried the plastic horn that came with the servo and it fits snug as a bug, no slipping or even a screw required to keep it in place (although i will use the screw just to keep it from falling off)

Next time maybe I do my homework a bit more and see which horns will fit the servo. Thought all servo fittings were the same....

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by hansmoolman

Yip, that seems to be the problem. I got a metal horn extra with the kit and thats the one thats been giving me all the trouble. Just tried the plastic horn that came with the servo and it fits snug as a bug, no slipping or even a screw required to keep it in place (although i will use the screw just to keep it from falling off)

Next time maybe I do my homework a bit more and see which horns will fit the servo. Thought all servo fittings were the same....

Lookie here..... Servo spline count.....what to use where...

[hansmoolman]

Originally Posted by indiana mudcat

As said, it comes programmed for brushless. You need to set it for brushed as well as set up the correct foward/dragbrake/reverse mode and set the drag strength.

Yeah just revisited the manual as I could remember how I had it set-up, but i definitely have it set up to brushed. But still no luck, the motor keeps cutting in and out, like its only receiving power in bursts/intervals

[indiana mudcat]

Page 20 of the link to the manual Charlie posted, it'll be difficult as you probably won't hear the beeps until its set to brushed. Castlelink is the fastest, easiest way.

[hansmoolman]

Originally Posted by indiana mudcat

Page 20 of the link to the manual Charlie posted, it'll be difficult as you probably won't hear the beeps until its set to brushed. Castlelink is the fastest, easiest way.

Thanks Indiana Mudcat, I will try this tomorrow evening and let you know how I got on. Turns out I was following the wrong instructions all along. Was following the instructions that came with the transmitter when I should have been following the ones that came with the ESC. Why oh why do they make it so complicated....

[ik632]

Does someone near you have a castle link or field card? You can always run to the hobby shop and ask them to put it into brushed mode for you. That way you can be sure it's correct.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by hansmoolman

Yeah just revisited the manual as I could remember how I had it set-up, but i definitely have it set up to brushed. But still no luck, the motor keeps cutting in and out, like its only receiving power in bursts/intervals

There was an issue last year with the firmware. It used different colors for the brushed motors, don't remember what they were.

Originally Posted by indiana mudcat

Page 20 of the link to the manual Charlie posted, it'll be difficult as you probably won't hear the beeps until its set to brushed. Castlelink is the fastest, easiest way.

+1.

Originally Posted by hansmoolman

Thanks Indiana Mudcat, I will try this tomorrow evening and let you know how I got on. Turns out I was following the wrong instructions all along. Was following the instructions that came with the transmitter when I should have been following the ones that came with the ESC. Why oh why do they make it so complicated....

If you're working on the ESC, use ESC instructions.
If you're working on the radio, use the radio instructions.

If you're not sure, ask here.