Castle Sidewinder Micro not working (new)

[concretejungle]

Just picked up a new castle sidewinder micro. Also got a new Rx/Tx. I'm running a punk dig on my xr10. I was using the castle MMP and it worked great, just wanted something smaller and lighter.

So, i successfully bound the Rx/Tx. Then i plugged everything up and bound the ESC. With the sidewinder micro i don't have chimes or dings, just going by the lights. It appeared to bind correctly.

Now, i plug it all up, steering works great, dig switch works great, but the ESC gives me nothing. When i pull the trigger for throttle the green light flashes correctly but i get nothing in the motors. When i push for reverse, i get the flashing red light on the ESC like it's functioning correctly, but i get nothing at the motors. I've tried to re-bind the ESC but cannot get it to re-bind.

Any suggestions? I'm running 3s lipo.

[binaryterror]

Do you have the ESC set for brushed?

[hbj069]

re calibrate the esc, if you have futaba radio then you have to reverse the esc in the radio settings and then re calibrate again.

[concretejungle]

Originally Posted by binaryterror

Do you have the ESC set for brushed?

Yes.

On the ESC there are three wires, black/white/red. I'm using the black and red thinking the white is for the sensored motors?

[concretejungle]

Originally Posted by hbj069

re calibrate the esc, if you have futaba radio then you have to reverse the esc in the radio settings and then re calibrate again.

I've tried and it won't. When i plug the ESC up with the throttle at full position, the ESC loads up like normal and then it will start blinking as if it's a forward throttle....

I"m using a spectrum dx3c

[Draggermirage]

Verify you're getting output voltage out of the ESC itself. Plug a motor directly into the output wires bypassing the dig unit. If you get the beeps/chimes/motor movement, then you have a problem with your set up of the dig unit.

Marcus

[Trubble]

Originally Posted by concretejungle

On the ESC there are three wires, black/white/red. I'm using the black and red thinking the white is for the sensored motors?

Not quite, no. If you have a sensor on your brushless, that's an entirely different cable, but the power wires remain the same.

When you were asked if it was set up for brushed motors, the ESC was probably sent out programmed for a brushless motor, you need to manually change the ESC's programming over to brushed operation. Some have been on here swearing up and down that they followed the instructions in the manual for 'stick programming', and it didn't work. A CastleLink will make very quick work of getting it changed over.

[concretejungle]

I unboxed it at my LHS since i have a Mac and the castle link does not work on a Mac. I told him to go ahead and put it into brushed mode with crawler brake. He said he did.

I did try to bypass the dig by plugging it directly into the motor and bypassing the dig switch, still nothing. But i did notice the ESC was getting really warm for just being plugged in for less than 2 minutes.

I guess i'll have to take it to my mom's and use her PC to make sure it's set up for brushed.

[SMR 510RR]

The white wire is not used for brushed operation. It does sound like it is in brushless mode, put your ear down right next to one of the motors when you turn it on and see if you can hear it. I had to program my sidewinder with the motor right next to my ear because it is super quiet when it is in brushless mode and of course it is the last option in the process.

[concretejungle]

I have a castle link and will take it over to my mom's to see what it's set at.

I can't hear a single beep at all.

[Charlie-III]

NOTE: depending on it's age, it may have a FUBAR firmware in it. Last summer (or there abouts) there was an issue that required use of the red & white ESC wires (I would have to check) instead of the normal red & black wires for brushed motors.
Maybe try swapping wires & calibrate to see what happens.

Updating firmware fixes the issue.

[SMR 510RR]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

NOTE: depending on it's age, it may have a FUBAR firmware in it. Last summer (or there abouts) there was an issue that required use of the red & white ESC wires (I would have to check) instead of the normal red & black wires for brushed motors.
Maybe try swapping wires & calibrate to see what happens.

Updating firmware fixes the issue.

I thought that was only on the Sidewinder V2 but I could be wrong.

[concretejungle]

OK, i think i'm on the right track.

Hooked it up with the castle link and it is in brushed mode. FIrst thing i did was update the firmware. Second thing was i had it in Brushed high powered instead of brushed reversing. So i switched that. Now i'm getting some movement, but not totally right. I guess i haven't bound it to my radio correctly as i'm getting some forward movement but no reverse movement... with that said i do hear the motor start to make that ringing noise when i try to reverse, so i know i'm getting power to the motor in the reverse channel. I guess it's a matter of binding my radio correctly? I had all the EP set in the middle....

I'm also getting the chimes on the ESC, so that's good.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by concretejungle

OK, I think I'm on the right track.

Hooked it up with the castle link and it is in brushed mode. First thing I did was update the firmware. Second thing was I had it in Brushed high powered instead of brushed reversing. So I switched that. Now I'm getting some movement, but not totally right. I guess I haven't bound it to my radio correctly as I'm getting some forward movement but no reverse movement... with that said I do hear the motor start to make that ringing noise when I try to reverse, so I know I'm getting power to the motor in the reverse channel. I guess it's a matter of binding my radio correctly? I had all the EP set in the middle....

I'm also getting the chimes on the ESC, so that's good.

"Binding" refers to the RX & TX.
"Recalibrating"/"Calibrating" refers to the RX & ESC.

If your steering works, the RX & TX are likely bound fine.
I would recalibrate the ESC to the RX.
First, you need throttle trim to "0".
Then, throttle EPA's to 100%.
Then go through the calibration procedure.

As you found out, crawlers do NOT want the high power wiring since we want reverse.

[SMR 510RR]

Yea and make sure that you have reverse lockout off and reverse set to instant reverse.

[concretejungle]

Charlie, you are right, sorry about that. Hadn't got the lingo down fully yet.

I thought i wanted throttle trim at 50% that way i would be able to slow down the throttle or speed it up?

[concretejungle]

here's the deal right now...

Have the Tx set with all throttle positions at 50% & 100%. Hold trigger at full throttle, plug it in, get the chimes, then get the green light flash and chime, reverse the trigger and it just beeps and flashes the red light continually. That's all it does, won't lock in. Any ideas?

[Trubble]

Originally Posted by concretejungle

here's the deal right now...

Have the Tx set with all throttle positions at 50% & 100%.

Not sure what you mean by this.


Sounds like your EPAs are at 100%, good. Set your throttle trim to 0, and if you have sub-trims, set them to 0.

Then try and recalibrate.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by concretejungle

Here's the deal right now...

Have the TX set with all throttle positions at 50% & 100%. Hold trigger at full throttle, plug it in, get the chimes, then get the green light flash and chime, reverse the trigger and it just beeps and flashes the red light continually. That's all it does, won't lock in. Any ideas?

Read the bottom of this..... Castle Creations | FAQ: 1/10th Scale Products it is stating you need the throttle EPA's @ 100%.....like stated before in this thread.

If you want to mess with how the throttle behaves, use the Castle Link & change the curves. I have a big belly in mine so early large trigger movements give a small amount of power to the motors. Further in the throttle squeeze gives a larger power jump to the motors.

We'll learn ya sooner or later!

[concretejungle]

Sorry all, i do have a hard time communicating what's what...

I'm using a dx3c. I have the "travel" set to "B100%/F100%. I have the "expo" throttle set to B100%/F100%. I have the "sub trim" throttle set to 0%.

When i apply throttle, there is a pause as you squeeze the trigger, then a punch like full throttle, then stop and then the very last bit of motion in the trigger just before full throttle, it will have a smooth and linear throttle. Same in reverse.

Swapped batteries and it does it the same with a fresh one.

Also, after running for just about 5 minutes, the ESC was pretty hot. Is that normal?