Led light ? I need some help

[Tar18]

Hi folks. I am new to this side of the RC hobby but have been into RC now for about 20 years. I have a Feiyue Desert Eagle 3 which I have had now for some time. It was my first venture into trucks and rock climbing. I would like to install 6 LED lights (4 on a light bar and 2 headlights) and there is a spare plug for them on the ESC. When I plug into the spare ports I get nothing. I figured something wrong so ordered another ESC for the truck. I get the same results: nothing. The red light on the ESC flashes all of the time. Not sure if that is what it is supposed to do.
I also would like to know what I need to plug in 6 lights that I would like to put on the Desert Eagle 3. Something that has 6 or so plug ins with one going to the ESC.
I really need some help with all of this so that I can continue to enjoy this side of the RC Hobby.
I would surely appreciate any ideas or suggestions.
Sorry for the long post.
Regards
Tar

[Tar18]

Thank you hobbyjumper for the welcome and comments. As far as I know there are no clubs in my area. I am near Renfrew, Ontario. Yes I can solder. The ESC is part of the radio gear and came with the Feiyue Desert Eagle 3. It has 2 ports for LED's but I cannot get either to work if I plug in a LED. It is a fully charged battery and even when running the little lite on the ESC flashes. I am not sure if the light on the ESC should flash or not.
I was hoping the someone else that had the Desert Eagle 3 could help or tell the direction to go.
Thanks again for the help. If you know of a club near me I would appreciate a heads up about it.
Regards
Tar

[HumboldtEF]

When you tried to plug in a LED did you try reversing the wires? LED's only work when the polarity is correct so its possibly you had it backwards originally.

I noticed with an Axial light controller that it only works when the lights are the right lights or specs, drawing the right amount of volts or something. It might also have something to do with whether they're wired in series or parallel and with the right number of lights.

If you cant get the LED ports working you could try to run straight off the battery. So long as you get LED's with the right voltage range likely 6-12V since it looks like it came with a 2s battery.

Connecting to the battery would look something like this with a new lead soldered to the ESC side battery connector. JST connectors are the most common for doing this.

[Tar18]

Hi folks. Thank you humboldtEF for the suggestion of checking the LED's. I found them reversed so after some soldering they now work. That answered part of my question but then brought up another. The ESC has also the Rx as one unit. It came with the Feiyue. When I plugged the LED into the spare port on the unit, the LED blinked. The little red light on the unit also blinks.
So now have the LED working but they blink.
Any suggestions has to why or maybe how I can fix this. I did noticed this before when the LED would not work so got another ESC and Rx from Feiyue and the same thing is happening.
Two units doing the same thing. I figured that I might be missing something.
or doing something wrong.
I am hopeful that someone might be able to guide me with this so that I can continue getting the lights on my Feiyue.
Regards
Tar

[nightcrawler48]

Originally Posted by Tar18

Hi folks. Thank you humboldtEF for the suggestion of checking the LED's. I found them reversed so after some soldering they now work. That answered part of my question but then brought up another. The ESC has also the Rx as one unit. It came with the Feiyue. When I plugged the LED into the spare port on the unit, the LED blinked. The little red light on the unit also blinks.
So now have the LED working but they blink.
Any suggestions has to why or maybe how I can fix this. I did noticed this before when the LED would not work so got another ESC and Rx from Feiyue and the same thing is happening.
Two units doing the same thing. I figured that I might be missing something.
or doing something wrong.
I am hopeful that someone might be able to guide me with this so that I can continue getting the lights on my Feiyue.
Regards
Tar

I don't have experience with ESC/Receiver combined units so may be way off base here. Generally, the LED on a receiver will stay on unless it is not bound to a transmitter, in which case it will blink. The LED operation on an ESC can be different depending on the manufacturer. The simplest operation is LED "off" when throttle is in neutral position, LED "blinks" as throttle is applied, and LED is "on solid" at full throttle.

What is the LED function on the ESC if the lights are not plugged in. Blinking, solid, check using throttle positions as above. Or?

I see the ESC has 2 ports shown for for "LED" and 1 for "SW". I assume the "SW" is where the on/off switch plugs in? Are you using both LED ports or are all the LEDs plugged in to the same port?

Kind of winging it now. Try unplugging the steering servo from the ESC, leave the LEDs plugged in, and see what happens.

Maybe a lightbulb will turn on for somebody else looking at what I've suggested and they can make other recommendations/suggestions.

I hate these little electrical challenges, step by step checking usually gets the issue resolved though. Good luck.

[Tar18]

Hi folks. Thank you hobbyjumper for that info. I am not on facebook but I will try and see if I can find the rock crawlers in the Ottawa area. Nightcrawler48:
Thanks for all of the info and discussion. I am sorry but do not understand what you meant by "What is the LED function on the ESC if the lights are not plugged".
The little red light that seems to be part of the ESC blinks no matter what I do. Throttle, no throttle or just plain on the red light blinks. When it is blinking so do the LED's that I plug into either port on the ESC. I will try unplugging the servo and see what happens.
Wow I just did not know that this would be so much trouble putting LED's on my Feiyue. I am finding some of the electronics a bit confusing , because with model boats (which is what I did) you had very little electronics other than batteries in the radio box. Oh one more thing please. I did order another set of LED's and then came with a bigger end than I could fit into the ESC. The ones for the Feiyue had a little white plug on the end that would plug into the ESC. Please let me know what I need to buy so that I can put the new set of LED's on my other truck.
Thanks again for all of the help and patience with this senior.
One more thing with the saying on nightcrawler48 post: If you grow up you grow old. That is what keeps up old lads young, but it makes our toys more expensive.
Regards
Tar

[Tar18]

Hi folks. The light went on Finally!!!!! I received a set of LED's that I had ordered a while back for my RCR E10, and now understand how it works. Now my E10 has both a Rx and a ESC so finally figured out how it all works. Now where I am still having a problem is with my Feiyue since it has a Rx and ESC as one unit. It uses the small white ends that come with the LED's to plug into the unit. Can someone please let me know what those white ends are called.
The red light on the combined ESC and Rx still flashes no matter what I have tried. I did give a try to what was suggested in the above posts and still it flashes.
Again if anyone has any suggestions about this, I would really appreciate an explanation.
Thanks again for all of the help.
Regards
Tar

[JacktheRipper]

Originally Posted by Tar18

Hi folks.
One more thing with the saying on nightcrawler48 post: If you grow up you grow old. That is what keeps up old lads young, but it makes our toys more expensive.
Regards
Tar

Yeah but we can afford it, and that's the best part
pep

[nightcrawler48]

I think the connector you are looking for is called a Mini Micro 2-pin JST Connector Plug. Usually comes complete with wire.

One thing, seems like they come in 2 sizes for the 2-pin connector, 1.5mm and 2.0mm, so you will need to know which size you need.

If you have complete control of throttle and steering, I wouldn't worry too much about the blinking LED on the ESC/receiver.

By the way, the other expression for old guys is - Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional. My problem is I have a 72 year-old body and an 18 year-old mind. The mind gets the body in trouble more often than I can count.

[Tar18]

Thank you nightcrawler48 for the info. I will try and see if I can find a Mini Micro 2-pin JST Connector plug. The thing is that I have complete control over the unit but with the blinking red lite on the ESC/Rx the LED lights will flash. I have seen these little 1/12 scale Feiyue with 4 LED's and all worked without flashing. This was on YouTube. As I mentioned I bought another ESC/Rx and the same thing is happening. The same thing in 2 ESC/Rx some questions come to mind. I wonder if I am not doing something. I read all of the info sent with the Feiyue and cannot fine anything to tell me about this. Someone mentioned binding but I would not have control if it was not binding???? Would I???? Maybe someone with a Feiyue might be able to answer.
Thanks again to all that offered help to me.
Regards
Tar

[nightcrawler48]

I'm running out of ideas now. Basically clutching at straws so -

Did the light on the ESC/receiver blink when you initially got the RC? You say you've had it for a while. If you unplug the LEDs does it still blink or only blink when the LEDs are plugged in?

Are you using NiMH or LiPo batteries? When testing the LEDs you have, is the battery fully charged? Maybe the blinking light on the ESC/receiver is a low battery indication and flashes the LEDs connected to the ESC/receiver as a signal to you the battery is low. I've seen LEDs dim or blink when the battery voltage gets low. Not usually a problem when using LiPo batteries as the Low Voltage Cutoff (LVC) is set higher than the minimum voltage for the LED.

As to re-binding the transmitter and receiver, it probably couldn't hurt. Even though you have full throttle and steering control, there could be an issue that doesn't show up there.

I do have another idea but let's see if any of the above work before getting into a completely different solution.

[Tar18]

Hi folks. Nightcrawler48: Yes the little red lite on the ESC/Rx always blinked. It blinks no matter what I do. I use Lipo's and yes I made sure they were fully charged just in case it might have been low. I would love to be able to re-bind but cannot seem to figure out how to do that. They say to turn on Tx first and then the Rx and then wait for both of the red and green lites on the transmitter to flash together but they do not. The strange thing is the new ESC/Rx (I got another one)does the same thing. Both doing the same thing. ?????? I do have full control over the unit as I have always had.
When I say both are doing the same thing, meaning the red lite flashes.
And all I wanted to do was to put LED's on this little rig. I will try and not get too frustrated.
Thanks for the help.
Regards
Tar

[nightcrawler48]

I've been reading the on-line manual (I hope it's the right 1) and the Chinglish can be confusing. As I read it, to bind the Tx to the Rx, you turn the Rx on first and you will see the blinking light on the ESC/receiver. Then turn on the Tx. Wait 3 seconds and the red and green lights on the TX will flash at the same time. The bind process should then be complete. There is no further information such as - should you turn the ESC/receiver off, and then back on. Or, can you just carry on from that point. Myself, I would turn the ESC/receiver off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on, leaving the Tx "On".

As there is no bind plug to pair the Tx and Rx I believe it is very important to follow the "On" and "Off" instructions as stated in the manual. When turning "On", always turn the Tx on first and then turn "On" the ESC/receiver. When turning "Off" always turn the ESC/receiver off first and then turn off the Tx. The way I read it is, if you turn the ESC/receiver "On" first, it will automatically go into bind mode and then you have to make sure the Tx binds correctly. I think the same can happen when you turn it "Off". If the Tx is turned "Off" first, the ESC/receiver starts looking for the Tx and goes into bind mode.

If you follow this procedure, hopefully the blinking light on the ESC/receiver will stop blinking once the bind process is successful and there will be a solid light or no light.

Now that brings up another point about blinking lights. When a separate ESC and Rx are used, usually the the Rx will blink rapidly when in bind mode and then blink slowly once bound to the Tx. The ESC will blink if there is no signal coming from the Rx and be on solid once it is receiving a signal from the receiver assuming the Rx is bound properly to the Tx.

I understand your frustration but stick with it. Somehow this will get resolved.

[Tar18]

Hi. nightcrawler48 Thank you for going over what to do. I will read what you said again and then go and try it this way. I was always told to turn on the Tx first and then the Rx. Lots to learn about this new side of the RC hobby. But now I have a new starting point. I will let you know how I do.
Thanks again young man
Regards
From another young man
Tar

[Tar18]

nightcrawler48 I did try what you suggested and nothing worked. Still !!! I tried the Tx first and then the Rx and nothing. I turned off and on and still nothing. There was something but the light kept flashing.
From what I see on YouTube (not to believe everything but...) one lad had put on 4 across the top on the light bar and they worked. Oh and by the way I tried my brand new ESC/Rx and the same thing happened. On a old one and then a brand new one the same thing. Something is not right but I am really confused as to why.
Thanks for all of the help.
Regards
Tar

[nightcrawler48]

I would say I am out of ideas. One thing I did come across was a post on some other site that the ESC/receiver blinking light is normal. If the ESC/receiver light is on solid or not at all, then there is a problem.

The only alternative I can see is to go the route HumboldtEF suggested earlier and connect through the battery connection. A word of caution though, if you don't know the operating voltage of your LEDs you could blow them if they are ment to operate on 5V or 6V and you connect them to a higher voltage.

Some pictures of the 2-light and 4-light LED units you have would help in determining how to connect them to the battery. You may need a BEC between the battery and the LEDs to regulate the voltage they need.

You wouldn't happen to know the voltage at the LED ports on the ESC/receiver? That would be a good starting point.

Still willing to help if I can. I think my frustration level is probably about the same as yours right now but can't leave it alone as there has to be a way. Just have to figure it out.

[Tar18]

Hi folks. Well finally I have figured out my problem. On the back side of the Tx there is a small hole that would fit a key. Now there was 2 small keys in with the couple of small tools included. It was very small writing but figured it has something to do with being a bit slower for kids. Well I had nothing to loose so figured I would try it. I turned the key and the light stay on. So now no more flashing light on the ESC/Rx. It is faster now.
I am learning slow but surely. There was no mention of this in the manual. Now I can continue to learn about this machine.
Thanks again for all of the help.
Regards
Tar