Yeah, can't say much more than read the firt post. I try to keep it updated with newer info as it is posted.

timecop, do you have any news about your RCT 10A ESCs? I will try to redo the steps when I had one get flashed correctly. I first programmed it with the card and hooked it up to a motor to test it with the stock firmware, then flashed it. Maybe it has to be run on the stock firmware at least once, programmed, calibrated and all.

Does not make any sense but I will give it a go none the less

Originally Posted by Nek

Yeah, can't say much more than read the firt post. I try to keep it updated with newer info as it is posted.

yes. that is one reason this is one of the best threads for flashing escs. and following posts from the other guys here like c2po, timecop, sebastian, et al. worth their weight in gold ($5 usbasp! thanks pinball). wish i'd come across it sooner. if only other threads did as good a job. thanks.

p.s. judging by the avatar timecop must be very beautiful. nice to see the ladies get involved.

Originally Posted by chevota

That's good news. Have you heard of any issues with the RcTimer 40a v2 series?

Well, I have two, one is Junk now.

It was drawing no where close to the 40 amps claimed. Oh and they ran hot, much hotter than I would have liked.

Originally Posted by rimshotcopter

Well, I have two, one is Junk now.

It was drawing no where close to the 40 amps claimed. Oh and they ran hot, much hotter than I would have liked.

With or without modified firmware? If not until you messed with it, I suspect it has been changed similarly to the 10A version, and we really should figure out what changed before blindly flashing more of them in hopes that it works eventually.

Originally Posted by simonk

With or without modified firmware? If not until you messed with it, I suspect it has been changed similarly to the 10A version, and we really should figure out what changed before blindly flashing more of them in hopes that it works eventually.

Unmodified however, I was running it with the Timing set to High and PWM set to 12. Which is suppose to be factory settings.

I got 5 new RCTimer10A's in, and a bit of time, going to take the one that smoked apart and see what happened.

EDIT: apparently the one I thought burned, didn't.
But there are issues with it, it makes 10A heat up a LOT,, there must be something changed. I loaded the original tgy basic 25A firmware on it, and it also makes it heat, which makes me think while pinout is same there's something subtly changed in RCTimer 10A version (that doesn't affect 20/30As). So for now, no playing around with Rctimer10A until the cause is figured out. 20/30A is still fine to reflash and works as expected.

these controllers are nowhere near as simple or compatible as one might think. guys in the diy forum like quax, davidt, etc know this.

i have a few dozen plush6 that look the same at first glance but are not. there are 3 distinct types as seen with quax firmware: one type will not start blue wonders unless jogged by hand first, another type runs but "clicks", the last ones run but much hotter. on close inspection fets are same pinout but 3 different part numbers.

issues like dead time, gate pf, on resistance, etc make them behave different even though they look similar and have identical schematic. all run ok with original firmware.

i can't imagine what different models with different specs might do when re-flashed.

Yea, but chinese aren't hand-tuning firmware for each type, that's for sure. What's weird is 10A heats up (looks like 1/4W gate resistors is what heats the most) even with original turnigy firmware.

Originally Posted by timecop

Yea, but chinese aren't hand-tuning firmware for each type, that's for sure.

im convinced that is exactly what they do. even though protected you can read data area (same byte at all locations) and fuse variations that are consistant within a specific batch. i also have a friend in shenzhen who tells me there are dozens or even hundreds of images to choose from.

they dont recompile (asm actually) but just burn and ship when one is found that works. most lack access to source.

the ones i have play 2 slightly different tunes and behave different with certain motors depending on the type. they all look the same when you turn them upside down though.

different #define or other settings are suggested (in this very thread IIRC) so not a stretch to think original coders did the same.

my policy is to buy a couple:

1. check for isp pads so you dont have to solder to mlf pins (no fun).

2. make sure they are compatible with at least one of the images you have (nfet/pfet not nfet/nfet, gate drive type, timing, etc).

then buy as many as you can afford ASAP hoping they are similar to the samples.

Seriously, fuse variations? They all run off 8mhz intrc or 16mhz res. Other crap like bod/reset/wdt/etc is not really relevant. Which "several types" are you referring to in quax work? He labels Type1/Type2 simply based on layout of board, but firmware is same, and then there's the type that runs off 16mhz resonator instead but I think his code just makes you run off intrc (I could be wrong, whatever). My biggest issue with quax code was its horrible startup, needing to run off 4mhz intrc, and no 16khz timing support.

Still not buying that there's customized builds for stuff like different gate capacitance etc. #defines mentioned here are just for throttle range setting. There's nothing else to configure in (this) firmware.

Originally Posted by dave1993

i've been at the current project for months and only scratched the surface due to the size of these threads. maybe 1% so far.

Very true, I agree, anyway, I'm glad you found it now, that what matters at the end.
I've been in that situation before when the answer is one click away but you can't find it because it's buried in a pile of posts.
Yeah, that Mega Link Index is freaking huge and keeps growing, lol...

Originally Posted by timecop

Still not buying that there's customized builds for stuff like different gate capacitance etc. #defines mentioned here are just for throttle range setting. There's nothing else to configure in (this) firmware.

i remember getting images emailed to me by theunisson with slight changes in dead time where bw started right away instead of needing "help" and you could now keep a finger on the fets for 30s instead if just 1s. only 4 byte diff in the intel.

there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio...

Originally Posted by dave1993

i remember getting images emailed to me by theunisson with slight changes in dead time where bw started right away instead of needing "help" and you could now keep a finger on the fets for 30s instead if just 1s. only 4 byte diff in the intel.

there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio...

Sounds like you're ready to jump in with your own builds then.

In other news, i repaired my rctimer10A (dead A-Phase N-fet) and flashed it with turnigy basic 25A firmware, and it doesn't heat up any more than stock unit. however, very quick throttle changes (400hz period, and jump from say 1200 to 1800 or so) will quickly reset the motor with simon's firmware. I'll test with basic25 later, but I would expect it to work. And no, it's not a brownout, i checked vcc line for glitches. Maybe our bldc expert dave1993 has some ideas?

Originally Posted by timecop

Which "several types" are you referring to in quax work? He labels Type1/Type2 simply based on layout of board, but firmware is same, and then there's the type that runs off 16mhz resonator instead but I think his code just makes you run off intrc

i collected dozens of different versions of bernards code (i2c, rs232, pwm, inv/noninv, fast/slow, fat/thin, dark/light... ). permutations were endless. including when he started putting rc calibration bytes in ee. dont know if those variations are still on his site or deleted. i lost interest when he switched to m88.

Originally Posted by timecop

My biggest issue with quax code was its horrible startup, needing to run off 4mhz intrc, and no 16khz timing support.

i agree it was not perfect but he deserves HUGE credit for pioneering the whole esc mod craze. til then most idiots were trying (key word: trying) to build from scratch. and theres his generosity with source and support.

i made a couple attempts at understanding his code but lack of patience and language barrier frustrated me. only after davidt adapted and improved the comments did i see the light (HARDWARE light... still dont like poking around software... specially asm... yuccchhh!). and even he was standing on the shoulders of konze.

Originally Posted by timecop

Still not buying that there's customized builds for stuff like different gate capacitance etc. #defines mentioned here are just for throttle range setting. There's nothing else to configure in (this) firmware.

not sure about (this) program but quaxs were very fussy about hardware. using bottom fet on resistance for current sensing instead of resistor make these el cheapo controllers very sensitive to fet part numbers.

i think a lot of blowouts with these flashed units are due to improper or no overcurrent sensing. a stalled prop may kill a modded esc where those with stock firmware survive. theres little margin between false shutdowns and blown fets. lots of fine tuning required here maybe.

bemf timing is tricky too IMO and very dependent on fet numbers and batch.

bottom line: escs are the kwaziest people...