Thursday, October 11, 2012

Castle Mamba Max Pro Firmware problem on V1.33 And 1.38 - Novak motor - crawler

Here is some informations for those with a similar setup than mine MMP + novak motor.
the conclusion is that there are changes in algorythms in the firmware that may affect stability of given setups. ie. by consuming more peak power and triggering battery cut off.


After updating my mamba max pro to firmware 1.33 and later to v1.38, i observed the following:
-with 2S battery : when i start the rc crawler smoothly, it gets stuck to a low speed motion and any further action on the throttle is ineffective ( not switching off from sensored mode?). problem observed in both forward and reverse. setting the remote throttle to neutral seems to reset the bug. it occurs in average every 3-4 car starts.
-with 3S battery: same but only when battery gets to an end of charge.
once firmware v 1.32 reinstalled, all symptoms disappear and the MMP
ESC works as normal.




Replies summary from Castle creations:  

As I explained in my prior email, green  and yellow is not a bug, it indicated low voltage cut off. When this occurs power will be limited to maintain the cut off voltage of your batteries. If you are using NiMh batteries you will need to turn the default auto lipo cutoff off. If you are using Lipo batteries they are not able to maintain the current draw of your system. What type, size (mah), c rating and brand batteries are you using?

i use Traxxas high current plugs,
the batteries used are : new 2s 2000mah lipo 50C, 3S 1350mah 20C lipo and older 2S 5000mah 20C still in good condition.
Motor: Novak sensored brushless ballistics 18.5T, 119 W, 2250KV

I though the low voltage cut off was yielding a total power off of the motor output. but in this case, it keeps running (slow constant speed whatever the throttle power applied).
Small detail, while the orange led is on continuously as the problem occurs, the green or red lights on the ESC flash proportionnaly to the throttle power applied ( untill stop). that does not correspond to a normal low voltage cut off to me.

I don’t know what you think low voltage cut off should look or act like but what you have here is classic low voltage cut off, as I stated in my prior email. Any time you have two lights on, regardless of their flash pattern you have an error code. Green and yellow, as you get when you go forward, is classic Low Voltage Cut Off. If you overdraw a battery its voltage will be forced below the cutoff point prematurely. You can turn the low voltage cutoff off but your batteries won’t last very long like this. A better solution is to use batteries that can handle the load your motor places on them. 

how do you explain the absence of "low voltage cutoff" with firmware v1.32 with the exact same parameters? 

LVC is slightly different with different versions of firmware. Also, different firmwares run motors slightly differently and with different firmware’s motors can pull slightly more or less power. Your batteries are right on the edge but work with specific firmwares for that reason. Use the latest, v1.38 or any other version that works. This is why we keep earlier versions for firmware around, sometimes an older version works better is a specific set up. 
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Because the variety of available motors and possible set ups and uses for the Mamba Max Pro, we keep earlier firmwares around because a specific firmware might work better for a specific set up. If it works better, use it.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

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