Discussions

ESC Recommendations. No EMAX, and no SimonK, as neither work with Pixhawk

Posted by Phil Gamito on May 6, 2015 at 4:13pm

Hi there!

Legitimate 3DR Pixhawk owner.

I started my first Pixhawk build 3 days ago with SimonK Afros. No go. Sync issues, even after FW update.

Bought and overnighted some EMAX 60a ESCS. Apparently EMAX also has compatibility issues with Pixhawk.

No go, for whatever reason, and the dev ticket to fix this issue is apparently closed with no solution.

What's a not garbage 40-60a ESC that isn't terrible that I can go spend even more hundreds of dollars on that is guaranteed to work with the Pixhawk?

Rules:

No SimonK, because that firmware isn't compatible.

No EMAX because that hardware isn't compatible.

I hope this could end up being an actual, no BS compatible ESC reference for others that have less time or cash they want to waste



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Tags: esc, compatibility

Replies

      • Rob_Lefebvre May 12, 2015 at 9:29am

        I agree.  Unfortunately, we can't fix hardware problems or sync problems in flight controller software.  This needs to be fixed by the ESC manufacturers.  The best we could do would be to add a low-pass filter to the PWM outputs, but then that would defeat the purpose of using the high-response ESC firmwares anyway.

      • Felixrising May 11, 2015 at 11:06pm

        Why sir, I like the cut of your jib!

  • Lars S May 11, 2015 at 7:00am

    Hi, I had a problem with my Jdrones 5010 motors on Afros. The Emax 4 in 1 goes into fault mode, because Pixhawk put out 0 pwm before arming, so that also went in the bin.

    After contacting Jdrones, I was adviced to try Hobbywing Xrotor esc.  They work perfectly, and I have not touched a setting.

    The are also quite inexpensive.

    Lars

  • Moderator
    RM Aviation May 11, 2015 at 1:15am
    I'm working on a fix for the emax 4 in 1 esc using an op-amp. I won't go too far into the electronic theory but it should fix the issues. I will post when complete. Till then the Quattro 4 in 1 works very well.
  • Krzysztof May 11, 2015 at 12:26am

    I use KDE UAS 55A+ with KDE 4014XF (380kv) + 18" props. It works great with Pixhawk.

    • Phil Gamito > Krzysztof May 11, 2015 at 12:29am

      Is it a true OPTO?

      • Krzysztof > Phil Gamito May 11, 2015 at 1:38am

        It is OPTO. What do you mean by "true opto"?

        Please find link below:

        KDE 55A+

        • Rob_Lefebvre > Krzysztof May 13, 2015 at 6:03am

          And FWIW, the HW Xrotor ESC's are not true opto, but they still work well.

        • Rob_Lefebvre > Krzysztof May 13, 2015 at 6:01am

          Check for continuity between the ESC negative battery lead, and the negative signal wire. If there is continuity, it's not true opto.

          Cheap Chinese ESC manufacturers have taken to using the term "opto" to signify they do not have a BEC circuit.  But true opto means that there is an optical decoupler between the ESC signal and power sections.

        • Phil Gamito > Krzysztof May 12, 2015 at 9:15am

          true OPTO meaning it uses a real optocoupler between the MCU and the signal wire, eliminating interference

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