ESCs to use with PixHawk

Posted by Edmund Comber on April 1, 2015 at 9:40am

I am a complete beginner at this multi-rotor hobby in general, and PixHawk in particular.

I have two new frames I wish to build, a Quad (FCP-HL) and a Hex (Vulcan Multiframe 900) and will be using T-Motors on both.  I already have 6 off JETI HiCopter 30A OPTO Multicopter ESCs for the Hex and was going to get another 4 for the Quad…. But read some posts on the forums from about 18 months ago that they did not work with the Pixhawk.  This is rather a pity as they are rather expensive!

I have also read a statement that "PixHawk works with all PMW ESCs", but reading various posts it seems that there have been several ESCs that worked OK with APM did not when the user upgraded to Pixhawk.

Do you know if this is resolved, and if not what quality ESCs would you recommend I use instead? 

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Replies

  • Tom Mahood April 4, 2015 at 8:27pm

    Edmund, I'm not familiar with JETI ESCs, but I am interested in high quality so I had a look. The only thing I see about them is that they come with fixed end points, as do many Opto ESCs. You don't Calibrate them. So you would have to adjust your throttle endpoints at your RC transmitter end to make it fit your ESCs. As long as the endpoints the JETIs come with are close to "normal" PWM endpoints, you should be fine with a Pixhawk. I use Castles, and they also have fixed endpoints. Pixhawks like them fine, but one has to know to adjust the RC transmitter, otherwise they just might sit there and do nothing while the Pixhawk gets the blame.

    • Edmund Comber > Tom Mahood April 5, 2015 at 3:57am

      Thanks Tom.  I have two frames to kit out, a Quad and a Hex.  I plan to persevere with the AQ6 and put it on the Quad, and therefore with put the Pixhawk on the Hex:

      Frame 1 is a Quad FCP-HL frame kit from Flyduino with T-Motor 2216 motors and ESCs yet to be determined (but ready made not ESC32...)   http://flyduino.net/FCP-HL_1


      Frame 2 is a Vulcan Multiframe 900 Hex kit with Tiger 2814/10:
      http://www.uavshop.co.uk/catalog/produc ... cts_id=304

      I have now ordered a Castle Creations QuadPack 35 Multicopter Esc set plus 2 more from FastLad who have a 20% discount offer, so can proceed with confidence that I have a set that will work and can experiment with the Jeti ESC and have them available for a future frame if I get them sorted with PixHawk, or use them with the AQ6.

    • Tom Mahood > Edmund Comber April 5, 2015 at 7:16am

      It sounds like you have some experience in dealing with ESCs. But if you run into any difficulty with the Castles you might have a look at this thread. In its first response post there is also a link to more info on dealing with the Castle's endpoints. They are wonderfully small and light, and appear to be constructed very well.

    • Edmund Comber > Tom Mahood April 6, 2015 at 2:00pm

      Thank you Tom, that is a great help.

  • Richard Kennedy April 3, 2015 at 4:29pm

    Have had no problems with either of these with 1100 KV T motors

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/380888039087  $$$$ Ouch!!

    From now on it's this for me. same weight or lighter, WAY cheaper, less RF, and looks cleaner! I put my quad in a vice and went full throttle for 2-3 minutes.. motors got hot esc/s was hot but NOT too hot to touch or anything. 

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hobbywing-Skywalker-Quattro-25A-x-4in1-Brus...

    They make all sizes of course if 25 washy enough. I have programed it with the little card too easy no problems. 

    • DG > Richard Kennedy April 4, 2015 at 9:14pm

      KDE esc's are $60. Want to talk about Ouch?

    • Edmund Comber > DG April 5, 2015 at 4:06am

      $60 = £44 here in UK - so no more than the Jeti or the Castle Creations multi rotor ESCs.  However if we buy from direct from US, then we get hit with 20%VAT and tax collection charges on top, and there is no UK direct supplier. 

    • Edmund Comber > Richard Kennedy April 4, 2015 at 10:28am

      Thanks Richard. I had the CC Quad set on my list of possible, I have several CC ESCs on my helicopters.

      Gary at 3DR emailed me to say that a one of the 3DR team used the SkyWalker-Quattro-25A - useful confirmation.

      However I have a heavy investment in 6 off JETI HiCopter 30A OPTO Multicopter ESCs - like they cost more than the PixHawk so would like to use them if possible.

  • Chris April 1, 2015 at 7:51pm

    I know I'm having issues with some EMAX BLHeli ESC's 30A Opto's and a Pixhawk.  Still working on the issue - shouldnt be too complex, I'm wondering if they are stopping at the bootloader for some reason.  They work on an APM, my previous ESC's which were Turnigy Plush worked on both APM and Pixhawk.

    So all I can say is that I know Turnigy Plush 18A work.  Do I recommend them, well they are ok - cant say I have had trouble with them, reason for my change was I wanted something a bit beefier due to some new motors.

    • Edmund Comber > Chris April 3, 2015 at 10:06am

      Thanks for the info.  My T-Motors can pull 20A max so I need at least 25A and preferably 30A ESCs to give enough headroom.

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