Dual ESC

[HumboldtEF]

Also, I have seen wiring diagrams (external BEC) where the positive and negative wires bypass the receiver, connecting directly to the servo. The signal(?) wire is still connected to the receiver. Is this possible with an internal BEC?

Thats a bypass adapter, I mentioned it earlier. The external BEC is separate from this adapter though some build it into the BEC like HeyOk. Not possible with internal BECs.

I don't see any wiring diagrams for an internal BEC, this regulator being integrated into the ESC would mean the receiver gets its higher voltage/amperage from the ESC plug.

Am I now understanding this correctly?

That is correct, the internal BEC voltage is fed through the ESC plug going to the receiver. I wouldn't say its where it gets is higher voltage/amperage, its just where it gets its power period, there is no other source.

... If I wire it up as indicated above, is it still safe, seeing as how two BECs would be plugged into the receiver? Is it okay to plug two identical ESCs, each with their own internal BEC, to a single receiver?

Absolutely not, as noted before you need to remove one of the red wires on one of the ESC plugs going to the receiver, you cannot double power it without having problems or potentially frying something. This is also why adding a external BEC (plugged into the receiver) requires you to remove both red wires from the ESCs. The exception to this is if you use a bypass adapter, in that case you only remove one red wire (from ESC plug) as you still need to power the receiver.

If you do an external BEC you only need 1 BTW

 

[aPpYe]

Sigh. Okay. It seems I am going to want an external BEC.

I did not think about this, all RCs where the servo is "directly" powered by the receiver are actually powered by internal BECs on the ESCs ... The clouds have parted and rays of light are shining through.

Thats a bypass adapter ... Not possible with internal BECs.

Not even with dual ESCs? I am imagining the receiver and one servo being powered by one ESC, while the other servo is powered directly by the other ESC. Basically positive and negative wires would go directly to the servo from the ESC, and signal wires for both ESC and servo would still go to the receiver. Some soldering required ... This would not work?

Thanks again for your time, you have really helped me understand these things.

 

[aPpYe]

... Like this. ESC1 is wired directly into SERVO 1 in the diagram below:

... Would this work?

 

[HumboldtEF]

Theres no diagram in your post. I understand what you're saying and I dont know if thats possible or not. Maybe in theory something like that could work possibly or the ESC may not work at all.
Going to all that trouble only to use and Internal BEC while risking potential damage to the ESC just makes no sense IMHO. If you want simple look for direct power servos and forget about the whole BEC thing. Or use a dual bypass adapter https://holmeshobbies.com/electroni...iring-accessories/dual-rx-bypass-adapter.html and external BEC.

You're overthinking the crap out of this.

I'd suggest you first nail down your ESCs and servos, from their you'll have a better idea of how to power your servos and what they might require (voltage and Amperage wise).

 

[aPpYe]

... There we go. The diagram should be there now. Maybe I'll try this on some of my older hardware before hooking this into expensive new things. I don't see why it wouldn't work, anyway.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Yeah in theory that wiring should do what you want. I'll just say I've never heard of this even being attempted which is why I'm hesitant to say go for it. Definitely something to test on cheap or used ESCs to be safe.

 

[natsb]

... Like this. ESC1 is wired directly into SERVO 1 in the diagram below:

... Would this work?

This would work, but you should add a ground between the receiver and esc 1. A common ground will help reduce noise in the circuitry. Just keep the power and signal lines isolated.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[aPpYe]

I kinda thought that would be the case. I don't see anything frying with this setup anyway. Splicing a wire from CH2 to the negative between ESC1 and SERVO1 would be the plan I guess?

 

[natsb]

I kinda thought that would be the case. I don't see anything frying with this setup anyway. Splicing a wire from CH2 to the negative between ESC1 and SERVO1 would be the plan I guess?

It would be cleaner to run all the cables as they are with one exception. Disconnect the red power wire from the CH1 and CH2 connector, and splice the two red wires together. That way all signals share a common ground and the power from battery 1 through Servo 1 is isolated.

 

[HumboldtEF]

It would be cleaner to run all the cables as they are with one exception. Disconnect the red power wire from the CH1 and CH2 connector, and splice the two red wires together. That way all signals share a common ground and the power from battery 1 through Servo 1 is isolated.

That will likely interfere with being able to calibrate these ESCs which needs to be done one at a time.

 

[HumboldtEF]

It would be cleaner to run all the cables as they are with one exception. Disconnect the red power wire from the CH1 and CH2 connector, and splice the two red wires together. That way all signals share a common ground and the power from battery 1 through Servo 1 is isolated.

That will likely interfere with being able to calibrate these ESCs which needs to be done one at a time. This may also create other problems because this is essentially the same as not removing one red wire from 1 ESC which is a requirement for a dual ESC setup.

 

[natsb]

That will likely interfere with being able to calibrate these ESCs which needs to be done one at a time. This may also create other problems because this is essentially the same as not removing one red wire from 1 ESC which is a requirement for a dual ESC setup.

Sorry, I am not following... The red wire is disconnected from ESC1. Why would this interfere with calibrating one ESC at a time? Just calibrated ESC 1 while ESC 2 is turned off, then calibrate ESC2 while ESC 1 is turned off.

 

[HumboldtEF]

the issue is your idea of splicing the two red wires together. this will make it impossible to have only one ESC connected and power for the purpose of calibrating.

I know its 420 but we're getting way off in the weeds here, and not in a productive way.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/newbie-general/568200-holmes-hobbies-dual-mini-esc-calibration.html

 

[aPpYe]

420? Lol, at least I think I get it!

... Anyway, I don't see any red wires spliced together in your schematic, above. I had understood that was a big no no, frying electronics, smoking out garages, burning houses down, exploding, and sad little puppies everywhere ...

I do crack myself up!

Anyway. The common ground in your schematic would be in the receiver then? I guess that would be better than splicing the ground wire.

 

[natsb]

the issue is your idea of splicing the two red wires together. this will make it impossible to have only one ESC connected and power for the purpose of calibrating.

I know its 420 but we're getting way off in the weeds here, and not in a productive way.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/newbie-general/568200-holmes-hobbies-dual-mini-esc-calibration.html

Ah... I see what you are saying. But this situation is different than that one. In this case each ESC has its own battery. The red wire from battery 1 never crosses paths with the red wire from battery 2. Therefore, the red wire from ESC 1 never crosses paths with the red wire from ESC 2. It is completely possible to turn off one ESC at a time.

 

[natsb]

420? Lol, at least I think I get it!

... Anyway, I don't see any red wires spliced together in your schematic, above. I had understood that was a big no no, frying electronics, smoking out garages, burning houses down, exploding, and sad little puppies everywhere ...

I do crack myself up!

Anyway. The common ground in your schematic would be in the receiver then? I guess that would be better than splicing the ground wire.

The red wire from ESC 1 would be spliced to the red wire from Servo 1.

Don't worry, any burn outs are not that bad. ESC's contain very little smoke. Ask me how I know. Oh, by the way... never cross the red and black wires on an ESC... ;-)

 

[natsb]

the issue is your idea of splicing the two red wires together. this will make it impossible to have only one ESC connected and power for the purpose of calibrating.

I know its 420 but we're getting way off in the weeds here, and not in a productive way.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/newbie-general/568200-holmes-hobbies-dual-mini-esc-calibration.html

Never mind my last post. I see it now (face palms). If ESC 2 is turned off the receiver has no power, so ESC 1 cannot be calibrated. I suppose it could be solved with a double pole power switch so that the receiver gets its power from one battery or the other, but not both. I guess we'll see how far in the weeds the OP wants to go to make this work.

After all the trouble I went through to make brake lights work, I can see why so many skip this stuff and buy ready made kits. On the other hand I really enjoy the challenge.

 

[aPpYe]

Are you guys talking about calibrating the end points on the throttle, or about setting features like drag brake rate, etc with the program card? If it is just the initial calibration, I figure I can just do these one at a time and then wire them up the way I want afterwards. I could also use a connector instead of soldering ESC1 and SERVO1 red wires together, this way I can temporarily move ESC1 to the receiver (after unplugging ESC2, of course) for recalibration or reprogramming.

Why does one ESC need to be powered off for calibration of the other?

 

[aPpYe]

... Regulars to the Bully section probably get tired of reading my posts because I always recommend "differential throttle", at least thats what the plane guys call it so that's what I go with. Using a dual stick transmitter, you can control each axle separately getting both dig and overdrive on either axle just with the sticks, no buttons, switches, or dials needed. I only bash my Bully around woods, creeks, and trails, no comps but I still use dig and overdrive often. Becomes 2nd nature after a couple runs, love it.

So what do you use for a transmitter and receiver? I am looking around at dual stick transmitters, but I would think I would want both left and right sticks to spring back to center (both x and y) when I let go of the sticks. Most pictures of these transmitters I see show the left stick holding a specific position on the y axis.

 

[HumboldtEF]

Are you guys talking about calibrating the end points on the throttle, or about setting features like drag brake rate, etc with the program card? If it is just the initial calibration, I figure I can just do these one at a time and then wire them up the way I want afterwards. I could also use a connector instead of soldering ESC1 and SERVO1 red wires together, this way I can temporarily move ESC1 to the receiver (after unplugging ESC2, of course) for recalibration or reprogramming.

Why does one ESC need to be powered off for calibration of the other?

I'm referring to esc calibration. not sure the exact reason but you can only do 1 at a time.