Hobbywing AXE FOC - Claibration Issue

[food2000]

Hello Everyone,



hobbywing AXE FOC & 550 motor axe.



I've searched and searched and watched a lot of videos (few below) and cannot get past basically step 1- calibrate the esc.



I've followed the steps below and the light on the esc only flashes green/red and won't give the solid red blinking (not able to get it in calibration mode).



I've checked and rechecked wires and have my transmitter set to the suggested %'s per the manual.



One of the videos below (april 7th) shows updating the firmware, auto calibrate the motor and then calibrating the esc radio however following the directions closely, my phone when trying to connect bluetooth to the esc, gives an error message "make sure esc is turned on & bluetooth enabled on the phone."



Basic Calibration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRYwr14FwjE


Most Recent how to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaOmz24QdvI

 

[$uicide $hift]

Two things:

1. When you setup blutooth did you do so on 2.4Ghz network? I think they recommend this. Once you have set your blutooth up to connect you will want to turn off Wi-Fi on your phone anytime you want to make changes. If you do not it will tell you the password is wrong or just randomly disconnect.

2. I had issues with my radios neutral position that had me scratching my head for a bit. I could not calibrate the neutral, fwd, and reverse. I went into system settings of my remote and reset it. From here calibration worked fine so I assume there was something going on in the calibration on the radio side for the throttle positions.

 

[food2000]

Two things:

1. When you setup blutooth did you do so on 2.4Ghz network? I think they recommend this. Once you have set your blutooth up to connect you will want to turn off Wi-Fi on your phone anytime you want to make changes. If you do not it will tell you the password is wrong or just randomly disconnect.

2. I had issues with my radios neutral position that had me scratching my head for a bit. I could not calibrate the neutral, fwd, and reverse. I went into system settings of my remote and reset it. From here calibration worked fine so I assume there was something going on in the calibration on the radio side for the throttle positions.

Thanks for the reply as troubleshooting is frustrating!



1) From what i'm reading... i have bluetooth 5 (which says it uses 2.4ghz). I've tried to disconnect wifi, also have tried in airplane mode.

- I guess i am not sure what you mean by "setting up bluetooth in 2.4ghz network," I can some work throughs on the internet setting up wifi to be 2.4 instead of 5g?



2) I've reset my radio, rebinded it to the receiver and still getting blinking red/green lights.

- I think the odd part of the process is that per the videos, when you hold the set button and turn on the esc, it's supposed to put it in a "calibration" mode (solid red). I've tried a bunch of different combinations and only getting flashing green/red lights.

I updated the app with the latest firmware.


Here's a picture below but... hard to see the lights.

 

[food2000]

I've been trying to research and i've noticed that i have:

1) ESC P/N #30112100 (2 days later discontinued)
https://www.amainhobbies.com/hobbyw...erproof-brushless-esc-hwa30112100/p770930?r=0

2) motor 550 2700KV AXE 38020277

On the website, it looks like it shows sku p/n 30112101
https://www.hobbywingdirect.com/col...ducts/hobbywing-axe-v1-1-esc-for-rock-crawler

I can't seem to find information on the website that shows my ESC (30112100) specs and i assume maybe i was sold an older version not compatible with the 550 motor?

Basically running this set up:

website shows compatible here:

#losingmymind

 

[magic_yeti]

Did you try to calibrate with throttle ch set to rev. Sometimes this helps.

 

[food2000]

Did you try to calibrate with throttle ch set to rev. Sometimes this helps.

Just tried it, still getting flashing lights.



Thanks!!

 

[R/C controls YOU]

Just tried it, still getting flashing lights.



Thanks!!

Food, try this.
- Unplug the ESC from the RECEIVER
- Remove the motor enough so the pinion doesn’t touch the spur gear
- Turn the AXE system on
- wait a moment for the red light to blink
- Hold down the SET BUTTON for 3 seconds and the system will perform “Automatic Motor Pairing”

*During the pairing, the motor will spin, which is why you don’t want it spinning anything else.

When it completes it’ll beep 2 or 3 times depending on your battery. Turn everything off & reconnect it all.

NOW a power it up with the set button pressed to calibrate & you know the rest...

 

[food2000]

Food, try this.
- Unplug the ESC from the RECEIVER
- Remove the motor enough so the pinion doesn’t touch the spur gear
- Turn the AXE system on
- wait a moment for the red light to blink
- Hold down the SET BUTTON for 3 seconds and the system will perform “Automatic Motor Pairing”

*During the pairing, the motor will spin, which is why you don’t want it spinning anything else.

When it completes it’ll beep 2 or 3 times depending on your battery. Turn everything off & reconnect it all.

NOW a power it up with the set button pressed to calibrate & you know the rest...

Hello R'c Controls you,

I've tried to do the auto motor pairing however the part that i can't do is:

" - wait a moment for the red light to blink"

i only get the green/red lights flashing which nothing i do seems to be able to shake the esc out of that mode whatever it is. I've tried all the different combinations of plugging, holding the button set/power and anything else to try to get a reaction out of the esc and it mostly just flashes.

i have a link here that i think updates my current situation (more pictures/videos) https://www.reddit.com/r/rccars/comments/fzk4dy/hobbywing_axe_foc_esc_issues/

However so far my theory is below:
-- I think the problem lies in that it's an older part number 30112100 which was made before 550 motors came out and because i have the two paired... it puts the esc in an error mode. The new firmware update states "includes additions for the new axe 550 size 2700 and 3300 kv motors." So i think... unless i have a 540 motor to hook it up to to get the new firmware to let he interact with my 550 motor... the green/red leds will just keep blinking... my guess?

 

[R/C controls YOU]

If your ESC came with a fan or has the 4 holes for a fan, it is version 1.1. If not, you’ve got the wrong ESC for sure.

Usually this is the easiest thing to do & only takes a few seconds.

 

[$uicide $hift]

Thanks for the reply as troubleshooting is frustrating!



1) From what i'm reading... i have bluetooth 5 (which says it uses 2.4ghz). I've tried to disconnect wifi, also have tried in airplane mode.

- I guess i am not sure what you mean by "setting up bluetooth in 2.4ghz network," I can some work throughs on the internet setting up wifi to be 2.4 instead of 5g?

Yes I apologize for the confusion. That was horrible on my part.

You can setup the hobbywing to connect via WiFi or Blutooth. I did not mean Blutooth 2.4 Ghz.

Basically if you are on the older firmware you will need to update the firmware first. I know you are trying to calibrate the ESC but have you been able to first connect with the HobbyWing link app on your phone and check what firmware version your ESC is on?

If not start there. Can you connect via Hobbywing link and upgrade the firmware? Are you having any issues here first? Once this is done I would then work on motor pairing steps and then F / N / R end points.

 

[food2000]

Yes I apologize for the confusion. That was horrible on my part.

You can setup the hobbywing to connect via WiFi or Blutooth. I did not mean Blutooth 2.4 Ghz.

Basically if you are on the older firmware you will need to update the firmware first. I know you are trying to calibrate the ESC but have you been able to first connect with the HobbyWing link app on your phone and check what firmware version your ESC is on?

If not start there. Can you connect via Hobbywing link and upgrade the firmware? Are you having any issues here first? Once this is done I would then work on motor pairing steps and then F / N / R end points.

Yes, i agree with you that that should be my first step is to update firmware on the esc. I think... since this is the older esc at the time, it only recognized 540 motors at the respective 1200, 1800 and 2400KV. Given this motor is a 550 2700 KV... i think the esc is stuck flashing the green/red troubleshoot codes which are unclear what exactly it doesn't like (my theory).



Per the picture below, i can't seem to connect to the esc via Bluetooth (I've tried both android and apple and same message.



- I did the firmware manually to get the latest on the app but... not able to get the phone app to connect to the esc



I do agree with you that my steps should be:

1. firmware update
2. motor pairing calib
3. then the radio FNR end points.

Any suggestions on pairing? There was another thread about wifi on (no internet), GPS and bluetooth on trick i read on a reddit post but didn't work for me
I'm combing the review section on HW link app and it seems like a lot of people aren't able to connect as well, a few have used older devices and gotten them to work but so far:
- note 9
- galaxy s7
- apple 4
- tab 4

all won't connect.

**update** i think there's a version 30112100 which is the older esc listing compatibility with 540 motors and there's the 30112101 v1.1 which is the newer esc which works with 540 and 550 motors...

I am seeing below (manual for 30112100 (older version)) only shows 540 motors, so i think as soon as i power up the esc... because it's the wrong motor (per the firmware), it won't interact with anything?

I wonder if:

A) somehow there's a way to update esc w/o motor connection
B)... find a 540 motor.. update it and then update it with 550 motor that i have 2700 kv.

 

[$uicide $hift]

Yes the 550 motors require the Firmware 1.1 version. I had a lot of issues until I read that Wi-Fi should be turned off. Now if I want to connect I turn off Wi-Fi and it works much better.

I do recall having issues getting it to connect the first time. This is the part that Hobbywing could put some work into making better.

I know I had issues and I attempted to connect with Wi-Fi when I could not get the blutooth working. I had connected it in the settings of the app to my 2.4Ghz network. I don't believe I was very successful here so I went back into system settings for the Hobbywing and switched back to blutooth. Eventually I got it work but always had issues connecting again. Entering in password would come back after spinning for a few minutes telling me my password was wrong. I was using the default password of 888888!!!!!

Once I started turning off Wi-Fi on my phone it was much better making the connecting and keeping it while I was adjusting settings. I still have issues connecting at times but nothing like before when I had Wi-Fi turned on.

At this point if you cannot get it to connect up for firmware upgrade I would contact Hobbywing North America support. I had to contact them in the past and they were very responsive and took care of my issue.

HOBBYWING Tech. Support
Thanks for visiting HOBBYWING North America's tech support line.
We appreciate your questions and would like to provide you the fastest response possible. Please email your basic Question, along with your phone # to " support-hwna@hobbywing.com" to be put in touch with our tech support team.
Emails are the fastest way to contact our tech team, and often you will receive a reply within a few minutes.

 

[Voodoobrew]

Did you power it on with no reciever? Thats how the axe system learns the new motor. I don't rember what it's called. But it happens before calibration, but after firmware update. Basicaly unplug it from reciever and remove the pinion, then plug in a battery. The motor spins for a bit then you unplug battery, reconnect to rx, and bobs yer uncle.

__________________________
Handy gearing spreadsheet

 

[food2000]

Yes the 550 motors require the Firmware 1.1 version. I had a lot of issues until I read that Wi-Fi should be turned off. Now if I want to connect I turn off Wi-Fi and it works much better.

I do recall having issues getting it to connect the first time. This is the part that Hobbywing could put some work into making better.

I know I had issues and I attempted to connect with Wi-Fi when I could not get the blutooth working. I had connected it in the settings of the app to my 2.4Ghz network. I don't believe I was very successful here so I went back into system settings for the Hobbywing and switched back to blutooth. Eventually I got it work but always had issues connecting again. Entering in password would come back after spinning for a few minutes telling me my password was wrong. I was using the default password of 888888!!!!!

Once I started turning off Wi-Fi on my phone it was much better making the connecting and keeping it while I was adjusting settings. I still have issues connecting at times but nothing like before when I had Wi-Fi turned on.

At this point if you cannot get it to connect up for firmware upgrade I would contact Hobbywing North America support. I had to contact them in the past and they were very responsive and took care of my issue.

HOBBYWING Tech. Support
Thanks for visiting HOBBYWING North America's tech support line.
We appreciate your questions and would like to provide you the fastest response possible. Please email your basic Question, along with your phone # to " support-hwna@hobbywing.com" to be put in touch with our tech support team.
Emails are the fastest way to contact our tech team, and often you will receive a reply within a few minutes.

Yeah i think i'll try to talk to HW tomorrow and see if can get the work-around to get the esc working.



I think... to solve the problem, i either have to get a 540 motor which allows it to then calibrate with my 550 motor OR... Return this old esc and buy the v1.1 which will then work with my 550 motor.

those are my guesses... but i'll try a little more messing around with bluetooth settings and i have like 5-6 devices to try but.. mostly likely HW will have an answer for me

 

[$uicide $hift]

Yeah i think i'll try to talk to HW tomorrow and see if can get the work-around to get the esc working.



I think... to solve the problem, i either have to get a 540 motor which allows it to then calibrate with my 550 motor OR... Return this old esc and buy the v1.1 which will then work with my 550 motor.

those are my guesses... but i'll try a little more messing around with bluetooth settings and i have like 5-6 devices to try but.. mostly likely HW will have an answer for me

I bought two of these systems with the 3300Kv and they both came with the firmware already flashed. I recall seeing that you need to upgrade the firmware but where as mine was already at V1.1 I did not have to.

I have not seen these sold separately being motor only or ESC only. I assume you bought yours in a combo pack with both? With that being said there has to be a way to update the firmware without needing to return. Although these are electronics and strange unexplained things can and will happen at times. Either way I am sure HW will get it straightened out.

If you do reach out to them please let us know how that experience went for you and what the resolution was.

 

[food2000]

I bought two of these systems with the 3300Kv and they both came with the firmware already flashed. I recall seeing that you need to upgrade the firmware but where as mine was already at V1.1 I did not have to.

I have not seen these sold separately being motor only or ESC only. I assume you bought yours in a combo pack with both? With that being said there has to be a way to update the firmware without needing to return. Although these are electronics and strange unexplained things can and will happen at times. Either way I am sure HW will get it straightened out.

If you do reach out to them please let us know how that experience went for you and what the resolution was.

Alright to summarize this fun experience after speaking to HW tech:


- V1 30112100 is a discontinued esc (Hobbywing esc axe foc) which does not come with the firmware that allows it to be hooked up to 550 motor which... prevents it from updating.

• Option 1: Send this unit in so they can update and send it back to you.
• Option 2: find a 540 motor to hook it up to which will allow the firmware to load and then re calibrate with 550 motor.
• Option 3: send it in through their upgrade program.

It's confusing because while it list this is compatible with 550 motor.. to get it there requires a 540 motor to update firmware.



Its $104 at amain (30112100) and the v1.1 is $142 (30112101). The tech said he believes the only difference between the two is the v1.1 has fan screws to mount and v1.1 comes loaded with firmware to communicate with 550 motor.

I ended up buying a new esc v1.1 and amain would not return the esc i have because i soldered it up. Sucks because... they do list it compatible but obviously... to actually get the v1 esc to work with a 550 motor.. the above steps need to exist.

TLR Buy v1.1 if you plan on pairing with 550 motor (2700 // 3300 kv).

You can save some monies with v1 (30112100) esc if you don't mind the older esc and buy initially just the 540 motors 1200, 1800 and 2300kv.

 

[$uicide $hift]

Alright to summarize this fun experience after speaking to HW tech:


- V1 30112100 is a discontinued esc (Hobbywing esc axe foc) which does not come with the firmware that allows it to be hooked up to 550 motor which... prevents it from updating.

• Option 1: Send this unit in so they can update and send it back to you.
• Option 2: find a 540 motor to hook it up to which will allow the firmware to load and then re calibrate with 550 motor.
• Option 3: send it in through their upgrade program.

It's confusing because while it list this is compatible with 550 motor.. to get it there requires a 540 motor to update firmware.



Its $104 at amain (30112100) and the v1.1 is $142 (30112101). The tech said he believes the only difference between the two is the v1.1 has fan screws to mount and v1.1 comes loaded with firmware to communicate with 550 motor.

I ended up buying a new esc v1.1 and amain would not return the esc i have because i soldered it up. Sucks because... they do list it compatible but obviously... to actually get the v1 esc to work with a 550 motor.. the above steps need to exist.

TLR Buy v1.1 if you plan on pairing with 550 motor (2700 // 3300 kv).

You can save some monies with v1 (30112100) esc if you don't mind the older esc and buy initially just the 540 motors 1200, 1800 and 2300kv.

Good information and good to know. I thought they only sold them in ESC / Motor pairs due to the special sensor wire they created to seal it from water. I did not realize you could buy the ESC separate from the motor.

I feel for you and I usually stick up for companies as most people expect them to bend over backwards for ridiculous reasons. In this case however they should have known that the ESC and motor would not work together and stated that on their website.

I know you don't have a LHS that is close to you but generally these types of things they know and save you from having to deal with this type of situation.

I know you already bought another ESC but for what it's worth the Hobbywing return program is pretty good in my experience. If you did send it back to them they would have turned around and sent you the right one right away. I had to return an ESC that fried on me and they were very quick about the turn around.

 

[food2000]

Good information and good to know. I thought they only sold them in ESC / Motor pairs due to the special sensor wire they created to seal it from water. I did not realize you could buy the ESC separate from the motor.

I feel for you and I usually stick up for companies as most people expect them to bend over backwards for ridiculous reasons. In this case however they should have known that the ESC and motor would not work together and stated that on their website.

I know you don't have a LHS that is close to you but generally these types of things they know and save you from having to deal with this type of situation.

I know you already bought another ESC but for what it's worth the Hobbywing return program is pretty good in my experience. If you did send it back to them they would have turned around and sent you the right one right away. I had to return an ESC that fried on me and they were very quick about the turn around.

Yea, my experience with HW in terms of their service and communication has been great.


Hopefully if anyone searches... they'll pick up some answers here .



The axe foc system is amazing and.. i am impressed.

 

[$uicide $hift]

The axe foc system is amazing and.. i am impressed.

You and me both! The feel of the RPM / Motor matching when crawling is amazing and so smooth. I am able to crawl where I swear I can hear each tooth in the spur connecting with the pinion one step at a time and if I pull that trigger it will rip out of the hole and flip over on it's back.

So far I have been very happy with the Axe system. My son and I have really abused it in water / soupy thick mud as we put the same setup in his truck. I know nothing is truly "waterproof" but this is by far the most sealed up system you can buy. No conformal coating or dielectric grease needed.

The ability to adjust ESC settings via an app on your phone is what initially sold me on the product as well as the recommendation from my LHS which has always given good advice. The app could be better as I had issues with it disconnecting randomly or coming back with incorrect password over and over again. Since I have disabled the Wi-Fi on my phone before making adjustments though it has been much better in this aspect. Not perfect but not frustrating.

 

[R/C controls YOU]

It is Bluetooth Low Energy, so its only good for a few feet. Your WiFi settings will not change this.

If you drive too far away, that message will always pop up in the HW app.

Another tip you may not know: to “accept” any setting changes, press SAVE and then DISCONNECT instead of powering it off.