Thanks for purchasing this Turnigy® AQUASTAR ESC speed controller. The Turnigy® AQUASTAR ESC's are specifically developed to supply stable and strong power for R/C model boats beyond what you would expect. Please read the instruction booklet carefully before use.
Warnings
· We strongly recommend you calibrate the throttle range of the transmitter when you first use the speed controller or when using a new or different transmitter and receiver.
· When connecting the ESC to the battery pack please ensure the polarity is correct. Incorrect polarity may cause permanent damage to the ESC and such damage is not covered by the manufacturer’s WARRANTY.
· When you use the ESC, turn on the transmitter BEFORE powering on the receiver.
· When you finish running your boat, power off the receiver BEFORE turning off the transmitter.
· Changing the PWM may cause the motor to get hot very quickly.
· Never disconnect the battery pack whilst the motor is running as this could cause damage to the speed controller and/or motor.
· Connectors with low conductivity may cause erratic motor rotations (cogging) or other unexpected symptoms. Use only high quality gold connectors such as HK XT60's or similar.
· If you do not wish to use the BEC function of the ESC and would like to use a separate receiver pack or UBEC to power the receiver and servos then please disconnect the red wire from the ESC’s receiver lead.
· The controller will automatically cutoff the output to the motor when the battery voltage drops below the programmed cut-off voltage (Factory default, the LVC of the Aquastar HV 240A is preset to 12.0V. Before using, please carefully set the LVC to protect your Lipo cells from over discharging.)
·The ESC will cut-off output when no signal is received within 100ms.
NOTE: When the working voltage reaches the set LVC value, the ESC will cut the output to the motor, this indicates that it’s time to change the Lipo cells. If at the start you are using a battery with the volts lower than the LVC setting then the ESC will run the motor for 3 SECONDS and the LVC function will then cut off the output. The starting voltage of the ESC is not changed with the LVC, the ESC will perform correctly with an input voltage of 9v or above.
ⅠESC Features ·Microprocessor controlled, extremely low resistance.·Water-proof PCB and a pre-assembled aluminum water cooling pipe for good heat dissipation.·Full protection, includes signal loss protection, temperature protection, motor locked protection.·Fully programming with software on a computer, by Turnigy® TM- program box or by TX stick.·The firmware of the ESC is upgradeable from the Internet as new versions of the software becomeavailable.·Compatible for use with both twin stick transmitters and pistol transmitters with programmable brakesettings for competitions.
П Specifications
Ш Using the ESC
·
NOTE: We strongly recommend you calibrate the throttle range of the transmitter when you first use the controller or when using a new/different transmitter and receiver or you have upgraded the ESC’s firmware.
Because the 240A ESC has no built-in BEC, please refer to the following steps when you use it. (this is only for the HV 240A ESC)
- Keep the switch of ESC in the ‘OFF’ position. Please solder good quality golden bullet connectors and
correctly connect the ESC to the brushless motor.
- Plug the receiver lead (the 3 small color cables ) of ESC to the throttle channel of receiver.
- Use a separate receiver battery or UBEC (5V~6V) to supply power for receiver and servos.
- Connect the ESC to the battery. DO NOT switch ‘ON’ the ESC until it is time to go.
Connect ESC to motor, receiver and battery
ESC AQUASTAR 90A AQUASTAR 120A AQUASTAR 240A
Voltage 2-6s Lipos
6~20s Ni-xx
2-6s Lipos
6~20s Ni-xx
3-12s Lipo
10~38s Ni-xx
Current/Max 90amp/110amp 120amp/150amp 240amp/280amp
BEC 5V, 3.5A (switching) 5V, 3.5A (switching) no
Size(mm) 90 x 36 x 20 90 x 36 x 20 112 x 53 x 22
Weight 103g(incl. wires) 108g (incl. wires) 250g (incl. wires)
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 2 page / 12 pages
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 3 page / 12 pages
A. Twin Stick Style transmitter calibration- Keep the switch of the ESC in the ‘OFF’ position. Correctly connect the ESC with the brushless motor and
battery pack, plug the receiver lead of ESC into the throttle channel of receiver;- Using a separate receiver battery or UBEC to power the receiver.- Put the throttle to the forward top position, turn on the transmitter;- Switch ‘ON’ the Swordfish HV ESC. There are 3 beeps emitted from the motor, which indicates all
electronics are correctly powered on for this setting. - Then there are 4 long beeps emitted from the motor ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ .- Move immediately the throttle stick to the ‘0’ position you want to set after any one of the 4 long
beeps, at this point, you have calibrated the throttle range of your transmitter; - Wait 1 second, there will then be two beeps emitted from the motor- Calibration of throttle is completed.
Note: 1)We recommend the ‘0’ position should not be set above the 50% point of your throttle travel.Note: 2) Motor needs to be connected to hear the beeps. Meanwhile, please keep the propeller away from fingers, hands or any objects. B. Pistol style transmitter calibration
- Keep the switch of ESC in the ‘OFF’ position. Correctly connect the ESC with brushless motor and batterypack, plug the receiver lead of ESC into the throttle channel of receiver;
- Using a separate receiver battery or UBEC to power receiver.- Put the throttle to the forward full position, turn on the transmitter;- Switch ‘ON’ the ESC, there are 3 beeps emitted from the motor, which indicates all electronics are correctly
powered on for this setting. - Then there are 4 long beeps emitted from the motor ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ .- Move the throttle stick to the neutral position immediately after any one of the 4 long beeps. 2 beeps
indicates that calibrating is complete. - Following 2 beeps are powering beeps, it is time to go now!
The Turnigy® AQUASTAR 240A ESC programmable settings
Note: 1. Parameters with an asterisk * behind are the default settings for the ESC. 2. LVC of Aquastar HV 240A is preset in ‘12.0V’ in factory.3. The throttle range can be read on a PC after installing the ‘T u r n i g y A q u a s t a r E S C ’ software. It is Auto
set after calibrating the throttle range of the transmitter. 4. When using a Lipo-Polymer battery pack, please carefully set the LVC to protect the battery against over
discharging.
Program the ESC
Calibrate the throttle range of transmitter (Recommended)
LVC
Brake Type Off * Soft brake
Timing Advance Low Middle High Auto *
Cutoff Type Hard cutoff * Soft cutoff
Startup Type Soft start Standard * Fast start
PWM Rate 8KHz * 12KHz 16KHz
Throttle Range 640 uS
Auto * 9.0V (3s Lipo)
12.0V(4s Lipo)
15.0V (5s Lipo)
18.0V(6s Lipo)
21.0V(7s Lipo)
24.0V(8s Lipo)
27.0V(9s Lipo)
30.0V(10s Lipo)
33.0v 36.0v (11s Lipo) (12s Lipo)
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 4 page / 12 pages
A. Program with the TX stick
Turnigy® The Aquastar ESC can be programmed by using the TX stick, please refer to the setting diagram on the last
B. Program by Turnigy® TM- Program box
The Program box auto identifies the ESC model and clearly displays the co rresponding programmable parameters on the LCD. It is pocket size and convenient to take with you. Please read the instructions of the Program box to correctly set the Turnigy® Aquastar ESC.
C. Program by software ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC’ on PC.
The set-up software of ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC’ is recorded on a CD and is supplied with each Turnigy®
ESC. You must install the software onto a PC, please refer to section Ⅳ of this manual
- After changing the ESC’s parameters, It is suggested to firstly have a test on the bench before assembling itinto the hull so that you can choose the appropriate settings to match the power configuration.
Please always keep the prop far away from hands, fingers and objects while testing.
- Switch ‘ON’ the ESC, the green LED on the ESC will show for 1 second. 2 beeps emitting from themotor will indicate it has successfully detected the signal, the ESC is ready to go now.
- It requires a separate receiver battery or UBEC (5V~6V) to supply power for the receiver and servos.
NOTE: If the LVC of the ESC is set in “Auto’, after the 2 beeps there will follow some beeps to detect the number of Lipo cells while the red LED flashes.
It is ready to go now!
page.
Ⅳ Installing Software to PC
·
A. You need a Personal Computer with WINDOWS 2000 or WINDOWS XP operating systemB. CD-ROM drive (or access to Internet)C. A USB portD. 4 Megabytes of hard disk spaceE. A computer screen resolution of 800×600, 1024×768 (Recommend), 1280×1024.
·
The hardware includes a Turnigy® Aquastar boat ESC, TM-USB Linker and a Set-up CD.
- Insert the CD in the CD driver of the computer.
- Double click the ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC setup. exe’.
System Requirement
Set-up CD
System requirement
Hardware
Aquastar ESC
STEPS to install the software:
TM-USB Linker
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 5 page / 12 pages
After you click the ‘finish’ button there will be an
‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC’ icon on your computer desktop.
(Meanwhile the software will be automatically saved into
‘Start’
-Installation complete.
‘Programs’.)
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 6 page / 12 pages
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 7 page / 12 pages
Connect the ESC to PC
Check and keep the switch of the ESC in the ‘OFF’ position.
As the Aquastar HV 240A ESC has no built-in BEC you will need to connect the ESC to a battery pack or an auxiliary ’Y Cable’ to correctly connect the ESC to the USB linker. Please refer to following two wiring diagrams and select either method to correctly connect the ESC to the PC.
Turn ‘ON’ the switch. The red LED on the USB Linker will light, and the green LED of the ESC will light. (If there is a fault in the connections the green LED of the ESC will not light)
When successfully connected to the PC, the computer will automatically recognize a ‘com port’ as the name “CP210 ×USB to UART Bridge Controller” , please find the correct ‘com port’ number on you PC in this way.
The com port is generally ‘com 3’ or ‘com 4,’ but there are different ‘com port’ on different computers. You can find the accurate com port on your computer in this way: Click the right button of mouse the icon ‘My Computer’→Manage → Device Manager →Ports(Com & LPT). The
‘com port’after “CP210×USB to UART Bridge Controller” is the right one.
Note: If you cannot find the ‘com port’ in the ‘Device Manager’, please check whether the connection of the ESC to the USB Linker is correct and ensure they are connected without any suspect connections. If they are both correct, the problem is probably that the software has not been successfully installed on your PC, please re-install the software.
The ‘Y Cable’ is supplied with the HV ESC's.
NOTE: Never plug the USB Linker to USB port of PC BEFORE installation of software is successfully completed.
Battery
USB LinkerESCHV 240A
Connection diagram 1:
Female connecting wires (black, red, white)
Female connecting wires (black, red )
Male connecting wires (black, red, white)
Y Cable USB Linker
ESCHV 240A
DO NOT connect to battery
Connection diagram 2:
Open the software by double left clicking the icon ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC’ on desktop.
Select the com port by clicking the menu of ‘Port Num’ and input the right one.
Click ‘Open’, then click ‘Connect’. The current settings of the ESC will be displayed.
Single left click the dow n arrow to choose the parameter you want to set.
- Click ‘Start’ to get into ‘Programs’
- Choose and click ‘Turnigy ESC for Boat’, and click ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC Upgrade’
- Input the correct ‘Com port’, click the ‘Open’ button.
- Single left click ‘Get ESC’s Ver’ to see the version number of the ESC.
Click the ‘Update’ button to save the modification.
Upgrade the firmware of ESC
OR open the software in ‘Start’ ‘Programs’ ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC’
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 8 page / 12 pages
NOTE: The current parameters are displayed in the windows, please always set the parameters you require from the drop down menu's and click on "update". If you do not click on update with the parameters you require the ESC will revert to the original settings.
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 9 page / 12 pages
- Single left click ‘Open’ to open the latest upgradeable firmware, which can be downloaded from websiteonce a new one is released.
(IT IS A MUST TO HAVE NEW FIRMWARE WHEN UPGRADING BEFORE CLICKING
‘START’) - Click ‘Start’ to upgrade the firmware of ESC to the latest, it will be completed in 3-5
seconds.
Turnigy® Aquastar HV 240A ESC settings’ features
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 10 page / 12 pages
· Low Cut-off Voltage
NOTE: The Low Cut-off Voltage will protect the main battery from being discharged too low and will provide normal operating voltage to the receiver and servos.
· Brake Type
· Timing Advance
Option 1:Brake disabled
(default) Brake disabled is mainly used for helicopters.
Option 2:Soft brake Soft brake provides 50% of full braking power.
Option 3:Hard brake Hard brake is 70% braking power. Direct drive applications where more braking power is required. Hard brake should only be used below 12V.
gnitceteD slleC opiL otuA opiL otuA:1 noitpO
sllec opiL 4 )tluafed(V0.21 :2noitpO
sllec opiL 5 V0.51 :3 noitpO
sllec opiL 6 V0.81 :4 noitpO
sllec opiL 7 V0.12 :5 noitpO
sllec opiL 8 V0.42 :6 noitpO
sllec opiL 9 V0.72 :7 noitpO
sllec opiL 01 V0.03 :8 noitpO
sllec opiL 11 V0.33 :9 noitpO
sllec opiL 21 V0.63 :01 noitpO
Option 1: Low advance timing 0°~15°
Recommended for more lower pole count motors. Gives more power and slightly less efficient.
Option 2: middle advance timing
5 °~ 20 ° Recommended for most motors .Gives a good balance of power and efficiency.
Option 3: High advance timing
15° ~ 30 ° Recommended for most of higher pole count motors
Option4:Auto(default) Recommended for almost all brushless motors.
· Cutoff Type
NOTE: Soft cutoff is always automatically active in Governor Mode.
· Start Type
· PWM Switching Rate
Note: we strongly recommend only the experienced modeler should change this setting.
Option 1 :Hard cutoff (default)
When t h e battery voltage reaches t h e cut-off voltage the motor will shutdown immediately. The motor can be restarted by closing the throttle to the lowest position and then move the throttle up as normal
Option 2: Soft cutoff
When the battery voltage reaches the cut-off voltage, the ESC will slowly reduce motor power to zero, you will notice a decrease in power and it is time to land, the throttle maintains its full linear response.
Option 1: soft start Very soft and will smoothly start the motor, this does take more time
Option 2:standard start (default) Starts the motor at normal speed
Option 3: Fast start Fast start up, we recommend you use this for racing.
Option 1:8KHz(default) Recommended for most brushless motors
Option 2: 12KHz Recommended for low frequency motors
Option 3: 16KHz Recommended for very low frequency motors
TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 11 page / 12 pages
Keep the S
witch of
ES
C
in
‘OFF’,
Correctly
connect
the
ES
C
with
brushless
motor,
receiver and battery pack.
M
ove
the throttle
to
the
highestposition,
turnon
the transm
itter,use
separate battery to pow
er on receiver, sw
itch
’ON
’
the sw
itch
of
ES
C.
There
are
three beeps em
itted from
the
motor,
which
indicatesthe
electronicsare
correctly power on
for the setting.
There are
4 beepsem
itted from
the motor
7beeps
indicate
you already
have
enteredthe
programm
able setting
The
1st
beep: Low
C
utoff V
oltage
The
2nd
beep:
None
The
3rd
beep: B
rake Type
The
4th
beep: Tim
ing A
dvance
The 5
th beep: C
utoff Type
The
6th
beep: S
tart Type
The8
th beep:
PWM
S
witching
Rate
reserve
The 10th
beep: E
XIT
The
7th
beep:
None
Move the throttle to the low
est position
One
beep indicates
you
have
entered the Low
Cutoff
Voltage
Setting.
1st beep:A
uto (default)
2nd beep:12.0v
3rd beep:15.0v
4th beep:18.0v
5th beep:21.0v
6th beep:24.0v
7th beep:27.0v
8th beep:30.0v
9th beep: 33.0v
10th beep:36.0v
Three
beeps indicates
you
have
entered the Brake Type S
etting.
1st beep:
Close
(default)
2nd beep:
Soft B
rake
Fourbeeps
indicates
you have
entered
theTim
ing A
dvance S
etting.
1st beep:Low
2ndbeep:M
iddle
3rd beep:H
igh
4th beep:
Auto (default)
Fivebeeps
indicates
you have
entered
the Cutoff Type
Setting.
1st beep:
Hard C
utoff (default)
2nd beep:
Soft C
utoff
Six
beeps indicates
you
have
entered the
Soft Start
Setting.
1st beep:
Soft S
tart
2nd beep:
Standard Start
(default)
3rd beep:
Fast Start
Eight
beeps indicates
you
have
entered the
PWM
S
witching R
ate S
etting .
1st beep:
8K (default)
2nd beep:12K
3rd beep:16K
Move the throttle to the highest position
Three beeps emitted from
motor indicated your setting is successful
GO
Figure. 1 : Operational Flow
chart for Programm
ing the ESC w
ith Throttle
Main Loop