I’m experimenting with 2 basic esc’s, 2 T200 thrusters, and a thruster commander. The escs and thruster commander are all receiving 16v input.
One motor runs for about 5 seconds and then “reboots”. It stops running and then emits 3 tones. The other thruster initializes with 4 tones and will not run at all. I understand that the tones come from the esc output to the motor, but do they mean anything? I’m hoping the extra tone from one esc will help me diagnose the motor that won’t run at all. Is it like a computer bios beep, where the number of tones signal a status?
Also ( I realize I’m asking a lot here), what should I be looking at when a motor quits and reboots? Esc, motor, or power supply?
I’m not quite sure I understand your description of what is going on with the addendum.
If the thruster stops running under load, this could suggest an under voltage condition causing a shutdown of the microcontroller on the ESC, or the microcontroller on the thruster commander sending valid controls signals to the ESC. Make sure your power supply and power distribution system/wires can handle the current draw the thrusters demand without significant voltage drop.
If your wires are overly long/thin, the voltage drop under high current load will result in components shutting down and resetting.
Upon startup, the first 3 beeps from and ESC/thruster indicate the ESC checking all three phases of the thruster for a proper connection/complete circuit. The next two beeps will occur once the ESC has been initialized with a 1500 μs neutral PWM signal, confirming it is connected to a valid control source and ready to be operated.
The shutdown issue seems to be related to the power supply. It seems like there might be a voltage spike and overvoltage protection is shutting down the motor. I’ll do some more testing to confirm.
As for the tones, your information is very helpful. It does seem like there’s something wrong with one esc because I only get the first 3 beeps from it. Or does that mean the thruster commander is not sending the appropriate signal?
After more testing (and revisiting my long lost current calculating skills), it seems the deluxe digital power converters are not up to the challenge. They max out at 15A and can’t handle a quick boost in power. Ramping up the speed of the motor very slowly to under 15A works but is not ideal in the real world. Which is too bad since the LCD displays voltage and current to help keep an eye on battery life.
Thanks for the help with the startup beeps! Hopefully that’ll help others with the same question.