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WARNING: This is an extremely powerful brushless motor system. We strongly recommend removing the pinion gear from the motor for your own safety and the safety of those around you before performing calibration and programming functions. Please keep your hands, hair, feet, pets, fuzzy purple shorts, and garden gnomes clear from the gear train, axle shafts, wheels, and tires of an armed high performance system.
CONTENTS Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 1 Auxiliary Wire Modes.............................................................................................................................. 21 A Word About Batteries............................................................................................................................ 1 Tuning with Castle Link....................
EASY TO USE, SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH TO WIN EVERYTHING Castle controllers are extremely simple to set up and optimize for your application. Most users may simply plug the controller into their motor, radio, and battery and run it immediately. Advanced users may wish to access the incredible tuning features using their Windows-based PC and the Castle Link USB adapter via a standard USB-mini cable.
CONNECTORS AND POWER WIRING Poor quality battery connectors can be a roadblock to performance. Avoid the common “white plastic” connectors seen on many battery packs. A high-performance brushless setup will draw many times the power that these connectors can safely handle. Invest in connector sets made for high-powered electric systems such as our CC Bullets, Castle Polarized Connectors, Traxxas® Power Connectors, FlightPower Star™ Plug, or Deans® Ultra Plugs.
coming from the motor to the ESC’s motor connections in any order. If you are using a motor other than a Castle Creations motor, you may need to either solder the included bullet plugs to your motor, or solder the ESC wires directly to the motor wires. If you choose to direct solder or to shorten the motor wires, you may do so on the Castle Creations 14XX series, 15XX series, and 2028 motors only. DO NOT CUT any part of the wire length from any other motor, regardless of brand or type.
Brushed Motor Wiring, Reversing (Figure 3) ESC) is not used. After calibration (See “How to Calibrate the ESC”, page 10), you may need to swap the two motor wires to get the wheels to spin in the right direction. Use this mode if you wish to use reverse. Make sure you change the Motor Type setting to “Brushed Reversing” in the ESC before using a brushed motor. Use only the red and black motor wires from the ESC, or the outside bullet connectors on the ESC.
Castle ESC receiver plugs are designed to work with any current receiver, but you will need to make sure the polarity is correct when connected to the receiver. The ESC signal wire is orange or white, the positive wire is red, and the negative wire is brown. Check your receiver documentation for correct connection polarity if it’s not marked. If you are using a Futaba-made transmitter, you will need to set the transmitter’s throttle channel direction to the REVERSE (Rev) position.
Step 3: Hold full throttle on the transmitter and turn the ESC switch ON. Keep holding full throttle on the transmitter. If all your connections are correct, you will hear one multi-toned initialization “ring” from the motor (all sounds are played by the ESC vibrating the motor). Step 4: If the ESC’s voltage cutoff is set to Auto-LiPo (the default setting), then the ESC will emit a sequence of beeps indicating the number of battery cells.
From this point on, when you connect batteries and turn the switch on, the ESC will give the initialization “ring” followed by battery cell count beeps (only in Auto-LiPo mode), and then after the arming delay the ESC will “ring” twice, indicating it is ARMED and will respond to throttle application. throttle, but the wheels spin in the wrong direction, you’ll need to change the motor direction. See Motor Wiring, pages 4-7.
If you wish to silence these features, they can be disabled using Castle Link. See “Idle/Error Beeping” on the “Basic” tab in Castle Link. The audible alerts consist of a sequence of long and short beeps, repeating every five seconds. To determine the cause of the alert, record • for short beeps and - for long beeps, then match the code you heard to the following list. The red LED will always blink, even if silenced. Audible Tone •• 15 Key Description Start Fail The ESC was unable to start the motor.
Audible Tone Key Description •–• OverTemperature The ESC reached an over-temperature condition. Occurs when operated under too high a load or operated without proper cooling airflow. •–– Excessive Load The ESC detected very high current spikes. Causes may include damaged wiring leading to, or inside, the motor, the use of too large a motor for the controller, excessive gearing, or improperly soldered motor connections.
DATA LOGGING* Automatic Data Reset Mamba X Series ESCs are able to measure and record important power system information during your race, turn-by-turn. After your run, you can download and analyze this log using Castle Link. You will be able to inspect many parameters including battery voltage, motor RPM, ESC temperature, motor temperature**, and more. At power up, Automatic Data Reset checks the amount of memory used.
AUXILIARY WIRE MODES Max Throttle Adjustment Your ESC can be connected to an additional radio channel using the AUX wire (white signal wire) to adjust driving parameters on-the-fly. Enable this feature with Castle Link to dynamically reign in your vehicle’s power, enable reversing, and more. The ESC’s maximum power is scaled from 10% to 100% depending on the signal received on the AUX wire. Perfect for passing the controls to children, neighbors, or your boss. The AUX signal has fixed endpoints of 1.
Drag Brake Adjustment Enable Rock Race/Crawler Mode The ESC’s drag brake setting is scaled from 0% to full brake depending on the signal received on the AUX wire. This mode allows the user to switch between two different modes on the fly: “Race Mode” and “Crawler Mode”. “Race Mode” is optimized for either Racing/Bashing and “Crawler Mode” is optimized for crawling. Please visit www.castlecreations.com/crawlermode for more detailed setup information.
TUNING WITH CASTLE LINK™ Using Castle Link All Castle ESCs may be connected to your PC using the Castle Link USB adapter. The Castle Link software will give you access to a whole new world of tuning options. You may use Castle Link to tune your throttle and brake curves, set your drag brake feel, and use the incredible Torque Limit to keep the front end of your car on the ground with all the power you have at your command.
FIELD LINK™ PROGRAMMING CARD You can use a Field Link programming card to easily change many settings at the field without your PC, or it will function as a Castle Link adapter when you do have a PC available. For more information visit www.castlecreations.com/fieldlink. TRANSMITTER PROGRAMMING Transmitter programming is very easy; simply answer YES or NO to a list of options. These are grouped into five settings and each setting has several possible options. You can only accept one option per setting.
6. Keep holding the trigger, within 6 – 8 seconds there will be a sequence of four “rings” and the yellow LED will blink. You are now in programming mode; let the trigger return to neutral. To Make Changes In Programming Mode: Once in programming mode, the ESC will beep once, pause, then beep once again and repeat until a change is made with your transmitter. For instance, if you want to adjust setting 1 (Brake/Reverse Type) to option 1 (With Reverse) you would pull full throttle to select it.
1. Brake/Reverse Type 2. Cutoff Voltage Sets whether reverse is enabled or not, and exactly how it can be accessed. Option 1: With Reverse (Default) This setting allows the use of reverse only after the ESC senses the vehicle has come to a stop. Use it for race practice sessions and bashing, but check with your race director to see if this setting is allowed for actual racing. Sets the voltage at which the ESC stops the motor in order to protect the battery from overdischarge.
Option 2: None This setting disables low voltage cutoff. Do not use this setting with any Lithium pack! Use this setting ONLY with NiCad or NiMH packs. 3. Brake Amount Sets what percentage of available braking power is applied with full brake. Option 1: 25% Power Option 3: 75% Power Option 2: 50% Power (Default) Option 4: 100% Power 33 4. Drag Brake Sets the amount of brake applied at neutral throttle for a slight braking effect while coasting.
5. Motor Type Sets which type of motor you will use with the Castle ESC. The ESC may be damaged if this setting does not match the motor type/hook-up method in the car, and this damage is NOT covered under warranty. Option 1: Brushless (Default) See Brushless Motor Setup, figure 1 on page 4, and figure 2 on page 6. Option 2: Brushed Reversing See Reversing Brushed Motor Setup, figure 3 on page 7. 6. Motor Direction Allows you to change the motor direction.
Problem: My ESC calibrates for the full throttle and full brake positions but won’t calibrate to the neutral throttle position (yellow LED keeps flashing with single beeps). Problem: My vehicle acts like it has “turbo lag” (poor acceleration/punch for the first few feet or yards, and then it “kicks in”). Solution: Try moving the throttle trim one way, then the other. If your transmitter has a 50/50 and 70/30 setting for the throttle, set it for 50/50 and retry calibration.
Problem: My battery pack is plugged into the ESC and nothing is working - no steering and no throttle. Website: www.castlecreations.com/support Solution: Make sure the ESC’s RX wire is plugged into channel 2 on the receiver, and that it’s plugged in with the correct orientation. Double check your solder connections on the battery plug, and make sure the battery is charged. Phone: (913) 390-6939, option #1. For more troubleshooting tips visit www.castlecreations.
TRANSMITTER PROGRAMMING REFERENCE 1.Brake/Reverse Type 3. Brake Amount 5. Motor Type • With Reverse* • 25% • Brushless* • • Without Reverse •• 50%* •• Brushed Reversing • • • Crawler Reverse ••• 75% •••• 100% 2.Voltage Cutoff 6. Motor Direction • Auto-Lipo* 4.
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