First Prop Plane, Motor Startup Questions

[Kopfjaeger]

Hello Peeps,

I have recently received my first prop plane, E-Flite Maule M7. I haven't flown it yet, got it built and set up. I replaced the ESC with a Mantis 45A and I had a question about motor startup.
After I got it all installed I checked for function and it "lost" signal to motor when I slowly increased the throttle a few times. I changed the start up parameters of the ESC, increased it to 30% power. It seems to be ok...But, it groans or chatters a bit when I ease the throttle on.
Is this normal?
Should I increase the startup power....If so how much more?
The ESC has options for motor timing- Auto, 2 deg, 8 deg, 15 deg, 22 deg, and 30 deg I have it on Auto now, should this be changed...If so, how much?
I'm not brand new to the hobby...I kinda did things backwards-started with helicopters, then bought an EDF Jet-a Stinger 64 4s an amazing little plane in my opinion ;-)
The Maule being my first prop plane wasn't sure about that motor startup "chatter" . Obviously I don't want to burn anything out.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!!

Rick

[TiredIronGRB]

Welcome to Hobby Squawk!

You need to calibrate your ESC...first remove the prop, then turn your transmitter on and move the throttle to full. Next plug the battery in and listen for two beeps then move the throttle to stop, it should beep twice then go through the regular battery cell count (3 or 4 in your case).

[Kopfjaeger]

Thank You!!
I have done that, thanks for the tip!!
I'm just not familiar with the prop planes. The motor starts up fine, just some groaning sounds when slowly increasing the throttle...wasn't sure how much groaning is normal?!?!?

[Kopfjaeger]

Anyone have any input/experience with my question???

[OV10]

If you could provide a short vid on what you are concerned with it might help get some assistance from someone. The expression of "groaning" is not exactly a clear explanation of what is occurring.

[xviper]

I think it may depend on what you mean by "ease on the throttle". Since electrics don't idle and are more of an off, then on kind of thing, if you increase throttle too slowly, the initial low end of the throttle range won't be smooth. What happens if you move the throttle to 1/5 or 1/4 more quickly?
BTW, is your throttle trim on the front of the TX all the way down as low as it will go before doing the throttle calibration?

[Kopfjaeger]

Thanks guys for responding....Yes, trim is 0. I'm just comparing it to my 64 mm EDF jet and my helicopters. All which start with very little throttle input and spool up very smoothly just from the off position and with no increase in throttle. If I do the same with the Maule it chatters/groans a bit (sorry best way I can describe it) and if I don't increase the rate at which the throttle is applied, it will start beeping and loses throttle control. It comes back/resets when I shut throttle stick to off. If I increase the throttle at a faster rate there is no issue, it starts fine and is smooth. This is my first prop plane, I just wanted to know if that is normal and/or a characteristic of different motors?

As I'm sure you know, the Mantis ESC is programmable. One of the features is start up power. I have it at 30% now and the timing is set to auto. The ESC manual doesn't give any info as to what the proper settings should be.
If you have any insight on the start up power and timing settings that would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you again very much for chiming in!!!

[xviper]

The chattering and groaning is not a common thing although the earlier ESCs from Dynam planes used to do that and needed to be reset. You may need to mess with the settings on your ESC if you want to get rid of this issue.