ZTW Gecko 65A ESC won't initialize

[Patriotic_Banana]

So I bought this ESC from Motion to replace the stock one in my Timber. I used it for over a year with absolutely no issues to speak of.

Then I took it out of my Timber to use it with a 70mm EDF I purchased from Motion as well. However, when everything is setup and I plug it in all it does is beep at me. Long beeps with long pauses in-between.

I have tried everything. It doesn't respond to my attempts to calibrate it, even if I plug it in with full throttle input. The receiver/transmitter are talking because I can get servos to move. This thing has been driving me up a wall and is now the only thing holding up my build.

Help would be appreciated.

[xviper]

Perhaps your throttle needs to be reversed and/or your throttle trim lowered to lowest.

[Patriotic_Banana]

I have tried the trim, both up and down.

I will try the throttle reverse but on my Monitor screen it shows proper throttle feedback.

Edit: Didn't work

[xviper]

Have you checked to make sure all 3 ESC wires to the motor are solidly connected? No broken insulation? No broken solders at the bullet connectors?

[Patriotic_Banana]

I have checked all that. I have repeatedly ran the motor with a different ESC using only 3 cells and everything is fine. The beeps from the motor sound correct, not distorted like they would be if only connected to 2 of 3 motor poles.

[xviper]

If it were me, the next thing to try is to put the ESC back into the Timber and see if the thing crapped out during the transplant.

PS. Just for the heck of it, I just did an experiment with one of my planes that I had on the hobby table. It's a P-51. I have the throttle trim as low as it will go. I raised the throttle to "almost" max but NOT max and I was able to duplicate what you first described when I plugged in the battery. Doing it again but this time, I raised the throttle trim to above mid-point and put the throttle back to MIN. Again, I was able to duplicate what you first saw. If I reversed the throttle and put the trim to mid-point, same result. Unless your ESC died during the transplant, I still think it's got something to do with what throttle level your ESC is seeing. If your throttle is reversed from what it's supposed to be and the trim is either at mid-point or even at the lowest, it's going to show positive throttle to the ESC and it won't arm - and all the servos still work. It just beeps and no throttle arm. I don't understand why yours didn't arm when you reversed throttle and lowered trim to the bottom. (For safety, the prop should be removed.) Another factor - if you are doing this with throttle cut activated (ie, throttle killed), if throttle is reversed when it shouldn't be, throttle cut will only reduce the throttle from MAX to just below MAX, as will throttle trim to the lowest position (would lower throttle to just a little more than just below MAX). All of this will conspire to show some throttle to the ESC when powering up. When doing this, throttle cut should not be used and prop removed.

[Patriotic_Banana]

Thanks for trying to replicate what I'm seeing. I read everything you observed. The biggest question mark is: Why can't I calibrate it? The solution should be calibration but it won't let me. It ignores my plea and just keeps beeping. So my assumption is that the ESC is not "seeing" ANY response from the throttle. I have tried 3 different receivers all with the same results. I am going to try it again with the original motor/receiver combo and see what I get.

[xviper]

Thanks for trying to replicate what I'm seeing. I read everything you observed. The biggest question mark is: Why can't I calibrate it? The solution should be calibration but it won't let me. It ignores my plea and just keeps beeping. So my assumption is that the ESC is not "seeing" ANY response from the throttle. I have tried 3 different receivers all with the same results. I am going to try it again with the original motor/receiver combo and see what I get.

IF (and this is a big "if") your throttle is reversed and your throttle trim is not in a place it normally would like to see it, then it won't actually give a "max" throttle (if reversed, this would be with throttle at the bottom instead of the top) and throttle calibration may not happen because it must see max throttle.
I know you've said that on the monitor, it's giving you the correct indications that the throttle is correct but what do the numbers actually say? When all is correct, my throttle reads -129 for min throttle (with trim as low as it will go). With throttle cut applied, it says -130. When throttle is working normally (no cut), max is +100. If yours says this, then I'm at a loss as to what may be going on, except that maybe the ESC is dead and this can be checked by putting it back into your Timber. (This is with Spektrum TX/RX.)

[Patriotic_Banana]

What I did to test:
1. Made sure throttle cut was disabled (It was never even programmed for this model so that wasn't an issue)
2. Made sure throttle was not reversed (-100 to +100)
3. Took original motor and receiver and connected them to esc, added a server on the elevator channel to test the receiver
4. Bound same model on transmitter back to original receiver

What I got:
1. Nothing, just beeps. Still wouldn't let me calibrate

What I'm going to try:
1. Binding ESC with throttle cut enabled

[Patriotic_Banana]

Result of binding with throttle cut enabled: Just more beeping...

Really not sure where to go from here. I feel like I have tried everything.

[xviper]

Since it seems the initial problem is binding, I would suggest taking everything else out of the equation. IE, power the RX with an external BEC wired to a 2 or 3 cell LiPo. Insert bind plug, power up the RX, stand at least 10 feet away and power up the TX in bind mode. If this binds the RX, then it's something to do with the plane's ESC. If this doesn't help, then it's something to do with the RX itself or the settings in the TX. Once bound, the RX can simply go into the plane (without the bind plug) and you can move on from there. This is the set up I use to bind a RX to a model in the TX:
Instead of the servo tester you see in my picture, plug the BEC into any port on your RX (pay attention to polarity of the plug).

[Patriotic_Banana]

Thanks for the detailed write-up but I think you may have misunderstood. I have no issues binding my TX to my RX. I just attempted to solve the issue by binding WITH throttle cut enabled. That didn't work, but the RX is working perfectly. I also tested the RX/TX connection with a servo just to double check.

The ESC is the weakest link in this chain. Everything else has been proven to work in absence of the beeping ESC. However, the ESC does provide power to the RX and servo's, just won't run the motor.

[xviper]

Understood ............... now. I think you are right about the ESC. Did you try a different ESC in the same set up? It doesn't even have to be the same amps because you aren't going to rev it up very much, just to see that the motor runs. If a different ESC does the same thing, then it's likely the motor or the wiring between the motor and the ESC.

[Patriotic_Banana]

Understood ............... now. I think you are right about the ESC. Did you try a different ESC in the same set up? It doesn't even have to be the same amps because you aren't going to rev it up very much, just to see that the motor runs. If a different ESC does the same thing, then it's likely the motor or the wiring between the motor and the ESC.

I have. That's why I said that the motor is fine. The motor runs perfectly well with another ESC.

[Coconut]

I am having this same problem with a brand new ZTW Mantis 85A ESC. Any solutions, please? This is frustrating.

[Tom Smith]

Was this issue ever resolved???? I was looking at getting a ZTW Gecko 65 amp controller and would like to know. Tom

[Coconut]

I was so pissed off, that I just went ahead and bought an Avian. I love my Avian.

[Tom Smith]

Thanks for the reply. I have a couple of the smaller ZTW's and they seem to be working fine but this one was gong to go i nto my scratch built 1928 Veile Monocoupe 113 and I want something reliable in that 88" wingspan model.

[Coconut]

That's a beautiful plane. Nice job on it.