PHOENIX-10
PHOENIX-10
PHOENIX-10
PHOENIX-10
™
By
Castle Creations
10 Amp Brushless Sensorless Speed Control
PHOENIX-10™ User
Guide
Page 2 of 6
Rev 8-date 05/08/03
This document, Phoenix-10™ software, and Phoenix-10™ PCB layout are all Copyright
2002-2003 by Patrick del Castillo and
Castle Creations
Warning!
High power motor systems can be very dangerous! High currents can
heat wires and batteries, causing fires and burning skin. Follow the wiring directions
carefully! Model aircraft equipped with high power motors can kill. Always fly at a
sanctioned field. Never fly over or near spectators. Even though this controller is
equipped with a safety arming program, you should still use caution when connecting the
main battery
3.0
Flying with Your
Phoenix-10™
:
ALWAYS PERFORM A RANGE CHECK BEFORE FLYING WITH ANY NEW SPEED
CONTROLLER! PERFORM YOUR RANGE CHECK AT FULL THROTTLE, HALF
THROTTLE AND NO THROTTLE.
Initialization sequence:
1. Connect the speed controller receiver connector to the proper channel on your receiver (usually
channel 3)
2. Turn on your transmitter.
3. Connect the main power battery to the speed controller.
4. The speed controller will remain disarmed (will not operate) until it sees more than four seconds of
“brake” throttle. Move the throttle arm to the lowest position on your transmitter, wait at least four
seconds, and then test the controller to make sure that the throttle operates.
5. Go fly!
6. If the BEC cutoff occurs before you land, you may restart the motor and use low throttle if necessary
by moving the throttle stick all the way down (to the brake position) and then throttling back up.
BEC cutoff will occur again if the voltage drops too low.
4.0
Using the Features of Your
Phoenix-10™
BEC
- The BEC power is supplied to the receiver and servos through the receiver connector wires. If
you wish to disable the BEC and use a separate receiver battery (required for the use of more than ten
cells), you must first cut the red wire in the trio of receiver wires. Simply use a pair of wire cutters to
remove a short section of the red wire near the receiver connector, and be sure to insulate the cut wire
with a bit of electrical tape. Then you may safely use a battery with your receiver.
Brake
- moving the transmitter throttle stick to the bottom position enables the prop brake.
Cutoff
- The motor cutoff will occur when the input battery voltage drops below the programmed cutoff
voltage (factory preset at 5.0V) for more than one half second. Once motor cutoff has occurred, moving
the throttle to the braking position (full off) can re-arm the controller. This will allow restart of the
motor at low throttle after cutoff has occurred.
WARNING: Repeated restarting of the motor may
drain the battery to a point where the radio receiver will stop operating, resulting in a loss of
control of the model.
Loss of Transmitter Signal,
or excessive radio noise cutoff - Motor cutoff will also occur if the signal
from the transmitter is lost, or if the radio noise becomes excessive. After radio connection has been
reestablished, moving the throttle to the braking position (full off) for four seconds can restart the motor.
Safe Power Up
- The Safe Power up feature is a “finger saver”, designed to prevent the motor from
starting accidentally on power up. To arm the controller, the transmitter stick must be held in the
“Brake” position (all the way down) for at least four seconds
.
Until the controller is armed, it will not
provide any power to the motor, regardless of where the throttle stick on your transmitter is
positioned.
Before flying your model, be sure to “blip” the throttle to ensure that the controller is armed.
LED
– The LED is used for programming the features on the Phoenix-10™. Once armed, the LED also
provides an indication that the controller has reached full throttle by lighting solid when full throttle is
reached. If the unit is in Auto-Calibrating Throttle mode (program setting 4-1) then you may see full
throttle LED indication before the stick is in the full up position. Simply continue moving the stick to
full up. The controller will detect the high stick travel and adjust full throttle accordingly.
5.0
Troubleshooting
Everything is hooked up correctly, the BEC (receiver and servos) works, but the throttle does not
work.
The controller is not seeing the four seconds of “dead space” (low throttle) and is not arming. Try
moving your throttle stick all the way down, and moving the trim all the way down. Wait for four
seconds and try the throttle again. If it still does not arm, you may need to reverse the throttle control on
your transmitter (see your radio documentation). You may also check to make sure that your endpoint
adjustments on your radio (if it has them) are set all the way open.
Every time I throttle all the way up, the controller “cuts off” after a few seconds, even with fresh
charged batteries.
The controller will automatically shut down the motor if the battery voltage falls below the programmed
voltage cutoff (factory preset at 5.0V) for more than half a second. This is to protect your airplane from
a loss of control caused by too low a voltage at the receiver. If the cutoff is kicking in with fresh charged
batteries, it means that the voltage is dropping very quickly. This is usually an indication of a motor that
is drawing too much current for the batteries to handle. Try using a smaller prop on the motor, or using
batteries with a higher rating (for example, if you are using 800AR cells, you might try going to
1000SCR cells.)
The LED comes on when I throttle up.
This is normal. The LED comes on when full throttle has been reached. If the unit is in Auto-
Calibrating Throttle mode (program setting 4-1) then you may see full throttle LED indication before the
stick is in the full up position. Simply continue moving the stick to full up. The controller will detect
the high stick travel and adjust full throttle accordingly.
Nothing seems to work, receiver and servos are dead, and the throttle is dead.
Check all connections to ensure that they are correct, and that the polarity (+/-) connections are correct.
If everything is correctly connected, and the receiver and servos still do not work, contact the dealer
where you purchased your Phoenix-10™ or Contact
Castle Creations
directly. (See info below)
6.0
Contact / Warranty Information
Your Phoenix-10™ is warranted for
one
(1) year from date of purchase to be free from manufacturing
and component defects. This warranty does not cover abuse, neglect, or damage due to incorrect wiring,
over voltage, or overloading. If you have any questions, comments, or wish to return your Phoenix-10™
for warranty or non-warranty repair/replacement contact
Castle Creations
at:
Castle Creations
Email: [email protected]
402 E. Pendleton Ave.
Fax: (785) 883-4571
Wellsville, KS 66092
Website: http://www.castlecreations.com
Tel: (785) 883-4519
