SCORPION 15V LBEC User manual

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Scorpion
User guide for
Commander Series ESC’s
Written By Aidan Kelly
SAFETY
Scorpion and their re-sellers are not responsible for your use of this product,
or any damage or injuries you may cause or sustain as a result of it’s usage.
Understand that an electric motor that is connected to a battery and speed
control may start unexpectedly and cause serious injuries. Always treat them
with necessary respect. Keep the propeller away from your body and others
at all times.
e suggest that you remove the propeller when you are working on the
plane with the battery connected.
e suggest that you remove the pinion when working on a Helicopter with
the battery connected
Please observe all local laws regarding the flying of remote control aircraft.
Never fly over others or near crowds.
Included in t e BOX
1 x Scorpion Commander Series ESC
1 x IR Program card
1 x IR Receiver
1 x Instruction Manual
Commander Series
The Scorpion Commander Series of ESC;s are made up of three different types of ESC’s
classified by the maximum voltage they can handle and the type of BEC they possess.
Please identify which ESC’s you are using as it will help you with setup in the manual.
1. 15V LBEC
2. 26V SBEC
3. 50V OPTO

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Battery Eliminator Circuit (BEC)
Each of the three Commander series above has its own type of BEC. If you do not
wish to use the inbuilt BEC please remove or cut the red wire as shown in section
1.0 Connecting your ESC. You should not use the inbuilt BEC if:
•You wish to use a receiver battery in your model
•You are using more servos then is recommended for your ESC (shown
below)
1. The Commander 15V LBEC series feature a Linear BEC that will convert the
voltage from your battery pack to 5.0 volts to power your receiver and
servos. The Commander LBEC will deliver the amps specified on the esc Heat
Sink. Please note that the more voltage you input into a linear BEC the lower
the available current will be so if running 4S with more then 2 servos we
recommend the use of a separate BEC. The Linear BEC will operate from 6 to
15 Volts. Please note: the 15V 60A LBEC Heli ESC will supply 6v to your
receiver and servos upto 3S or 11.1v from you main battery.
2. The Commander 26V SBEC series feature a inbuilt switching BEC that will
convert the voltage from your battery pack to 5.7 volts to power your
receiver and servos. The Commander SBEC will deliver 3 amps of continuous
current with 4 amp bursts. And can handle upto 4 digital servos or upto 6
standard servos. ith a Switching type BEC, you do not need to de-rate the
BEC as the input voltage increases. The full 3 amps of BEC current is
available for any input between 2-cell and 6-cell Li-Po operation.
3. The Commander 50V OPTO series of ESC’s have no inbuilt BEC so you will
need to use a separate BEC or receiver battery to power your receiver and
servos.

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1.0 Connecting your ESC
1.1. Add your battery connector
You must attach a quality battery connector of your choice to the red (+) and
black (-) power wires. Solder the battery connector to the wires. ENSURE THAT
THE POLARITY IS CORRECT (red wire to battery red wire, black wire to battery
black wire). Follow the instructions provided with the battery connector.
1.2 Connect Motor to ESC
Cut the three (red, yellow & black) motor wires coming off the ESC to the length
you require. e recommend using bullet connectors to connect your esc to your
motor as scorpion motors come with pre-installed bullet connectors that include a
female set for your ESC. Solder the corresponding connectors for your motor to
the wires coming from the ESC, or solder the motor wires directly to the motor
leads. You may find it convenient to temporarily connect the motor leads to the
ESC and test for proper rotation before you permanently solder them. See
“Reversing Rotation” below. Once connected DO NOT allow any exposed wire or
connectors to contact each other, insure that proper insulation around each of the
three wires is achieved, Heat shrink is the best material for this job.
1.3 Connect to your receiver
Connect the receiver lead (the three colored small wires with a black plastic
connector on the end) to the throttle channel on your receiver. Do not connect a
receiver battery pack to the receiver, as the Scorpion ESC will supply power to the
receiver and servos through the receiver connector. Only the 50V OPTO Speed
Controller does not supply power to your receiver
1.4 Reversing Rotation (if necessary)
Bench test the motor and speed control after the

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connections are made to determine the rotation of the motor. To change the
rotation of the motor, swap ANY two motor wire connections, or use the scorpion
programming card included with your esc to change the rotation direction.
1.5 Mounting t e ESC
Mount the ESC with the Heatsink side of the controller facing outward. e
recommend using Velcro to attach the ESC to the airframe for easy removal.
Double sided tape is also acceptable. If zip ties are used, do not place them over
any of the components on the ESC. Instead, zip tie around the motor and battery
wires, leaving some slack to allow for movement. The 50V OPTO Series have
mounts that allow you to screw the ESC into a frame or something similar.
2.0 Using your scorpion ESC
2.1 Ensure that the ESC is connected to the proper channel on your receiver.
2.2 Turn your transmitter ON and set the throttle stick to zero throttle.
2.3 Connect the main power battery to the speed controller.
2.4 The ESC will beep the motor (4 tones) to indicate that it is armed.
The ESC will not provide any power to the motor, if the throttle stick is
anywhere higher then zero throttle when the main battery is plugged in. To
arm the esc ready for use you, You must move the throttle stick to zero then
disconnect and re connected the battery.
Always power your radio transmitter before powering up the receiver and/or
the ESC. Some receivers with failsafe features or Spektrum receiver units
that are not bound on receiver power up are entirely capable of causing the
arming sequence to occur and command the ESC to drive the motor. Always
keep the aircraft restrained and clear of body parts when the ESC is
powered.
If your ESC cannot sense any radio signal it will beep the motor and flash
orange on the LED continuously

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3.0 Scorpion Commander features
ALL Scorpion ESC programming features are available though the use of the ESC
programming card included with your ESC. So there is NO need to purchase any
other cables or cards to allow you to program your ESC properly
Scorpion ESC’s come with default or factory settings which are recommended for
most applications. Programming options can be changed at the discretion of the
user. See section 6.0 for programming instructions
Features:
Safe Power
up
To arm the controller, the throttle must be
held in the “Brake/Zero” position (all the way
down). If throttle is not at zero at startup, the ESC will not
provide any power to the motor regardless of where the
throttle stick is positioned when first
powered up.
Loss of signal
(fail safe)
The Scorpion will stop the motor as a safety
feature when the throttle signal is lost or
corrupt for 3 seconds. If a signal is regained the user will
have instant control again.
LED (Only on
26V and 50V
Series)
The LED is used for programming/startup confirmation of
your scorpion esc. Once armed the LED can be set to give
an indication of low battery conditions
Low Voltage
Cutoff
You can choose for your ESC to stop or reduce power
when the input battery voltage drops to a
preset/programmed cutoff voltage.
Current
Limiting
Amp output limit, the output is rated at 10% over the
rated Amp. At approximately 10% over the rated Amps it
will automatically limit the output to the motor, as long as
the motor is not rated too much over the ESC spec limits,
this safety mechanism will prevent a over load to the ESC
but if you install a motor for example rated at 100 amp on
a ESC that are rated for only 60Amp, this mechanism will
not work properly due to the instant surge of power
demand from the motor, it may shutdown too early or
simply fry the ESC, the only solution to this is to never use
a Motor that has a rating bigger then the ESC, don’t even

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think
you can use it if you run the motor at a slower
RPM
or load, it will not work!!
T ermal
Protection
At 95 degree C, the ESC will slowdown the power output
to the motor by 50% ( the on board LED will flash red),
to re initiate full throttle you need to move the throttle
stick to idle position and then the ESC will resume normal
output once you throttle up again. If your ESC is over
60deg on startup it will not arm red LED will flash and a
DI DI DI sound will be played.
Brake Stops rotation of the motor when the
throttle signal is moved to the lowest
position.
T rottle Airplane and Heli modes come pre programmed and can
be selected by the user
Electronic
timing
Manual settings that may improve the efficiency of the
system for some motors are available. The standard
Scorpion setting is to automatically detect and adjust for
the motor it is driving.
4.0 Initial setup
You MUST perform throttle range setup before the first use of the ESC. Remove
propeller/pinion from motor while performing initial throttle range setup.
4.1 Throttle range setup (full throttle and stop)
4.2 Turn on transmitter and set throttle to maximum position be sure that your
throttle is set at 0% minimum throttle and 100% at maximum throttle
4.3 Place the switch on the IR Receiver to PPM (see section 5.0) Connect battery
to ESC.(On 50V OPTO ESC’s you will need to apply power to the receiver
before connecting the battery to the ESC). After few seconds you will hear 2
beeps come from the motor to indicate you are in throttle calibration mode
and maximum throttle position has been set. (If at this time, you leave the
throttle stick at maximum position for over 10 seconds, the ESC will reset
itself to Factory default throttle settings)

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4.4 Move throttle to minimum position within 10 seconds and hold throttle at
minimum position. Then you will hear 2 beeps indicating minimum throttle
position is set and confirmed. Your ESC will also arm after you have set the
minimum position. You only need to do this once as throttle range will be
stored in the memory of the speed controller. You can reset the throttle
range by performing steps 4.1 to 4.4 again
5.0 Connecting your Scorpion SBEC to t e programming card
Your Scorpion ESC is programmed using the Infrared (IR) Program card and
Receiver included with this ESC. First you must connect your IR Receiver to your
ESC. Ensure the brown wire from your esc is facing outwards
5.1 Turn on your transmitter
5.2 Once you have plugged in the IR Receiver push the switch across to IRS.
5.3 Now connect a battery to the ESC. Your motor will emit 3 beeps and for 26V
and 50V Controllers the LED will flash 3 times red .
5.4 Your IR Receiver is now ready to receive a signal from the program card.
please note that IR will be interfered in direct sunlight so to program your
model we suggest doing it indoors in the shade out of direct sunlight
before flying you will need to place the switch back to PPM mode
6.0 Using t e Programming Card
All parameters of t e esc can be c anged via t e program card.

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To program any function on the card you must follow the following procedure:
6.1 Press a function button
6.2 enter a numeric value
6.3 Enter to complete
Example Low Voltage Cut to enter 9.5V Press “LVC” Press “0” Press “9” Press
“5” then “ENTER” If successful a DI DOO sound will come from the motor and
the LED will Flash RED. An invalid option will not get any confirmation sound
from the motor and the LED will not flash
Please note that there is a time limit from when you press a function button
the numeric values and enter if you go over this time limit no sound of
flashes will come from the esc
Function Button Numeric
Value
W at it does
Example from
Above
095
Sets Low Voltage Cut to 9.5Volts
LVC 15V ESC
(Low Voltage
Cut)
050-138 Low Voltage Cut 050 (5V) to
138(13.8V) in 0.2 V increments.
*6V
LVC 26V ESC
(Low Voltage
Cut)
050-230 Low Voltage Cut 050 (5V) to
230(23V) in 0.5 V increments.
*6V
LVC 50V ESC
(Low Voltage
050-480 Low Voltage Cut 050 (5V) to
480(48V) in 0.5 V increments.

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Cut)
*6V
BRK
(Brake Setting)
1*
2
3
4
5
* No brake
Very soft brake
Soft Brake
Hard Brake
Very Hard Brake
AIR
1*
Activate
Airplane mode
PCT
Program Cut
Type (LVC type)
1*
2
3
Cut 50% of maximum power
No Cut just LED warning
Pulse warning
MAT
Motor
Acceleration
Time Delay
1*
2
3
4
5
0.15 second
0.3sec
0.45sec
0.7sec
1.3 sec
CAR/B
Car/Boat mode
Disabled
Disabled
COP
Current Overload
Protection
1*
2
Protection on
Protection off (this option will void
warranty
FREQ
Drive Frequency
1*
2
3
8khz (recommended for most
Brushless motors)
18khz (for use with low inductance
motors)
32khz (for use with VERY low
inductance motors)
SS
Soft Start
1
2
Heli mode with soft start, variable
throttle* adjustable soft start.
Heli mode with soft start and
governor. (See Govenor Section)
RO
Motor Rotation
direction
1*
2
Clockwise
Counter clock wise
TIM
Motor Timing
1*
2
3
4
Auto Timing
5°
15°
20°

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5
6
25°
30°
GOV
Governor
Correction
See section 9.0
1
2*
3
4
5
6
Soft
Medium
Hard
Soft
Medium
Hard
SB
Motor Start
Booster
1*
2
3
Soft
Medium
Strong
★
Soft Start Duration
1
2*
3
Short 10 Seconds
Medium 15 Seconds
Long 20 Seconds
ENTER Enter value send signal to ESC
OTHER
All other keys are reserved for
future programming options
*Factory Default
7.0 Lig ts and Sounds
Your ESC will emit different lights and sounds according to the function it is
applying below is a table of the following conditions:
No Signal from
receiver at startup
LED light
will
flash
orange
with
constant
2
warning tone. If Using program card, the LED will
flash red and emit 3 beep tones then you will
enter setup mode
Loss of signal
during operation
LED will flash red with a 2 beep warning tone
Over temperature
during power up
(>60°C)
LED will be constant red with 2 beep warning
tone. To restart, disconnect power source, wait
for cool down then re-connect.
Over eat during
operation (>85 °C)
Power reduced to half throttle , red LED will flash.
To reset throttle must be put into idle position
Power on low LED will flash red quickly with beep warning tone

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voltage warning
when voltage is low than the preset cut
-
off
voltage.
Low
voltage cut
warning
hen voltage is lower than preset cut off voltage,
red LED will flash rapidly red.
Over Amp
Protection
Is only activated at over 50% throttle
during over
-
amp protection, LED will flash red rapidly
Governor Limit
Warning
If governo
r reach
es
100%
throttle
, orange LED
light turn on.
Soft start
indication
O
range LED light will turn off automatically when
soft start has been deactivated.
8.0 Trouble S ooting
•If you hear a pulsed warning tone and/or see a continuous orange flashing
LED after powering up the ESC: Check your transmitter. Is it on? If yes.
•Check that your throttle is at its minimum position. Your esc will not arm if
you throttle is anything other then zero at startup
•Check the ESC servo connection? Connection good? If yes.
•Check the motor connection to the ESC, reconnect them if necessary. Check
your battery. Fully charged? Replace battery if necessary. Try another
receiver.
•Disconnect battery and then reconnect battery and start at step 2.0 again
•Motor does not shut off with throttle hold set throttle hold position to 0%
•After initiating esc with throttle hold on motor spins slowly when turned off >
Set throttle hold to 0%
9.0 Governor Function for elicopters
Scorpion has developed a inbuilt governor that uses complex mathematics and
fast processor speeds to provide one of the most user friendly and advanced
governors on the market today.

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Please follow the below steps to setup the governor on your ESC.
W at it does
A Governor is designed to Govern the speed of your main rotor blades. In basic
terms this means that the ESC will try to keep the same rotor blade speed (set by
you) regardless of the amount of pitch on the main blades and load on the motor.
To do this the ESC tracks the motors speed and will automatically increase or
decrease the power to the motor to maintain constant rpm or headspeed.
W at it allows you to do
•Push 3D performance to the limits by giving you more power when you need
it while keeping the rotor speed constant at other times
•Give you consistent flight feel from start to finish; unlike some ESC
governors, RPM does not drop as battery voltage drops (as long battery can
provide enough power)
•Takes the Guesswork out of setting up Throttle Curves
Programming t e Governor
Before programming the governor you must perform the Initial Setup in section
4.0 in this manual first
Items you will require
Head Speed Tachometer
1. Insure you have the IR Receiver Plugged in Refer to Section 5.0 of this
manual
2. Remove the motor pinion
3. Power ESC (50v OPTO series Power Receiver then Power ESC)
4. Move Switch of IR Receiver to Program mode see section 5.0
5. 3 beeps will sound you are now in program mode
6. Press SS > 2 > Enter. 2 beeps will sound confirming SS 2 mode selected
Radio Setup
1. Set your throttle hold position in your radio to 0%

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2. In your radio you need to set your throttle curves to the % of throttle you
wish to operate your governor at. It is a good idea to use a head speed
calculator first to find out an estimated target HS you wish to achieve.
3. Once you have estimated the amount of throttle needed to achieve your
target head speed enter it into a throttle curve so that it is the same % of
throttle across the entire range eg I would like 80% throttle for all points
across the curve you should have flat line at 80%. You can only select
values from 50-90% t rottle
4. You can have different throttle values for each flight mode and you can flick
between them in mid flight with no effect on the governor as long as it has
been set properly at initial startup
Startup Procedure (Read all steps before attempting)
1. Turn on your radio and place throttle hold switch to ON
2. If using the 50V OPTO ESC you will need to power your receiver
3. Plug your ESC to the main power battery
4. ait for it to arm (4 beeps di di dee do)
5. Select the flight mode you wish to fly in
6. Insure your blades are at 0 degrees pitch (If your blades are not at 0 deg
your governor will not set itself properly
7. Turn throttle hold switch OFF
8. Soft start will initiate – Depending on the soft start duration you have set
10,15 or 20 seconds wait on this amount of time for the blades to stabilize
speed. (if you have the 26V SBEC or 50C OPTO esc’s the LED will glow
orange during startup and will turn off once the headspeed has been set and
stabilized)
9. Measure the blade speed at 0 deg pitch with a tachometer or similar device
to see if you are achieving the desired headspeed.
10. If the Head speed is to high go back into your throttle curve and reduce
the throttle or if it is to low increase your throttle curve
Auto Rotation Bail out Feature for Soft start and Governor modes
If you attempt an autorotation once you have switched your throttle hold switch
you have a 12 second time window where if you feel you cannot make the auto
rotation you can switch the throttle hold off and your helicopter will instantly
regain throttle to either your stick position in Soft start mode or your set governor
throttle %.

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Governor Correction (GOV) button
Modes 1-3 will not compensate for no load conditions. For example if you are
hovering and pitch down (negative pitch) the power needed to keep the motor at
the set RPM will be less the ESC will allow the rotor blades to fall the to right
speed under their own weight
Modes 4-6 Will compensate for no load conditions. For Example if you are
hovering and pitch down (negative pitch) the power needed to keep the motor at
the set RPM will be less the ESC will apply a slight amount of brake to will allow
the rotor blades to fall the to right quickly.
W at does t is all mean?
In modes 1-3 your main blades may have a tendency to over speed so you may
get a less consistent headspeed. In modes 4-6 your main blades will be governed
more actively giving you a more consistent headspeed. But this will also make
your gyro will have to compensate for the reduction in torque on the tail blades
more quickly If you are using a high end gyro this will not be an issue.
Abbreviated Terms
ESC = Electronics Speed Controller
LED = Light Emitting Diode
V = Volts
IR = Infra Red
RPM = Revolutions Per Minute