SCORPION Commander Series User manual

Scorpion
User guide for
Commander Series ESC’s
Written By Aidan Kelly
15V LBEC / 26V SBEC

Scorpion
User guide for
Commander Series ESC’s
Written By Aidan Kelly
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.
We suggest that you remove the propeller when you
are working on the plane with the battery connected.
We suggest that you remove the pinion when working
on a Helicopter with the battery connected.
Please observe all local laws regarding the ying of
remote control aircraft.
Never y over others or near crowds.
SAFETY 1.0 Connecting your ESC
1.1 Add your battery connector
Included in the Box
Commander Series
Battery Eliminator Circuit (BEC)
1 x Scorpion Commander Series ESC
1 x IR Program card
1 x IR Receiver
1 x Instruction Manual
The Scorpion Commander Series of ESC’s are made up of two
dierent types of ESC’s classied 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.
Each of the three Commander series above has its own type of
BEC.
1. 15V LBEC
2. 26V SBEC
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 specied on the esc heat shrink.
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
seprate BEC. The Linear BEC will operate from 6 to 15 Volts.
Please note: the 15V 60A LBEC Heli ESC will supply 6 Volts
to your receiver and servos upto 3S or 11.1v from you
main battery.
1.
The commander 26V SBEC series feature a inbuilt switch-
ing 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. With 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.
2.
* for larger picture refer to back of this manual
You must attach a quality battery connector of your choice to
the red (+) and black (-) power wires. Solder the battery connec-
tor 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 o the
ESC to the length you require. We 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 nd it conven-
ient to temporarily connect the motor leads to the ESC and test
for proper rotation before you permanently solder them. 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.
1.4 Reversing Rotation (if necessary)
Bench test the motor and speed control after the 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.
Page 1

Ensure that the ESC is connected to the proper channel on
your receiver.
2.1
Turn your transmitter ON and set the throttle stick to zero
throttle.
2.2
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 than zero throttle when the main battery
is plugged in. To arm the esc ready for use, 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 driver 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
ash orange on the LED continuously.
2.4
Connect the main power battery to the speed controller.2.3
Page 2
1.5 Mounting the ESC
Mount the ESC with the Heatsink side of the controller facing
outward. We 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 compo-
nents on the ESC. Instead, zip tie around the motor and battery
wires, leaving some slack to allow for movement.
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 ay 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.
2.0 Using your Scorpion ESC
Throttle range setup (full throttle and stop).4.1
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.
4.2
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
conrmed. Your ESC will also arm after you have set the
minimum position. You only need to do this once as throt-
tle 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.
4.4
Place the switch on the IR receiver to PPM (see section 5.0)
Connect battery to 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).
4.3
4.0 Initial setup
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 rst 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
Series)
The LED is used for programming /startup
conrmation of your Scorpion ESC. Once
armed the LED can be set to give an
indication of low battery conditions.
Low Voltage Cuto You can choose for your ESC to stop or reduce
power when the input battery voltage drops
to a preset/programmed cuto 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 Amps on a ESC that are
rated for only 60 Amps, 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 think you can use it if you run the motor
at a slower RPM or load, it will not work!!
Thermal Protection At 95°C, the ESC will slowdown the power
output to the motor by 50% (the on board
LED will ash 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 60°C on startup it will not arm red LED
will ash 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.
Throttle Airplane and Heli modes come
pre-programmed and can be selected by the
user.
Electronic timing Manual settings that may improve the
eciency of the system for some motors are
available. The standard Scorpion setting is to
automatically detect and adjust for the motor
it is driving.
You MUST perform throttle range setup before the rst use of
the ESC. Remove propeller/pinion from motor while performing
initial throttle range setup.

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 ying you will need to place the switch back to PPM mode.
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 ashes will come from the esc.
Page 3
5.0 Connecting your Scorpion
SBEC to the 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.
To program any function on the card you must follow the
following procedure:
Example LOW Voltage Cut to enter 9.5V:
If successful a DI DOO sound will come from the motor and the
LED will Flash RED. An invalid option will not get any conrma-
tion sound from the motor and the LED will not ash.
6.0 Using the Programming Card
All parameters of the esc can be changed via the program card.
RECV
BROWN
PPM IRS
D1 IC2
ESC
BROWN
IRRECV1
Q1
SW1
To Receiver
Switch
From ESC
Once you have plugged in the IR Receiver push the switch
across to IRS.
5.1
Now connect a battery to the ESC. Your motor will emit 3
beeps and for 26V Controllers the LED will ash 3 times
red.
5.2
Your IR Receiver is now ready to receive a signal from the
program card.
5.3
Press a function button6.1
enter a numeric value6.2
Enter to complete6.3
Function Button Numeric
value What 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
BRK
(Brake Setting)
1*
2
3
4
5
*No brake
Very soft brake
Soft Brake
Hard Brake
Very Hard Brake
PCT
Program Cut Type
(LVC type)
1*
2
3
Cut 50% of maximum power
No Cut just LED warning
Pulse warning
CAR/B
Car/Boat Mode
Disable Disable
COP
Current Overload
Protection
1*
2
Protection on
Protection o (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 Induct-
ance motors)
SS
Soft Start
1
2
Heli mode with soft start, Variable
throttle* adjustable Soft start.
Heli mode with soft start and
governor. (See Governor Section)
RO
Motor Rotation
Direction
1*
2
Clockwise
Counter clock wise
TIM
Motor Timing
1*
2
3
4
5
6
Auto Timing
5°
15°
20°
25°
30°
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
GOV
Governor Correction
See section 9.0
1
2*
3
4
5
6
Soft
Medium
Hard
Soft
Medium
Hard
ENTER Enter value send signal to ESC
OTHER All other keys are reserved for
future programming options
MAT
Motor
Acceleration Time
Delay
1*
2
3
4
5
0.15 second
0.3 second
0.45 second
0.7 second
1.3 second
AIR 1* Activate Airplane mode
*Factory Default
To reset all parameters to Factory Default:

If you hear a pulsed warning tone and/or see a continuous orange
ashing 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.
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 ight feel from start to nish; 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.
Check the motor connection to the ESC, reconnect them if
necessary. Check your battery. Full 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 o with throttle hold set throttle hold
position to 0%.
After initiating esc with throttle hold on motor spins slowly when
turned o > Set throttle hold to 0%.
Page 4
7.0 Lights and Sounds
8.0 Trouble Shooting
9.0 Governor Function for helicopters
Your ESC will emit dierent lights and sounds according to the
function it is applying below is a table of the following condi-
tions:
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.
Please follow the below steps to setup the governor on your ESC.
What 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.
Before programming the governor you must perform the initial Setup in section
4.0 in this manual rst.
No Signal from
receiver at startup
LED light will ash orange with constant 2
warning tone. If Using program card, the LED
will ash red and emit 3 beep tones then you
will enter setup mode.
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 heat during
operation (>85°C)
Power reduced to half throttle, red LED will
ash. To reset throttle must be put into idle
position.
Power on low
voltage warning
LED will ash red quickly with beep warning
tone when voltage is low than preset cut-o
voltage.
Low voltage cut
warning
When voltage is lower than preset cut o
voltage, red LED will ash rapidly red.
Over Amp Protection Is only activated at over 50% throttle during
over-amp protection, LED will ash red rapidly.
Governor Limit If governor reaches 100% throttle, orange LED
light turn on.
Soft start indication Orange LED light will turn o automatically
when soft start has been deactivated.
Loss of signal during
operation
LED will ash red with a 2 beep warning tone.
What it allows you to do
Programming the Governor
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.
Governor Correction (GOV) button
Head Speed Tachometer
Items you will require
Startup Procedure (Read all steps before attempting)
Insure you have the IR Receiver Plugged in Refer to Section 5.0 of this
manual
Remove the motor pinion
Power ESC
Move Switch of IR Receiver to Program mode see section 5.0
3 beeps will sound you are now in program mode
Press SS > 2 > Enter. 2 beeps will sound conrming SS 2 mode selected
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Set your throttle hold position in your radio to 0%
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 rst to nd out an estimated target HS you wish to achieve.
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 at line at 80%.You can only select values
from 50-90% throttle.
You can have dierent throttle values for each ight mode and you can ick
between them in mid ight with no eect on the governor as long as it has
been set properly at initial startup.
Radio Setup
1.
2.
3.
4.
Turn on your radio and place throttle hold switch to ON
Plug your ESC to the main power battery
Wait for it to arm (4 beeps di di dee do)
Select the ight mode you wish to y in
Insure your blades are at 0 deg pitch (If your blades are not at 0 deg your
governor will not set itself properly)
Turn throttle hold switch OFF
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 ESC’s the LED will glow orange during
startup and will turn o once the headspeed has been set and stabilized).
Measure the blade speed at 0 deg pitch with a tachometer or similar device
to see if you are achieving the desired headspeed.
If the Head speed is to high go back into your throttle curve and reduce the
throttle or if it is too 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 o and your helicopter will
instantly regain throttle to either your stick position in Soft start mode or your
set governor throttle %.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Page 5
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.
What does this all mean?
ESC = Electronics Speed Controller
LED = Light Emitting Diode
V = Volts
IR = Infra Red
RPM = Revolutions Per Minute
Abbreviated Terms

Page 6 Page 7
Connecting your ESC Diagram Notes: