Castle Copperhead 10 User Manual

Copperhead 10 Online Drivers Ed Guide .docx

Castle Creations 2021 ©

Castle Technical support

You may contact our world-class technical support department via e-mail anytime or by
phone. Please visit Castle Creations website for technical support hours.
Website: www.castlecreations.com/support
E-mail: home.castlecreations.com/contact-support
Phone: [phone], option #1. Mon-Fri, 9AM-4PM CST.

WARNING: This is an extremely powerful brushless motor system. We strongly recommend

removing the pinion gear from the motor for your own safety and the safety of those around you
before performing calibration and programming functions. Please keep your hands, hair, feet, pets,
fuzzy purple shorts, and garden gnomes clear from the gear train, axle shafts, wheels, and tires of
an armed high-performance system.

DO NOT hold the vehicle in the air and run it up to full throttle. Rubber tires will “grow” to

extreme size on a high-speed vehicle. Tire failures at speed can cause serious injury! Make sure
your tires are securely glued to the wheels and check them often.

ALWAYS disconnect the battery from the ESC when you are finished enjoying your vehicle.

The switch on the ESC controls the power that is delivered to the receiver and servo(s). The
controller will always draw current when it is connected to the battery and will completely
discharge batteries if they are connected for long durations. This may cause failure of your
batteries. Castle Creations is not responsible for any damage as a result of batteries left plugged
in to your ESC. Your Castle ESC is programmed to sound a tone every ten seconds to remind you
that it is still powered.

Always monitor your ESC and motor temperatures during the first run after modifying your
system to ensure they stay within the safe operating limits.

COPPERHEAD 10 DRIVERS ED GUIDE

095-0412-00 REVISION

DATE 4/29/2021

Copperhead 10 Online Drivers Ed Guide .docx

Castle Creations 2021 ©

• Getting Started

• Introduction

• A Word about Batteries

• Connectors and Power Wiring

• Motor Wiring

o Brushless Motor Wiring, Sensorless Motors
o Brushless Motor Wiring, Sensored Motors
o Brushed Motor Wiring, Reversing

• Radio Connection

• Audible Alerts

• Data Logging Lite

• Tuning with Castle Link

o Castle Link and Windows PC
o Castle B-Link Adapter and iOS/Android App
o Field Link Programming Card
o Transmitter Programming

• Troubleshooting

• Warranty Information

• Transmitter Programming Reference

• Audible Alert Reference

• Castle Technical Support

Getting Started

• Solder a high-quality battery connector to the ESC. See “Connectors and Power

Wiring”

• Mount the ESC and motor into the vehicle.

• Connect motor to the ESC. See “Motor Wiring”

• Plug in the ESC RX lead. See “Radio Connection”

• Calibrate your ESC to your radio. See “How to Calibrate the ESC”

You are now ready to go!

Easy to Use, Sophisticated Enough to Win Everything

Copperhead 10 Online Drivers Ed Guide .docx

Castle Creations 2021 ©

Castle controllers are extremely simple to set up and optimize for your application. Most
users may simply plug the controller into their motor, radio, and battery and run it
immediately.

Advanced users may wish to access the incredible tuning features using their Windows­based PC and the Castle Link USB adapter via a standard USB-mini cable. With Castle Link
software you can tune the ESC exactly with point-and-click ease!

Please make sure to read this guide completely to get the most from your Castle
ESC.

A Word about Batteries

As with any extremely high-powered electric power system, the primary limitations to
ultimate vehicle performance are the batteries and connectors. Use the best batteries and
connectors that you can find. The better the batteries, the more punch you’ll have!
Minimum recommended capacity is 5000mAh+. Do not use 20C continuous discharge
batteries. We recommend 30C continuous discharge or higher (or high quality 25C
batteries such as Traxxas® Power Cells®). You can’t have “too much” C rating, the more
the merrier! But using too low of a C rating or capacity will damage your ESC and will not
be covered under warranty.

Top-of-the-line cells aren’t required for this system to operate normally, but the best cells
will certainly allow your Castle system to put more power to the ground.

You cannot trade off capacity (mAh) for C rating or vice versa. You MUST meet the
requirements listed above.

Connectors and Power Wiring

Poor quality battery connectors can be a roadblock to performance. Avoid the common
“white plastic” connectors seen on many battery packs. A high-performance brushless
setup will draw many times the power that these connectors can safely handle. Invest in
connector sets made for high-powered electric systems such as our CC Bullets, Castle
Polarized Connectors, Traxxas® Power Connectors, XT90, or Deans® Ultra Plugs.

Copperhead 10 Online Drivers Ed Guide .docx

Castle Creations 2021 ©

Your Castle ESC has motor connectors directly on the ESC and the battery input wires are
bare. You must add the connector of your choice to the battery leads. We recommend a
connector rated for 60+ amps, depending on your setup.

Check the amperage ratings of your connectors to make sure they meet the amperage
requirements for your application, e.g., don’t use 40-amp connectors on a 1/5th scale
setup.

Proper polarity is essential here!

Make absolutely sure positive (+) connects to positive (+), and negative (-) connects to
negative (-) when you plug in your battery! If reverse polarity is applied to your ESC from
the battery, it WILL damage your ESC. This WILL NOT be covered under warranty!

Motor Wiring

Brushless Motor Wiring, Sensorless
Motors (Figure 1)

For sensorless brushless motor
connections, the three wires from the ESC
to the motor have no polarity. Connect the
three wires coming from the motor to the
ESC’s motor connections in any order. If
you are using a motor other than a Castle
Creations motor, you may need to either
solder the included bullet plugs to your
motor or solder the ESC wires directly to
the motor wires.

If you choose to direct solder or to shorten the motor wires, you may do so on the Castle

Creations 14XX series, 15XX series, 1717, and 2028 motors only. DO NOT CUT any part of
the wire length from any other motor, regardless of brand or type. In most cases, only the
last 1/4 inch or so of the motor wires are able to be soldered. If they are clipped shorter
you may not be able to solder the remaining portion of the wire and the motor will not
run properly, if at all.

Copperhead 10 Online Drivers Ed Guide .docx

Castle Creations 2021 ©

If the motor is supplied with connectors you
do not want to use, simply unsolder the
original motor connectors from the wires ­do not cut them off.

Brushless Motor Wiring, Sensored Motors*
(Figure 2):

For sensored brushless motor connections, the
three wires from the ESC to the motor DO HAVE
polarity. Connect the ESC to the motor. Connect
A to A, B to B, C to C, and install the sensor
harness after removing the dust cover. In order
to change the motor direction, use Castle Link, manually programming or B-Link Adapter.

Brushed Motor Wiring, Reversing (Figure 3)

Use this mode if you wish to use reverse. Make
sure you change the Motor Type setting to
“Brushed Reversing” in the ESC before using a
brushed motor. Connect the motor wires to the
two outside motor bullet connectors. In most
applications, the red wire from the ESC will
connect to the red wire (or positive + side hood)
of the motor, and the black wire to the black wire
(or negative - side hood) of the motor. The
middle bullet connector on the ESC is not used.
After calibration (See “How to Calibrate the
ESC”), you may need to swap the two motor
wires to get the wheels to spin in the right direction.

Radio Connection

RX Wire (Orange/Red/Brown)

Your Castle ESC RX wire plugs into the throttle channel of your receiver. This is usually
channel 2. Your Castle ESC provides power to the receiver and the steering servo. No
separate receiver battery is needed to power the radio system. Some servos can draw

Copperhead 10 Online Drivers Ed Guide .docx

Castle Creations 2021 ©

more current than the on-board BEC can handle and will require an external BEC or
receiver pack.

Castle ESC receiver plugs are designed to work with any current receiver, but you will
need to make sure the polarity is correct when connected to the receiver. The ESC signal
wire is orange or white, the positive wire is red, and the negative wire is brown. Check
your receiver documentation for correct connection polarity if it’s not marked.

Most receivers use negative (brown) towards the outside of the case and signal
(orange/white) towards the channel markings on the case.

Individual transmitter signals for neutral, full throttle, and full brake vary. You must
calibrate your Castle ESC so that it will operate effectively with your transmitter. Anytime
the ESC is powered up with a new transmitter or with different throttle channel settings,
it will need to be calibrated to the transmitter’s throttle settings. The ESC may also need
to be calibrated after updating to new software via Castle Link.

If you are using a Futaba-made transmitter, you will need to set the transmitter’s throttle
channel direction to the REVERSE (Rev) position. This is either an external micro switch on
the transmitter or an option available within the computer programming of the
transmitter. Please start by zeroing out any throttle trim that you may have set in your
transmitter.

How to Calibrate The ESC

Safety First! Remove the pinion prior to calibration.

Step 1: Start with the transmitter ON, the battery disconnected, and the ESC switch in the

OFF position.

Step 2: Plug a battery into the ESC. If your ESC does not have a switch, hold full throttle
on your transmitter before plugging in the battery.

Step 3: Hold full throttle on the transmitter and turn the ESC switch ON. Keep holding
full throttle on the transmitter. If all your connections are correct, you will hear one multi­toned initialization “ring” from the motor (all sounds are played by the ESC vibrating the
motor).