Turnigy Aquastar ESC 120A, Aquastar ESC 90A User Manual

Warnings

· Strongly recommend to calibrate the throttle range of transmitter when you first use the controller or
when using a new/different transmitter or receiver.

·When connecting the ESC to battery pack, please ensure the polarity is correct. Incorrect polarity may cause
permanent damage to the ESC and such damage is not covered by manufacturer’s WARRANTY.

·When you use the ESC, turn on the transmitter BEFORE powering on the receiver.

·When you finish the running, power off the receiver BEFORE turning off the transmitter.

·Changing the PWM may cause the motor to heat ahead of time.

·Never disconnect the battery pack while the motor is running, as this could cause damage to the speed

controller and/or motor.

·Connectors with low conductivity may cause erratic motor rotations or other unexpected
movements.

·If you do not use the BEC function of the ESC and are using a separate receiver pack or UBEC to power
receiver and servos instead, please disconnect the red wire from the ESC’s receiver lead.

·The controller will automatically power off the motor if the battery voltage drops below the programmed
cut-off voltage (factory preset at ‘6.0V’).

Thanks for purchasing Turnigy® AQUASTAR ESC speed controllers. Turnigy® AQUASTAR ESC are
specifically developed to supply stable and strong power for r/c model boats beyond you expected.
Please read the instruction booklet carefully before use.

ⅠESC Features

·Microprocessor controlled, extremely low resistance

·Water-proof PCB, and aluminum water-cool thermal dissipation

·Full protection soft, include signal lose protection, temperature protection, motor block-up protection.

·Fully program by software on computer, or by

Turnigy

®

LCD program box, or by TX stick

·The firmware of the ESC is upgradeable from Internet as the new version of the software becomes
available.

·Compatible to use with both general board transmitters and pistol transmitters with programmable brake
setting for any competitions.

П Specifications

Ш Using the ESC

- Please solder good quality golden bullet connectors to the wires of brushless motor and the three motor
wires of ESC. Connect the ESC ‘s three motor wires to the brushless motor, swapping any of the two
motor wires connection can change the motor’s rotating direction.

- The quality and discharging capability of battery pack will influence the efficiency and rpm of motor.
Please solder high conductive T connectors to the battery’s (+) and (-)wires.

- Plug the receiver lead (small color wires )of ESC to the receiver (Usually Ch 2).

Models

90A 120A

Voltage

2~6 cells Lithium-Polymer OR
6~20cells NiCad/NiMH

2~6 cells Lithium-Polymer OR
6~20cells NiCad/NiMH

Current/max

90amp continuous/110 amp surge 120amp continuous/150amp surge

BEC

5V, 3.5A switching BEC, max 4A 5V, 3.5A switching BEC, max 4A

Dimensions

90mmx36mmx20mm

90mmx36mmx20

mm

97g (excl. cables) 100g (excl. cables)

Weight

Connect ESC to motor, receiver and battery

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 2 page / 12 pages

A. Board Style transmitter calibration

- Correctly connect the ESC with brushless motor, plug the receiver lead of ESC into receiver ( usually into
Channel 2);

- Put the throttle to the forward top position, turn on the transmitter;

- Power on the receiver, ESC and motor. There are 3 beeps emitted from the motor, which indicates all
electronics are correctly power on for the setting.

- Then there are 4 long beeps emitted from the motor ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ .

- During or after the 4 long beeps , move the throttle stick to the ‘0’ position you want to set, at this point, you
have calibrated the throttle range of your transmitter;

- Waiting one second, there will be two beeps emitted from the motor

- Calibration of throttle is completed.

Note:1. Recommend the ‘0’ position should not be set higher beyond the 50%.

2. Motor is needed to install for acoustic guide. Meanwhile, please keep the propeller away from human beings or any
objects.

B. Pistol style transmitter calibration

- Correctly connect the ESC with brushless motor, plug the receiver lead of ESC into receiver ( usually into

Channel 2);

- Put the throttle to the forward full position, turn on the transmitter;

- Power on the ESC, there are 3 beeps emitted from the motor, which indicates all electronics are correctly
power on for the setting.

- Then there are 4 long beeps emitted from the motor ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ .

- During or after the 4 long beeps , move the throttle to the neutral position. Two beeps emitting out
indicates calibrating is completed.

- Following two beeps are powering beeps, it is time to go now!

The

Turnigy

®

Aquastar ESC programmable settings:

Note: 1. Parameters with asterisk * behind is the default settings of ESC. LVC Is preset In ‘6.0V’ In factory.

2. The throttle range can be read on PC after installing ‘Turnigy

®

Aquastar ESC’ soft ware. It is Auto changed

after calibrating the throttle range of transmitters.

3. When use Lipo-Polymer battery pack, please carefully set the LVC to efficiently protect the battery against
discharging.

♪

♪

LVC

Auto* 5.0V 6.0V

(2 Lipo)

7.2V 8.4V 9.0V

(3 Lipo)

12.0V

(4 Lipo)

15.0V

(5 Lipo)

18.0V

(6 Lipo)

Brake Type

Close * Soft brake

Timing Advance

Low Middle High Auto *

Cutoff Type

Hard cutoff * Soft cutoff

Startup Type

Soft start Standard * Fast start

PWM Rate

8KHz * 12KHz 16KHz

Throttle Range

640 uS

Program the ESC

Calibrate the throttle range of transmitter

(Recommend)

♪

♪

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 3 page / 12 pages

A. Program by TX stick

Turnigy® ESC support to fully program by TX stick, please refer to the setting diagram in the last page.

B. Program by Turnigy® LCD Program box

Program box is auto identify the ESC model and clearly display the corresponding programmable parameters in LCD. It is
pocket size and conveniently take to use at fields. Please read the instructions of Program box to correctly set the Turnigy

®

ESC.

C.

Program by software

‘Turnigy® Aquastar ESC’ on PC.

The set-up software of ‘Turnigy® Program’ is recorded in a CD and always attached with each Turnigy® ESC. You must
install the software on PC. Please refer to the Ⅳ

sections.

- After changing the ESC’s parameters, It Is suggested to firstly have a test on the testbed before assembling

It to hull so that to choose appropriate settings for the matched power configuration.

Please always keep the prop far

away from human and objects In testing.

- Reconnect the ESC to battery, the green LED on ESC will light for a second. And two beeps emitting out
from motor while Indicates to successfully detect the signal. Then It Is time to go now.
NOTE: If the LVC of ESC Is set In “Auto’, after the two beeps there will follow beeps to detect the Lipo
cells while the red LED flashing.

It Is ready to go now!

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 4 page / 12 pages

Ⅳ

Installing Software to PC

·

A. Personal Computer with WINDOWS 2000 or WINDOWS XP operation system
B. CD-ROM drive (or access to Internet)
C. USB port available
D. 4 Megabytes hard disk space
E. Computer screen resolution with 800

×600, 1024×768 (Recommend), 1280×1024.

·

The hardware include a

Turnigy

®

boat ESC, USB Linker, Set-up CD.

STEPS to install the soft:

- Insert the CD in the CD driver of the computer.

- Double click the ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC setup. exe’.

System Requirement

Set-up CD

System requirement

Hardware

ESC 90A/120A

USB Linker

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 5 page / 12 pages

- After click the ‘finish’ button , there will be an icon

‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC’ on computer desktop.

(Meanwhile the soft will be automatically saved into ‘Start’

-Installation complete.

‘Programs’.)

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 6 page / 12 pages

Please refer to the label of USB Linker and correctly connect the receiver lead of ESC to USB Linker.

Connect the USB Linker to one of the available USB ports of PC. A little red LED on USB Linker will
light up. The green LED on the controller would light up while connecting is successful other wise not.

When successfully connect to PC, the computer will automatically recognize a ‘com port’ as the name

“CP210×

USB to UART Bridge Controller” , please find the correct ‘com port’ number on you PC in this

way.

The com port is generally ‘com 3’ or ‘com 4,’ but there are different ‘com port’ on different computers. You can find

the accurate com port on your computer in this way: Click the right button of mouse the icon ‘My Computer’

→Manage

→

Device Manager → Ports(Com & LPT). The‘com port’after

“CP210 × USB to UART Bridge

Controller” is the right one.

Note:

If you cannot find such kind of ‘com port’ in the ‘Device Manager’, please check whether the connection of ESC to
USB Linker is correct and ensure they are tightly connected without any loose. If they are both right, the problem is probably
that the software has not been successfully installed on your PC. Please Install the soft again.

Program the ESC

NOTE: Never plug the USB Linker to USB port of PC BEFORE installation of software is successfully completed.

If you installed the Turnigy software
correctly, the item will be displayed in
Device Manager

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 7 page / 12 pages

Open the software by double left clicking the icon ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC’ on desktop.

Select the com port by clicking the menu of ‘Port Num’ and input the right one.

Click ‘Open’, then click ‘Connect’. The current settings of ESC will be displayed.

Single left click the down arrow to choose the parameter you want to set.

Click the ‘Update’ button to save the modification.

- Click ‘Start’ to get into ‘Programs’

- Choose and click ‘Turnigy ESC for Boat’, and click ‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC Upgrade’

- Input the correct ‘Com port’, click ‘Open’ button.

- Single left click ‘Get ESC’s Ver’ to read out the version number of the ESC.

NOTE

:

Please set the parameters always after current parameters of ESC is displayed in window and according to the

instructing turn, otherwise programming of ESC will be defeated and ESC will still keep the parameters set in last time.

Upgrade the firmware of ESC

OR open the software in ‘Start’

‘Programs’

‘Turnigy Aquastar ESC’

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 8 page / 12 pages

- Single left click ‘Open’ to open the latest upgradeable firmware, which can be downloaded from website

once a new one is released.

- Click ‘Start’ to upgrade the firmware of ESC to the latest, it will be completed in 3-5 seconds.

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 9 page / 12 pages

Turnigy® Aquastar ESC settings’ features

· Low Cut-off Voltage

NOTE: Low Cut-off Voltage can protect the main battery from being discharged too low, and provide the normal

operating voltage to receiver and servos.

· Brake Type

· Timing Advance

Option 1:Brake disabled

(default)

Brake disabled is mainly used for helicopters.

Option 2:Soft brake

Soft brake provides 50% of full braking power.

Option 3:Hard brake

Hard brake is 70% braking power. Direct drive applications where more braking

power is required. Hard brake should only be used below 12V.

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Option 1: Low advance timing
0°~15°

Recommended for more lower pole count motors. Gives more power and

slightly less efficient.

Option 2: middle advance timing

5 °~ 20 °

Recommended for most motors .Gives a good balance of power and efficiency.

Option 3: High advance timing

15° ~ 30 °

Recommended for most of higher pole count motors

Option4:Auto(default)

Recommended for most of all brushless motors.

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 10 page / 12 pages

· Cutoff Type

NOTE: Soft cutoff is always automatically active in Governor Mode.

· Start Type

· PWM Switching Rate

Note: we strongly recommend only the experienced modeler could change this setting.

Option 1 :Hard cutoff (default)

When battery voltage reaches cut-off voltage the motor will shutdown

immediately. Motor can be restarted by closing the throttle to the lowest position

and then move the throttle as normal

Option 2: Soft cutoff

When battery voltage reaches cut-off voltage, the ESC will slowly reduce motor

power to zero, you will notice a decrease in power and it is time to land, the

throttle maintains its full linear response.

Option 1: soft start Very soft and smoothly start the motor, it will takes more time

Option 2:standard start (default)

Start the motor at normal speed

Option 3: Fast start

Fast star up, recommended to use it for racing.

Option 1:8KHz(default) Recommended for most brushless motors

Option 2: 12KHz Recommended for low inductance motors

Option 3: 16KHz Recommended for very low inductance motors

TURNIGY AQUASTAR ESC MANUALS 11 page / 12 pages

Correctly connect

the ESC with

brushless motor

and receiver. Move

the throttle to the

highest position,

turn on the

transmitter; power

on the receiver,

ESC and motor.

There are three

beeps emitted from

the motor, which

indicates the

electronics are

correctly power on

for the setting.

There are 4

beeps

emitted from

the motor

7 beeps

indicate you

already have

entered the

programmable

setting

The 1

st

beep:

Low

Cutoff

Voltage

The 2

nd

beep:

None

The 3

rd

beep:

Brake

Type

The 4

th

beep:

Timing

Advance

The 5

th

beep:

Cutoff

Type

The 6

th

beep:

Start

Type

The 8

th

beep:

PWM

Switching

Rate

reserve

The 10

th

beep:

EXIT

The 7

th

beep:

None

Move the throttle to the lowest position

One beep

indicates you

have entered

the Low Cutoff

Voltage

Setting.

1

st

beep:Auto

(default) 2

nd

beep:5.0v

3

rd

beep:6.0v

4

th

beep:7.2v

5

th

beep:8.4v

6

th

beep:9.0v

7

th

beep:12.0v

8

th

beep:15.0v

9

th

beep: 18.0V

Three beeps

indicates you

have entered

the Brake Type

Setting.

1

st

beep:

Close

(default) 2

nd

beep:

Soft Brake

Four beeps

indicates you

have entered

the Timing

Advance

Setting.

1

st

beep:Low

2

nd

beep:Middle

3

rd

beep:High

4

th

beep:

Auto (default)

Five beeps

indicates you

have entered

the Cutoff Type

Setting.

1

st

beep:

Hard Cutoff

(default) 2

nd

beep:

Soft Cutoff

Six beeps

indicates you

have entered

the Soft Start

Setting.

1

st

beep:

Soft Start

2

nd

beep:

Standard Start

(default) 3

rd

beep:

Fast Start

Eight beeps

indicates you

have entered

the PWM

Switching Rate

Setting

.

1

st

beep:

8K (default)

2

nd

beep:12K

3

rd

beep:16K

Move the throttle to the highest position

Three beeps emitted from motor indicated your setting is successful

GO

Figure. 1 : Operational Flowchart for Programming the ESC with Throttle

Main Loop