BLHeli ESC Calibration And Throttle Setup

Here is how I calibrate the min/max throttle on my Little Bee ESC's using BlHeli Suite and Cleanflight, followed by the transmitter setup to minimise the throttle deadband. This is an alternative to the common method of using the motor tab in Cleanflight. After lots of faulty calibrations and a serious accident using the motor tab method a mate put me on to this and I've never had an issue.
For this quad I had to use an Arduino Nano to communicate with the ESC's because it has a Motolab Tornado flight controller that doesnt support one wire pass through programming for BlHeli Suite. Many other flight controllers support the BlHeli Suite programming through Cleanflight option so the Arduino is not necessary.

[@sayyay6230]

Thanx your approach to sharing info was very easy to follow and to the point in a short vid, also the added how to for spektrum was a nice touch as there is very little info on using spektrum. Cant wait to get a taranus my self. liked and subscribed

[@JoshuaBardwell]

No offense intended mate, but your approach is not correct. If you want to minimize deadband at the bottom of the throttle, reduce min_check. If you don't want to have accidents using the motor tab, be sure to remove your props before calibrating. If you want to manually set values, here is the correct approach. 1. In Cleanflight, set min_command and max_throttle to 1000 and 2000. 2. In BLhelisuite, set the PPM min and max throttle values to 1020 and 1980. This will ensure that Cleanflight can reliably command 0% and 100% throttle. 3. Use the motors tab to determine the lowest value at which the motors spin without cogging. Add about 20 us to this. Set that to min_throttle. It is really unfortunate that Cleanflight names min_throttle the way it does, because it is NOT actually the corresponding parameter to the PPM Min Throttle value in BLHeliSuite. The purpose of min_throttle is to ensure that the PID controller never idles a motor down to the point where the motor cogs or stops when in flight. Your approach does not accomplish this, and if you have not had a motor stutter in flight and drop an arm, then it is just sheer luck.

[@DarkePeak]

I've learnt more since I posted and I agree that my understanding is not perfect. The default min_check is 1100 but a CLI command is the only way of changing it. Much easier for most people that don't want to get into CLI to adjust the transmitter. The end result is the same except my process will have 20us less resolution which is so small it is unrecognisable. The aim was to calibrate ESC's to a common value and minimise the top and bottom deadband of the transmitter throttle stick while still having good resolution between min and max (>800us). Mission accomplished. Let me know otherwise.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Darke Peak Here is the problem I see with your approach, and please correct me if I have misunderstood something. You are not setting min_throttle based on the actual lowest throttle that will keep your motors spinning. You are working around min_throttle using transmitter throttle trim, but your transmitter is not in direct control of what throttle level is sent to the motors. The FC is. So it seems to me like your approach still possibly allows the FC to send a throttle signal to the motors that results in a motor stopping in flight. Again, I am not 100% sure I followed your whole approach, but any time you arbitrarily set min_throttle without actually determining the value at which your motors start spinning, I am suspicious that you have missed something.

[@DarkePeak]

+Joshua Bardwell You are making a correct assumption but it is irrelevant. After testing the start point for many different motors i always found they started spinning around 1015-1040. Anything under 1080 provides no useful benefit when flying. I also run a min throttle (or idle up) switch as well, and that adds 7-15% extra throttle (varies with quad/prop combo) at the minimum throttle position so my motors never come close to stopping when I fly.

[@jamble7k]

+Joshua Bardwell Hi Josh, this helped me a lot - thanks for posting. Was having issues with certain motors desynchronising on a punchout and this sorted the problem. :)

[@joem.5134]

thanks for this reply. There are soooo many people spreading bad information. it is truley next to impossible for a newcomer to know what is bullshit and what is good. so regretting not going with a kiss set up.

[@3goldfinger]

Help please. When I try to calibrate my BL Heli ESC in Cleanflight or iNav, when I connect the battery, the motors start to spin. How do I correct this. Also, in both Cleanflight and iNav, there is no option for BARO in flight mode. Where have they gone. Baro is ticked.

[@kennethwang7045]

Could I use this method to limit Amps esc outputs? I bought 20a esc, and I am a little scared that I may burn the tiny 1306 motors

[@karthikmenon4098]

Suppose I calibrate my ESCs using the motors tab on clean flight, can I recalibrate it in the future by using the motor tab page? +Darke Peak

[@mateostyle]

Tnx for the vid. For J Bardwell...in your step 3, is that adding 20 to the ESC min throttle? I'm new to this and programming my FC/ESC this week. For group, do you have to change any transmitter throttle settings to pair with FC throttle settings??? Tnx

[@DarkePeak]

+mateostyle To your second question: Look at the receiver tab in cleanflight and check the TX outputs.

[@RCSurf]

cool , but do fly with air mode?

[@DarkePeak]

No air mode yet. I tried it when it first came out and had safety issues. I have been using a min throttle switch for a few months (pre air mode) and that works pretty well for me. Plan to try it again now I'm moving to Taranis.

[@Derpmaster10]

Can u plz help me or the comment I just made a new drone and calibrated every thing and end I also when into blheli and updated all the esc and try idea to make them as close at possible and all of that but when I put my throats up like 5 the drone have a mind of it own and start to clime really fast to 100% in my house do flips on the ground I really don't know what to do because you and rotor riot really inspired me to get into Fpv drone