So as a couple of you may know I was recently in the Arrma forums and messaging HH to try and find out what the LVC setting n the 160A Firma ESC are exactly. For those of you not familiar with it the ESC doesn't list specific voltages for the LVC to kick in. instead it says "Auto - Low", "Auto - Medium" and "Auto-High". The problem is I'm not sure exactly what to set my LVC to because every set of lipos I've run in my Kraton 8S kicks out at different points. For example on "Auto - Low" my SMC 4S packs didnt cut out until they had hit 2.6-2.8v/c. My Hoovo 4S packs cut out around 3.6V/C and my Zee 4S packs cut out around 4.75V/C. It doesn't make sense so I've been trying to find answers.
Unfortunately the thread over on the Arrma forums was highjacked by someone who kept wanting to argue about LVC preferences even though I told him 2 or 3 different times I was there to debate what people should set their LVC too. So that ended up being a huge waste of time and ultimately I asked Woodie to just delete the thread because no one would read through all the bickering to find a nugget or two of info so I figure I'll just share with you guys cuz yall are the ones I do this stuff for, I mean other than I do it for myself too obviously
So that leaves us with just what I've experienced so far and what HH has told me so far. This was their first response to my question what exactly the LVC settings meant on the 160A Firma.
"In regards to the Low/Medium/High cutoff. That is never really a point where you would want to run a Medium/High cutoff. All of those options are "auto". So it will auto-detect the cell count, and as long as "low" is selected. It will adjust to the proper "Low" voltage cutoff point for that cell-rated battery."
Well this isnt true because for some reason the Low setting ran my SMC packs all the way down to as low as 2.6V/C and the highest cell was 2.8V/C. That is too low but it doesn't do that to my other packs. my other packs dont go down far enough. Generally I set my LVC to 3.2V/C because even if they sag momentarily down to 2.7 or 2.8 as long as the LVC is doing its job and cutting them off as soon as voltage sags below 3.2V/C then the packs will be fine. Everything that I've read says that the cells dont start being really damaged until they hit 2.6V/C. Now that being said running them lower will shorten the life span a bit but the trade off is longer run times. Also the statement doesn't make sense because the technician stated that "It will adjust to the proper "Low" voltage cutoff point for that cell-rated battery." That doesn't make sense because LVC needs to be the same no matter how many cells you're running.
Having said all of that i want to make it perfectly clear that I do not want to debate LVC levels in this thread. This thread is about what the LVC settings on the Firma 160A actually do whether its good or bad and regardless if what you or I do is good or bad. If you disagree with me and want to debate it start another thread and Ill be happy to debate you all you want on LVC but I dont want what happened over at the arrma forum to happen here. We can debate facts about the settings themselves but not whats safe and unsafe.
So I wrote HH back and I said "I still don't understand the lvc on the 160a firma esc. If it's all automatic then why is there a low, medium and high? Those have to stand for something or else why would they be there?"
The rest of the back and forth with HH went like this...
HH: "I have explained what the difference are the best I can to not confuse you more. Low means it will cut the batteries at a safe Low point (Recommended) Medium would be for a shorter run where you don't want the battery as low as the low option. Higher, the same thing just stops higher than the medium point. Not sure how else to explain that I'm afraid."
Me: "I understand the difference between high medium and low in a generic sense. I'm trying to find out what the lvc values are for each of the settings so I know which one I want to use. Low is waaaay to low. It discharged my cells down to anywhere from 2.6 to 2.8v/c on a brand new set of 60C 5000mah lipos. I don't really feel like I should have to experiment with each setting and risk damaging brand new expensive lipos because HH doesn't want to divulge the set values or the formula that the esc uses to dictate at what point lvc will occur. Every other esc on the planet just tells you in the settings the exact point at which lvc will occur."
HH: "I understand what you are needing. I just confirmed with Spektrum and here are the values for each.
Low - 3.2v
Medium - 3.4v
High - 3.6v
*All values are approximate and may fluctuate*"
Me: "Ok, hold up so this leads to another question. If low is supposed to be 3.2V/C cut off then why does my SMC 60C 5000mah lipos get run down to 2.6-2.8V/C, My Hoovo 60C 5000mah Lipos get run down to 3.6V/C and my Zee brand pair of 50C 5200mah lipos only gets run down to 3.75V/C? My results are not consistent with Spektrums claims of low being 3.2V/C."
and I'm still waiting for a response to that so this is where i am in my quest to unravel the mysteries of the Firma 160A ESC LVC Settings and why they seem to be dumb. lol
Anyone have any insight or thoughts on the matter?
P.S. Sometimes I feel like I should have been an investigative reporter lol
Unfortunately the thread over on the Arrma forums was highjacked by someone who kept wanting to argue about LVC preferences even though I told him 2 or 3 different times I was there to debate what people should set their LVC too. So that ended up being a huge waste of time and ultimately I asked Woodie to just delete the thread because no one would read through all the bickering to find a nugget or two of info so I figure I'll just share with you guys cuz yall are the ones I do this stuff for, I mean other than I do it for myself too obviously
So that leaves us with just what I've experienced so far and what HH has told me so far. This was their first response to my question what exactly the LVC settings meant on the 160A Firma.
"In regards to the Low/Medium/High cutoff. That is never really a point where you would want to run a Medium/High cutoff. All of those options are "auto". So it will auto-detect the cell count, and as long as "low" is selected. It will adjust to the proper "Low" voltage cutoff point for that cell-rated battery."
Well this isnt true because for some reason the Low setting ran my SMC packs all the way down to as low as 2.6V/C and the highest cell was 2.8V/C. That is too low but it doesn't do that to my other packs. my other packs dont go down far enough. Generally I set my LVC to 3.2V/C because even if they sag momentarily down to 2.7 or 2.8 as long as the LVC is doing its job and cutting them off as soon as voltage sags below 3.2V/C then the packs will be fine. Everything that I've read says that the cells dont start being really damaged until they hit 2.6V/C. Now that being said running them lower will shorten the life span a bit but the trade off is longer run times. Also the statement doesn't make sense because the technician stated that "It will adjust to the proper "Low" voltage cutoff point for that cell-rated battery." That doesn't make sense because LVC needs to be the same no matter how many cells you're running.
Having said all of that i want to make it perfectly clear that I do not want to debate LVC levels in this thread. This thread is about what the LVC settings on the Firma 160A actually do whether its good or bad and regardless if what you or I do is good or bad. If you disagree with me and want to debate it start another thread and Ill be happy to debate you all you want on LVC but I dont want what happened over at the arrma forum to happen here. We can debate facts about the settings themselves but not whats safe and unsafe.
So I wrote HH back and I said "I still don't understand the lvc on the 160a firma esc. If it's all automatic then why is there a low, medium and high? Those have to stand for something or else why would they be there?"
The rest of the back and forth with HH went like this...
HH: "I have explained what the difference are the best I can to not confuse you more. Low means it will cut the batteries at a safe Low point (Recommended) Medium would be for a shorter run where you don't want the battery as low as the low option. Higher, the same thing just stops higher than the medium point. Not sure how else to explain that I'm afraid."
Me: "I understand the difference between high medium and low in a generic sense. I'm trying to find out what the lvc values are for each of the settings so I know which one I want to use. Low is waaaay to low. It discharged my cells down to anywhere from 2.6 to 2.8v/c on a brand new set of 60C 5000mah lipos. I don't really feel like I should have to experiment with each setting and risk damaging brand new expensive lipos because HH doesn't want to divulge the set values or the formula that the esc uses to dictate at what point lvc will occur. Every other esc on the planet just tells you in the settings the exact point at which lvc will occur."
HH: "I understand what you are needing. I just confirmed with Spektrum and here are the values for each.
Low - 3.2v
Medium - 3.4v
High - 3.6v
*All values are approximate and may fluctuate*"
Me: "Ok, hold up so this leads to another question. If low is supposed to be 3.2V/C cut off then why does my SMC 60C 5000mah lipos get run down to 2.6-2.8V/C, My Hoovo 60C 5000mah Lipos get run down to 3.6V/C and my Zee brand pair of 50C 5200mah lipos only gets run down to 3.75V/C? My results are not consistent with Spektrums claims of low being 3.2V/C."
and I'm still waiting for a response to that so this is where i am in my quest to unravel the mysteries of the Firma 160A ESC LVC Settings and why they seem to be dumb. lol
Anyone have any insight or thoughts on the matter?
P.S. Sometimes I feel like I should have been an investigative reporter lol
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