KDE Direct News Releases

KDE Direct products come with standard wire lengths that have been tested for safety and compatibility between products. If the total length of DC wire between the ESC and battery is too long, then it will cause higher voltage spikes induced in the wires and on the input capacitors. These higher voltage spikes will cause the capacitors to heat up and cause premature wear on sensitive components inside the ESC. The best way to solve this issue is to keep the DC wires short and to extend the AC wires between the motor and ESC. Extending the AC wires will...

ESC protections are intended to help prevent harmful events from damaging the equipment. With the latest firmware updates (A460125 and B460253) the ESCs will now log when a protection occurs. Using the KDE Direct Device Manager V1.38.0 and above, you can view whether a protection has been activated or not. The protections window can be accessed from the PC software via the menu (Options -> Protections). The latest firmware and software updates can be found on the downloads page. ESCs using the new firmware will now log if stall protection, over temperature, low voltage cutoff, over voltage protection, or overload protection occurs. Protections...

With all the different ESC equipment, determining which ESC to use is vital to ensuring proper setup and safety. Each motor we sell online lists a recommended ESC. When selecting an ESC, first make sure it is rated to handle the voltage you plan to run. For example, if you are using a 10S or 12S battery then you will need to use an HVC series or UVC series ESC. After you have determined the required voltage rating, then you will need to make sure the ESC can handle sufficient amperage to handle the load you plan to run. The ESCs are...

Are KDE Direct ESCs opto-isolated?Yes, all KDE Direct ESCs are opto-isolated. This means that the power to the ESC via the control lead (white, red, black) is isolated from the battery leads and the signal is transferred via light (photocoupler). We recommend connecting a 5V UBEC to the ESCs if your flight controller does not supply this voltage. Some flight controllers provide this power to the ESCs while others do not. For example, if you are using a Pixhawk we recommend connecting a 5V UBEC to the MAIN output rail. While we recommend using a UBEC, any regulated DC voltage will...

  Do KDE Direct ESCs need to be calibrated? KDE Direct ESCs are plug and play with RC radio systems; throttle calibration is not required for most radios. The default settings utilize an auto-scaling algorithm which dynamically adjusts throttle endpoints when it first powers on. The throttle range is based on the normal operating range of a Futaba system (1100µs-1940µs with 1520 typically being center). If your radio system does not have a standard pulse range, you might need to adjust the throttle end points in the radio to properly arm the ESCs. It's important to make sure the throttle...