TECH TIP: HOW DO I SET UP MY ESC TO RUN HV LIPOS??

Making sure your electric R/C car, boat, plane, or heli is receiving the power it requires is one of the first things you should do if you want to increase its performance. If the batteries are not up to par, you might not notice much of a difference even if you upgrade your engine and ESC. LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries witnessed a sharp increase in popularity in the early 2000s and swiftly replaced NiMH cells as the preferred electric upgrade. The more excellent power-to-weight ratio, which resulted in a faster car with better acceleration, was the trade-off for LiPos' higher cost and additional maintenance requirements.

We have seen the emergence of yet another LiPo-based battery in recent years. Because it is a high-voltage-based lithium battery, the pack is frequently referred to as LiHV. These batteries have a greater nominal and peak cell voltage because of their altered chemical makeup. A typical LiPo battery has a peak voltage of 4.20 volts, whereas LiHV per cell peaks at 4.35 volts. A LiHV battery has a nominal voltage of 3.8 volts, while a standard LiPo battery has a nominal voltage of 3.7 volts. The increased voltage should give you longer run times, the lower internal resistance (as long as it's less than a standard LiPo cell of the same C rating) should make more power available throughout the discharge, and the higher-end voltage can give your model even more power (significantly as you increase the number of cells you're running).

One of the drawbacks of employing LiHV packs is the intricacy of the procedures needed to obtain the extra capacity. For instance, your ESC and motor must be able to accept LiHV's maximum cell count, and your charger must be able to deliver 4.35 volts per cell.

USING LI-HV BATTERIES WITH YOUR CASTLE ESC

When adding LiHV batteries to your Castle-powered systems, there are a few things to keep in mind. To properly execute Auto-LiPo Detection, which determines the cutoff value depending on the observed cell count, let's first comprehend how the ESC reads cell voltages.

The minimum and maximum voltages in your battery pack dictate how many lithium polymer cells are connected in series.
Based on 4.2 volts per cell, the ESC calculates the battery's input voltage and converts it to a number of cells.
Following the initialization tones, the controller will flash and beep the number of cells it has counted when the battery pack is plugged in.

The ESC's auto-LiPo detection is set to 4.2 volts per cell. Because the ESC detects your 4s LiHV at 4.2/per cell rather than 4.35/per cell, when HV LiPo cells charge to 4.35v/cell, it will believe you are running more cells than you actually are and will prematurely shut you off if you leave it at its usual settings.

FOLLOW THESE steps to eliminate a premature cutoff when utilizing LiHV batteries in your setup:

Open the Castle Link programming software on your Windows computer or use a B-Link Bluetooth adapter and the app on your iPhone or Android device.
Cutoff Voltage can be found in Castle Link under the BASIC tab.
Switch the "Auto-LiPo" cutoff voltage to "Custom."
In the box on the right, you can modify the total cutoff voltage by multiplying the number of cells by the cutoff voltage per cell. Although 3.2 volts is the default cutoff per cell, you should always confirm the minimum discharge voltage advised by your LiPo manufacturer.
To send the updated settings to your ESC, click UPDATE.
If you switch battery packs and change the number of cells, you will need to modify the custom option once more.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST……

In order to prevent irreversible damage from over-voltage, it is also crucial to pay close attention to the ESC's stated maximum input voltage ratings. An ESC must be able to handle both the amp demand and the battery pack's nominal charge.

That's it. If you consider three crucial parameters, you can run LiHV batteries with your Castle ESC without any problems: