01 Disclaimer

Thank you for purchasing this HOBBYWING product! Any improper use may cause personal injury and damage to the product and related devices. We strongly recommend reading through this user manual before use and strictly abide by the specified operating procedures. We shall not be liable for any liability arising from the use of this product, including but not limited to reimbursement for incidental or indirect losses. Meanwhile, we do not assume any responsibility caused by unauthorized modification of the product. We have the right to change the product design, appearance, performance and use requirements without notice.

Document ID: HW-SMC317DUL01-A2

02 Attentions

• Please make sure that all wires and connecting parts are well insulated before the ESC connected with relevant connecting parts, because short circuit will damage the ESC.
• Please connect all parts carefully. If connect improperly, you may not be able to control the vehicle normally, or the equipment will be damaged or other unpredictable situations occurs.
• Before using this system, please carefully check each power device and car frame instructions to ensure the power matching is reasonable. Prevent wrong matching from damaging power system.
• If need to weld input line, output line and plug of ESC, please use welding equipment of at least 60W to ensure weld firmly.
• Do not let the external temperature of the system exceed 90°C/194°F; high temperature will destroy the power system.
• After use, remember to disconnect the battery and the ESC. If the battery isn't disconnected, the ESC will consume electric energy all the time even if it is off. It will discharge completely if connect the battery for a long time, thus resulting in the failure of the battery or the ESC. We are not responsible for any damage caused by this!

03 Features

• The integrated design of the ESC and the motor greatly reduces the overall volume and weight, and makes the layout and wiring of car frame simpler and more convenient.
• The FOC driving mode, low speed torque is strong. Smooth running at extreme low speed, which is far superior to the common sensored brushless power system, even better than the brushed power.
• Thanks to the sine wave driving mode, the whole system has high efficiency, small heat, and effectively extends the endurance time; and the motor runs more quietly and soft.
• The protection grade of the whole system is IP67, with excellent waterproof and dustproof performance. Under various weather conditions, the whole system can easily deal with the complex road surface containing silt, ice and snow, and water.
• Intelligent torque output and speed closed-loop control, making the control handy.
• Active drag brake force adjustment, providing unprecedented parking capacity on slope.
• With strong built-in switch mode BEC, the continuous current is up to 6A, and support switch between 6V and 7.4V, easy to drive various powerful steering servo and high-voltage steering servo.
• Multiple protection functions: battery low voltage protection, overheat protection, throttle lost protection, lock-up protection.
• It supports LED program box to set ESC parameters, and has independent parameter setting interface, which is integrated on electronic switch, making setting parameters more convenient.

04 Specifications

Diagram showing the dimensions of the ESC and motor, including diameter, length, shaft diameter, and motor poles.

05 Connections

Diagram illustrating the connection of the ESC to the motor, receiver, and battery, with labels for each component and a warning symbol ⚠️.

Connect receiver

Insert the throttle cable of the ESC into the throttle channel of receiver (that's THROTTLE channel). Because the red line of throttle cable output 6V/7.4V voltage to receiver and steering servo, do not supply power to receiver, otherwise the ESC may be damaged. If need to supply power, pick out the red line among throttle cable, wrap it and suspend.

Connect battery

The input line of the ESC has polarity. When connecting the battery, make sure that the (+) pole of the ESC is connected to the (+) pole of the battery and the (-) pole is connected to the (-). If the ESC is connected reversely, the ESC will be damaged. There is no warranty service for damaging ESC due to power on reversely.

06 ESC Setup

1 Set the Throttle Range – ESC Calibration

On the first use the ESC or the radio/transmitter changes "Throttle TRIM", or the radio has been replaced, the throttle range is need to reset, otherwise the ESC may not work correctly. We recommend to set the fail-safe function of throttle channel ("F/S") to close output mode or set the protection value to the neutral position, making the motor stop running when the receiver cannot receive signal of the radio. The method of setting the throttle range is as following:

1. Turn on the radio, adjust the "D / R", "EPA", "ATL" of the throttle channel to 100% (if the radio has no display screen, adjust the corresponding knob to the maximum position), and adjust the "TRIM" of the throttle channel to 0 (if the remote control has no display screen, adjust the corresponding knob to the middle position). This step can be skipped if the radio's settings are default.
2. In power off state, press the power button and hold it continuously. The red light on the ESC's switch starts to flash, then release the power button immediately (If the power button is not released within 8 seconds, the ESC will enter other modes, and need to start over), the motor will sound synchronously.

Visual guide for ESC calibration showing throttle trigger positions (neutral, full throttle, full reverse) and corresponding LED/beep indicators.

Step 3: At this time, three points need to be set: the neutral position, the full throttle and the full reverse.

• The throttle trigger stays at the neutral position, press the power button, the green light flashes once, and the motor emits "beep" once, indicating that the neutral position has been stored.
• Move the throttle trigger to the full throttle position, press power button, the green light flashes twice, and the motor emits "beep-beep" twice, indicating that the full throttle position has been stored.
• Push the throttle trigger to the full reverse position, press power button, the green light flashes three times, and the motor emits "beep-beep-beep" three times, indicating that the full reverse position has been stored.

Step 4: After calibrating, the motor can be operated normally.

2 Instruction for power on/off and Tones

Instruction for power on/off: Short press the switch button to start in off state; long press the switch button to shut down in on state.

Instruction for sound: Start in normal condition (Not setting throttle range), the times of beep emitted by motor indicates the number of Lipo Cells, for example, "Beep, Beep" indicates 2S Lipo; "Beep, Beep, Beep" indicates 3S Lipo.

03 Instruction for programmable items

The column of white words on black background in the following table are the default values of programmable items.

1. Running Mode:

Option 1: Forward/Reverse (RPM Matching) When the throttle trigger is pushed from neutral to reverse area, the motor reverses immediately. Through speed closed-loop control to realize cruised control function, that is, when the resistance of the vehicle changes, the ESC will automatically adjust the output torque.

Option 2: Forward/Reverse with Brake (Normal mode) The vehicle only brakes on the first time you push the throttle trigger to the reverse/brake position. If the motor stops when the throttle trigger return to the neutral position and then re-push the trigger to reverse position, the vehicle will reverse, if the motor does not completely stop, then your vehicle won't reverse but still brake, you need to return the throttle trigger to the neutral position and push it to reverse again. This method is for preventing vehicle from being accidentally reversed. Like common sensored brushless or brushed ESC, the ESC will not automatically adjust the output torque in this mode, that is, when the resistance of the vehicle changes, the speed will change accordingly.

Option 3: Forward/Reverse (Normal mode) When the throttle trigger is pushed to reverse position, the motor reverses immediately. Like common sensored brushless or brushed ESC, the ESC will not automatically adjust the output torque in this mode, that is, when the resistance of the vehicle changes, the speed will change accordingly.

2. Lipo Cells:

The default is automatic judgement. If you usually use the same battery, we suggest you set manually the number of Lipo Cells to avoid misjudgment (Which may mistakenly judge 3S Lipo that have no power as 2S Lipo that are fully charged, which will cause the low-voltage protection function of the ESC operates wrongly.

3. Cutoff Voltage:

This function is mainly to prevent the irrecoverable damage caused by over discharge of Lipo Cells. If the voltage protection is turned on, the ESC will monitor the battery voltage all the time during operation. Once the voltage is lower than the set threshold value, the power output will gradually reduce to 50% of the normal power, and the power will be completely closed after 30 seconds. When entering the low-voltage protection, the red LED will blink in the way of - - - in single cycle. When set to "Disabled", there will be no low voltage protection function, for NiMH batteries, you can set this parameter to "Disabled". The low, medium and high options correspond to 3.0V/Cell, 3.25V/Cell, 3.5V/Cell.

4. ESC Thermal Protection:

The ESC will close output automatically when the temperature rises to the preset value, and the green light will flash, and the output will be restored until the temperature drops. The green light flashes in the way of - - - in single cycle when in overheat protection.

5. Motor Rotation:

The front of the motor shaft faces the user's face (i.e. the tail of the motor is far away from the user's face, when the radio is increasing the throttle in the forward direction, if it is set to CCW, the motor shaft rotates counterclockwise; if it is set to CW, the motor shaft rotates clockwise. Due to the structure difference of car frame, the rotation direction would not correct. If the rotation direction is wrong, change to the reverse direction.

6. BEC Voltage:

BEC voltage support 6V/7.4V. Generally, 6.0V is suitable for standard servos, while 7.4V is suitable for high-voltage servos. Please set according to the servo specifications.

Note: 1. Do not set the BEC voltage above the maximum operating voltage of the servo, as this may damage the servo or even the ESC.

Note: 2. Due to the characteristics of the BEC circuit, there is a voltage difference between the BEC output voltage and the input voltage, when the BEC voltage is set to 7.4V and 2S Lipo is used, the BEC cannot stably output 7.4V (will decrease as the battery voltage decreases). Therefore, it is recommended to use 7.4V BEC when matching with 3S Lipo.

7. Drag Brake Force:

Drag brake means a brake force on the motor when the throttle trigger returns to the neutral position. There are 9 options of drag brake force to adjust, "Disabled" means the drag brake force is 0; the corresponding drag brake force increases from level 1 to level 8. Select the appropriate drag brake force according to the actual situation.

8. Drag Brake Rate:

It means the rate when drag brake force increases from zero to the set value when the radio trigger enters the neutral range, commonly called as slow brake. This value has 9 options to adjust. The higher the level is, the greater the drag brake rate is. Reasonably set this value can make the vehicle stop more stably.

9. Max. Reverse Force:

Select different parameter value can produce different max. reverse force.

10. Max. Brake Force:

The ESC provides proportional braking function, with the size of the braking force and the position of the throttle trigger relatable. The maximum braking force refers to the braking position when the brake is applied. Depending on the vehicle, select the appropriate maximum braking force.

11. RPM Decrease Rate:

This refers to the speed of rpm change when reducing the throttle (from high to low throttle) in the normal mode. The higher the value, the faster the change. If you want to achieve the experience of natural sliding when reducing the throttle like normal brushless power, this value needs to be set to small. Note: this parameter is only valid for normal running mode.

12. Punch:

Punch can be used to control overall motor response, in relation to the throttle input. The higher the set value, the faster the acceleration. Lower punch settings are advised for softer starts, lower traction, or to help with motor hesitations or stuttering when throttle is applied rapidly.

13. Neutral Range:

As not all transmitters have the same stability at "neutral position", please adjust this parameter as per your preference. You can adjust to a bigger value when this happens.

04 Parameter setting method

Use LED program box to set ESC parameters

It is easy and fast to read and set parameters via a LED program box. The setting method is as follows:

The ESC is in off state, connect the 3pin setting interface on the 2 in 1 system switch with the interface marked with "- +" on the upper right corner of the setting box according to the polarity with a flat cable with JR plug at both ends. Then power on the ESC, after a few seconds, all parameters of the ESC can be displayed. The "ITEM" and "VALUE" button on the programming card can quickly select the programming items and parameter values, press "OK" button to save the new parameters in ESC.

Diagram showing the connection of the LED program box to the ESC for parameter setting.

05 Factory reset

Use LED program box to restore factory settings. The method is as follows:

After connect program box and the ESC, press "RESET" button and then press "OK" button to save, the factory settings can be restored.

06 Automatic Motor Pairing (Optional)

If the motor has been subjected to severe impact or has abnormal heating and abnormal power output during operation, need to do the following automatic motor pairing. The operation method is as follows:

Connect the battery, press and hold the button on the power switch, the red light will flash first, then switch to green light flashing after about 8 seconds, now you can release the button, the motor will enter the automatic pairing process, after about 5 seconds, the system will restart and self-check (report Lipo cells), which indicates that the pairing is completed.

07 Indication for LED of ESC

1. Startup stage

• In the normal state after power on, the red light is always on.
• The red light flashes continuously and rapidly: No throttle signal is detected by the ESC or the neutral position of the ESC does not match with the radio.
• The green light flashes N times: The number of Lipo Cells detection, flashes N times indicates there are N Lipo.

2. Driving stage

• The throttle trigger is in neutral range, and the green light goes out.
• When forwarding, the green light flashes; when the throttle is at the end position of forward, the green light is always on.
• When reversing, the green light flashes; when the throttle is at the end position of backward and the max. reverse force is set to 100%, the green light is always on.

3. When relevant protection functions are triggered, the LED status means:

• The red light flashes continuously (single flashing, -): the ESC enters low-voltage protection status.
• Green light flashes continuously (single flashing, -): the temperature of ESC is too high, and enters overheat protection status.

08 Troubleshooting