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The ESC on your RC car is the Electronic Speed Control. It impacts how you change the vehicle’s speed and how much power the motor produces. The transmitter picks up a signal from the receiver and sends it to the ESC to drive the car. If you’re having problems with your ESC, check the lights. Blinking red lights signal a significant problem.
What Does It Mean When My ESC Blinks Red?
There are many reasons your ESC blinks red. Each flash can mean something different, so it’s crucial to know other possible issues. If you know of another problem, like a low-charged battery, it’s easier to troubleshoot your problem.
Is ESC Blinking Red Light?: [Reasons & Solutions]
The ESC light blinking red has many causes. Before following these tips, ensure you’re not holding the set button too long when you turn off the vehicle. Keeping the button down makes the light flash even though there’s no other issue. Of course, you can always disconnect the battery instead of holding the set button.
Reason 1: Overheating Damage
A fast ARRMA ESC blinking red light means your motor doesn’t have enough power to run at the speed you’re attempting. As a result, the engine goes into thermal shutdown protection. This process keeps the car from overheating, but you can’t drive it until it’s cooler.
Solution: Add Some Cooling Fans
Add some cooling fans to your RC car to prevent overheating. Hobby shops have fans specially made for RC cars to cool the engine without adding too much weight to the chassis. Wire the small fans to the car’s motor to work in tandem. If you do this, you won’t see the ARRMA Kraton 6S blinking red light again.
Reason 2: Protection From Current Spike
People who see their ARRMA Granite ESC flashing red know that something’s wrong, and it’s often related to the current. Your car will protect itself from a current spike by flashing to get your attention and slowing down. However, you might find you can’t control the car well and keep throttling it to make it move.
Solution: Stop Throttling if Your RC Car Is Stuck
You must stop driving when you notice your ARRMA ESC has no throttle. Continuing to throttle the car when stuck means you’ll spike the current and damage the car. So instead, stop controlling the vehicle and let it cool down.
Reason 3: Improper Connections
Drivers who see the ARRMA Big Rock ESC blinking red but the car is otherwise functioning might have questions about the issue. Improper connections between the ESC and the battery can make the light blink.
Solution: Maintain Proper Connection
Ensure your ESC has the full connectivity with a charged battery. Also, check the connections to the receiver when your ARRMA Mega ESC is blinking red. If you properly soldered the wires during installation, that shouldn’t be the problem, but it never hurts to check.
Reason 4: Over Voltage Detection
You’ll see a blinking red and green light with this issue. The lights will alternate to tell you that the motor doesn’t have power. The car enters Over Voltage Protection because you’re using a battery with too high voltage. When this happens, the speed control defaults to a fail-safe mode.
Solution: Do Not Overspeed
When drivers with an SCX24 see a flashing red light on the ESC, they know that speed is the culprit. You can’t push the car to its maximum speed, or else the voltage triggers the car’s fail-safe mode. This setting keeps you from damaging your RC car, so it’s a great feature to have, but you don’t want to abuse it and burn out your ESC or motor.
Reason 5: Low Voltage Protection
You’re in low-voltage detection when you see the ARRMA Granite ESC blinking red. This alert means your battery is below the minimum recommended charge, and the speed will only function at 50% throttle. As the battery charge continues to decrease, the speed control turns off the motor completely.
Solution: Recharge Your Battery
It goes without saying that it’s time to recharge your battery. It’s fun to drive the car until it stops, but you want to be ready with a recharged battery as soon as possible so you can drive it in optimal conditions. So when you insert the fully charged battery, make sure to get a solid connection. This attention to detail can prevent a red flashing light in your future.
What Are the Ways To Install ESC on a Car?
Sometimes the Axial AE-5L ESC is blinking red means you need to install a new ESC completely. First, clean the ESC plate and chassis with isopropyl alcohol to ensure a solid connection. Next, use double-sided foam tape to press the ESC into place on the car. It’s strong enough to hold the ESC, but you can remove it without much trouble later if necessary.
Then connect the wires, stripping a bit of the end to twist or solder the bare wires together. You can also use alligator clips to hold the wires in place.
What Are the Steps to Factory Reset ESC?
If you want to know, “How do I reset my ARRMA ESC?” read on. It’s an easy process. You can factory reset an ESC to ensure it’s working as it should. Connect it to a battery, then turn on the transmitter. Turn on the car and hold the set button for four seconds.
When you release the set button, you’ll see the red and green lights both blink at the same time. This pattern shows you’ve reset the vehicle.
Turn off the car, and when you turn it back on, it’ll be back to factory standards.
Conclusion
An ARRMA ESC blinking red light might cause some alarm, but knowing these troubleshooting steps will have your RC car back on the road in no time. Try them to see if you can fix the car yourself. Seeing your RC car with a blinking red light isn’t a huge cause for alarm if you know the tips above.
If none of these steps work, you might need to use the warranty or visit your local hobby shop. Some products are faulty, so look for an ARRMA ESC recall. There are many common issues that could lead to blinking lights, so don’t wait to fix your car.
Frequently Asked Questions
Calibrating your ARRMA ESC is as easy as one, two, three—as in watch for those flashes.
First, turn on the transmitter. Hold the set button and turn on the vehicle, then release the set button. You’ll hear it beep once or see the green light flash once.
Next, put the transmitter in neutral and depress the throttle. Hold it while you press the set button and listen for two beeps or look for two green flashes.
Last, hit the reverse or brake on the transmitter and hold it. Wait to hear three beeps or see three flashes. Turn off ESC, and you’re fully calibrated.
This article is all about a blinking red light, but you might notice your ARRMA ESC blinking green. If the ESC blinks green, your remote probably isn’t connecting to the receiver. You can recalibrate the ESC if there’s no throttle input.
You might also wonder, “Why is my RC remote blinking red?” The green light can relate to the remote, but a blinking red light might mean you need new batteries for the remote.
It will also blink green if the throttle trim isn’t set correctly. You can adjust the throttle trim to the middle setting of the multi-function knob and retry the car.
Bind the ARRMA ESC by holding down the receiver’s bind button. Turn on the ESC and wait for the receiver to go into binding mode. You’ll see the green light blinking when it’s ready. At that time, turn on the transmitter so it can bind with the receiver. The green light turns solid when it completes binding.
To program an ESC, first fully charge the battery. Connect the battery pack and turn on the transmitter. Keep the throttle neutral and hold the set button. You’ll see the light flash green, then red.
After the red light blinks one time, push the trigger to full throttle and hold it. The light will blink red twice when it registers this action.
Finally, push the trigger to reverse and hold it. The light will blink green one time. This alert signals that you’ve programmed the ESC on the car.
You might notice your Traxxas ESC blinking red, even if there’s no other problem. In this case, the ESC might have its signals crossed. You can try to factory reset the ESC or hold the off button for five seconds. When you turn it on next, there should be no warning light, and the car should handle normally.
