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| Kontronik Jazz 40-6-18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The following is an overview of the Kontronik Jazz 40-6-18 and it's functionality. The Jazz 40-6-18 an Electronic Speed Controller for use in applications that will draw up to 40 amps. This makes it comfortably over capacity for the T-Rex. It's internal BEC will also handle up to 6S (or 18 cells). Hence the name Jazz 40-6-18, it stands for 40 amps and 6-18 nicad cells which is similar to 6S for lipos. The rating is somewhat confusing as 18 cells is 21.6V and 6S is 25.2V, Kontronik clear this up in the specification by specifying as a 25V capable BEC. The Jazz is programmed using a jumper (on the ESC) and the transmitter stick position. This sounds complicated but in comparison to other ESC it is amazingly simple. Basically you can alter one setting at a time. You put the jumper on the ESC pins and power on. Wait until you hear three beeps then take the jumper off, then wait for the beeps for the setting you want to alter (multiple beeps) and then go throttle high. There are only two settings to make, heli mode and lipo mode. Which is setting 4 and setting 9. So you power on with the jumper connected, wait for three beeps, take the jumper off, wait until you hear four beeps and go to high stick. Power off. Power on with the jumper connected, wait for three beeps, take the jumper off, wait until you hear nine beeps and go to high stick. Power off. and that's it !! If you want to read more there is a downlodable manual here The ESC is now set for heli mode and lipo mode, which means a nice soft start, no break, and between 2.7 and 3.0v per cell lipo protection with a soft shutdown. Timing you don't have to worry about as the Jazz has automatic timing and adjusts it's frequency to exactly match your motor. The ESC contains a very good BEC which has adequate capacity for running the usual four servos, receiver and gyro when using up to a 5S lipo as the power source. No need for separate BECs and so forth in order to run high voltage. Normally at this stage I would go through all the setting on the ESC but for the Jazz it just isn't relevant, Heli fliers just need set heli mode and lipo mode, nothing else required. The next item normally covered is what motors the ESC will handle (in governor mode). Again this is somewhat irrelevant, the Jazz has a very clever governor that works out the timing of your motor and adjusts itself in both frequency and timing to produce a perfectly governed RPM. It does this with great authority and I've yet to hear of a motor that it couldn't govern adequately. Certainly all the motors I have tried have been no issue for the Jazz. Of course the Jazz can be run outside of heli mode and this means that the governor is turned off and other settings would need to be applied to make sure nothing unwanted happens. However, I can't see why anyone would want to do this with such a competent governor function as the Jazz provides in heli mode. So there must be some downsides to this, it can't all be good news right? Well indeed there are some downsides. Firstly the Jazz is heavier than your average 35A ESC. The CC35 as an example weighs 24.5g, the Jazz comes in at a hefty 33g. However, for the high voltage guys you don't need a separate BEC which you would need with a CC35. Secondly the Jazz is bigger in physical size, although not by much. Thirdly it is significantly more expensive. Fourthly setting the main rotor RPM using a Jazz seems to be a black art and has been subject of various forum threads. Although it isn't difficult to get to your target RPM this can mean running at some very odd (low) percentages in the tx even though you may have selected the correct pinion. Rather than repeat a very long discussion on this subject there is a very good thread speculating how this works with some sample data on rcgroups --> click here |
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| Conclusion Having spent quite some time flying with the Jazz there are some things you become very accustomed to once you have used one. First it has the smoothest startup I've seen on an ESC. I can immediately spot a Jazz powered T-Rex just from the spool up. Secondly the governor just does it's job, no issues, no surging, it's rock solid. These two things alone are a huge plus point but when you add to this the options (in terms of expandability) that the Jazz provides (3S - 6S), the superb BEC and it's excellent automatic frequency matching (which gives a silky smooth motor run) then it is difficult to come up with reasons for not putting a Jazz on your machine. Added to this the programming couldn't be simpler. But before we all reach for credit cards be ready for a significant dent in your finances compared to other ESC and also be prepared that this is a bigger and heavier unit than other ESCs. If neither of these are an issue then without doubt this is the best ESC I have run and is firmly at the quality end of the market. Once again you get what you pay for. If you have this ESC rate it using the TrexTuning rating system ...... |
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