I finally got around to installing the power system in my Strega.  I set up the system on the bench first to make sure it worked and also to check motor rotation so I could mark the ESC leads correctly.  Everything checked out fine.  Installed everything in the plane, plugged in a battery, inserted the arming plug, got the normal initial beep sequence from the ESC then just got a series of beeps at about one second intervals instead of the usual 5 beeps to indicate a five cell battery.  Went to the ESC manual and found that this is an indication the the voltage is out of range either over or under.  Tried another battery with the same results.  Removed everything from the plane and installed back on the test block.  Plugged in the battery directly, without the arming plug and got the full ESC startup sequence with the five beeps.  Removed the battery, put the arming plug system back in and got the full, five beep startup sequence again.  I'm suspecting a bad solder joint somewhere but no matter how much I bend, wiggle or otherwise disturb the wiring I can't reproduce what happened when the system was mounted in the airplane.  Suggestions???  5-cell, 3000 mAh battery, Hobbywing Pentium 80 amp ESC (I've had it quite a long time but it's never been used), KR timer, Tacon Bigfoot 32 motor 770 KV

I've had similar problems with my KR timer setup. Not sure if it's the KR or the ESC. I'm guessing here, but if there is too much resistance when plugging something in it sends a low voltage message to the esc, or my ESC just does a false reading, and it thinks your battery is dead. (Again, I'm totally guessing-but I've had the same experience.) This was also when I used the KR with cheap chinese escs.
I overcame the problem but plugging and unplugging my arming switch multiple times with a freshly peaked battery and praying it would spark in less than a minute so I don't have to wave off my flight.
In my case however, I was using a battery extension that was over one foot long in one model because it was a twin, and in the other model I also used a triple motor splitter because it was a tri-motor.

I would redo them all. I never mess around with problems like this . If one is failing, most likely the others are not far behind. I've said it many times on here I DONT TRUST those CHEEP CHINESE ESE'S. There are plenty of used or NIP Castle speed controls available on eBay or RC website forums for less than one pays for most of the cheep stuff. I've run the KR with the Castles and they work great! I've run them with the Hubin's , they work great!!! Why play with anything else If you are using those timers? Your just looking for trouble!!!! If your using an Igor or Fioretti that's a whole other animal and its spelled Jeti.

William.

I pretty much figured I'd redo them all, in fact, I may even replace the arming plug harness that I modified just to be sure.  I was merely wondering if there was any easy way to avoid this.  I don't think it's an unreasonable question.  But I think your rant about cheap ESCs is completely off base.  The reason I use them is because Keith Renicle (KR Timers) on his website speaks of using them with good success.  I didn't just pick a cheap ESC out of the air.  And as far as buying used from the internet, I think that's as big a crap shoot as you think buying inexpensive ESCs is.

Dave, you are spot on.  I have been using KR timers with a cheep speed controller for a long time now.  The only down side of using a "cheep" speed controller is the lack of data recording.  In some respects this setup is more reliable.  The safety features built into the KR timer have saved my setup more than once.

I appreciate your comments.  Thanks.

I've had similar problems with my KR timer setup. Not sure if it's the KR or the ESC. I'm guessing here, but if there is too much resistance when plugging something in it sends a low voltage message to the esc, or my ESC just does a false reading, and it thinks your battery is dead. (Again, I'm totally guessing-but I've had the same experience.) This was also when I used the KR with cheap chinese escs.
I overcame the problem but plugging and unplugging my arming switch multiple times with a freshly peaked battery and praying it would spark in less than a minute so I don't have to wave off my flight.
In my case however, I was using a battery extension that was over one foot long in one model because it was a twin, and in the other model I also used a triple motor splitter because it was a tri-motor.

I saw David have that problem with his trimotor.  I suspect he is correct that the controller software decides too soon on the voltage input.  What brand of controller has shown the problem?