Table of Contents
Summary of Contents for FES FCU
- Page 1 FES FCU Master and Repeater User Manual, Version 1.0 For instrument type: FES-FCU 57, firmware version 3.16 LZ design d.o.o., • Brod 3D, 1370 Logatec, Slovenia • tel +386 59 948 898 info@lzdesign.si • www.front-electric-sustainer.com...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
2.1 Technical specifications ..................4 2.2 Firmware version ....................4 3. FCU installation ......................5 4. General layout of front FCU panel ................7 5. Power switch ......................8 6. Ventilation lever ....................... 9 7. Using the FCU ......................10 7.1 Switching ON the instrument ................ -
Page 3: Important Notices
1.1 Limited Warranty This LZ design FCU product is warranted to be free from defects in materials or workmanship for two years from the date of purchase. Within this period, LZ design will, at its sole option, repair or replace any components that fail in normal use. -
Page 4: General
Repeater unit differs from hardware point of view only in configuration of CAN bus terminating resistor. Repeater unit do not have installed 120 Ohm terminating resistor. Firmware is the same, but in the settings front FCU must be set as Master and rear FCU as Repeater. -
Page 5: Fcu Installation
There are two male connectors on the back side of the instrument. Carefully plug into the FCU, signal cable female plug with 9 pins and signal cable plug with 15 pins, and fasten each plug with 2 fastening springs over plates on sides of each plug. - Page 6 FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 Suitable position for the FCU instrument Master on front panel of Duo Discus FES ¸ Suitable position for the FCU instrument Repeater on the rear panel of Duo Discus FES Page 6 of 34...
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Page 7: General Layout Of Front Fcu Panel
1. FCU ON/OFF switch – turns the FCU ON or OFF 2. Throttle/brake knob (Rotary encoder button) motor power is set from 0 – 100% power by rotating the knob clockwise, counter-clockwise rotation of the knob acts as an electronic propeller brake and... -
Page 8: Power Switch
FES power switches. One in front cockpit and one in rear cockpit. On Duo Discus FES, front “Power switch” is located on the left side of lower console. It is a toggle type switch protected by a red safety guard. On the safety guard is glued red sticker “FES POWER SWITCH”... -
Page 9: Ventilation Lever
Pilot can easily recognize if the ventilation is opened by the amount of fresh air coming into the cockpit and the increased noise. The FCU does not monitor the position of the ventilation valve, however the motor temperature gradient is monitored by the FCU. -
Page 10: Using The Fcu
Warning: Front FCU must be always switched ON during flight! 7.2 Initial main screen A few seconds after the FCU has been turned on, the initial main screen is displayed. Please find the description of the screen below: CANOPY or power... -
Page 11: Canopy Warning
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 Temperature of the motor and each of the battery packs should be visible. It is normal that the temperature of the controller is not visible when the “Power switch” is OFF. A white message “NO DATA FROM CONTROLLER”... -
Page 12: Check Power Switch! Warning
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 After the canopy is closed, red CANOPY message disappears and the motor can be started normally. Warning: If canopy is still open and pilot tries to run the motor anyways, a second red message: “Warning, Canopy is still open!”... -
Page 13: Battery Packs Energy Consumption
“Power switch” is switched ON, throttle will be set to 0% automatically and the pilot can start the motor without any further action required. Note: Early versions of the FCU firmware required the pilot to set the throttle back to zero as it would not start otherwise. After resetting the throttle, the motor could be started normally. -
Page 14: Screen At Power Switch Turned On
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 7.3 Screen with the “Power switch” turned ON When the Power switch is turned ON the temperature of the controller becomes visible, and green “CONTROLLER READY” message appears on the bottom line of the display. -
Page 15: Screen During Motor Run
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 7.3.1 Screen with motor running Warning: Before starting the motor, make sure nobody is close to the propeller, in the propeller disk line or in the front of the glider. Only then it is safe to proceed with the start procedure. -
Page 16: Power Settings During Flight
500 RPM and then to quickly rotate the throttle knob counter-clockwise until the throttle bar on the FCU starts blinking red. Note that throttle knob (rotary encoder), has an additional push button function! -
Page 17: Propeller Stop With Electronic Braking
Caution: If you want to test regenerative braking on the ground, you need to spin the motor up to at least 500RPM (about 2000 RPM was required with some previous single-seat FES gliders) and then briefly rotate the throttle knob counter-clockwise until the throttle bar on the FCU starts blinking red. -
Page 18: Propeller Aligning
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 7.3.4 Propeller alignment When motor stops, leave the throttle knob in the “braking” position – throttle bar should be blinking red. Wait 2 or 3 seconds until propeller stops and RPM data shows zero RPM. - Page 19 2 seconds: This message will appear only with the FCU firmware version 3.0 or higher. If aligning does not work properly, it is possible to adjust the following parameters in the settings menu: time between steps from 50ms to 1s (usually 60 –...
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Page 20: Warnings
Motor warnings have a higher priority than controller warnings After all active warnings have been confirmed, the normal FCU screen is displayed. Warning message recall: All currently active warning messages can be recalled by pushing the throttle knob multiple times in a quick succession. The warning messages will reappear on the screen according to their priority. -
Page 21: Led Lights
The “ALARM” LED is located above and the “OK” and “ERROR” LEDs are located below the display. When the FCU is turned ON, all three LEDs first blink in red followed by green, so that it is possible to confirm that all three LEDs are working. -
Page 22: Screen Messages
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 8.3 Screen messages 8.3.1 Voltage warnings There are two important Voltage warnings based on total voltage measurement: level: Yellow warning (which appears as the first message in most cases): Is shown when total voltage of battery packs drops below 95 Volts, under load. - Page 23 Required action: The motor should be shut down immediately, due to low voltage. Warning: If the pilot ignores the message and the motor is not shut down, a 30 s countdown begins. At the end of the countdown the FCU will stop the motor automatically to protect the batteries from deep discharge.
- Page 24 Power supply is below 11V Low 12 V power supply! * If the motor is not running, the required actions “Reduce power” or “Stop FES motor” are not displayed with the warning message. * If power is set below 8kW, recommended action “Reduce power!” is not displayed with the warning message.
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Page 25: Temperature Warnings
Contr. Ext. High > 90°C, Stop FES motor! high, above 90°C * If the motor is not running, the required actions “Reduce power” or “Stop FES motor” are not displayed with the warning message. * If power is set below 8kW, recommended action “Reduce power!” is not displayed with the warning message. -
Page 26: Other Warnings
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 8.3.3 Other warnings There are three other warnings: Ventilation (check section 6. Ventilation lever), Canopy (check section 7.2.1 CANOPY Warning), Power switch (check section 7.2.2 Check “Power Switch” Warning). List of other warnings:... -
Page 27: Settings
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 9. Settings Settings menu can be accessed by a long (approximately 3 seconds) push of the throttle knob, but only when motor is stopped. You can choose between: Info, Battery or Password page by rotating the knob. The individual pages can be accessed by pushing the knob. -
Page 28: Info Page
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 9.1 Info page Info page displays the following information, described below: FCU version (above: 3.16). Firmware: Serial number of the instrument (above: 00222) and the instrument Serial number: mode (above is set as “Sustainer”). -
Page 29: Battery Page
FES FCU Instrument, Version 1.0 March 2021 9.2 Battery page Battery page displays measured battery parameters. The first line after the title of the page shows: “Bat”: temperature in the first and second battery pack, “BMS”: temperature of the first and second battery pack BMS units. -
Page 30: Password
By entering the correct password, it is possible to access the System setup menu of FCU. There are a few submenus which are accessible by rotation of throttle knob in clockwise direction. With short press of throttle knob, it is possible to enter each submenu to modify the settings. -
Page 31: Fcu Firmware Updates
On two-seaters always update both FCU instruments, and check that all the settings are identical on both units. Front FCU must be set as Master and rear FCU as Repeater. Update file can only be obtained from LZ design directly and it is prohibited to share it with other owners. -
Page 32: Fcu Update Procedure
Sub-D connector of the RS232-USB cable. On Duo Discus FES, the FCC box is located behind a small hatch on the left side of the rear cockpit seat pan, the cover has an access hole to plug in the Sub-D connector of the RS232-USB cable. - Page 33 FCU is turned ON during updated otherwise update might not be completed properly. If FCU is already turned ON, wait until message “Connected” is displayed. When the update procedure starts a progress, blue bar is shown.
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Page 34: After Update
March 2021 10.3 After update After the update, all the settings in the updated FCU should remain the same. Some versions might require you to enter a password and/or to adjust some settings – if advised to do so by the manufacturer before the update. If you experience any problems before, during or after the update, please contact the LZ design directly.
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