RPM Filter is a great boost to the performance of your quad. Originally you have to pay to use RPM filters for BLHeli_S ESC, but now it’s free thanks to JazzMaverick.
if you don’t know what’s RPM filter, check out this article. It’s basically a new filter in Betaflight that improves the flight performance of your drone. I can’t believe we can now also have this great feature on our tiny whoops and micro quads :) Amazing!
In this tutorial I will show you how to download and flash your BLHeli_S ESC with bidirectional DShot firmware.
Firmware Options
There are two aftermarket firmware that allow you to run RPM filter in BLHeli_S ESC:
- JESC – https://github.com/jflight-public/jesc
- JazzMaverick – https://github.com/JazzMaverick/BLHeli/tree/JazzMaverick-patch-1/BLHeli_S%20SiLabs
With JESC you have to purchase a license for each ESC ($5 for 4), while JazzMaverick is completely free and this is what we are going to use in this tutorial.
As far as i know there is no performance difference between the two firmware, but JESC has its own configurator and it perhaps makes setting up slightly easier.
Remove propellers before proceeding.
Downloading Firmware
Firstly find out the code name of your ESC.
Connect to BLHeli Configurator (how to).
You can see your ESC code name in the title, for example, mini is G-H-30 as shown in the screenshot below.
First letter is the hardware configuration of the ESC; the second letter, H for BB2 MCU and L for BB1 MCU; the last numbers are the dead-time value.
Now go to JazzMaverick’s firmware repository: https://github.com/JazzMaverick/BLHeli/tree/JazzMaverick-patch-1/BLHeli_S%20SiLabs
WARNING! – According to Betaflight Dev (source), avoid any newer BLHeli_S firmware versions from JazzMarerick after 16.73 as they are incompatible with RPM Filtering.
The author made undesirable changes that reduce the rate at which RPM telemetry data is supplied. As a result the RPM filtering will not track the motor vibrations well, resulting in poor filtering performance and possibly hotter motors.
At the moment, the 16.73 version is the only recommended version that properly supports RPM filtering.
There are so many versions, which one? When I see “RC” in the description, I usually avoid as it’s release candidate (still in beta). Choose the newest one without RC. Within the folder, choose 48K one.
Find your firmware file following the name you found in BLHeli Configurator. Look, I found mine! (This file is not for you, this is only an example!)
Click on the link, will bring you to a new page full of numbers and letters. But don’t panic :)
Right click on the “Raw” button on the top right, and select “Save link as” to save the file on your computer. It should be a .hex file.
Now go back to BLHeli Configurator, press the “Flash All” button and press “Select File Manually“.
And choose the hex file you just downloaded, BLHeli Configurator will flash all four of your ESC’s with the new firmware.
Once done, you should notice the firmware number has been updated in the configurator.
Your BLHeli_S ESC should now support bidirectional DShot, and you can move on to Betaflight Configurator to finish the rest of the setup. Good luck!
always use the one with 48K
Tried this and my Mobula 6 is still flying :)
RPM filter seems to be working (no motor errors).
Thing is, I don’t know whether I am running 48kHz or not.
I picked the 16.73 version for my ESCs (O-H-5) and there is only one file.
I found no PWM frequency info. Is there any way to find out?
Hi Oscar,
Thank you for all your work, i’ve read many of your articles and it helps a LOT !!
In this article you say that we shouldn’t use a version of JazzMaverick after 16.73 because it won’t support RPM filter.
BUT in the Git Hub archive the only 48 K HEX files are 16.77 …is it still not recommended to use them ?
If i use the 16.73 version would it enable, 48 KhZ, RPM filtering and Bi Directional D Shot ?
(For a TinyHawk 2)
Thanks again !!
there are lots of version please also tell us how to choose which version should i choose ?
When I see “RC” in the description, I usually avoid as it’s release candidate (still in beta). Choose the newest one without RC. Within the folder, choose 48K one.
Hi there.
I have an iflight succex f4 aio board with a 12A 4in1 blheli s esc.(G-H-30)
I followed all instructions and firmware update done (I tried 3 different version) and if I set bidirectional in bf then doesn’t works. Bidirectional off and works well.
What I missed? Do you have any idea please?
maybe those ESC’s are not supported? I am not sure as I don’t own that board to confirm. maybe check with iFlight customer support.
Oscar,
To be clear, a person has to use the Blheli_S configurator, and NOT the Blheli_32 configurator, correct?
In your link above, where it says “how to”: Connect to BLHeli Configurator (how to).
That “how to” link leads to a page that has a DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE section, with two links:
BLHeli Configurator: https://github.com/blheli-configurator/blheli-configurator/releases
BLHeliSuite for BLHeli_S: https://github.com/bitdump/BLHeli (download link in the bottom “Read Me” section).
But that READ ME section seems to point ONLY to the Blheli_32 configurator.
I’m sure I’m missing something, but I can’t figure out what it is.
Thanks…
you use BLHeliSuite for BLHeli_S ESC, NOT BLHELI_32
I have problem, I can’t see firmware of my esc. I have G-L-30 but in JazzMaverick folder is not this firmvare. Can I flash G-H-30? Im not sure, please help me. I want it with 48k.
hey @Understroyable
Are You sure it was J_H_30 on your REV35?
My rev35 has J_H_15 firmware …
Thanks to Oscar for that short and precise tutorial!
Overall, I am very grateful for both projects, giving us RPM Filtering on our old and cheap ESCs. I only tried JazzMaverick’s on my famous budget 4in1 ESCs with 5 inch setups and had mixed results:
Racerstar REV35 35A with J_H_30_48_REV16_77.HEX:
– Very smooth motors
– Very silent
– Easy to tune with RPM Filters
Mamba F40HV ESC (MAMBA F405 MK2 Stack) with A_H_40_48_REV16_8_RC3.HEX:
– Crazy Oscillation during hovering
– Random Death Rolls
– Unflyable
Is there a thread for the different versions and what to flash on which ESC?
Yeh, Namelessrc have a fake P-H-15 hex on their boards, its really P-H-90. Joe Lucid had to call them out basically. Ridiculous. Also the pyro board is the same as nameless down to the firmware.
Now I’m hearing P-H-120 for Nameless
I also fried one of my 4 in 1 using jazz mav and bardwells settings. ive gotten the jesc firmware and have also disabled dshot burst and changed scheduler timing. will report back. hoefully i dont fall out of the air quarter of a mile away again :/
Use JESC to avoid frying your escs. It auto-detects issues such as the NamelessRC.
16.73 is the recommended for the time being. 16.77 has bad dshot timing
I noticed there were several direcotries, which is the best one?
Hex files 16.7
Hex files 16.71
Hex files 16.73
Hex files 16.77 24k
Hex files 16.77 48k
And in the other branch
github.com/JazzMaverick/BLHeli/tree/16.78_A/BLHeli_S%20SiLabs
They have support for 96khz?
I fried 2 FCs doing this, a NamelessRC and Pyrodrone 12a AIO. Some people say to use P-H-90 instead of P-H-15 in this case.