How To Migrate Voltara ESCs to Gen2 FW

Table Of Contents

If you’re already flying Voltara ESCs with the legacy firmware, you don’t need new hardware to move to Gen2. A one-time migration replaces the legacy firmware with the new Gen2 bootloader. After that, all future firmware updates run through the standard Voltara Configurator.

The migration takes approximately 2–5 seconds per ESC after a power cycle and only needs to be performed once.

What You’ll Need #

  • Voltara ESC Configurator
  • A flight controller running a supported firmware:
    • Betaflight 4.5.2, 4.5.3, or 2026.6+ (other versions will fail)
    • KISS Ultra
  • USB cable to connect your flight controller to your computer
  • Power for the ESCs — Power Supply(recommended), battery, etc.

How It Works #

The migrator is a small firmware that, once flashed onto your ESCs and powered on, automatically erases the old firmware and installs the Gen2 bootloader. After that, you flash the Gen2 main firmware just like any normal update.

Step-by-Step #

1. Launch the Configurator #

Open the Voltara ESC Configurator without connecting yet. On the welcome screen, click the Legacy to Gen2 Migrator Button.

2. Select Your Flight Controller #

Choose Betaflight or KISS Ultra. If you select Betaflight, the configurator will advise what versions are compatible with the migration procedure.

3. Select Your ESC Type #

Choose Voltara 70A or Voltara Mini 50A. The configurator automatically loads the matching migration firmware.

Be sure to double-check and select the correct type with your actual Hardware. It’s important!

4. Connect and Power #

  • Connect your flight controller to the computer via USB
  • Power your ESCs (battery or BEC)

5. Connect & Flash #

Click Connect & Flash, then select your serial port when prompted.

The tool will:

  • Connect to your flight controller
  • Enter ESC bootloader mode
  • Wait for the bootloader to initialize
  • Flash the migration firmware to all ESCs simultaneously

It is a good practice to watch the ESC LED pattern and confirm that they receive data during the flashing process (data is sent blind, so it might look like flashing went OK, but the ESCs received nothing)

When you see Flashing Complete, the migrator is on the ESCs — but it hasn’t run yet.

6. Power Cycle #

Disconnect both the battery and the USB cable, then reconnect them.

The migrator FW now runs automatically. You’ll see a few LED flashes on each ESC for about 2–5 seconds while the old firmware is erased and the Gen2 bootloader is installed, a long 1-2 seconds of solid light followed by a steady, fast blinking means it is finished.

7. Flash the Gen2 Firmware #

  • Open the main Voltara ESC Configurator
  • Connect to your flight controller
  • Click Enter Passthrough
  • Go to the Firmware tab
  • Load the latest Gen2 firmware from REMOTE
  • Flash it to your ESCs

8. Final Power Cycle #

Power cycle once more for the new Gen2 firmware to initialize properly. After that, reconnect through the configurator and start configuring settings.

That’s it — your ESCs are now running Gen2 and ready to fly.

Troubleshooting #

Migratio fails on Betaflight 2025.x or older #

There’s a known bug in these Betaflight versions where the Serial ESC passthrough does not forward serial data to the ESCs. Temporarily downgrade to Betaflight 4.5.3 to perform the migration, then upgrade back if you wish.

Also, some AT32 based Flight Controllers have issues and might fail to connect. Best to stick with STM32-based FCs

No bootloader response from ESC after migration #

  • Confirm the ESCs are actually powered, and the LEDs are fast blinking(bootloader mode active)
  • Check that the flight controller is properly connected via USB
  • Make sure no other application is holding the serial port

Migrator finishes, but the ESC doesn’t behave normally #

The migrator only installs the Gen2 bootloader, not the application firmware. You must flash the Gen2 firmware via the main configurator’s Firmware tab before the ESC will operate. If you skipped step 7, just go back and do it.

After Migration #

Once your ESCs are running Gen2, future updates are seamless — just connect through the configurator’s Firmware tab. No more migration steps, no more fiddling. Welcome to Gen2!