Tom T Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hi all :D I have just recently passed my A and fortunately my trusty trainer managed to hold out for it. Anyway, I then flew it again and it glitch, fortunately it was recovered and made a successful landing onto the runway, but I'm now confused on what to next. A few club members had a look for me and said that I will need to change (update) all of the servos and battery pack on it as the receiver i am using is demanding to much power from it. I don't know whether to sell it as spares/repairs and then buy a Wot 4 with the money from it before moving on to flying the chipmunk or to do up the trainer and keep flying that. There is not much of a price difference between buying all the bits to do the trainer up and buying the wot 4 but whether all the work needed is worth it for the time i will need it. What would you say is the best option and if buying the Wot 4 is, would you recommend buying the electric version or sticking with nitro. (I have only flown nitro so far) Cheers Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 What gear have you got? generally, its only the battery that will want upping in capacity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 A 4.8v Ni-mh battery with a real mixture of sanyo and futaba (s3003) haha its a right muddle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy watson Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Strange one to me. Assuming it is a vaguely normal trainer with 4 standard servos, then I can't imagine a normal 4.8V NiMH battery is struggling to cope? What's the capacity? You can pick up a new 2600mAh battery for about a fiver even if that is where the problem is, although I think many people have flown for a lot of years with much smaller capacity batteries (I'm sure I have some old ones that are about 700/800mAh rx packs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 and the battery size? and has it been cycled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Tom, Firstly a big congratulations for getting you A, that is a big achievement Why not repair your trainer? you can competently fly on your own now but repairing your model will give you experience in this field and that's all good. I flew my Super Skyman years after I managed my first take off an landing and that was just a 3 channel model but still a whole lot of fun. Your trainer is probably worth more in enjoyment and fun than what little you will get for it selling it. Enjoy your trainer and save for your WOT4, this model is one of the best all rounders about and will give you the experience needed to progress to the B cert. Try a 6v pack? Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Hi Tom well done on the A tes, it's a great feeling isn't it? I think I would put the battery through a few cycles to check it out thouroghly or just replace it for peace of mind. Have a good check of all the servo plugs and sockets, including any extensions, and finaly make sure the switch and it's wiring are absolutely OK.. Maybe add an on board voltage checker and see if that dips into the red while you're waggling servos hard. After that, I'd carry on flying the trainer. Give it a good range check and waggle the servos a lot to see if you can see a glitch again first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Ok, I will do that, I'll put in a 6v see if that makes a difference to it and put in a voltage checker. Alan+Andy I will check its capacity tonight and let you know. Cheers for the help! There is a swapmeet coming up shortly so i'll buy the equipment needed when I am there, I have to do a little work on the front landing gear, so when I fix that I'll change the battery at the same time. Cheers Tom Ps. It is a great feeling to pass, even though my hands where dancing on the controls at the time Edit: Sanwa servos, not sure why I put sanyo Edited By Tom T on 21/03/2012 08:13:39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Tom, glitches are a fact of life.....like death & taxes...they just happen!!!! Thankfully they are fairly rare but some set ups or sites seem more prone than others..... I can't see why a model that has got you through the A test suddenly needs it's servos & battery "upgrading" to "prevent" glitches.....the receiver takes very little power anyway...its the servos that do the work & draw the most current. I think I would treat this advise with a pinch of salt. As the other guys have said I would stick with your trainer.....just because you now have your A only means you are "safe & competent" & a trainer still has a lot to teach you.....experiment with it...throw it around, put the sticks in the corners....can you recover it? See which way up it is?? Can you land it at your feet every time? You have passed your A...very well done.......now you need to learn to be an Airman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Simmons Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Well done in passing your A. Now the real fun begins and try flying in different wind conditions and safely experiment flying with it. Your confidence will grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Congrats on the A Tom - well done mate! We knew you had it in you! I agree with much of the advice on here. STick with your trainer for now, save up for the WOT4 and onward to the B! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Cheers! The battery size is a 2000mah 4.8v :D I should of added at the start but it was its 4th time of glitching, 3 in the air and one on the ground. I will stick with the trainer, just going to see if changing the battery may alter it slightly. Cheers Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Can't see it Tom......I have the same sort of battery in most of my models & some of them are 5 servo aerobats...these will put a greater load on the battery than your trainer I should think. Have you cycled the battery recently? What capacity did it report? If there is any doubt about it I'd be tempted to bin it....they are only around the £5 mark to buy new which I can guess is a fair bit of pocket money for you but much less than a crashed model will cost you.....I'm sure the garden needs a bit of work on it after all......probably several batteries worth at this time of year if you get my meaning!!! Glitching isn't usually caused by the battery anyway. Check for any loose or damaged plugs....is the aerial OK? the outer insulation might look OK but the copper cores can be damaged....is it 35MHz or 2.4GHz? Is the model electric powered or IC?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cole Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Steve: apparent glitching is easily caused by a bad Rx battery, if the Rx has a low-voltage fail-safe: A: as the voltage falls, the Rx goes into fail-safe and the servos move to that position and stop. Stopping reduces the battery load, and the voltage sensed by the Rx rises. The Rx comes out of fail-safe and moves the servos, increasing the load on the battery and decreasing the voltage sensed by the Rx. Go back to A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Ok, I will cycle it again and let you know what it reads. The radio is a DX6i 2.4ghz, I thought it was the receiver but i sent that off for checks but it had nothing wrong with it. Also the model is IC (OS46). I'll cycle the battery and then get back to you with what it reads. I see what you mean.... wash the car, garden, mow the lawn a few times, be a good child and get all good grades Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hargreaves - Moderator Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 You're absolutely right John....I was assuming Tom had a 35MHz FM set up.....these will work down to very low voltages. A failsafe kicking in would certainly interupt the smooth flying of a model although should be easier to detect via the diagnostic lights on the Rx (assuming 2.4 is being used)... I guess we need Tom to tell us what system he is using..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 Its a DX6I Spektrum, 2.4ghz :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codename-John Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Id save up for a futaba radio set insted of another model Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 That did cross my mind, because i've heard a bad remark towards Futaba. I may be washing the whole villiages cars before i can get enough but I'll certainly look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cole Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Spektrum DX6I: there's a product recall notice on these for certain manufacture-date codes. Check your dates against the ones than need fixing. See here. But I would still guess bad Rx battery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Privett Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Not so many years ago we'd have considered a 1000mAh battery as huge in a typical trainer - 500 or 600mAh was the norm. A 2000mAh battery should let you fly just about all week! (OK, slight exaggeration about all week before anybody takes me literally!) Tom, what size cells does your 2000mAh battery have? One problem with higher capacity AA cells is that their ability to supply a high current without the voltage dropping is not as good as the lower capacity cells. So it's possible under a heavy load (high speed, sticks to the corners...) for the battery voltage to drop low enough to be a problem, even though there's plenty charge left in the battery. But if you're already using bigger (physical size) cells, like sub-C cells, then this is unlikely to be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaunie Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 How big were the glitches? Just maidened a TT OBL40 trainer on electric power, to help teach a mate and the kids to fly, but also as a camera ship. It's on 35 MHz unfortunately but it is a "free plane" I was given the aircraft, the power set and the radio by different people. It flew it's first flight with two 808 cameras, reviewing the results I counted five motor glitches, I heard one big one from the ground but the others I had no idea about until I viewed the footage, bit like having a flight recorder really. My point is that perhaps we get more glitches than we are aware of. I've also had a glitch there with my Spektrum DX7 that caught me out so much I damaged my Vortex 400. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom T Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 I will have to check about the battery tommorow and get back to you. Thank you for all of the help and advise! Shaunie, It glitched out long enough for it to roll inverted, when it was on the ground I checked the receiver and it was flashing, so i presumed it had a brown out and the QC kicked in to recover it. I will check the battery capacity tommorow, It seems to only glitch out when on approach to landing, about 12ft off the ground it has done it twice. The only other time it has done it (except on the ground) was when it was flying straight. When it glitched out for me was when I was practising my deadstick landings, I was coming in way to fast so i powered up to go around and thats when the glitch took place. Could be as you suggest John to much of a heavy load. Tom: I will check to make sure that it has not got a cell out, it seemed fine when on the cell checker. Cheers again for all the advise! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Tom, For the price of a new battery I wouldn't risk it. It would also be good practise to make sure every plug and socket is secure and that you receiver and battery are again secure and wrapped in foam. An IC engine can produce a lot of vibration through the airframe, could it be that this vibration is causing a connection fault somewhere? You can check this by turning on your radio and waggling each connection point, whilst moving your controls. You may find that you get a servo stutter as it looses signal due to you waggle away? If you know which control is glitching then go to that servo/lead first. Its well worth checking before you start buying batteries. For me if a cell had gone it would fail altogether in flight and you would be asking 'how to repair a model' instead. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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