Steve_Wright Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Just had a maiden on my Go Discover foamy which didn't go too well Usual flying field, Tx is an early DX7 with a brand new battery, flight battery is a 4s lipo, Rx is a new Spektrum 4ch (bought from LMS, not a copy I hope), ESC is supplied with the plane so new. Range check was fine, on climb out at about 50m high & 100m from me the motor cut, still had control though. Was doing a circuit to land it & a few seconds later motor cut again, this time with loss of control. Started to spriral in but came back to life again, on final turn the motor cut again but still had control. Put it down rather swiftly. Foolishly, (hindsight is wonderful!) I thought it was the BEC tripping in the ESC and put in a brand new charged 4s lipo & range checked it, again fine. Gave it 20 seconds full power on the gound and again no issue. So another circuit (I am thinking what a muppet as I type this!) This time climb out was good, came around for second turn & lost all control & nosed into the hedge. All I can say is the motor was still getting power before the crash. I am uploading the videos now, glorious HD from the nose mounted Go Pro. This has left me somewhat concerned. Is it a radio issue, Rx issue, or dodgy ESC? There are electric fences at 1 end of my site but I turn them off before flying in case of radio interference, they were deffinatley off. The loss of control happened at different ends of my circuit, 1 turning away to the right, the other towards to the right. Rx is in the bottom of the fuz. I will post the videos shortly, but any suggestions as to how to diagnose the root cause without flying something? There are alot of new parts being used, which doesn't help Edited By Steve_Wright on 21/03/2015 14:12:57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hopkin Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Commiserations.... If the motor was cutting out but you still had control, it would seem to point to the motor/esc/battery side of the equation but the second flight was on a new LiPo so that would appear to eliminte the battery Might be worth taking readings off the batteries to see if they are at the charge state you would expect after however long flight time you had - is the Motor/ESC sucking them dry and casuing a low voltage brown out maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangster Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 What about esc is it automatically recognising the 4s pack or had it been inadvertently manually programmed for a 5cell pack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Will see what I can find out about the ESC, its for 3 or 4s, no intructions came with the model so will have a dig around on the web Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I had a brand new ESC ( presumably a different make to yours) fail on it's first flight - seemed like a radio problem in the air but when on the ground after a few minutes it just glitched. So a soak test on the ground is the first thing I would try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolm woodcock 1 Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 It would be worth looking into any dry solder joints between motor/ESC/battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Sounds like it might be going into temperature protection mode, can you a) check the temperature of the esc and battery after a few minutes running and b) check the current drawn on full throttle to see if it's within the esc's limits? If the esc is hot to touch is there a decent flow of air over the esc and battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Just checked the video again, seems I did 1 quick circuit before I had the issue. Off to run the motor for a few minutes to check the temp. Looked around for my watt metre before & can't find it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Hmm, well 5 minutes varying between 50 & 100% throttle & the ESC is barely warm to the touch, and thats inside with little airflow to it, battery stayed cold. Suspect Rx? Off to fly the Twinstar to see if its an environmental issue, very much doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 1st video https://youtu.be/IC260z3syCk Edited By Steve_Wright on 21/03/2015 16:32:37 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Well its not the fences or the Tx, my twinstar flew fine earlier. So Rx, battery or ESC... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Well it's not likely to be the battery as you swopped that so it leaves the Rx or ESC. or the wiring........ You could send the new Rx back to Horizon who have an excellent reputation for fair service. So I suggest sending it direct to Horizon not the dealer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Will do that, if it checks out okay I will raise a ticket with HK over the ESC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaunie Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 The motor/prop does sound quite a bit out of balance. Poor balance does cause vibration problems and saps power. Just a thought. Shaunie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hopkin Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Posted by Shaunie on 22/03/2015 09:46:54: The motor/prop does sound quite a bit out of balance. Poor balance does cause vibration problems and saps power. Just a thought. Shaunie. But also a great exposer of bad or dry joints and loose fitting plugs.... may be there is something not quite a tight as it should be and the vibration of causing a power down.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 Right, got round to looking at this again, had a spare Rx so thought I would fit it & try it. Range check fails at around 10ft!! Going to put the original back in now & see what that gives, wondering what voltage the ESC is giving the Rx Edited By Steve_Wright on 11/04/2015 18:56:34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted April 11, 2015 Share Posted April 11, 2015 That motor/prop certainly sounds horrible! It could just be the airframe but I doubt it. You should be able to feel the vibration if you hold the plane near the motor. would certainly balance the prop or at the least try another one. As Dave says vibration can cause all sorts of electric issues - as the IC boys know only too well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 Need to find a replacement for the cheap one that came with it. However, the range issue is just me stirring the sticks, no motor involved. Going to the den now to test stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Wright Posted April 11, 2015 Author Share Posted April 11, 2015 LOL, well all that proved is my spare/test Rx is garbage (it is an orange one though!) On range check at 10ft from the plane just putting my hand between the Tx and Rx caused dropout. With the specktrum one back in and on range test I am getting 40ft & 2 brick walls between me and the Rx before it goes into safe mode. Also checked and getting a solid 5 volts power from the ESC with the motor on or off & stiring the sticks also. So back to square 1 Will fit my spare ESC I have & try again. As for the vibrations, there is very little, you barely feel it when holding the airframe, maybe just the GoPro making it sound worse than it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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