Matt Carlton Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 Hello, For no apparent reason, the 40A Overlander XP2 in one of my models is behaving very oddly. Sometimes, it will "stick" at full throttle when in the air, but when on the ground, it works absolutely fine. When it does this, there is no indication of interference as all other controls are unaffected. On landing (after waiting for the battery to die) the ESC is functioning normally, as it was during pre flight checks. I have just moved club, so I considered something "in the air" but it seems unlikely, although there is a big RAF "Golf Ball" not too many miles away. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 (edited) What is the ventilation like to the ESC? Could it be overheating causing the issue? Whatever the cause, I would be inclined to replace it, especially if the BEC is powering your RX and servos; it's not worth risking a model over. Retire it to the bench for testing! Edited March 15, 2022 by MattyB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 15, 2022 Author Share Posted March 15, 2022 Ventilation is decent, but could possibly be improved. That is a potential cause, but its a 40A ESC running at about 17A, so it shouldn't be getting too hot. But, for the sake of £20, I might retire it for duty in a boat or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 Never fly with something you don't trust 100% - not worth the risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 14 hours ago, Matt Carlton said: Ventilation is decent, but could possibly be improved. That is a potential cause, but its a 40A ESC running at about 17A, so it shouldn't be getting too hot. But, for the sake of £20, I might retire it for duty in a boat or something. Does it spend a long time at the same level of partial (low) throttle, as it might in (say) a vintage model? That can actually generate more heat than running it a full as the FETS are doing more work switching with (potentially) less ventilation. It does very much dep d on the use case and install though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 Agreed retirement is the best option but there are a couple of things you could investigate: 1) Have someone check the Transmitter channel outputs (if that monitoring function is available on your TX) of that model in flight to verify that the throttle is working correctly at all times on that model memory setup. It is just possible that the problem is that the TX is sending a full throttle command & the ESC is just obeying that. 2) Recalibrate the throttle range settings of the ESC. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 Matt A bit puzzled by your comment "after waiting for the battery to die". I would hope you are not taking the battery down to the ESC's LVC (Low Voltage Cut off) on a regular basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 2 minutes ago, Simon Chaddock said: Matt C A bit puzzled by your comment "after waiting for the battery to die". I would hope you are not taking the battery down to the ESC's LVC (Low Voltage Cut off) on a regular basis. Agreed, LVC is a last ditch effort to protect the battery, but you shouldbe coming down well before you hit it on a normal flight (when you land look for between 3.6-3.7V/cell resting voltage, at that level you won't do any long term damage to your packs through over-discharge). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 Possibly stuck at full/high throttle so no choice..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted March 16, 2022 Author Share Posted March 16, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Simon Chaddock said: Matt A bit puzzled by your comment "after waiting for the battery to die". I would hope you are not taking the battery down to the ESC's LVC (Low Voltage Cut off) on a regular basis. The throttle was stuck at 100% so rather than stuff it in at full speed, I flew it around until the rpm dropped off sufficiently to land without damage and be able to retrieve the model safely without the prop turning at full rpm. It was the safest option all things considered. This was not my routine, it was just the best I could do with the situation at hand. Afterwards, I balanced the pack and put it into a storage charge as soon as I could. It's only 3S 1600 and capacity of each cell is still fine, I think these smaller capacity 2S and 3S packs are possibly more forgiving but obviously it isn't something I want to repeat. I did think about the tx signal issue, but that would have shown up on the ground checks, so I don't think it's that. The model is somewhat racey, so spends most of the flight flat out. I will hoink it out and replace it anyway before I fly it again. Edited March 16, 2022 by Matt Carlton 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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