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-Pls Help- Pixhawk dead just before his birthday?

Posted by Mathieu on December 30, 2014 at 5:24pm

Hi everyone, 

I need your help please, I'm afraid my Pixhawk is dying (which would be a shame since it's not even 1 year old). It's doing this:

Pixhawk anniversary from mterzian on Vimeo.

- I powered my Pixhawk for a flight today and couldn't start it. The main LED (I/O) is not blinking at all any more.  

- I tried to reboot several times with no luck.

- I tried to connect to APM planner via 3DR radio and the buzzer was making a very strange sound (see/hear video)

- I tried to connect via USB to reinstall arducopter but it could'nt connect to APM Planner anymore. I got an error message: "pixhawk error opening port no such file or directory"

- I tried the reset buttons on the side of the Pixhawk - nothing

- I reformatted the SD card - nothing 

WIthout the 3DR radio plugged, all I can hear is the ESCs beeping.

With the 3DR radio plugged, the buzzer is screaming.

Everything was working perfectly last night when I reconfigured the RC and loaded the auto mission.

I didn't change anything, nothing happened.

Please can anyone help me understand what is going on?

Thank you!

Mathieu

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Replies

  • Jörgen April 8, 2015 at 6:42am

    Does the fault regulator destroy any other part or is it possible to desolder it and use external supply?

    Regards /Jörgen

  • Shawn Shepard February 9, 2015 at 8:57am

    I am having the exact same issue with the HKPilot32 from Hobby King.  I am not sure if it is considered a Pixhawk clone or just another PX4 implementation but I am having the very same issue.  The board is about 2 weeks old.  I noticed the other day that when I powered it through the power module it was experiencing this issue but when I powered it with the USB it worked fine.  Then, the USB stopped working as well.  I also noticed that the back of the board gets very hot after a couple of minutes connected to the USB.  I have an RMA request submitted to Hobby King hoping that they will replace it.

    Photo Feb 08, 8 00 47 AM.jpg

    https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3701931746?profile=original
    • Mathieu > Shawn Shepard February 9, 2015 at 9:03am
      Sorry to read that Shawn,

      Hope you'll get a replacement board soon.
      But get prepared to spend time chatting with HK support.
      I lost a lot of time with HK (for a lost package) but eventually got a solution offered.
      Good luck!
      And in the meantime you can do like me: install a naze32 or CC3D in lieu of the Pixhawk ;)

      Cheers,
      Mathieu
      • Shawn Shepard > Mathieu February 9, 2015 at 1:09pm

        How do you like the Naze32?  I was thinking about that one before I bought the HKPilot32.  Seems like a capable board minus the autopilot. 

        • Mathieu > Shawn Shepard February 10, 2015 at 11:03am
          I like it a lot.
          I have the acro version (the same I use on my QAV250).
          The acro naze32 doesn't have the barometer, nor the compass (compared to the full naze32).
          So it's either manual mode (rate) or self-leveled ;-)
          But it's small, simple and fun!
          • Shawn Shepard > Mathieu February 10, 2015 at 11:09am

            Great!  I ordered one yesterday, it will be here tomorrow.  I went with the full version.  I figured it was closest to the HKPilot32 and if I ever get it back then this might be a nice backup flight controller.  This is my first build so a backup might not be a bad thing...

            Thanks!

  • Ivan Ignath January 19, 2015 at 3:22pm

    I finally found the reason of failure of my cloned Pixhawk. Even cloners claim that they are selling perfect clones of open source hardware, they don't. 

    This is layout of offcial 2.4.5 version from https://github.com/PX4/Hardware . Notice main 3.3V switching regulator MIC5332 in 8-pin "MLF-8-PAD" package.3701916961?profile=original

    But look what I have on my board:

    3701917152?profile=originalApparently it is not a 8-pin device but something in 6-pin SOT-363 package! There is even no label on it! I'm guessing it could be some cheap 'alternative' or even vorse linear regulator which produces a lot of heat... I don't know if this replacement is used in all clones as this is the first Pixhawk I've had in my hands.

    My Pixhawk is already on the way back to China and my reseller promissed to send me a new "2.4.6" version as a replacement. I'm sure that before I power it, I will check the board layout and used parts.

    • Phil Petrie > Ivan Ignath February 21, 2015 at 4:52am

      Have just discovered this also Ivan, you are correct!  Some Googling led me here...

      I have 2  Pixhawks from China, one lasted seconds, the other, a few minutes.

      (Cloned versions from Alixpress. ver 2.4.5)

      Both U603 & U1002 have been replaced with some 6-pin linear regulator, not capable of supplying enough power.

      They should be Micrel MIC5332, 3.3-volt dual output, low-drop-out linear regulators. (not switcher's)

      U603 supplies power to (1) FMU & (2) Sensors, U1002 supplies power to (1) Spektrum & (2) I/O

      FMU power supply measures 0.3-volt (should be 3.3volt) U603 is too hot to touch... (bad)

      U603 regulator chip appears to still be working, just not able to supply enough power.

      I will look at replacing FMU regulator with something more heavy duty & see what happens.

      Will let you know the outcome... I really would much rather be flying my Quad...

      PS: Opened a dispute with Aliexpress, they have agreed to a full Pixhawk refund & keep faulty units... :)

      http://youtu.be/Ewj71yqcAMw

    • Mathieu > Ivan Ignath January 20, 2015 at 1:09pm

      Hello Ivan,

      Little update: I tried to reload the firmware from the SD card.

      Powered the PIxhawk on while pushing the safety switch... nothing.

      This time I'm really done with it.

      Regarding the component on the board, here is a picture I took.

      It reads reads WSS 326 on it but I couldn't see no pins.

      3702542807?profile=originalCheers and good luck! 

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