Hi everyone,
I was just setting up my new APM 2 copter and I noticed that one of my ESC's was running really hot.
Switching some of the signal cables around shifted the problem to the newly connected ESC. This rules out a defect in the ESC and so the issue is APM related.
Does anyone have a clue on why this is happening. Is this an APM defect? I haven't recalibrated my ESC's after swtiching fom APM 1 to 2.
Also, does the APM 2 have a failsafe where it gets disabled if no throttle is applied for x minutes? I was toying with my xbee setup and it keeps disarming without no reason.
Cheers,
K
Replies
Are you running at 3S or 4S ?
I think that this heat do come from the linear BEC in the ESC. The efficiency of a linear BEC drop as soon as you rise the input voltage.
Try to use a 3DR power module and see if it is still hot. You could also try to switch from 3S to 4S or the opposite, and see if the temperature rise or drop, this will be a confirmation of the ESC BEC heating.
I'm running at 4S and i have a hot ESC as well on my Hexa B.
Olivier
I experienced this same problem. 1 ESC getting too hot. Turned out it was due to the copter center of balance being off, (heavier along one of the arms) thus that motor was having to run at a higher output all the time to keep level.
Shifted a few things about to ensure the copter was balanced front and back, and left and right. Now all 4 ESC's run warm at around the same temperature.
You can also check the log to see if one of your motor outputs is running higher average than the rest.
Hope that helps track down the issue.
Odds are that the hot ESC is the one whose BEC circuit is powering the boards. Only one of the BECs is used.
Interesting... I'm not sure about the hot ESC, but the copter will automatically disarm after 30 seconds.