After my crash, I had visible damage to the left bottom motor, as the wires got snapped off just as they entered the motor. I have since re-assembled each arm using the side hole with a grommet, and the wires pointed inward.
Ran a motor spin test, and the Number 1 (with Frame 10 setup) twitched and pretty much didn't spin
Next, I switched the ESCs for the motors 1 and 2, and clearly the ESC was not the problem. Had one spare motor after replacing one on the left bottom. I attached it loosely on the ground, and it behaved correctly during the motor spin test.
So although there is no visible damage, the hard landing and sudden stop must have caused some kind of motor problem.
Anyone else experienced this?
Nelson
Replies
The soldering is harder than you would think, and this is the main power for the craft, if you do not have 3dr do it I would suggest you have someone help you, that way you can be sure not to hamstring the craft worse as you out on new parts
I would get the parts needed from 3dr (suspected parts) and do it, really unless you are comfortable with allways sending it back. Once you do you will be able to come here And I will help you!
Well, I am still trying to get this resolved, I think I have a bad ESC maybe 2 and a back PDB, I say this because I can get one esc to work if I do not connect it to the pdb, calibrates fine just connecting directly to a bat, then has errors or just does not work when I connect it...
Now I did get a response from 3Dr, so they had me film a video to see the issue with the esc...
So I am waiting again... I ordered it overnight to get it done and be ready June 1, that was May 18th...
hoping to get this going... day 12 on a DOA Y6... trying to be patient
3dr jumped to the task after we did their required video of the failure... They reshipped overnight,, sorry that I did not up this... 3dr is great for support and Cs! I would go buy again and again from them as they do what few others will!
Quadrysteria will also as a side note, we just need them to start offering the px4 hint hint
Hi Tearig and David
I had that very same issue and spent a week testing and re-testing every part and combination I could come up with. In the end it was a PDB (or more accurately the servo routing through the PDB). I videoed the problem and my diagnostics. I sent those to 3DR followed by the copter. I have said before I have always found 3DR are a joy to work through problems with - but it did take them more than 6 weeks to ship this one back to us. They had replaced the PDB and everything works fine now.
To work out if this is the same issue for you, route the ESC controllers directly to your APM/Pixhawk chip (i.e. bypass the PDB) and see if you can recreate the failure.
Also just a note: As I understand it, the motor can not give off a beeping sound. It is actually the ESC that uses the motor as the speaker (go figure). I read that somewhere but it makes sense as the motor is, well, just a motor. Any "smarts" are in the ESC. You can time the ESC beeps and then look up what they mean in the ESC documentation.
Good luck
Nigel Brown
Here is the Maytech Simonk ESC manual.
Dave just a word of encouragement: The learning curve is steep for multirotors and autonomous vehicles, but worth it. It is very important that you fully diagnose any issue that you have as they are more often than not, symptomatic of where you are on that learning curve.
Your pre-flight procedures and check lists should be followed completely each time - just like a real pilot. My controllers (pilots) routinely do over an hour of pre-flight checks for a 10 minute flight. It is part of being responsible by managing safety and risk. It will also prevent you from flying your copter with props upside down :-)
If you discover that it is your PDB - and are having trouble getting the part from 3DR, I am sure I have a few spares I could send you (I am in Australia).
Nigel Brown
Uaviation
user-manual-maytech-esc-simonk.pdf
If you have a RTF then the PDB with Deans that they are sending you will be a problem for you as you will need to de-solder all 6 PDB power connections for the ESCs and then solder Male Deans connectors to all the existing ESCs. This is not a small job and you will need to get 5 Male Deans (unless they are going to send those too).
Is it possible to send the copter back and get their skilled solderers to do it (notwithstanding the export ban). That way you would get the lighter PDB and probably reset your warranty.
There is no difference between the PDB with Deans and the one without. My preference is to use the ones without and shorten all ESC cables to the minimum as this saves quite a bit of weight. The PDB without Deans are not available to buy though.
David
The ESC has a red/brown/yellow servo connector (see second pic below - but it doesn't show the servo connector - just the red/brown/yellow wire) that is normally connected to the pins on the PDB (see first pic below). The pins on the PDB are then connected to your APM / Pixhawk output channel. If you purchased an ready to fly then the ESC servo connector will be hot glued to the pins on the PDB - but the hot glue can easily be removed.
Disconnect the ESC from - for example the first set of pins on the PDB. Disconnect the corresponding PDB pin from the APM / Pixhawk, Connect the ESC Servo pins directly to the APM / Pixhawk. Run your tests
But if you want to move faster just replace the parts you think are faulty... What is it a motor and a ESC? Maybe 40-50$ probably less than shipping it back.
Ultimatly mine is mission to test platforms and hope to derive a more stable system from the knowledge I gain form these kits I can find...
Hi There,
I am assuming you are using the blue 3dr motors.
Let me start out by saying the blue 3dr motors are garbage. Starting about 9 months ago, i figured i'd just buy what 3DR recommended - boy was I wrong!
In the last 9 months i've probably returned 10 motors to them - either because they were mis matched (literally completely different motors colored blue), or did exactly as you said; twitches.
I spent countless hours troubleshooting, and eventually decided to start taking the motors apart. I found many of them were HORRIBLY assembled. The +/-/signal leads sometimes were holding on by a thread. I bit the bullet and bought t-motors and never have I been happier.
The lesson I learned is, never cheap out on motors. Unless 3DR totally revamped their motors, I wouldn't recommend the 3DR blue motors to my worst enemy.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next