Motors not spinning fast enough to take off

Posted by Charles Harrington on May 11, 2017 at 8:51am

I am new to DIY Drones and to this group. So, if this question would be better off posting somewhere else please let me know.  I recently built a 450 frame quad using a Clone Ardupilot 2.8 flight controller.  Also using a Taranis Plus with X8R receiver.  All works fine except, once armed the motors will not spin fast enough to take off. Taranis is set to 150% on throttle and I went back into Mission Planner and set Throttle max from 80 to 1000.  It arms fine but still not fast enough to take off.  What am I missing or doing wrong?  Thanks in advance for any help.

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Replies

  • Charles Harrington May 13, 2017 at 5:41am



    Charles Harrington said:



    Clifton Hipsher said:

    Give us a SPECIFIC, DETAILED break down of what you are using for motors, batteries, props, plus any extra pay load (camera, gimbal, FPV gear, etc.) the aircraft is carrying, and an accurate aircraft weight WITH EVERYTHING installed.

    While you are doing that make sure the ESCs are calibrated, motors are spinning in the proper directions and that you do not have the props on upside down.

    Put the throttle end points back to the defaults and recalibrate the radio..

    Have calibrated ESC's and re-calibrated radio....both at original end points and new ones....same issue.....

    You too are missing the point.......the Quad has flown and then one day not enough power to take off........it is NOT a weight issue and yes the props are on correct....ie....it used to fly.  I bet the RPM's on the motors is barely 200 RPM's at FULL Throttle.....thus it will never generate enough lift to take off. The props on the 330 are 8 x 4 and the props on the 450 are DJI 9.5 x 4. Have tried different 2212 960KV motors and different 20amp simon ESC's and two different radios and two different receivers and two APM's (2.6 and 2.8) and have re-programmed each APM again and STILL have the same problem.

    So how about this.  What other parameters in Full Parameters in Mission Planner Could Affect the motor speed besides....Throttle Max?????

  • Charles Harrington May 11, 2017 at 11:55am



    Clifton Hipsher said:

    Give us a SPECIFIC, DETAILED break down of what you are using for motors, batteries, props, plus any extra pay load (camera, gimbal, FPV gear, etc.) the aircraft is carrying, and an accurate aircraft weight WITH EVERYTHING installed.

    While you are doing that make sure the ESCs are calibrated, motors are spinning in the proper directions and that you do not have the props on upside down.

    Put the throttle end points back to the defaults and recalibrate the radio..

    Have calibrated ESC's and re-calibrated radio....both at original end points and new ones....same issue.....

  • Charles Harrington May 11, 2017 at 11:50am

    Keith Smith....don't really understand what you mean...but have calibrated each one individually and all at once and no change...still not enough power to lift off.................even tried a different transmitter and receiver and ESC's so the problem is something else...also tried two different flight controllers....2.6 and 2.8.....same problem...so it has to be in the APM programming from Mission Planner....it always shows board now retired and they download 3.2.1.........only thing available.....

  • Charles Harrington May 11, 2017 at 11:44am

    Weight is fine and nothing extra like camera. Props are 10x4 and motors are 2212 960KV....battery 5200. Used to fly but one day hardly any power....re did soft ware in MP....that is where I think the issue is but have corrected everything suggested on forums and other places and still not enough power to lift off

  • Clifton Hipsher May 11, 2017 at 11:13am

    Give us a SPECIFIC, DETAILED break down of what you are using for motors, batteries, props, plus any extra pay load (camera, gimbal, FPV gear, etc.) the aircraft is carrying, and an accurate aircraft weight WITH EVERYTHING installed.

    While you are doing that make sure the ESCs are calibrated, motors are spinning in the proper directions and that you do not have the props on upside down.

    Put the throttle end points back to the defaults and recalibrate the radio..

  • Keith Smith May 11, 2017 at 9:59am

    Good Day Charles, I ran in to this same issue . I discovered it was caused by ESC calibration problems. after many attempts to calibrate them. I Programed another model with 4 outputs all controlled by the throttle. I then connected the EScs to that receiver and calibrated them all at once. Problem solved.

    Good Luck

    Keith Smith

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