shelving my quad for now

[tovrin]

I've been working on this most simple of projects for over a year now and have never really gotten mine to fly properly.

most recently i purchased a Paris v3 board and a fiber frame, but all i can ever get it to do is flip over and continually destroy the bearings or shaft in my micro motors, which i had very recently repaired, only to have it flip over while in my hand, slice my arm open, destroy a brand new blade, and bend the shaft on a motor i had just fixed...

I think at the moment my mistake is the crappy hobby king 8-10amp SS ESC's (that dont seem to keep their throttle settings), but if i have to buy new ESC's id rather get turnigy 20-30amp ESC and new motors to match, and go with something much bigger than these micro motors which are a huge pain in the ass. problem with that is i spent $200 on these professionally handbuilt micro motors, and justifying another huge motor purchase is difficult right now.

If anyone is near Orlando and can help I would gladly keep trying, but for now i dont know what else to do, that i can afford to do. maybe if i get some overtime or a bonus ill be back, but until then

Happy Flying people,
Scot

[mr.rc-cam]

Hopefully an experienced MWC pilot in your local area can meet with you. Sometimes a bit of hands-on guidance from a Pro is all that is needed to solve the frustrations.

- Thomas

[matbogdan]

For sure is a small problem. Do not blame the cheap HK esc, I am using HK parts in my quadro and they respond perfectly. Are u sure you did not miss something in the configuration of the firmware ? Usually the flip over happen from bad configuration or bad sensors.
If you sensors are working ( check in GUI) with no propellers.
Check if your ESC are NiCd set and not LiPo.

[tovrin]

my ESC's were calibrated and configured for brake off, li-po with max throttle individually set.
my sensors read properly when disarmed.
I've read every post in this forum for the last year, I'm very familiar with the basics and have worked through every possible error that could happen to a newb like me.

If anyone is near Orlando, or visiting, let me know, use tovrin@yahoo.com as i will not be checking this forum as frequently for awhile.

[Fpv4LifE]

my ESC's were calibrated and configured for brake off, li-po with max throttle individually set.
my sensors read properly when disarmed.
I've read every post in this forum for the last year, I'm very familiar with the basics and have worked through every possible error that could happen to a newb like me.

If anyone is near Orlando, or visiting, let me know, use tovrin@yahoo.com as i will not be checking this forum as frequently for awhile.

Hi

you say you individually calibrated the esc throttle band, this is something i have always done as a group ie all together.

I know its for a kk board but read these guides anyway. They helped me greatly with my first build http://rcexplorer.se/Educational/kkguide/kkguide.html

[UndCon]

Solder a small pcb with servo leads in and as many outputs as you require (quad/hex/octo)
Add 3pin headers for each ESC you want to calibrate.

I used a pertinax board with continuous copper traces and the total board is ~3cm long with all connectors (hex)

//UndCon

[tovrin]

ok, im going to go back to working on this tonight, i will try calibrating all my esc's at same time, see if that helps.

[tovrin]

while working on this idea, and not quite getting it, i noticed that without props attached, as i spun up the motors i was seeing a lot of movement on my gui. is this normal, or do i have a vibration problem that could be causing much bigger issues?

screenshot to post tomorrow, too late to fire up equipment tonight without the lady ripping my throat out for waking her!

[bill516]

If you are getting lots of movement with no props and motors running then you have a vibration problem. Either insulate the sensors better or balance the motos cans. I found with mine that after I put two types of foam under my sensors I still had a problem, but if I pressed down on the sensors I could get the gui to settle to a fairly stright line. I used a tie wrap so that it was holding the foam and not touching the sensor board, to hold the sensors down, this cured my problem.

[tovrin]

my sensors are attached to my Paris board via foam tape. my Paris board is attached to the frame via plastic spacer and metal screw.
my motors were recently balanced by the guy who built them for me, but i did have a prop attack that could have damaged it.

my question is, should i mess with the foam directly on the sensors (it arrived fully assembled like this) or add dampeners where the board meets the frame?

[bill516]

If you have a motor vibration problem then disconnect them all and reconnect one by one to test if they are causing vibration. If you press on the sensors while its running does it make any difference to the GUI, if yes, better or worse, then you need to do something about the foam. I found with one of my models, scratch built things, if I held it in my hands the vibrations were much less but put in on the table and GUI was all over the place, better insulation on the sensors cured that. I have read a few comments from people that have used two types of foam and a metal plate in between to get rid of vibrations, I even saw one that had mounted the sensors on a board and suspended the board by rubber bands from 4 posts, if nothing else it would give a the board a nice shock absorbtion in a crash.

[tovrin]

i found that one motor was causing significant added vibration, but all 4 were creating some noise in the gui. I decided that I had enough of these micro motors, and bought 4 new 20 amp esc and 850kv motors from scout uav. they should arrive tomorrow.

I also cut out a piece of thin foam to place under the paris board.

[capt]

Are your props turning the in the right direction? How does the gyro readout in the GUI look?
http://www.multiwii.com/connecting-elements

You can feel if the vibrations are bad just by holding it in your hand and running up the throttle, everything should be smoooth.

[tovrin]

i was running some micro motors, and HK 10 amp esc, all the connections were super tiny and i wasnt having good luck with them at all.
I was doing it right, my gyros were showing proper, my props assembled proper and spinning proper.

what i did was buy an 850kv motor set with 20 amp esc and much sturdier hardware. Im building my Power wiring harness tonight, should have it tested tomorrow.

[tovrin]

ok, to update, i bought some heavier duty motors and controllers, and found out that my current frame wasn't big enough to support the size of props i would need for these much slower motors i purchased. so i had to either buy a bigger frame, or modify the existing frame to fit. I thought about going Y4 which would have allowed me to use the same frame and bigger props without extending my booms, but after good counsel on antoher post, i decided to extend my fiberboard booms with some aluminum square tubing. I managed to make a very stable and vibration free extension (pictures soon) that will allow up to 12 inch props ( running 10x4.5 Slow Fly now) and sliced up a pool noodle for landing shocks.

Last night, i calibrated my ESC's, and tested flight in house, because it was raining outside, and she flew!

I could only lift up and set her down due to limited space and a healthy drift issue. will trim it out tonight, weather permitting and take her for a real test flight!

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP AND COUNSEL, I was about to just kill the project and give up!

my ESC's are set to high timing, is this the best setting?
my booms are 24 inches center to center apart. my weight is 960 grams (including 2200mah 3S battery)

[bill516]

Any updates on how your getting on.

[tovrin]

I was unable to trim my drift out because I had a problem with a heavy wobble i couldn't identify (my motors and blades were balanced perfectly) until an airplane guru at my local hobby shop noted my collets were not straight. he's going to lathe them deeper for me, but for now I was able to eyeball them pretty straight. I also had an issue with my li-po charger, my batteries were way off balance, causing 2 cells not to get charged at all. am lucky i didn't destroy them.

got both of those issues straightened out last night, it was already dark but she lifted off no wobble and seemed to fly fine, i need to get her trimmed out now, drifts to the left a little, I flew for just a second, landed and quit for the night at that point.

but i was ecstatic!

Only an hour before i thought i was going to lose it, I had crossed motors 9 and 11 on the paris board by accident and when i lifted off she kept immediately flipping over, I was so frustrated until i realized i had mislabeled my booms...

BUT SHE FLIES AND SEEMS STABLE!

[bill516]

Been there done that, got the brown stains to prove it. Glad to hear your on the right track.

[tovrin]

ok, today is a big day for me, my wobble turned out to be a frame structural issue solved with a single brace. she has been calibrated, acro drift adjusted, and working on adjusting level mode.

but thats not the big news, i managed to drain a complete battery (2100Mah) without destroying anything! (I did kill a prop, but these things happen)

i suck at flying, am working on that, and will make better progress once I'm fully calibrated and tuned!

[sismeiro]

Hi,

I am glad to see that you solved the problems with your multicopter and are now enjoying the beauty of this hobby. Only the difficult things and not the easy ones can bring us the joy of accomplishing something. Keep us posted and share some videos with us.

Regards,
Luis Sismeiro

[bill516]

I'm glad to hear we got you going in the right direction,


most of the time.

[tovrin]

I managed most of another battery today when i made an emergency landing (was too close to a tree and landed suddenly) and hit a landscape pole and shattered my last reverse prop.

i still have a slight wobble that is likely frame related (i think i need another brace on opposite end for rear 2 motors), but i feel the majority of my issues are now eliminated.

thanks Bill and SIS for the support, i am thrilled i got it going too.

[bill516]

I'm glad we could help, now just stay away from hard things.