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Elev8 v2 problems again — Parallax Forums

Elev8 v2 problems again

icepuckicepuck Posts: 466
edited 2015-04-06 19:36 in Robotics
I've recently replaced all four esc's(That I bought locally) and #4 motor(2 motors so far). Replacing those parts still didn't solve the problem of it randomly flipping to the left because of the #4 motor stopping. So I emailed hoverfly tech support explaining my theory of whether or not a bad esc could burn out a port on the hoverfly open board and if they had any way I could test it before condemning the board as being bad.

Well that was over two weeks now with no response. I got a DragonFLy32 that I found local thinking that it may solve the problem. After getting it all setup and testing each of the motors I discovered the new #4 esc is bad!

I should say that I bought the first replacement motor and esc from parallax before I started buying parts locally.

So...I'm wondering what the h caused my original problem to begin with? I'm starting to think now that it was a bad flight controller from the start.
Has anyone else have an esc or hoverfly open go bad?

I'm at a loss as what to do next. It's getting expensive and I've not been able to fly without some sort problem causing a crash.
-dan

Comments

  • trangertranger Posts: 179
    edited 2015-04-04 05:43
    icepuck wrote: »
    Has anyone else have an esc or hoverfly open go bad?

    Here's one data point.... Had one ESC fail. It was a fairly early failure, maybe 20-30 mins of flight time on it. Originally worked fine. 1st failure resulted in a flip from about 8 ft up. It behaved normally afterward. 2nd failure from about 30 ft up. It behaved erratically after that and I changed it out (Parallax sent me a new one). That was about a year and a half ago. No problems since.

    Never had a problem w/ my HoverFly Open. Doesn't seem like a flight controller could take out an ESC.

    -Russ
  • icepuckicepuck Posts: 466
    edited 2015-04-06 11:00
    Would a bad motor take out an esc? But that doesn't make sense either since that esc and motor was replace with the same type from parallax. when the next #4 esc went bad I just replaced all 4 esc's. The motors worked just fine for the first flight then the 2nd flight is when it quit working. Thats why I replaced the FC thinking it was the problem.
    -dan
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,386
    edited 2015-04-06 11:33
    icepuck,

    I agree that it's a bit elusive to resolve some of these problems between the OPEN, ESCs and motors.

    Did you properly configure the Hoverfly OPEN in their Firmware Update software?

    Let me know. We'll get you in the air even if we have to replace the whole electronic system.

    Ken Gracey
  • icepuckicepuck Posts: 466
    edited 2015-04-06 19:36
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    icepuck,
    Did you properly configure the Hoverfly OPEN in their Firmware Update software?
    Ken Gracey

    Yes, I did that before hooking up any of the esc's.
    Ken Gracey wrote: »
    icepuck,
    Let me know. We'll get you in the air even if we have to replace the whole electronic system.
    Ken Gracey

    As an automotive/diesel tech my training has been to diagnose things in a logical manner, shotgunning parts at a problem is frowned upon(and expensive) and only used as last resort to get things up running again. I'm still not 100% sure of whats happening but whatever it is-is always on the #4 port,esc, or motor.

    I thought that if I could test each port individually I could be sure of what(and where) the problem is, and if possible to move the #4 functions to an unused port. But there's the worry of bricking it with my own code. Since I haven't found any code examples, I'll leave it alone.
    -dan
  • I don't know if you solved your problem, but I had similar issues - turned out to be a bad solder joint. I found the problem by removing the boom containing the motor that's not spinning like the others, and connecting it to a spare ESC and plugging the ESC signal cable into the throttle channel of a receiver - if you can command the motor to spin okay then your wiring should be good. If, on the other hand, the motor "chatters", or doesn't spin smoothly, carefully check all bullet connections.
  • After several weeks of searching I finally found replacement motors that have the same bolt pattern as the originals that parallax used. They are a little bit larger but work with no modifications and they come with longer wires so no extensions are needed.

    I'm trying a flip32 flight controller this time but I'm having problems with setting it up, mainly from the lack of documentation for clean flight and the lack of time to really sit down to dig into it. I have the motors all turning the right directions and I can test run the motors with the software.

    The problem I haven’t figured out is setting up my DX8 to work with the flip32(cleanflight) combination. I do plan on starting another thread here about my upgrades and part numbers once I've have everything figured out and working without crashing.
    -dan     
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