FL_PI

Greetings to all.

OK, a couple of weeks back, I joined a post about the DF rotating (YAW) counterclockwise after a small bump against a wall. Only the blade of the RIGHT motor hit the wall and then only two or three hits as I shut if off just before the hit, and it dropped less than 18 inches to the floor. so no big powerful hit or drop.
It *was* flying just fine except for pilot error prior to the hit.

I have finally taken the time to video the current status to offer for expert interpretation.

I am pretty SURE the problem is motor speed on one of the motors, but I don't know WHY. I am trying to decipher if it is a MOTOR problem, or a BOARD problem. I just don't know how to tell the difference.
If you listen to the MOTOR sounds in the video, you can hear the motors oscillate in speed without any input other than just bringing up the throttle. I apologize in advance for the music in the background, I completely forgot about it, but you can still hear the motors rev up and down.[]

OK.... RCUniverse won't accept the video, says it is not compatible.[&:] So I have loaded the video on my own website, and it is an MPG file.

You should be able to see or download it from here:
http://www.infoagency.com/games/df-problem-dance.mpg

So..... any of you experts wish to offer an opinion? I sure would appreciate any input.

For some reason when I converted from MOV to MPG, it made the video duplicate, so it runs 1:18 and then starts over for another 1:18

Thanks to all who take the time to view the "dance"........!

Ed[8D]

Old Man Mike

Ed,

The file would not download/play here. Can you convert it to a standard wmv file?

Mike

13BRV3

As well you should

It looked like one motor was slow to start, and probably well below the speed of the others. If that's the case, and you're sure you don't have the yaw trim set all the way left, then you could try swapping out the slow motor. If you have a spare, that would be the easiest way to test, but you can also just swap the slow one with any of the others. Make sure you keep the red dot on the motors connected to the same color wires they were originally, or it will run backwards.

If the same motor (different location) is still slow, then it's the motor. If the same position (different motor) is slow, then it's the controller. I would certainly unplug and replug the motor connector on the bottom of the DF board as a first test, if you haven't tried that already.

Good luck,
Rusty

Sky High

That's what I was thinking too. Make sure that yaw trim is zeroed out then try what 13BRV3 said.


I was able to view the video. Mike, did you right click, download and then try to view it. Because it's an (.mpg) file it must be completely downloaded before it can be viewed.

Old Man Mike

It just would not finish downloading. Sounds like you and Rusty have it covered anyway so I won't bother.

Mike

FL_PI

Yes, I saw the one that seems to start slowly.

I have made SURE... POSITIVELY SURE! That ALL trims are zeroed out.

I have no spare motors. Guess I should invest in some... ?

The file is 28 meg, prolly larger than you wanted to wait for downloading. Depending on your connection it could take a while. It took six or seven minutes to upload and I have cable internet access....

Thank you ALL for looking and commenting.

I HAVE looked at and "wiggled" the connector(s) on the board to the motors, but I have not actually disconnected it and reconnected. Perhaps that would be the easiest and quickest "test"..... The connection LOOKED good and I could not just easily wiggle it, it does seem to be firmly attached...

I am not sure I have anything that will do that conversion. I have many video playing programs and some of them even "edit" video. But most seem to keep the file in some proprietary format. I was tickled to find the one to convert from MOV to MPG.[&:]

Any idea why the motor speeds seem to run up and down with me not putting any change into the controls?

Thank you again, one and all! I SINCERELY appreciate the input. It may be a bit before I can break loose the time to look at it again.[:@]

Here's a thought that Mike will appreciate. I took the CX2 out this evening to get some practice time while the wind was down, and for the first time stepped into the yard instead of staying on the carport. Long story short, flew it into the wire of a G5RV that had "disappeared" into the background of the trees in the last bit of light... hehe! so I have ANOTHER project to look at now too!

Thanks again guys!
Ed[8D]

jesolins

Are all the props/motors absolutely correctly positioned and not tilted one way or the other, or even slightly off?

FL_PI

*THAT* my friend, is an EXTREMELY good question!!!! And I normally do check the props against the board for reference, but I do not remember doing that. So on my first opportunity, I will DEFINITELY be looking at that!

MAYBE over the holiday.

Thanks again!
Ed[8D]

FL_PI

Ok...
I did finally get around to checking the positions of the props/motors, and ONE was WAYYYY out of alignment (the rear motor) but it was canted in the opposite direction of the rotation (yaw).
So I did spend about thirty minutes going over EVERYTHING very carefully but nothing I did would affect the problem as you saw on the video.
One NEW "sign" that I never saw before, mainly because I don't recall trying this before, but when I ran the motors up a few times, I held the left control FULL right as I raised the throttle and the green leds in front started to blink alternately as long as I held the throttle in that position, but holding it all the way over like that would not keep it from making the yaw to the counter clockwise as viewed in the video.
When I grew weary of that, I disassembled the DF and sent the entire top boards to Mike at Spectrolutions and I verified on the US Postal website that they received it yesterday, so it is now in capable hands and we shall see what Mike says. I put the video on a cd and enclosed it with the DF boards.
So for now I am "holding my breath" to see what he comes up with.
I do understand that the problem potentially could be with one or more motors, but my machine is such a low "hours" machine, that I just don't see that as a problem right now. However I have been slightly incorrect once or twice in my life......

I am hoping that perhaps he may find time maybe next week to look at my "machine" and perhaps have it back to me before Christmas.... I would ALMOST bet that he will be very speedy....!

Ed[8D]

FL_PI

Ok, this lesson in DF science is now officially OVER. Unfortunately I don't know the precise cause, because they returned my board assembly without so much as an invoice or note of what they fixed.
It is just FIXED!
So.... All I can make out of it was that the "dance" was definitely a BOARD problem and NOT motor induced.

And also that Mike Dammar and his crew are FAST! They got it on the 30th of Nov and it was back in my box Dec 7th. Incredible people to deal with!
I just finished the re-assembly and test "flight" (inside) and it is working flawlessly!

I wish I could have had an answer for any others that may have been wondering about it too, but all I can say is if yours is doing something similar, Mike Dammar will definitely take care of you!

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Ed[8D]

jesolins

Hmmm loose solder joint on the yaw gyro or some board component...? Glad you got good service and your problem is solved. Happy flying!
Cheers,
Jim