blade 400 keeps powering down on throttle?
08-29-2010, 10:12 PM
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blade 400 keeps powering down on throttle?
hey guys i have a question, yesterday i flew my blade 400 and everything was fine, today i mess with is in the garage to tighten everything up and go to hover it in my garage and threw a feshly charged battery on it and for the first minute everything was fine and then after bout a minute or two when i would to to take off i would go up to bout half throttle and the motor would power down like i was backing off the throttle so i let it sit thinking that maybe the motor was getting hot then 30 mins later i try it again and same thing about half throttle into it the heli would power back down on the throttle, what could be the cause of this, any help would be greatly appreciated the motor and esc are stock on it right now.
Thanks: Trent
Thanks: Trent
08-29-2010, 10:30 PM
#2
RE: blade 400 keeps powering down on throttle?
Hello Trent,
I have seen this happen on occassion and there were two different reason. Once it was the ESC whic on a Blade 400 is stretched at it's 25 amp. When they start to fail they cannot handle a load and shut down as you explaned.
The other condition can be a battery cell failure. You need to check each cells voltage to see of the battery is balanced ( rauL voltage per cell). You may have a cell that show shows 4.1 but it has lost it's ability to hold and give you it's amperage when asked to do so. So what happens is, you give throttle and then the it looses rpms. Next time charger the battery, check it off the charger and see what each cell reads. If you have a bad cell you will one cell waaay off front the other two.
However, with this all said I feel it is the ESC. If so and that in tue proves to be the case then don't buy another Efite unless you get a 40 amper and it will have to strapped on the right side of the heli. It can handle anything you throw at it. Or you can get an Align 450 ESC and they are 35 amp and pretty darned strong too.
Let us what happens, this an opinion and suggestion as to what "might be" your problem.
EDIT: if your heli is less than 12 mo old then call Horizon Hobby's hot line and report this failure. 9 out of 10 times they will send you new parts. A call to them
in any case can't hurt anyway.
I have seen this happen on occassion and there were two different reason. Once it was the ESC whic on a Blade 400 is stretched at it's 25 amp. When they start to fail they cannot handle a load and shut down as you explaned.
The other condition can be a battery cell failure. You need to check each cells voltage to see of the battery is balanced ( rauL voltage per cell). You may have a cell that show shows 4.1 but it has lost it's ability to hold and give you it's amperage when asked to do so. So what happens is, you give throttle and then the it looses rpms. Next time charger the battery, check it off the charger and see what each cell reads. If you have a bad cell you will one cell waaay off front the other two.
However, with this all said I feel it is the ESC. If so and that in tue proves to be the case then don't buy another Efite unless you get a 40 amper and it will have to strapped on the right side of the heli. It can handle anything you throw at it. Or you can get an Align 450 ESC and they are 35 amp and pretty darned strong too.
Let us what happens, this an opinion and suggestion as to what "might be" your problem.
EDIT: if your heli is less than 12 mo old then call Horizon Hobby's hot line and report this failure. 9 out of 10 times they will send you new parts. A call to them
in any case can't hurt anyway.
08-29-2010, 10:31 PM
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RE: blade 400 keeps powering down on throttle?
Hey Trent,
Your issue sounds familiar....and it sounds like the ESC has failed, a common issue on these helicopters....
Since it was flying great just before, it doesn't sound like anything else might be causing it, but just to be sure, look over the heli, and make sure that the main blades, tail belt, and motor are all turning freely, with no unusual binding, or are hard to turn.
And since you didn't crash, I doubt you bent anything from the last flight.
This is normally an internal failure of the ESC itself....is the heli less than one year old? If so, give Horizon a call, the number is in the owner's manual, they are very helpful, and have great warranty service...
BTW, if it is not under warranty, the best thing to do is get an aftermarket ESC, and stay away from the stock 25 amp Eflite ESC. It is barely adequate for the job, and will sooner or later fail again...[&o]
There are lots of good ESC's out there to replace it with, if you need to go that route, but I would see what Horizon will do for you first....
Good luck, and let us know how it works out for ya...
Glenn
Your issue sounds familiar....and it sounds like the ESC has failed, a common issue on these helicopters....
Since it was flying great just before, it doesn't sound like anything else might be causing it, but just to be sure, look over the heli, and make sure that the main blades, tail belt, and motor are all turning freely, with no unusual binding, or are hard to turn.
And since you didn't crash, I doubt you bent anything from the last flight.
This is normally an internal failure of the ESC itself....is the heli less than one year old? If so, give Horizon a call, the number is in the owner's manual, they are very helpful, and have great warranty service...
BTW, if it is not under warranty, the best thing to do is get an aftermarket ESC, and stay away from the stock 25 amp Eflite ESC. It is barely adequate for the job, and will sooner or later fail again...[&o]
There are lots of good ESC's out there to replace it with, if you need to go that route, but I would see what Horizon will do for you first....
Good luck, and let us know how it works out for ya...
Glenn
08-29-2010, 11:07 PM
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RE: blade 400 keeps powering down on throttle?
hey guys thanks for the replies so quickly, i just went back outside and put 2 different batteries on it and this time i took the motor out and held it in my hand and it stilll did the same thing, about 1/4 to 1/2 throttle it powers back down, so if my esc is bad what is a good esc to replace it this.
08-30-2010, 10:38 AM
#7
RE: blade 400 keeps powering down on throttle?
Trent,
Good work on finding your bug. Here is the cheapie I use on my 400. Many of the guys here at the field use these on all of the 400-450 helis. I have seen them in action so that's when I made the change after my 400 coaught fire in the air, really!
If you go with this ESC then while there look at other things you might want or need so as toy make the shipping charge worth it. Understand this will take at least two week for deilvery, YIKES ! I dont know know your skill level but you want to make sure you get a programable ESC! THIS IS A MUST! do not get one that requires you to get THEIR programming card. This one I have showed you, you program with your radio as the steps are shown. OR...................you can pay $65.00 and go to the shop and buy the 450 TREX ESC which is a honey but OUCH on the cost but it will get you in the air today! As you read above both Glenn and I do not recommend using another Eflite 25 amper unless you get one free under the 12 month warranty program. When he did use a 40 amp his problems we gone but it was big and heavy.
You can go to Xheli.com and they sell an inexpensive range of ESC's as well and they are here in California so shipping is pronto fast. As we said no matter where you buy do not get anything less than a 35 amp.
I have tried to post picture but this sites server is under maintenace but as soon as it is up I will post them for you.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=9299
JPEE
Good work on finding your bug. Here is the cheapie I use on my 400. Many of the guys here at the field use these on all of the 400-450 helis. I have seen them in action so that's when I made the change after my 400 coaught fire in the air, really!
If you go with this ESC then while there look at other things you might want or need so as toy make the shipping charge worth it. Understand this will take at least two week for deilvery, YIKES ! I dont know know your skill level but you want to make sure you get a programable ESC! THIS IS A MUST! do not get one that requires you to get THEIR programming card. This one I have showed you, you program with your radio as the steps are shown. OR...................you can pay $65.00 and go to the shop and buy the 450 TREX ESC which is a honey but OUCH on the cost but it will get you in the air today! As you read above both Glenn and I do not recommend using another Eflite 25 amper unless you get one free under the 12 month warranty program. When he did use a 40 amp his problems we gone but it was big and heavy.
You can go to Xheli.com and they sell an inexpensive range of ESC's as well and they are here in California so shipping is pronto fast. As we said no matter where you buy do not get anything less than a 35 amp.
I have tried to post picture but this sites server is under maintenace but as soon as it is up I will post them for you.
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...idProduct=9299
JPEE
08-31-2010, 07:12 PM
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RE: blade 400 keeps powering down on throttle?
Hi Trent,
Thought I'd drop in and give ya my nickels worth.
I have to concur with Glenn and JPEE, you do want to stay away from the E-flite ESC's for sure.
The 40 amp ESC that JPEE mentioned on the hobbycity site is very good for the price. However, IMO, it's a little under rated in the BEC output of 1.5 amps.
I'd recommend a Volcano 40 amp ESC, that has a 3 amp BEC output. Here: http://www.hobbypartz.com/volcano-40...oller-esc.html
It's a little more expensive, but not that bad. I have one in my 450 for 2 years or so and still works fine and dandy.
Trent, Glenn and JPEE, One thing than when purchasing an ESC, most of us don't consider the amp draw of all the servos, RX, and Gyro, that's loading up the Bec of the ESC.
Most sites, when looking at servos and gyros don't post in their specs what the amp draw is. Listed below is a current drain for a Hitec 5065 digital servo, normally used for the cyclic. I didn't research the gyro, RX or tail servo. But for the fun of it, lets say 200mAh each. So, 3 cyclic servos, 1 RX, 1 gyro, 1 tail servo. That equates to 1,200 mAh's or 1.2 amps. That's my logic on the ESC from Hobby City with 1.5 amp output being marginal. And I'm sticking to it.
Current Drain (4.8V): 200mA/idle and 2.0 amps at lock/stall
Current Drain (6.0V): 240mA/idle and 3.0 amps at lock/stall
Dave
Thought I'd drop in and give ya my nickels worth.
I have to concur with Glenn and JPEE, you do want to stay away from the E-flite ESC's for sure.
The 40 amp ESC that JPEE mentioned on the hobbycity site is very good for the price. However, IMO, it's a little under rated in the BEC output of 1.5 amps.
I'd recommend a Volcano 40 amp ESC, that has a 3 amp BEC output. Here: http://www.hobbypartz.com/volcano-40...oller-esc.html
It's a little more expensive, but not that bad. I have one in my 450 for 2 years or so and still works fine and dandy.
Trent, Glenn and JPEE, One thing than when purchasing an ESC, most of us don't consider the amp draw of all the servos, RX, and Gyro, that's loading up the Bec of the ESC.
Most sites, when looking at servos and gyros don't post in their specs what the amp draw is. Listed below is a current drain for a Hitec 5065 digital servo, normally used for the cyclic. I didn't research the gyro, RX or tail servo. But for the fun of it, lets say 200mAh each. So, 3 cyclic servos, 1 RX, 1 gyro, 1 tail servo. That equates to 1,200 mAh's or 1.2 amps. That's my logic on the ESC from Hobby City with 1.5 amp output being marginal. And I'm sticking to it.
Current Drain (4.8V): 200mA/idle and 2.0 amps at lock/stall
Current Drain (6.0V): 240mA/idle and 3.0 amps at lock/stall
Dave
