djyox

My Feedback: (3)

My 7C freaked out on me a few times, but I could always recover from it. When ever I was on the ground I never had a problem with it. But when in the air, it would make the aileron glitch and put it into a roll. But most of the time t was a quarter of a roll. Well, the final flight, it locked on, and make it spinn all the way to the ground...

Any ideas? I had the two antenna at 90* from each other, one with the wing, the other facing the back of the plane..

Campgems

Problems in the air only get worse, never better. When they show up, find the cause and fix it or end up replacing the plane.

A radio system "feaking out" is one that shouldn't fly aging until the cause is found and fixed. A whole system trip to the manufacture for a checkout is in order if you or your club members can't find the problem. It will cost you some bucks, but it will be less expensive than a crashed plane and then a radio that I wouldn't trust in another one.

Don

ira d

What type of power system were you running gas glow or electric? also servo connectors can cause prolems too.

landeck

My Feedback: (1)

Did you have fail safe set and did the plane go into throttle fail safe mode? If yes and no answers, then you had a switch/battery failure.

Bruce

Silent-AV8R

Sounds like some sort of internally generated feedback in the system. I have seen bad connections, bad servos, intermittent switches, etc. all cause problems like you describe One thing that 2.4 has done is to highlight how critical these internal issues can be. On 72 we'd just yell "I got shot down". Now that getting shot down is less likely it shows how often we were probably getting nailed by something internal.

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

Maybe the connectors, I have heard this once or twice before. Well I ended up letting that plane go. It was worse than it looked once i opened i up. I will be replacing the plane with the CMPro Giles 202, and WILL get the problem figured out before it goes into the air. I will replace everything again before I fly it with out knowing for sure.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Batteries are a big cause of radio problems. Bad batteries, low charge, cells not balanced causing false peak during charge. Connectors, switches, metal to metal contact. Most unlikely is the radio being the problem....but it does happen.

Silent-AV8R

ANd please send the RX and TX in for a check over. At least eliminate that variable.

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

Honestly, I have replaced everything other than the servos. New TX, RX, RX battery, and on/off switch. Also had the volt meter thing and it had full green on power, even when all servos were in use it would only drop one or two. Isn't there a way to do a range check with the 7c? I'll have to dig for my book, but if you guys know off the top of your head please share.

Campgems

You had two different 7C tx's, two different receivers, and this is all before you crashed????

Don

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

Sorry no, I got the plane used, it came with a 72mhz, I never flew it with the 72mhz. Just pulled everything out and replaced it before I even tried to fly it. Figured that it would be the best way to know everything was good. I do have another RX I could try, but only one 7c TX.

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

After reading this: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9897888

I'm going to blame the events on my battery. If I can't find anything about my servos that seem bad, and the rx/tx come back ok, then it as got to be that battery. I knew should have gotten a big battery.

Campgems

Don't hang your hat on a theory and declare the problem fixed. It could be that battery, but it could also be other issues. If it were my problem, I would sent both the TX and RXinfor a checkup. If you had a volt watch on and the indicators were not dropping into the yellow with all servos moving, I seriously doubt that you have a generic battery problem. You may have one that has a bad weld on one or more tabs. Iexperienced some problems like you, this was on a 72mhz radio. One day, on take off, the plane veered right and wend bouncing along with the prop eating weed. Zero control I did and engine kill and nothing, the suddenly the engine shut down, and the plane lifted up just clearing the barbed wire fence and dropped at the edge of the farm pond. When I got it back to the pits and turned things on, the volt-watch showed only the last red light. It had come off the charger an hour and a half earlier. I got it home and cleaned the mud off, turned on the switch again and it was still a single red light. After letting it dry out for a few hours, in on the bench and I turned it on again and this time full charge was showing. Iskinned the battery and checked all of the tab welds and all looked OK. Icut the leads off the switch and threw it away. New heat sink tubing on the back and it went on the shelf for a couple months until Igot the repairs done. The plane flew flawlessly for about 20 more flights and then one day, while in a lazy turn, the RX shut off. Zero control. The plane was in a very easy turn and running about half throttle. It just continued turning. I couldn't get it to respond, nor could the other two guys who took the TX and tried. Finally after what seemed like 10 minutes of merry go round, the plane finally lost enough altitude to tangle with a bush and end it little Odyssey. Inspection this time showed two tabs had completely popped off a cell. Idon't know why Icouldn't detect a bad connection when I knife tested each tab, but I missed the real problem. There was no jittery servos, just on and off, both times. I rebuilt the plane and flew it for close to a year before a CG experiment went bad. No rebuild from that one.

So, it could be a battery, It could be a defective receiver, a wire chaffing in the TX (not a Futaba problem though), could be a lot of things. Send the TXand RXin for a checkup. Replace the battery, and range check it to failure and see what range you really have. Set the plane on the ground and hold the TX on the ground and if you don't' have the recommended range in range check mode, find out why before you fly.

CrashGaalaas

My Feedback: (8)

I lost three planes to the exact same symptoms you report. When I finally reproduced it on the ground, it turned out to be an intermittent connection of the signal wire to the servo. When the connection was good, servo behaved normally. When the connection comes loose, the servo goes full deflection always in the same direction. I re-soldered the signal wire to the printed circuit board on the servo. Have not had a problem since.

By the way, it wasn't until I discovered what the real problem was that I could explain the behaviour of my previous lost planes. All were a sudden roll from which I could not recover.

Campgems

A more likely servo connection problem is where the connector isn't latched into the housing. I've experienced a couple of these also. About the same results as a broken battery, crashed plane.

My point is that there is no right answer to chose from with this problem. Thre is a lot of good information on what to look for, but the poster has to apply the responses and evaluate if they apply to his problem. It kinds of boils down to Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.

He needs to sort out his problem using the possibilities we have given. It isn't a multiple choice quiz with one right answer, none of us knows the answer, He has to sort it out. With that, I'm gong nite nite

Don

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

Well, I have all of the servo's and RX/TX sitting in a box ready for the replacement plane. I think maybe a good idea for a first step is to open up the servos and see if I have a loose connection. They are older servos, so a bad connection isn't that far from question. Next will be a rage check. Have a buddy stand by the servos and RX while I walk my paces away and do the test. If nothing shows a sign of a prblem, I will send it off, or bring it in to the hobby shop and get things taken care of. I really don't want to crash another plane from something that isn't my fault.

Dick T.

My Feedback: (243)

It is, and will be your fault because you continue to ignore the correct thing to do....send all the gear off to Futaba for repair and check out. Probably take less than two weeks total time.

Basically you seem to be clueless about the workings of this hobby. For safety sake send it in for servicing or find a less complex hobby. Spare the flying buddies having to hide behind a truck or leave the field for their own safety.

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

several folks have asked and attempted to help....

exactly what battery set up are you using?

How many servos?
Which servos?

jester_s1

Not to beat you up, but losing your plane was 100% your fault. You knew you had a problem with the control system, and you took off anyway. It will happen again if you don't actually find the cause of your problem. Check out your servos, have your radio checked out at the factory, and replace the battery (or at least give it a real thorough inspection). If you try to save money or effort now you will pay for it with another crashed airplane. Which sounds better to you?

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

Did I not say I would go through the correct actions to fix the problem? Is trying to determine if the problem is some where else before sending the TX/RX off not correct? Working on everything else I have always done the easiest/cheapest route first, then escalate to the harder/costly route. Do I know its my fault for the plane crashing, yeah, it comes back on me, maybe saying it in that way was incorrect. I meant I don't want to crash due to my skills of flying rather than a malfunction. I take 100% responsibility for the pane going down, I shouldn't have taken it to the air. I was the only one out there, and I figured if it just would glitch for a second, then I could recover it, no harm. My fault, I used poor judgment, and now I have to pay for that mistake, to the tune of a new ARF.

Can I not bring my TX/RX to a local hobby shop for them to see if there is a problem, and if there is they can send it off from there? Maybe get some more experience from others who use the 2.4ghz system by letting people who have been using this system for a while now get some hands on of what the problem may be. I'm not continuing to do the wrong thing, the box hasn't moved from the spot its been in sense the crash. I apologize for posting my plan of action rather than just doing it. I should have taken this problem first to someone who can get hands on rather than try to describe it over the internet and have people guess at what it could be, because lets be honest, that is the wrong course of action as well. None of you can give great advice of what to do because none of you can get your hands on the system to trouble shoot what you know, and no one has givin me a step by step check list of how to break it down to 1st grade barny style so I can report my findings. My report of what I planned to do also isn't what you wanted to hear either.



And the battery I was using was a JR ni-cad 1500mah 4.8v, running a grand total of 5 airtronic standard size servos, most being a different model.




I also apologize if I came off on the defensive in this post, I'm half in the bag from the bar, and didn't see much in the line of help from the last few posts other than from Jester. Thanks for trying to help for those of you who did, but this thread is pointless. Might as well close it.

Dick T.

My Feedback: (243)

Really?

The tone of your posts is wanting everyone else to do the trouble shooting and problem solving while you sit at the bar.

If your hobbyshop can help then please take it to them. If their employees are anything like our local LHS good luck. Hey, if they will ship it of for you when it is your responsibility, they provide service above and beyond.

Good luck but you are ignoring suggestions you obviously don't want to hear so don't chastise adults for trying to help or telling it like it is.

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

Ok dick, tell me where I am ignoring suggestions? I said I would do all of the things suggested did I not? Point out to me, what I am going to ignore? Did you ignore the posts I have made and said that here is what I am goin to test. Never once did I say that I'm going to just put it all back in a plane and send it back to the air. The LHS I go to is actually some really smart guys who have been in the hobby for most of their life, they run the local club and field. I do thank you for talking down to me like a child while ignoring anything I have said beyond "I have a problem, I knew I had a problem and flew anyhow, crashed" Some of the important stuff you missed is "I want to get this figured out before I fly again, from what you all have said this is what I am going to check" And have people troubleshoot the problem for me? Um, yeah, that is kinda the deal when asking for help. The whole idea behind asking for help is that it is something you can't handle on your own, so you need someone else to give you guidance. This thread should have been cut off somewhere up to the top, right about where the helpful comments stopped.

I took full credit for it being my fault I crashed the first time. I underestimated the problem, and I paid for it. You have not had one helpful post in this whole thread, you have done nothing but talked down to me. Read my posts again, I believe most of them say the lines of "I will". Who cares in what order I troubleshoot my stuff, as long as the problem is fixed? So I don't wait to send my TX/RX out first thing to get checked out as most people have said that is most likely not the problem. Why don't I check out the areas where people say the problem more than likely will lay? Most normal people follow a line of escalation when troubleshooting. They start out with what they think it could be, and what i cheap/easy to fix, correct? That is what I plan to do. Its not m fault if it doesn't follow your crazy line of thinking start out with the most costly and most unlikely idea and work backwards. (which is what I have to assume you are implying to me seeing the posts you are leaving). Will my LHS send my tx/rx off for me? I don't know, I got it through them less than 3 months ago, they have all of the contact info and may have done it before, or maybe they can tell me where to send it. Oh yeah, and with your selective reading, you did miss the line in front of seeing if they will send it off where I said "I will send it off or"

Oh yeah, and your idea of "telling me like it is" is way off, considering you said nothing that was even in the same ball park. Thanks for the no help you offered. You have truly made this thread worth reading, I doubt I'll even bother to post up my findings here, seeing as how you seem to offer no help, why should I post up something that might help someone down he line that runs into the same problem I had.

I am willing to bet you're the guy at the field who would sit there and watch a guy with a new trainer, have problems try to land and say/do nothing. Let the guy crash, that will teach him he isn't apart of your elite group. Crazy him for trying to get into a hobby that should be a friendly one. I have seen many guys like you at the field. Thank god we have honest and helpful people out there who make this hobby worth getting into, the problem is trying to get rid of your type.

Dick T.

My Feedback: (243)

This is the only semi-accurate part of the post. I have been in RC for 40 plus years and help many, many fellows in need. However I only help those who pay attention and actively participate in problem solving, not those who plop their problem on someone's lap then wander off doing other things. Perhaps this explains some of your local old timers reluctance to help.

Within the hodge-podge of components listed lies the glitching. The smartest approach is to start by servicing the transmitter and receiver by Futaba to insure it has a clean bill of health. Then the problem lies in the remaining switch, battery, servos or installation which the LHS guys can assist with.

Pay attention, participate, learn and don't waste people's time. You will be a better RC/er for it.

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks dick, that was the first post you have contributed that was actually worth reading. I actually have not talked to anyone at the field other than one guy who still flys 72mhz, so he wasn't sure what the problem could be and didn't have much in the way of answers other than the few tests I had done with running all the sticks at the same time to see if it would drain the battery.

I will get in touch with futaba sometime this week, and see what has to be done. Either by calling myself, or letting the LHS get me the contact info, or send it in themselves. Also while its there, it will give them a chance to see it first and maybe its something really stupid and easy but just needed someone's expert eyes to solve the problem. While the RX/TX is away, I'll find time to sit down and go through each servo, and battery. I also have a multimeter and can check the switch, however, that was bran new with the TX/RX, but I again will test to make sure. I also don't think my way of thinking was incorrect either, just backwards from yours. If you can clear everything else up on the servos and battery and know those aren't the problem, then it must be the RX/TX. If everything comes back clean, I will be forced to admit it must be a fault on my own, and ask for help installing. I really doubt it had anything to do with the install of the gear, seeing as how I had asked before I even sat down to install what to do with the two antenna coming out of the RX. But again, I will have everything looked over before I send up another plane.


I do hope that you honestly wouldn't let someone crash their first trainer for trying to figure things out on their own. I'm sure we've all been to a hobby store where someone has said that the trainer is so easy to fly, that they should have no problem taking it out the next day. Bad advice that some new guy is listing to is not his fault. To keep this a fun and friendly hobby, I personally, try to help out others as much as I can. I don't give advice I don't know is true, and always let them know where a better resource is for more help.

And for the record, I'm not just a kid wasting my parent's money on this, I'm almost 30 years old and have been around R/C airplanes and most other forums of R/Cing sense before I was born. My dad who has been flying model planes sense he was very young also didn't have much in the way of help. The newest radio he has is a 72mhz, while still hanging onto some old AM radios he has for some of his planes. I normally like to figure things out on my own, but now that the internet is such a great resource with so many smart people in one area (IE these forums) it would be foolish of me not to ask for help here. I did not mean to come off that I was ignoring anyone's advice, or that I did not intend to do something. Once I find where the problem lies, I will be set to go again. I maybe was posting too much about what I was thinking, but I do tend to use forums for more chat than just post/read.

djyox

My Feedback: (3)

double post.