Help guys! After four routine flights today the Park 400 (4200V) in my Mini Funtana apparently took such a big gulp of juice the CC Phoenix-25 ESC decided the party was over and shut it down. Gee. I was only cuising at half throttle just after take off not 3Ding or any Full power stuff. I cycled the throttle stick but the motor did not restart and into the bean patch I went. When I got back to the pits the motor would come up to high speed briefly then shut down. Back home, extended WOT no problem! HUH!? Same TP 2100 mah li-po that was frech charged before ill fated fifth flight. I've been flying this combo about ten flights. Could the Park 400 draw so much (over Phoenix-35 5.0V cutoff) off a fresh 2100 mah li-po because it was overheated (it had cooled about 40 minutes)? The V.2 gearbox seems OK, maybe a tiny more slop than brand new. Should I cycle the batteries (serious question)? Should I buy a "Wattsup" meter (for sure!)
Thanks!

I doubt that the Park 400 took that kind of amp draw to shut down the ESC. Also cycling the throttle to cut off and back should have reengaged the ESC. This is speculation of course without knowing your gearing ratio and prop used.

The pack you have should be good to about 21 Amps current draw, but if for some reason the pack was not delivereing the required voltage, it might have tripped the Low Voltage Cutoff. This would be the first place I would look. If you have the USB interlink for the CC Ph25, I would check for correct settings. If you have the LVC in auto detect mode, I have seen these sensor fail to read the proper battery du to the pack not being at the right voltage when it was engaged. If you are flying nothing but 3S lipos with this ESC you may want to set it to 9.0V cutoff and be done with it. Also while you are at it, with the interlink, you can make sure your ESC has the latest software avialable to ensure that your ESC is running perfectly!

Another thing to consider is the type of charger you have. Without a readout of what MaH goes into the battery pack you generally have no way of knowing that the pack to the correct charge. I have seen some cheaper Lipo chargers fail to put on a full charge to the battery, and say it is full. With the last statement in mind, remember that a Lipo comes up to voltage very quickly during charge and that you have to maintain a constant voltage charge rate from there on in. As said before I have seen some chargers detect the voltage and then fail to keep putting in a charge. It tells you that it is finished charging and it is only 1/3 charged! If you don't have a good Lipo charger with a digital read out (Triton, Astro 109, or the like) you may want to invest in one!

Another item is with the battery. If for some reason you over discharged the pack, you will have a hard time getting it back to full capacity if you can ever get it back. If the pack has been charged and discharged a lot, it may be a sign that the pack is going bad and that you may want to look at investing in another pack.

One last thing, did you try to feel the ESC with your fingure. Was it hot?? Was the battery hot?? If you could hold either of them at the end of the flight, you are more than likely not tripping the heat sensor.

If you can give us some idea of the gear setup and prop used, battery age (number of cycles), and info about how you run the pack down (if you run it to the LVC all the time,) and ESC settings, we can give you a lot more help!


Hope this helps,

Reg


PS What type of transmitter and receiver are you using (QPCM?) Could you have taken a radio hit that sent a spike to the ESC?

Hi Reg,
The Phoenix 35 was set to 9V cutoff (confirmed with phxlinx) and the brake disabled. I upgraded to V1.11, then reset LVC and brake as before. Charging (about 10-15 times) with Astro 109. Since I had never tripped the LVC before the problem flight and the 109 still detected 3C over 11V at charge afterwards I don't think they were run too low but I can check their capacitance with the 109. The motor did not feel hot, forgot to feel the ESC. Speaking of the gear setup (E-Flite 6.6:1 V.2) I forgot to mention that I had mid-aired the plane during the previous flying session, broke the prop (E-Flite 12-6 slow flyer) and struck the cowl with the spur gear hard enough to put a substantial gash in it's base that holds the prop shaft. While making minor repairs to the landing gear I decided to more closely examine the gearbox. Comparing it to a new E-Flite gearbox I noticed a small amount of endplay in the old one and wear to both the pinion and spur gear. Reinstalled motor in plane with new pinion and new gearbox. I am using a Futaba 9ZAP and Hitec HFS-05MG Rx which gets hit once in awhile in close proximity to other Txs; never noticed motor chanel get hit only elevator. Before tripping the LVC I had four uneventful flights and started the fifth with a frech charge so I thought the gearbox was OK. What stumps me was that cycling the throttle did not reengage the ESC in the air but did when I returned to pits and the LVC did not trip at all when I got home, all with same TP2100 mah li-po.
I really appreciate your help, thanks!
Chris Hogan
Miami, FL

Chris, you're right, this is definately strange. With your equipment, I would like to think that your pack is okay. With your settings on the CC ESC I think you are fine. This leaves a few possibilities.

1. With the midair, you possibly damaged something in the receiver. Inspect the receiver AND receiver antenae THOUROUGHLY!!! Then do a ground check of the transmitter and receiver to make sure it is okay.

2. Possible battery and wire movement inside the aircraft causing an RF problem with the ESC or receiver. Make sure that everything is as it should be and secure then do a ground check of the radio system.

3. Check the wires and connections from your motor all the way back to the receiver, might have loosened something during midair. If for some reason something is shorting out, or coming loose from the motor to the ESC, the ESC would have battery capability to the servos but not the motor.


With what you have said, I would lean to #3. All you have to do is have one of the wires leading from the ESC to the motor come loose or short out and the motor would stop working, and all of this would happen at the same time that you have servo use!!!

Let us know what you find after you check everything!!!

Reg

P.S. What no pics or videos of the Funtana in a midair??? SHUCKS!!!! I guess I have to assume it wasn't to bad or the Funtana held up really well!! I almost had a midair with a 90 size funtana converted to electric this past weekend. I don't think mine would have done so well!!! I also don't think we could get our planes any closer without super glue either!!!

Reg,
The mid-air was only another airplane striking my prop and the motor and radio continued to work. The plane landed uneventfully, at no time was there any real impact on the airframe. Similarly, the landing following the motor outage was gentle enough not to pull the gear out but did damage the CF struts due to being in the bean patch. BTW re: mid-air the prop suffered damage to only the TRAILING edge (true fact) indicating the pilot of the U-Can-Do was clearly flying so fast and recklessly that his tail rear ended my prop at a speed faster than my prop was turning. That's a joke, Reg. I think the gear box spur gear striking the cowl caused end play that degenerated over the course of the first four flights next time out (the GB was getting a little noisy) until it caused binding that overloaded the motor on the fifth flight. I also attribute the non response of the LVC reset in flight, LVC with normal reset at WOT in the pits later and no LVC at WOT later still at home to motor overheating then cooling and excess current draw caused by the increaing imbalance in the damaged gearbox. I replaced the motor pinion gear, gear box, and put on a new well balanced prop. I will range check at all motor speeds before next flight to be sure. Will tell all later. Does anyone know if the MF is covered with regular yellow Ultracote?
When I get my E-Flite Mini-Edge I may investigate an outrunner motor with no fussy gearbox.