Odd Mcx behaviour
 

Hello - still a bit new and have a question.

I have an Mcx that begins to fly erratically - after 1 to 2 minutes of flight I lose control - especially the ability to rotate clockwise.

I have tried any of 4 different batteries, charged the batteries with 2 different chargers and and checked that all shafts are tight and no gears are stripped. I have also ensured that the transmitter and charger have strong batteries. I estimate the little bird has about 150 flights.

My best quess is that I have a motor that is failing but I know little about how they fail. Second guess is that all 4 batteries are failing simultaneously - I use them in rotation - and know little about how Li-Pos fail. Third guess is a transmitter failure but this seems unlikely.

My brute force solution is to order new motors and a new battery - try the battery and then the motors.

I would appreciate any advice from your collective wisdom.

Thanks muchly.

RE: Odd Mcx behaviour
 

You might have better luck getting a reply on the E-flite forum, as there will be more MCX flyers there.

But it sounds to me like it's either a motor (most likely - does one of them get hotter than the other?) or a 4-in-one (or do those have 3 in one's ?) problem - something with the gyro or one of the motor controls in it.

If it's doing the exact same thing with 4 different batteries, it seems highly unlikely that all 4 would fail in the same way at exactly the same time.

If you flly it until you lose control and then change the battery and immediately fly it again what happens? How about if you fly it until you lose control and then unplug and replug in the same battery? Does it fail immediately, or after 1-2 minutes the second flight?

If it immediately fails after the first 1-2 minute failure and reset, then I'd suspect a motor problem that's causing it to heat up... then when it cools down it flys ok until it heats up again. Could be the same issue with a speed controller in the 4/3?-in-one.

RE: Odd Mcx behaviour
 

Hi downunderdog, thanks for the reply and debugging suggesions.

The behaviour is to fail immediately on a fresh battery or battery reconnect. If I allow a 10-15 minute cooldown the pattern repeats.

I believe it is a motor problem - although it is hard to tell if either is hot. How would this be caused by the controller - is there a part that heats up or is it some kind of voltage or power regulation issue?

Elvie