FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

When i first purchased my corona 120, I always had a problem that caused the motor to cut out for a split second in mid-flight, I switched to a Mega 16/15/3 with a phenoex 35 ESC and a 2100 mAh 11.1v lipo battery. After making this upgrade the helicopter performed better, but I still had that motor cut out problem, especially in turns when the helicopter is facing me and flying at me, that's when the motor cuts out on me the most, if I stay behind the heli and face the tail toward me in a hover the cut out problem never happens! Anyway I switched to a deans antenna, and the cut out problem was much worse!!! Got rid of the deans ant. and got a glitch reducer from heli hobby and the cut out problem completely disapered, NOW, A YEAR LATER, Im having that same cut out problem of the motor in mid-flight! It cuts out and goes back on in a split second, but causes a torqing twist, and temoraraly thows the heli out of control for a second. Does anybody know why Corona 120's have this problem in the first place? I've seen many simular complaints about this problem in lots of other corona forums. Do ya think the glitch reducer went bad? The only change I made to the heli is that I put a bell 206 fuselage on my corona, then the glitch problem started about 5 flights after that fuselage went on, dont think that's the problem cause my Rx antenna is set exactly the way it was before the bell fuselage was added and I had the same problem with the stock canopy......[&o]

TIA

Take the canopy off & see if your problem goes away.

Here's the deal. I had a similar problem once with my canopy but when I took it off the problem went away. Never really did find out if it was the motor or ESC going into heat thermal protection but I suspect it was the ESC. A CC35 BTW! So I cut slots in the canopy winshield right above where I had the ESC and below it for airflow and never had the problem again.

I ran the Deans also.

Hope it helps......

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

Okay Thanks RENO, Im going to fly with no canopy and let you know if that works, after all, I have been flying in very hot weather, temps near 104, it could probably get up to 120 inside that canopy, after every flight theirs a real funky smell of hot plastic...........[X(] and most of my glitch free flying was in the winter months, So I'll let you know as soon as I try it, that's if the wind ever dies down.

P.S. If that don't work then I'm going to try just letting the Rx antenna dangle down from the helicopter. right now it's tied to the tail fin running parallel to the rear boom, as it always has been. This problem gives me the impression that the radio signal is being lost or blocked for a second in the turns because Castle Creations advertises or brags that their speedcontrols have AUTO SHUT DOWN when ever your radio signal is lost, but I never had that problem with my antenna before so it could very well be the ESC over heating.
If it is the ESC overheating, then rather than cut up my Canopy, I may try running my wires so that I can mount my ESC outside of the heli, under the belly of the fuselage so that it is always in the main stream of fresh air.

Cambo

My Feedback: (2)

mine just started doing that to but it is at the end of the battery pack so i just land.

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

Yours just started doing the same thing too ??? I know lots of people have the same complaint, let me ask you;

1) What motor are you running and how long have you been using it on your heli?

2) What speed control are you using and how long have you been using it on your heli?

If you and everybody that complains about this problem are all using Castle Creations speed controls, then it must be that auto cut-off crap! Here's what I think, everytime the ESC thinks or feels it might be loosing the signal, it shuts off, but then picks up the signal again. everytime that motor shuts off for a nano second, it cause that wiggle in the heli. In your case it's probably happening at the end or near end of flight because the voltage drop at the end of the battery pack gives the signal to shut off. It might be time to trade our Castle Creations for HACKER speed controls!!!!!!!![:@]

TIA

But I've used the same ESC in my hotliner without fail......

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

Your CC35 ESC works fine in another helicopter, but not in your corona? So what the hell is it with these Corona's that keep causing this problem....................[:@]


Tonight, (weather permitting) Im going to try the following;

1) New Glitch reducer
2) Letting the Rx antenna dangle free
3) Flying with no canopy

If all 3 of the above test fail, then I'm screwed because I don't know were to look next!
If I get to try everything out tonight, I'll post the results here!

Cambo

My Feedback: (2)

I am running a cc35 but it really doesn't bother me. I think it had something to do with my antena wire not being exposed because after i rerouted it it started doing it. I will keep ya posted

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

It seems like it's loosing the signal for a split second everytime that type of motor glitch happens!

Cambo

My Feedback: (2)

Yes, that is what mine does

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

Well, So far, So Good......! All I did was install a brand new glitch reducer between the reciver socket (channel 3 / throttle control) and the Pheniox 35 Speed control, and so far, no more motor cut out glitch problems!

I really need to run at least 5 battery packs through this heli to confirm that the problem is solved, so far the hot windy weather has only allowed me two test flights, but usually the problem would happen immeadiatly, even before the heli's ESC got a chance to get hot, So I'm assuming it's probably okay now.

When my heli first started doing this 2 years ago I tried everything, and the Glitch reducer from Heli hobby was the only thing that helped, so I'm assuming that's the cure again! It worked the first time, why not the second? Nothing was really changed on the heli electronically, so maybe the old glitch reducer burned out, it's about 1 year old anyway.....

rcflyertim

Flyingfish

Did the glitch go away? Have you ran 5 battery packs yet to validate your theory? Just curious

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

Not yet, it's been so hot & windy that flying out here in Vegas is not so easy until the Fall settles in, Then I can fly everyday, but till then it's hit & miss, sometimes I can catch an evening were the wind slows down.

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

Seems like the glitch is back, not as bad, but now the heli just shuts off in mid flight, it's probably the ESC overheating!
I'm going to mount my ESC on the outside of the heli's underbelly and see if that helps, if not, Ill try a new speed controller, maybe a CC45

ufoman

Flyingfish do you have your CC controllers Current Limiting set to "insensitive". Some other flyers at RCgroups have had their Corona motors cut out when set to other settings.

Here is what others have posted. "As for reasons for insensitive current draw setting, I read on a thread here that this setting was a recommendation by Castle Creations to some people who were having problems with their ESC cutting out. The setting change worked for those people. I thought it would be good in this case if I had current spikes."

I would try this along with a Ferrite Ring and definitely cut some slots in your canopy. And are you using an Azar short Antennae? I like mine and I have 2 one for my Lama 2 and my Corona 120.

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

As for cooling, I removed all the side windows on my corona's Bell jet ranger canopy for cross ventilation and have mounted my CC35 under my heli on the outside of the heli for maximum cooling.

My CC controller's Current limit setting is at, I think 7.2v, cant remember it's been about 18 months since I last set it. That particular voltage cutoff worked well for over a year and now it's been cutting out, don't know why, I never changed the setting since! But I should change it to the lowest value of 4.0v setting on the CC controller. According to the lipo I use, you should not drain your 3 cell Lipo below 9 volts, so technically the CC ESC cutoff should be set to 9.v cutoff, but I thought that was kind of high, so I set it to 7.2, But I really should set it to 4.0v, because my heli dosent have anymore lift when it reaches 10.53 volts and so I stop and bring the heli in for a charge, I could never drain my lipo below 9 volts, it just won't fly below 10.53v anyway. So I will look into that setting change.


P.S.
My main question is this; When will I be able to fly with peace of mind that the heli wont drop from the sky again? You see. I finally got a chance to test fly my heli today with the CC35 ESC riding on the outside under belly of the Heli, plenty of cooling, and I flew at an altitude of only 12-15 inches Running figure 8 circuits, kinda like and RC car track, just incase the heli dropped dead in mid flight, IT DID NOT THIS TIME! But I know that doesn't prove anything yet. Sometimes you can have as many as 5 or 6 good flights or more until the CC35 ESC cuts out again. Although I had a good flight, I'm still going to put the cutoff voltage down to 4.0 volts on my CC35 just incase.

But I'd like to know, if the CC35 has good cooling and the Cutoff is at a safe level, and if the CC35 still continues to cutsout, what else would it be? Just trying to find out from you guys if I overlooked anything before I buy a new CC35 or perhaps a new CC45. Someone mention something about the BEC cutting out being the 3rd possible reason for a mid flight motor cutout, that's I think if you have a weak lipo, But my lipo is fairly new, about 2 months old, never had a problem with it before!
I'd like to get back to some high altitude flying and some cool high speed passes again, If I wanted to fly only inches from the ground, I'd a bought a TYCO hovercraft on ebay, how many more ninny test do I have to run.........LOL

P.P.S, I Just realized that my current limiting is set to standard, opt#3, gonna have to change that to Insensitive!

Any feed back is welcome here guys!......

ufoman

On my new Phoenix 45-- it is setting 2 Current Limiting and option 4 "Insensitive" that I'm using on mine now. That way if your accelerating or banking and the ESC pulls a lot more current it won't cut out. Also the Cuttoff Voltage is a entirely different thing: on mine it is setting 1. I'm Using 6 volt cutoff on mine with my Commonsense 3800Lipos and flying by timer. Your software in your older CC35 may be a little different than mine. Don't know. The 9v cutoff is not safe...better to lose the Lipo than something else on the heli.

If it is a speed controller thing you could always move up to a Jeti, have them repair it, or go for a CC45 with updated software.

Cambo

My Feedback: (2)

Hey flying fish

My problem that was described earlier was a result of me routing the antena to close to the battery/esc connector. I had rerouted the antena before threw the slot for it on the ve landing gear and switched it back soon after.

FlyingFish

My Feedback: (17)

Well my ESC is outside the heli away from everything, and so far so good.

mikec456

My Feedback: (1)

Anyone know how to bring back an Apogee 3c lipo that was sitting around for 6 months and is at 7.4 volts? Or is it a lost cause?