no main motor

[bryanth73]

I am almost ready to throw this through the window!!!!
Took my time 3 weeks to build and set up, the main motor worked fine Saturday on a test start up so I unplugged the motor leads from the esc to the motor and set up the head and tail. After getting everything setup I took it out and plugged in the motor and nothing just cyclic and tail no main motor. I took off the blades and tried to rebind the radio/receiver nothing then it went nuts and went full throttle stripping the main gear, stopped and is now dead just cyclic and tail again

I am using a dx6 radio, ar6000 receiver
stock 3550 motor
walkera 35 amp esc
futaba 204 gyro
hs 65 servos
hs 81 tail servo

I am getting tired of spending 100.00 + dollars every time i fire one of theese up this is my 3rd helli that I am having problems with the first was a blade cp pro and the second a raptor g2 I was told those were bad hellis to go with the hdx 450. I havent even got a second of flight time and am looking at spending money what gives ? any ideas would be helpful

[WayneBrown]

walkera 35 amp esc


Seems your post answered the problem.
You can budget buy, but you won't be successful buying unproven knockoffs to save a buck.
More research before you buy would be my advice.

[bryanth73]

lets take a few considerations in account can you look at any part of any helli and not find a bad review on it? Spektrum Futaba and even the hdx450 itself have all been blasted somewhere so lets not go down the road that I buget shopped. There is a ton of info on parts and do you really think we (as beginners) can believe even 1% of whats written even the 3dx450 itself is a knock off so point not an issue.Look at any of the other items on this helli and tell me that. I am looking for a way to see what is the problem, maybe a way to test a bad esc not to flame any brand and say I went the cheap route. I am not looking to throw parts at the problem I would like an educated approach to the repair

[trying2fly]

Wayne instead of accusing him of being cheap why not explain why it might have failed and then offer some ideas on a replacement.

I don't know where he got the esc from but helidirect sells that crap and often pushes cheap junk like that on unsuspecting new people "oh yea it will work great".

the same thing happened to me last year by my LHS. they convinced me that a venom 3D xl was a great and very upgradeable heli even when AFTER SOME RESEARCH I asked them if I should get a Trex 450 which they also sell. but they had found a sucker to get the piece of crap off of the shelf.

so 500.00 later I learned the hard way!

new people get screwed all the time and some of them get fed up with it and give up. even I am on the fence. so why not help us "newbies" instead of just being a know it all and pointing your finger.

[WayneBrown]

whoa! Not beating you up for buying cheap, I'm beating up on the manufacturers and shops carrying this stuff and claiming it's suitable for an application it's not up to. Please accept my apologies if it was taken any other way.
IMHO Walkera is and has been historically the bottom of the barrel as far as quality is concerned.
On to the problem at hand:
I don't know of a way to test the ESC without swapping it, so we can move on to testing the motor. with the leads disconnected and seperated, spin the shaft by hand. Now short the leads together and spin again and compare the physical resistance, the shorted leads should make the motor harder to turn. This won't totally rule out a dropped phase in the motor, but will at least offer you some direction other than confusion.
You stated that you disconnected the motor leads, and did all your radio setup. This practice usually leads to overheating of the ESC as there is an output signal, but no where for it to go. It's common with every ESC with built-in BEC I have tried. Castle Creations and Align ESC's are very prone to weirding out after a prolonged session without a motor connected. I've made a shorting lead and removed all connections to the ESC from motor/ radio/ battery and shorted across the signal lead (RX end), battery lead, and motor lead and had a 'dead' ESC work again. May work in this instance too, your mileage may vary..
In the future I would advise using a setup battery: 4cell NiCd or 4 cell AA pack.

[Rotorworkz]

bryanth73,

I am sure Wayne was not intending to belittle your judgments etc. Email, forum chat, etc.... leave no place for understanding someone's true meaning like face to face conversations with facial expressions, tone of voice etc.... so in text sometimes true meanings can be taken way out of context..... the forum is here to help! and sometimes listening, patience and willingness try things helps us all learn something.
Anyway back on topic here

I am not familiar with the Walkera line but from experience with previous ESC's did you or is there a throttle stick calibration sequence?
Do you have the servo reverse setting correct?
With the motor connected to the ESC do you hear chimes?

For future Radio, Motor, and ESC setups on new Heli or rebuilding a crashed one Always either loosening the motor mount and slide it back so that it disengages gear mesh or just remove pinion. Doing this prevents unexpected chicken dance in your lap

[bryanth73]

I do get the arming tones and it did work as of Saturday when I installed it. I am beginning to think I fried it during the head/tail setup since most of that was done with the throttle in center position. What would be a good esc to get for this? I noticed Finless used an Otter but it seams less expensive than the one I bought already and has bad reviews.

[WayneBrown]

the arming tones are generated by frequency changes on the different phases of the motor, there is no speaker on the esc .
You may try rotating the motor a little bit and try again, or refer to the above about testing the motor.

[aussiemick]

I do get the arming tones and it did work as of Saturday when I installed it. I am beginning to think I fried it during the head/tail setup since most of that was done with the throttle in center position. What would be a good esc to get for this? I noticed Finless used an Otter but it seams less expensive than the one I bought already and has bad reviews.

Dont setup the head in IU or Normal mode use Throttle hold, then you can get the pitch range correct without sending power to the motor. You may have to disconect the 2 of the wires going to the motor to adjust the pitch curves in Normal Mode if you dont have a Throttle cut switch.

Mick

[bryanth73]

Well after buying a pheonix 35 amp esc and another motor still nothing. The esc will not arm tried to reverse the throtle thinking it was not sending a true brake signal also tried to use a different motor. Then thought I could set up a different model on the dx6 with factory settings still nothing, this is getting redicolous I keep throwing money at this thing I could have done a nitro by now the set up is as follows
dx6 / ar 6000 new
stock 3550 motor new ( with hdx kit) also tried another motor
pheonix 35 amp esc new
I have 2 new 1800 ma lipos new
smart plus balance charger new
futaba gyro
hs 65 servos new
hs 81 tail servo new
I had taken the radio and receiver to hobby shop where I got it they tested and said it was fine
I am thinking this hobby is a huge dissapointment and source of complete fustration.
What can I change now????????????????????????

[WayneBrown]

just a reach, did you verify the throttle trim was at minimum?
You may even want to look at the throttle EPA or ATV (limits) and go to the extreme.

[bryanth73]

I went to radio setup again and dropped the throttle travel to -130 and the esc armed. I spooled up the head ( no blades on it) to full throttle and down a couple of times, seemed ok be ok to use or is there something else I should be looking into??

[WayneBrown]

nope, throttle trim at lowest, if ESC arms, you should be good.
I have to wonder if that may have been the issue all along? If so I'm a dumba$$ for not mentioning it sooner..