Sign of bad 5-in-1??? (UPDATE: it's not the motor...)

MrRoboHeli · 05-21-2012, 08:42 PM

My MSR seems to be having some sort of power problem. I put a freshly-charged battery into it and throttle up but after getting off the ground, it goes into the LVC throttle-down mode. I check the battery voltage after this happens and it's still up at 4.0 or more volts.

Here's the history. This whole problem started off with a flight today that ran for about 1.5min when it normally runs for 5 minutes (150mAh battery). I thought it was odd and that maybe my battery wasn't fully charged or something so I got another 150mAh. With the second battery, I had a small power-down glitch mid flight but then it immediately went away and I flew the whole battery. However, on my third, fourth, and fifth battery, however, the rotor spins up for a few seconds, I can get it airborne, but then it hits the LVC power down and lands itself. I can repeat this process on the same battery but the voltage is nowhere near 3.8V or so.

I can't see anything that might be jammed. The servos seem to move okay, the main motor seems to spin up okay, the tail rotor appears to spin okay.

I thought it might be my DX6i since it was running low on charge so I got out the MLP4DSM TX that came with it and put totally fresh batteries into that and tried flying it. My first flight was once again just fine with no problems as far as I could tell. However, every subsequent flight has been the same problem above.

[EDIT] : it's not the motor. I got a new one and the helicopter had exactly the same problem.

MrRoboHeli · 05-22-2012, 09:52 AM

Well, it doesn't look good. I called Horizon Hobby tech support and they said that this sounds like a speed controller on the 5-in-1 that's going bad. I guess I'll try sending it into Horizon Hobby to see if they can identify whether it's a defect or something. Otherwise...I guess it's time to get a new 5-in-1.

Pfloyd · 05-22-2012, 08:49 PM

How long have you had the msr?

MrRoboHeli · 05-22-2012, 09:51 PM

A month but it was bought used/refurbished so I don't know how old it is. I emailed the seller and talked to him about the history of the heli. It's only had its tail rotor replaced. He recommended I try swapping out the motor first.

MrRoboHeli · 05-23-2012, 06:50 PM

Well, it's not the motor. I got a new motor from my LHS and tried it out but the helicopter behaved exactly the same way.

Time to see if Horizon Hobby can help out.

MrRoboHeli · 05-23-2012, 09:10 PM

So... what are the chances that Horizon Hobby is going to exchange an MSR 5-in-1 that I bought used on a refurbished heli from a non-Horizon Hobby dealer? Anybody want to guess the odds on that?

05-21-2012, 08:42 PM	#1
MrRoboHeli Registered Users Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: USA	Sign of bad 5-in-1??? (UPDATE: it's not the motor...) My MSR seems to be having some sort of power problem. I put a freshly-charged battery into it and throttle up but after getting off the ground, it goes into the LVC throttle-down mode. I check the battery voltage after this happens and it's still up at 4.0 or more volts. Here's the history. This whole problem started off with a flight today that ran for about 1.5min when it normally runs for 5 minutes (150mAh battery). I thought it was odd and that maybe my battery wasn't fully charged or something so I got another 150mAh. With the second battery, I had a small power-down glitch mid flight but then it immediately went away and I flew the whole battery. However, on my third, fourth, and fifth battery, however, the rotor spins up for a few seconds, I can get it airborne, but then it hits the LVC power down and lands itself. I can repeat this process on the same battery but the voltage is nowhere near 3.8V or so. I can't see anything that might be jammed. The servos seem to move okay, the main motor seems to spin up okay, the tail rotor appears to spin okay. I thought it might be my DX6i since it was running low on charge so I got out the MLP4DSM TX that came with it and put totally fresh batteries into that and tried flying it. My first flight was once again just fine with no problems as far as I could tell. However, every subsequent flight has been the same problem above. [EDIT] : it's not the motor. I got a new one and the helicopter had exactly the same problem. Last edited by MrRoboHeli; 05-24-2012 at 09:34 AM.. Reason: it's not the motor...

05-22-2012, 08:49 PM	#3
Pfloyd Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Mascoutah, Il USA	How long have you had the msr? __________________ MCX/MCX2/MSR/MSRX/MQX/C105B/S300/MCPX/S107G/S107C/S109G/S108/S026/S009G/S023G/S102G/S110G/GYROPTER/ AIRRECON/UDI-803/UDI-816A/SYMAX1/V959/JXD-355/052INTERCEPTOR/EYE1/S113G/UDI-U810/DX7s USAF RETIRED (1968-1988) To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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05-22-2012, 09:52 AM	#2
MrRoboHeli Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: USA	Well, it doesn't look good. I called Horizon Hobby tech support and they said that this sounds like a speed controller on the 5-in-1 that's going bad. I guess I'll try sending it into Horizon Hobby to see if they can identify whether it's a defect or something. Otherwise...I guess it's time to get a new 5-in-1.

05-22-2012, 09:51 PM	#4
MrRoboHeli Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: USA	A month but it was bought used/refurbished so I don't know how old it is. I emailed the seller and talked to him about the history of the heli. It's only had its tail rotor replaced. He recommended I try swapping out the motor first.

05-23-2012, 06:50 PM	#5
MrRoboHeli Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: USA	Well, it's not the motor. I got a new motor from my LHS and tried it out but the helicopter behaved exactly the same way. Time to see if Horizon Hobby can help out.

05-23-2012, 09:10 PM	#6
MrRoboHeli Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: USA	So... what are the chances that Horizon Hobby is going to exchange an MSR 5-in-1 that I bought used on a refurbished heli from a non-Horizon Hobby dealer? Anybody want to guess the odds on that?