My luck must just suck!

Jeff Troiano · 07-21-2012, 12:12 AM

Ok, received my my DJI f550 RTF kit on Monday. Spent a good portion of the day slowly getting it put together and setup. Was too late to test fly, so had to wait until next day.

Tuesday morning, in the parking lot at my job, I take it out for a test flight. Flying low to the ground (about 4 feet, or so) I'm flying back and forth across the parking lot. All of a sudden I see one of the props stop spinning. Craft becomes unstable and crashes. No damage. I check all my connections, and start it up again, but now my number 2 motor won't spin. Post in the forums, I'm told to check my solder connections. Turns out the motor is bad. Pull out the spare I bought, low and behold, that one happens to be bad also.

I contact the person I bought the kit from, he has me try a couple things. Confirms the motor is bad, says he'll send me one to replace it. Thank you Patrick. I also emailed the other website I bought my spare from, have yet to hear back from them.

Fast forward to Friday night, I get home from work, my replacement motor is here. I test, then install. Reinstall my props, and go head to the only place I can think to fly at 11pm, the local shopping plaza.

Get it up and flying, just keeping low, and going out and back. It's shaky, keeps dipping, won't hold altitude if I fly forward. Have throttle at mid point, but when I fly forward it noses down and I have to increase throttle. With the exception of the wobbles, I was feeling more comfortable.

At this point I decide to test the fail safe. I fly it out 100 foot or so, flip the fail safe switch. It rises to 60 feet or so, starts heading back to me. Ends up about 20 foot past me, and 30 foot over from where I took off. Hovers at 60 feet for what seems about 30 seconds. Can't tell if it's starting to come down or not, it's still wobbling every few seconds. All of a sudden, all the motors turn off, everything just goes silent. And down falls my f550, right onto the pavement. Broke 2 arms, snapped the top plate, bent the crap out of 1 prop, and killed the 2 led light strips on those arms.

Don't have a clue what I'm going to do next. All I know is I spent a lot of money on this thing, and I keep having nothing but problems.

Sorry for the long post, but needed to rant.

Jeff

Twister773 · 07-21-2012, 02:12 AM

Need more details about your setup. Naza gps or wkm? What firmware,props,battery etc

thehatguy · 07-21-2012, 05:25 AM

Jeff,

You need to SLOW down and quit taking chances.

11:00pm in the parking lot testing RTH is not a safe bet.

Get it up and flying, just keeping low, and going out and back. It's shaky, keeps dipping, won't hold altitude if I fly forward. Have throttle at mid point, but when I fly forward it noses down and I have to increase throttle.

They don't fly themselves. you have to pilot these.

Work with Patrick, but stop taking chances until you get a few things sorted out.

John

Jeff Troiano · 07-21-2012, 09:40 AM

I have to say, after a nights sleep, I have to agree. I'm trying too much way to fast.

Have ordered a new frame kit, hope to be up and flying again by end of next week.

Any advice on the steps I should take to "dial" things in?

Jerry Kirwan · 07-21-2012, 12:06 PM

Before you put it in "failsafe" learn how to take it out of failsafe. If it doesn't seem right take it back and bring it home yourself.

Gregco10 · 07-21-2012, 12:23 PM

Hey Jeff, I'm new to this too, just got a f450 with a naza, which it seems like you have the naza unit too being a rtf. The only thing I did was balance the props, set the atti switch, and go. It was kinda set from the box as far as gains go. I would start with the props, check that they are balanced first, then like checking the tracking on a heli make sure they rotate in the same plane. Check the motors, some even balance them, but at least pull the props off, and spin them either by hand or at low rpm just to verify they run true with no wobble. Give the prop nuts a small dab of thread lock, some are running opposite the screw direction and could tend to loosen. Spin up each motor and prop combo individually if you can, I know a pia in a hex, but you will be more able to isolate any weird vibration. And like everyone said go slow and careful at first, the atti mode gives tremendous confidence but it can still get away from you. Good luck.

Gregco10 · 07-21-2012, 02:48 PM

One more thing maybe to watch for, and I ask of everyone. If you plug in the battery, arm right away and take off, is that a problem. I did that yesterday and my quad did a slow graceful flop on its back. I checked it over, unplugged and plugged back in, waited to b sure the atti flashing yellow was going and all was well again. Is it possible it took off in manual mode because of arming too quickly and I wasnt ready to compensate. Just a thought, may want to confirm that light before liftoff.

07-21-2012, 12:12 AM	#1
Jeff Troiano Registered Users Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Hermitage, TN	My luck must just suck! Ok, received my my DJI f550 RTF kit on Monday. Spent a good portion of the day slowly getting it put together and setup. Was too late to test fly, so had to wait until next day. Tuesday morning, in the parking lot at my job, I take it out for a test flight. Flying low to the ground (about 4 feet, or so) I'm flying back and forth across the parking lot. All of a sudden I see one of the props stop spinning. Craft becomes unstable and crashes. No damage. I check all my connections, and start it up again, but now my number 2 motor won't spin. Post in the forums, I'm told to check my solder connections. Turns out the motor is bad. Pull out the spare I bought, low and behold, that one happens to be bad also. I contact the person I bought the kit from, he has me try a couple things. Confirms the motor is bad, says he'll send me one to replace it. Thank you Patrick. I also emailed the other website I bought my spare from, have yet to hear back from them. Fast forward to Friday night, I get home from work, my replacement motor is here. I test, then install. Reinstall my props, and go head to the only place I can think to fly at 11pm, the local shopping plaza. Get it up and flying, just keeping low, and going out and back. It's shaky, keeps dipping, won't hold altitude if I fly forward. Have throttle at mid point, but when I fly forward it noses down and I have to increase throttle. With the exception of the wobbles, I was feeling more comfortable. At this point I decide to test the fail safe. I fly it out 100 foot or so, flip the fail safe switch. It rises to 60 feet or so, starts heading back to me. Ends up about 20 foot past me, and 30 foot over from where I took off. Hovers at 60 feet for what seems about 30 seconds. Can't tell if it's starting to come down or not, it's still wobbling every few seconds. All of a sudden, all the motors turn off, everything just goes silent. And down falls my f550, right onto the pavement. Broke 2 arms, snapped the top plate, bent the crap out of 1 prop, and killed the 2 led light strips on those arms. Don't have a clue what I'm going to do next. All I know is I spent a lot of money on this thing, and I keep having nothing but problems. Sorry for the long post, but needed to rant. Jeff

07-21-2012, 02:12 AM	#2
Twister773 Registered Users Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: SLO, California	Need more details about your setup. Naza gps or wkm? What firmware,props,battery etc __________________ Nikon D4/Coming Soon/Cinestar 8/8FG super

07-21-2012, 05:25 AM	#3
thehatguy Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: The Colony, Texas	Jeff, You need to SLOW down and quit taking chances. 11:00pm in the parking lot testing RTH is not a safe bet. Get it up and flying, just keeping low, and going out and back. It's shaky, keeps dipping, won't hold altitude if I fly forward. Have throttle at mid point, but when I fly forward it noses down and I have to increase throttle. They don't fly themselves. you have to pilot these. Work with Patrick, but stop taking chances until you get a few things sorted out. John __________________ EX-HeliFreakSwag.com guy (arthritis got the best of me)

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07-21-2012, 09:40 AM	#4
Jeff Troiano Registered Users Thread Starter Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Hermitage, TN	I have to say, after a nights sleep, I have to agree. I'm trying too much way to fast. Have ordered a new frame kit, hope to be up and flying again by end of next week. Any advice on the steps I should take to "dial" things in?

07-21-2012, 12:06 PM	#5
Jerry Kirwan Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Richmond Tx	Before you put it in "failsafe" learn how to take it out of failsafe. If it doesn't seem right take it back and bring it home yourself.

07-21-2012, 12:23 PM	#6
Gregco10 Registered Users Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New York	Hey Jeff, I'm new to this too, just got a f450 with a naza, which it seems like you have the naza unit too being a rtf. The only thing I did was balance the props, set the atti switch, and go. It was kinda set from the box as far as gains go. I would start with the props, check that they are balanced first, then like checking the tracking on a heli make sure they rotate in the same plane. Check the motors, some even balance them, but at least pull the props off, and spin them either by hand or at low rpm just to verify they run true with no wobble. Give the prop nuts a small dab of thread lock, some are running opposite the screw direction and could tend to loosen. Spin up each motor and prop combo individually if you can, I know a pia in a hex, but you will be more able to isolate any weird vibration. And like everyone said go slow and careful at first, the atti mode gives tremendous confidence but it can still get away from you. Good luck.

07-21-2012, 02:48 PM	#7
Gregco10 Registered Users Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: New York	One more thing maybe to watch for, and I ask of everyone. If you plug in the battery, arm right away and take off, is that a problem. I did that yesterday and my quad did a slow graceful flop on its back. I checked it over, unplugged and plugged back in, waited to b sure the atti flashing yellow was going and all was well again. Is it possible it took off in manual mode because of arming too quickly and I wasnt ready to compensate. Just a thought, may want to confirm that light before liftoff.