Motor cutting out. ESC overheating?

[JoulesWinfield]

Like the title says, my motor is cutting out. Whilst in mid air a few minutes into some nice newb hovering my heli suddenly drops. By the time the heli is on the ground and Ive got the stick most of the way down it will start spinning back up and she flys again like nothing ever happened.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Btw- Everything is stock.

Thanks guys.

[darthdecon]

well short of there being a problem with your esc or motor you might check for any excessive binding like in the belt is it way to tight? Also do the paper test just manually run a piece of paper through your main gear and motor pinion and if the paper is just crinkled your okay but if it shreads the paper your pinion might be too tight to main gear either one of these could cause the motor to over work and give your esc a thermal cutout, other than that things like missaligned motor magnets in the motor and the fact that the esky esc is not the best quality could be causing the problem. Good luck.

[Heli Yea!]

Check to be sure that all of your connections to the reciver and the gyro are secure. sometimes they look plugged in but they aren't in all the way!

[creteus]

Cut the rubber off the esc if you haven't already.

[JoulesWinfield]

I know the mesh and the belt tension is ok. I just checked them not too long ago. But I will double check to be sure.
The connectors should all be good as well but I will double check those too, since I just did the servo swap to get her back in the air while waiting for new parts.

The rubber is still on the esc, thats the first time Ive herd of removing it. But I was thinking about that as well. Ill cut it off right away.

While I was setting up everything and going through RADDS I didnt have any trouble at all. And that was before reliveing some of the belt tension and loosening the gear mesh a little. The only difference is now Im on the sticks for several minutes at a time.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[helihathnofury]

Keep us updated on further development JW.

Mike

[psilo]

Also, check the tracking. If your tracking is out it could put strain on the motor/esc and cause cutouts. If tracking seems to go one way or other check your thrust bearings are in the right way round and that they have the correct washers.

[helihathnofury]

Gerd,
My Hobbywings ESC/BEC is completely covered in a plastic/rubbery skin. Should I remove this to assist cooling?

Mike

[psilo]

Mike,
Is that the pentium with the switch mode BEC? If so I wouldn't remove the rubber unless you get overheating problems, I figure that the manufacturers put the skin on for a reason and if it ain't broke then don't fix it! Also, depends where you mount the ESC. I mount mine under the main gear so that it gets some cooling from the fins of the gears.

Gerd

[helihathnofury]

It's the Guard version with BEC. It will be mounted under the gears too.

Mike

PS Gruesome pic of post cancer op!!!!!!!!!!!! Turned my stomach over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Makes my 2" scar for broken thumb look a scratch!!!!!!! How long ago was that?

[psilo]

IMO leave it as is and see how you get on with it. Mounted under the gears you should get a decent airflow across it.

The photo was taken 11th July 2004, think the Op was actually around a week before. I did have a photo prior to the op with just a gaping hole in my face but can't seem to find it now.

[JoulesWinfield]

I took the plastic cover off only on the heat sink. Since I dont really see a need to remove any more than that.

Blades are still tracking well, the flybar is not so great. But I put in my parts order last night and I should have everything next week.

I also noticed the main gear isnt just missing a couple teeth here and there but one side is starting to look a little mashed. So my guess is that the main shaft is bent towards that side and is pressing harder on the pinoin gear for a little less than half a revolution. So that is surely causing some excess heat.
The smart thing to do would have been not to fly it until the main shaft and gear was replaced but I really needed to get at least a battery in off the ground. Ive had this for two weeks and I had some pretty nice hovers yesterday, it was very satisfying. I was starting to get worried that I was one of those folks who just couldnt learn helis. But now I realize Im just one of those folks who have a new addicition.

After the parts get in (should have the sg90s next week also), Ill spool er up and see how it goes. I need to start using a timer also since Im not spooling down much at all.

[gerrydobro]

Joules, I had my esc cutting in and out on my maiden flight si I upgraded to a 30a Volcano (hobbyWing) right off. Your mechanical problems won't help but I bet its just another case of a poor pE-Sky esc!
Gerry

[MarcinCP]

Originally Posted by JoulesWinfield

Like the title says, my motor is cutting out. Whilst in mid air a few minutes into some nice newb hovering my heli suddenly drops. By the time the heli is on the ground and Ive got the stick most of the way down it will start spinning back up and she flys again like nothing ever happened.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Btw- Everything is stock.

Thanks guys.

Are you using the stock ESC that came with the heli? Mine was doing the exact same thing. The ESC would reach it's temperature cutoff point, and protect itself by limiting current flow to the motor. I switched to a Dynam 30A ESC and all those problems went away. For $25 you can easily fix the problem and unlock more power from your motor. Upgrade well worth the money.

http://www.helidirect.com/product_in...oducts_id=1298

[JoulesWinfield]

I have thought about getting a better ESC, but since Ive only had this heli for two weeks and Im already buying $70 in parts supposedly related to my first crash I dont think thats really an option right now.

But I will be looking into this again in the future. Besides that I just found out that Im flying to Germany Monday morning so I wont be doing much with this for at least two weeks.