Nano Tail FET burned up 20 flights in

[Bladecpnitro]

I just thought Id share my experience with you folks. I have had to replace the tail fet on the board barely into my 2nd day because my Nano's tiny tail motor wires from the factory were laying right on top of the vertical in the open aileron servo shaft which turns every time the right aileron servo moves. The shaft wore the thin coating off the wires and shorted the tail circuit, burning out the MOSFET in the board.

I recommend checking your tail motor wire routing before you fly your Nano one more time.

When it occured the heli dropped like a rock and the tail motor wouldn't shut off. I was outside and had just gotten the hang of flipping the little guy.

I couldn't get the FET or the warranty board from Horrizon anytime soon so I began looking around and found an old Yellow Walmart remote Mustang that the kids used to play with 5 years ago. And that thing was loaded with FET's. Believe me finding the FET was only half the battle, getting that joker soldered into the board without touching anything else was another hell of its own kind. But its ready to fly this morning.

I lost the first FET I took out, ruined the 2nd one (broke its legs off too short) and the 3rd one worked, I did have to remove it once and resolder it and make sure no solder was bleeding over where it shouldn't.
Here is a blown up pic of an actual FET. They are actually smaller


That was the most aggravating thing I believe I have ever done in my life. My soldering iron is just too big for the Nano.

Mine looks like the lower one in this pic. I ended up filling a half inch of servo wire up with solder and holding it on the tabs and applying my iron to the wire. I also found I could lay a clean, fluxed, stripped strand of old servo wire down on the solder to be removed, apply the iron to the wire and draw all the solder into the wire to remove the part.

[NCcraig]

You can buy the correct FET's rather cheap and replacing them is alot easier with the right soldering iron, tip, a 5 diopter lighted magnifying glass and lot's of practice. I replace them on a regular basis. It gets easier the more you do.

[Bladecpnitro]

It sounds like FETS should be in the spare parts bag. These FET'S didn't have pins that go all the way through the board and were very difficult to hold still.

What soldering iron do you recommend Craig? Or can I just buy a tip?

I am really liking the Nano even stock Im able to pull off flips in any direction. I can tell it needs a little more power to come out of the flips a little smoother.

[Bladecpnitro]

These MCPX FETs should work no?http://www.aprohobbies.com/mosfet-up...1v2-p-560.html
What does a FET do? It seems like a Y connector.

[NCcraig]

These are the ones I use,
http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...3CT-ND/1978883

I have a Weller WESD51 soldering station and use an ETU tip for all my small soldering.

[Bladecpnitro]

What do you use to hold the FET still? I weld all the time and use C clamps to hold much larger steel pieces in place but this stuff is so tiny I was thinking maybe a dab of glue under the FET would help hold it steady.

[NCcraig]

A pair of skinny tweezers.

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[jbilliter]

I havent done an fet yet, but I have different size forceps that I got at harbor freight. I think they would work to clamp the part to the board while soldering.

[NCcraig]

Originally Posted by jbilliter

I havent done an fet yet, but I have different size forceps that I got at harbor freight. I think they would work to clamp the part to the board while soldering.

I think a set of forceps would do more harm then good. Clamping down the forceps might crush the components. Scotch Tape would be a better option.

[Bladecpnitro]

Originally Posted by NCcraig

I think a set of forceps would do more harm then good. Clamping down the forceps might crush the components. Scotch Tape would be a better option.

Now thats an idea. Im gonna order a handful of FETS, a parallel cable and it would be neat to a have a car charger that would parallel charge the lipos.

[thanasi]

I place the fet in position and hold I'd down with a toothpick lol
Tre the more u do the easier it gets.
I'm at around 30 repairs now nano/mcpx


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[Bladecpnitro]

I did finally hold the FET steady with some tweasers long enough to get one pin soldered. I didn't have anything to hold my board steady either though, so it was a pain. I'm just glad its working.