Home Forums Everything about the Mini Tricopter Mini tricopter dies mid air

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  • #27032
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    Hi!

    Strange issue with my tricopter. It dies mid air after hovering for maybe 20 seconds. First I thought it was a bad receiver but that was not the issue. Afterwards I can see the light from the Naze32 but motor/servo is dead. When I plug in the battery everything is as normal again. And when I try to fly the same thing happens again.

    I’m using the latest software and the default motor, esc etc. Anyone heard of this issue before?

    #27045
    Stefano
    Participant

    Hey, are you powering anything besides the default electronics off the naze32/receiver? Make sure you tail pivot is nice and loose, it should not jiggle but also be not seizing. My guess is that your receiver or Naze is browning out. You could mount a little camera facing the naze 32 light and reciver light and do various tail movements to see when it goes.

    If that doesnt work try reflashing the firmware and do a full chip erase.

    Best of luck – Stefano

    #27050
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    Thanks for your reply.

    The only thing except the default electronics (I guess the alarm/beeper for naze32 is default, but I’ll disconnect and see) is a step down to 12 volt for fpv equipment. But that is powered from the pdb, but I’ll try to disconnect that as well. But that hasn’t caused any problems before.

    I’ll try doing what you suggested and post the results here.

    Thanks!

    #27053
    billyd
    Participant

    I am having the same exact same problem as the op on a tri v3.5 with the Naze.

    #27057
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    That’s interesting! Have you done any problem seeking?

    #27062
    billyd
    Participant

    @Ulf

    I haven’t had the chance to trouble shoot it.

    I believe it is one of the following:

    1. Onboard BEC defective
    2. Bad receiver leading to random fail-safes
    3. Bad solder joint in the pin header or elsewhere
    4. Bad Naze controller
    5. Tail servo draws too much current due to sticky tail mechanics causing brownout
    6. Firmware issue
    7. Bad connection in wiring

    Because the problem is so repeatable I think it rules out 3 and 7. And 6 would lead to the problem widely reported. Leaves us with 1, 2, 4 and 5. I feel like if it was 2, the drop out would be less regular, so that is unlikely. 5 we can double check on our own, and decide if it’s too sticky.

    So my guess is we either have a bad BEC or a bad Naze controller. My plan is to remove the 5v wire from the pdb to the naze board and power the Naze board with a separate 5v add on bec and see if the problem goes away. If it doesn’t I think I’d have to assume a bad Naze controller.

    #27064
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    Thank you for breaking it down so elegantly!

    By “sticky” I presume you mean it’s too tightly screwed in/can not move freely enough?

    I’m away from home this weekend but next week I’ll test changing receiver, using a 5volt take down instead of the built-in BEC, try loosen the servo and if that does not help then I’ll take down the whole thing and check every joint.

    And if that doesn’t help I’ll use an external Naze32 board.

    I’ll post the results here. Have a great weekend!

    #27117
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    I’ve managed to try some of the things. I’ve changed the receiver (no difference), I’ve made sure the servo isn’t to tight (no difference), I’ve refreshed and installed the latest firmware (no difference). It hovers nicely and then just flips over on it’s back and dies.

    I will install a take down BEC but my five cents are leaning towards it being that built-in Naze is faulty somehow. Maybe after a crash because it didn’t act like this when I bought it. But i will try the BEC.

    #27142

    Does it always flip the same direction?
    Does it make a weird noise while doing it or does it just kind of die?
    Does all props stop spinning or do they continue spinning?

    Is the BEC too hot to touch after the crash?

    #27145
    Marlon
    Participant

    Hi,

    Not trying to hijack the post, but yesterday was my maiden flight of the Mini Tricopter ( after a hover test last week ), the flight lasted exactly 1.5 seconds before crashing hard on the asphalt… it broke only a prop and the tail servo got misaligned. This thing is sturdy! But the controls are too precise for novice hands. Human error was definitely the culprit here, it took off without flipping but as it took off, it was going forward. I panicked and pulled in the left stick, and here it came back vertically too quickly. Here I pulled the right stick back WRONG WRONG WRONG this was at 5 meters altitude. I think it must have been in angle mode when I took off. One thing… after crashing the motors stopped without being disarmed, the copter was only twitching and making noises ( Dont’t konw if this is normal, crash detection??? ). I disarmed and took it home, aligned and the servo and adjusted it Cleanflight. Checked it for damage… only a few stone chips on the lower front arms and my RUNCAM 2 with a few minor scuffs. It was off a the time. Did a hover test again all seemed OK. Waiting for my trust and ego to get healed, before I can make another test.

    This left me thinking… like a landing gear, why not program a adjustable throttle hold that can be activated only after being armed. Adjustable to get a somewhat exact hover point, this would help the copter stay in the air even as the stick is pulled beyond the middle point. This of course in horizon mode. I know you are gonna tell me this can be done in your Transmitter but lets do it in Cleanflight. And when you want to land you would flip the switch as you would with landing gear.

    Thanks.

    #27148
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    Hi David!

    “Does it always flip the same direction?”

    I’m not sure about that.

    “Does it make a weird noise while doing it or does it just kind of die?”

    It makes some weird noises (almost like klicks) before it flips over and dies.

    “Does all props stop spinning or do they continue spinning?”

    All the props stop spinning and there’s no sound/reaction from the servo. The board’s lights are still on though.

    “Is the BEC too hot to touch after the crash?”

    That I don’t know.

    Right now I’ve taken down the copter to install a separate BEC so I can’t take it out and answer your questions. As soon as I’ve tested I’ll let you guys know.

    #27149
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    To be honest it was a kind of hijacking since it has nothing to do with the subject we’re discussing.

    But to answer your question: You can alter the sensitivity (or Rates) in cleanflight. See here for more info:

    http://blog.oscarliang.net/rc-roll-pitch-yaw-rate-cleanflight/

    Hope that helps! 🙂

    #27150
    Marlon
    Participant

    Sorry about that Ulf,

    Thanks for the info

    As I stated after crashing the motors stopped without being disarmed, the copter was only twitching and making noises ( Don’t know if this is normal, crash detection??? ) And the bottom of the tri felt hot when I picked it up. Me relating to your post was, the motors not spinning after the crash while still being armed.

    Please consider my landing gear switch, we’ll call it the “Throttle Hijack Switch” THS

    Thanks, i’ll run away now hahahaha.

    #27155
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    No worries, mate! 🙂

    Open up a new thread with your problems! 🙂

    #27158
    Ulf Åkesson
    Participant

    I’ve now tried to change to an external BEC take down 5 volt. Did not work.

    At first it flew fine when i hovered it (30-40 seconds) but then it happened again (the same as the other times). It rolled forwards to it’s back. I restarted it and tried again. It now started to sound like the PIDs were all screwed up. And it throws it self randomly to the sides and then flips and dies.

    It wasn’t like this from the beginning. I suspect something has happened after a crash. My suspicion is that something has happened to the Naze32 board but I’m no expert…

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