Brown outs...?

[Longbaorder23]

Hey all,
I just got my Frsky system in yesterday, and i had the chance to test it today in the wonderful weather. however, twice today, i experienced some problems. Range on the Frsky was fantastic, passed the range test with flying colors. however, during flights today, i experienced towards the end of the flights, if that means anything, but i experienced the model going into failsafe right in the middle of a maneuver. I thought, some people say the power switch on the 9x is bad, but its not. my transmitter had no issues, no shut downs, no loss of electrical contact, nothing. Ive decided its a receiver issue. now im using a non telemetry receiver, and its HV.... not sure if that has anything to do with it... but im using it in a foamie 3D plane on 3s lipo. ive heard this is the common scenario when a brownout occurs. but my model goes into failsafe. is this still a brownout? Also, I understand that the BEC in my ESC isnt the best for this situation, high travel servos, large control surfaces, and lots of jerky fast movement. Since my receiver is HV though... could i simply wire the 3s lipo BALANCE lead to my reciever? Will this help my problems? i was able to save one "brown out" before it crashed because it rebooted, but the other time was way to close, i pulled up at 10 feet above the ground and barely saved it. Can i do that? will that solve my problem? Thanks!

 

[NewZee]

do you know how many amps the BEC in your ESC is? low amps with a lot of control going on at the same time is not a good thing? I always try and use an ESC with a 5A BEC

 

[Longbaorder23]

5 amps? Mine is only 2 amps. Built into the ESC. I'm using 4 9gram servos. I'm not even sure my issue was a brown out. But I can't explain it and I can't replicate it so far either. I plugged a 2s lipo into the receiver and all the servos started glitching really hard. It wasn't fried though. But it's rated to handle up to 16v. Can I plug in my 3s lipo and use that as direct power? Thanks!

 

[pgerts]

Your receiver might be rated 16 v but your 9 g servos are probably not.
Do not connect a battery direct to your rx if you have an ESC with a BEC connected.
2A is more than good for a foamie with 4*9 g servos.
Take a look at your antennas - both tx and rx and make a range check on ground.

 

[xuzme720]

I agree with Pgerts. It sounds like an antenna issue. How do you have them routed? Have you done any of the bad things Bruce details in this video?

 

[Longbaorder23]

i actually watched that video in my placement of antennas! So yes, 90 degrees, clear of batteries and wires and carbon, ect. my equipment passed the range test with flying colors, did better than the rated distance in range check mode. i walked 60 paces out, 40 is about the number in the manual, and at 60 control was will crystal clear. at 60 paces i even pointed the transmitter antenna at the model for drastic measures check, and still no glitches. the glitches (or brown outs) only occured DURING flight, with throttle ON, and a variety of servos moving. range was not the issue here, i am 98% confident. in fact, both times i had issues, my plane was a good 20-30 meters out, quite close! also keep in mind i flew the model out quite far in the beginning to test range, and was a success. ive concluded range was not the issue. What can i do to improve my control? i dont have a voltage meter or anything to live track the voltage sag in my receiver. nor do i have external BEC's for my use at this time.

I have found out that my receiver operates on 3v-16v. what are my options? I plan to use this same receiver in my new project, my hobbyking Skyeye FPV model. now that plane uses SIX, 17G servos. i will find out tomorrow how many amps my BEC is on the included ESC, but i have a feeling it wont be enough... LAST thing i want is my FPV plane suffering from something as stupid as a brown out. What are my options? What are good products? Is there a good 'in the meantime' solution?

Also, never had this issue on the foamie with a different receiver, it is only showing issues with my FrSky system. Thanks!

 

[xuzme720]

It sounds like it is the servo's sucking down the power enough to throw it into brownout. I have flown my Frsky with 4 9gr's with no issues. Do you have another ESC to try? It might be some problem with the ESC not supplying rated amperage...or overheating. Have you checked the temp on the ESC when it happens?

The HV Rx shouldn't be the issue. It probably built with a voltage regulator so the actual Rx circuitry only "sees" the 5-6v it needs and the power buss will pass whatever voltage you supply, on to the servos. This is why you have to pay attention to what the servos can operate on. Normally those HV Rx's are used in models with HV or high torque servos, like you'd find in giant scale models and can operate on the higher voltages.

 

[Longbaorder23]

i figured it was more of a heavy duty part, but it was the only cheap but still full range and 8 channel receiver they had. now, i am using the receiver on my Sky eye plane, very large and 6 servos now, mini servos, not micro 9g's. so what i did, was im using a small 700mah NiCD receiver pack from my nitro car days, and it works well so far, but no flights. tomorrows the maiden. on the bench, no brown outs from excess stick movement. removed the red wire from my ESC receiver cable, and use 2 batteries on plane. passes bench tests perfectly. tomorrow i will maiden and see if brownouts. hopefully not, cus then id crash my new plane. but ive found the Frsky equipment to work well as long as electrical supply was ok. range is ridiculous, so that wont be a problem. so hopefully now i wont have any issues. plus this plane wont have a lockout upsidedown like a 3D model can.... let me know if you think its anything else...

also, i took note today setting up flaps, my channel 6 doesnt work. it supplies voltage, but no signal. everything else works fine... why? i do plan to get more receivers soon and maybe telemetry receivers. what happened? thanks!

 

[xuzme720]

I honestly don't think it's the Frsky that is causing your trouble. Since you have performed over and above on the range testing and the problem only shows up in the air while the ESC is under it's heaviest load powering both the servos and motor, I'd have to say it's the ESC. Either it's not supplying full rated power from it's BEC or it's overheating while in the air and shutting down briefly. I'd try some ground tests with the plane secured for safety and the motor running full out and check the temp of the ESC.

 

[Longbaorder23]

I do plan to do such a test, and yes i think the esc was causing me a fair amount of trouble there. now, ive come to the conclusion that my receiver is also faulty. As i said, my channel 6 doesnt work, thats just strange. but i did some reboot testing today, and testing how long it takes for relink after signal loss, ect. I found, that about 2 out of 5 times that i unplugged and replugged in the RECEIVER, it would take a considerable amount of reboot time to find the signal, often more than 10 seconds. by then, your plane is toast. I did similar tests turning off and on my TRANSMITTER, and i found the rate of failure to be about the same that of the receiver. it would often take 10 seconds or more to connect. Im concluding that my receivers got something wrong with it, internally. since i found zero people on the web who had this similar problem, i find this to also support it being faulty. Ive found actually very very very few things online that talk about faulty FrSky products, so this reinforces my conclusion as well. Im now pretty hesitant to put my new model in the air with this receiver... I cant risk having intermittent problems while up there.

another thing i thought interesting, was that the ESC that was mentioned earlier, i have used with a different non-Frsky recevier, worked flawlessly in the past. the receiver just had interferance and deadzones. but, it never failed like the Frsky. I think i just got a bad receiver, and odds are buying a new one will solve all these issues. what do you think? based on my tests... any other tests to try? Thanks for all the help!

 

[xuzme720]

I personally have never experienced any issues with the Frsky equipment and have read only a couple of isolated instances of problems. That's not to say that any system is 100% bulletproof. You may be onto something and as long as you feel confident it's the Rx and not anything else, just replace it. I would do whatever it takes to have a reasonable amount of confidence in the model and my ability to maintain positive contact with it.

 

[Longbaorder23]

i contacted HK support and i need to record a video of the problem. will do soon. i just bought myself a 1SQ v-cam micro quad copter to keep me entertained in the meantime ill test the new parts as well, very heavy testing to ensure proper operation. Thanks!