E-Flite Speedcotroller Not Working

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
Hi All!

I was given a used slow stick recently. It came with a emaxx brushless motor and a eflite 20-amp sensorless brushless ESC. The airplane was not in the best of shapes, it's wing was badly cracked. Nothing a little red tape wouldn't fix.

My problem is with the ESC. I have flown it several times and it performs flawlessly. These flights where more or less just short hops. Today the weather finally cooperated and I went to fly it. Got in several short flights. Eventually returned home for lunch. After lunch I go fly it again. This time I fly it for a couple minutes straight. Suddenly the propeller pulls the motor mount off the plane. Turns out I failed to screw it in. NOOB MISTAKE!!! I immedietly throw the throttle kill switch and try to land it as gently as possible.

After a 200'+ walk of shame, I reach the plane. No parts missing. I slide the motor mount back on and test the throttle to see if it works. Works perfectly. I carried it back and headed home to drill a hole and put in some screws. Perfect!!! I plug in the battery and the ESC just beeps. It doesn't give the initialoze sounds. It just throws out a high pitch beep every second. I unhook the battery and try again. No dice. I check the throttle stick and trim. Completely off. Then I turn to google. There I see something about disconnecting the motor from the ESC and leaving it for 30 seconds. I try that. Success!!!

I got back to the field, fortunately it only 2 minutes away. I plug up the battery and beep...beep...beep... you get the point. I redo the reset procedure. No dice. I check the throttle. No dice. I am at a loss for ideas. Hopefully one of you will have an idea.

P.S. I have a E-Flite 20amp model #EFLA311. I am running a 3- cell lipo, fully charged. Tried a different battery. No dice. Any help is appreciated.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Had a similar issue getting a friend up and running on a HK ESC. Same symptoms of rapid beeps. He had to go to programming mode and reprogram the ESC. You'll have to find a guide to help as I'm not sure exactly which ESC you have, and this might not be your problem, since it's a completely different brand.
 

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
I will check the solder connections and try to program the ESC again. I did that once using the controller method to no avail. Not sure if I did it wrong or something. I'll give it a try.
 

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
Checked the solder connections and they seem fine. Nothing loose. Then I took the motor off to check its connections. Plugged it in and suddenly when ever I hear the beeps the motor vibrates a speck. I listen and the beeping is coming from the motor, not the esc!!! Never knew a brushless motor could beep!!!

I have a Himaxx 3812-0650 Outrunner. Any ideas why it would beep?
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
It's always the motor beeping. The ESC has no speaker. It does it by making the motor vibrate much like this hard drive music works.


That doesn't fix your problem though...I'm stumped unless the radio is loosing link. Some ESC's beep when they are getting no signal from the Rx.
 

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
Very interesting. I tried rebinding and that did zilch. The servos work perfectly btw. So I will probably have to get a new ESC?
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Do you have a way to power the Rx without the ESC? That will verify that the problem isn't anything else. If you do, You can double check the rest of the system and then try removing the red wire from the ESC plug. Don't cut it, just pull it out of the plug by releasing the tab that holds it in, and tape it so it doesn't touch anything by mistake. Plug in the ESC and see if anything changes.

If you power up the plane with the throttle stick all the way up, what do you get? Let's start there. It's easier than the other stuff I said above...
 

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
I tried starting the plane with the throttle all the way up and it didn't beep. But when I moved the throttle stick down, the motor starts beeping after it passes the half way point.

I tried starting up the plane without the esc plugged and everything else works fine. Then I plug up the ESC and the beeping begins.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
I wonder if the windings in the motor got damaged in the loss of motor event? Can you try another motor?
 

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
i don't have servo tester. I did try a servo on the throttle channel and it worked fine. I am going to try my bros motor with my esc and see if the same thing happens.
 

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
Ok, so I tested my brothers motor on my speed controller and it beeped just like mine did. So I'm guessing that gaurantees that my ESC is bad. Am I right? I checked the ESC's wires with a ohm meter and they checked out fine.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
DL,

two things:

- check your ESC on another receiver, if you can. If it behaves the same way, it's likely either failing to power the rx, or its failing to receive commands from the the rx. If that cable looks fine, it's probably not repairable.

- call Horizon Hobbies. Eflite is one of their brands and their customer service is nearly unmatched in the industry -- you've paid more for it, this is why. The call may not get you anywhere, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
 

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
I am 100% sure it isn't the receiver because the servos still work fine. I also plugged a servo into the throttle channel and it is fine.

I will contact Horizon about it. Hopefully they don't require a proof of purchase because I was given the plane and electronics by a friend a while ago.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
That only proves the receiver is powered, not that it's in control of the ESC -- which is what the beeping implies.

Valuable info, no doubt, but there's still a question of is it the wire, the ESC's input, or the recievers throttle output. swapping another RX would compleatly remove your rx from the suspect list.

HH is very good with their service, but no idea what their policys are -- definitiley woth trying the phone call.

If that doesn't work out so well, you might consider cutting the shrinkwrap and inspecting the control wire connections. if the wire or solder joint is damaged, it's an easy fix. If the board is burned out, you're likely stuck buying something new.
 

jetpackninja

More combat please...
Mentor
Have you tried recalibrating the endpoints?

Make sure throttle trim is all the way down.

Tried reversing the throttle channel?

I've had setups a couple of times that required me to actually hold the throttle all the way to the bottom before they would arm the esc.

E flites may use a different endpoint calibration scheme than we are used to.
 

Blenderite

Professional Crash Pilot
I already tried doing that the videos shows. No luck. I will contact Horizon about it tomorrow or Saturday probably.
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
DL,

Cut the shrink wrap and look at the BEC wires -- if the signal line (white) is broken, you might be able to save it ( and nothing lost if it's next stop is the trash bin)