Help! Flysky fs-i6x servos going crazy:

LightBringer

Junior Member
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, or I don't have my radio setup right. This is the first time I'm using this Flysky radio. It connects just fine, and I'm able to start moving the servos, then they just wig out and start moving on their own, and my radio starts sounding an alarm and seems to disconnect. Here's a video:

Any ideas? Thank you!
-Aaron
 

Foamforce

Well-known member
It seems like either a bad transmitter or receiver. I see the Rx voltage and signal strength lines both disappear from your Tx, like it disconnected suddenly. Since the servos still have power to move, your BEC is probably fine. If you had another receiver to swap in, you could isolate the problem to being either the receiver or transmitter.

Best guesses. 🙂
 

luvmy40

Elite member
Try binding the RX again with the tranmitter 4-6 ft away from the plane. You definitely lost connectivity with the RX, whether it's the RX or TX that is at fault is the question.

I have one plane that the elevon servos shudder randomly when the the plane is static but I don't lose connectivity. They are fine when flying, so far.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Servos jiggling is never a good thing.

I had that problem recently with a Versa Wing I’d made, and the reason for it was because I’d bought some really cheap servos (I think it was like 10 for $25-$30?) and they had power draw issues. I thought it was a receiver, so I swapped out to a Spektrum brand receiver, and still the same issues. Plugged in a known good servo in its place, and the jittering went away. Swapped out the receiver back to the original, and still no problems.

This is a direct result of me trying to buy the cheapest materials - quality control was not there on these things. A servo tester with four AA would push the servo, but the ESC would not. And since swapping out the servo with the same ESC and receiver fixed the problem, I was able to determine it was an issue with the servos, not the receiver or the ESC.

In your instance, I would start by making sure the transmitter battery is charged, and the battery connected to the receiver is charged. Check for loose/damaged wires or connections. If you still have the same issues, start by swapping a component out, one at a time. This doesn’t mean you need to cut out the existing servos yet - start by just unplugging one and connect a different one on the bench, and see if it freaks out like it did before. Try and do the same thing with your ESC and receiver, if possible - replace it with another known good piece of equipment to see if the problem goes away.
 

LightBringer

Junior Member
Servos jiggling is never a good thing.

I had that problem recently with a Versa Wing I’d made, and the reason for it was because I’d bought some really cheap servos (I think it was like 10 for $25-$30?) and they had power draw issues. I thought it was a receiver, so I swapped out to a Spektrum brand receiver, and still the same issues. Plugged in a known good servo in its place, and the jittering went away. Swapped out the receiver back to the original, and still no problems.

This is a direct result of me trying to buy the cheapest materials - quality control was not there on these things. A servo tester with four AA would push the servo, but the ESC would not. And since swapping out the servo with the same ESC and receiver fixed the problem, I was able to determine it was an issue with the servos, not the receiver or the ESC.

In your instance, I would start by making sure the transmitter battery is charged, and the battery connected to the receiver is charged. Check for loose/damaged wires or connections. If you still have the same issues, start by swapping a component out, one at a time. This doesn’t mean you need to cut out the existing servos yet - start by just unplugging one and connect a different one on the bench, and see if it freaks out like it did before. Try and do the same thing with your ESC and receiver, if possible - replace it with another known good piece of equipment to see if the problem goes away.
Excellent advice, thank you! Troubleshooting 101. I'll swap servos one at a time this afternoon and see what I can determine.
 

LightBringer

Junior Member
Each servo works flawlessly by themselves. Only when I plug both of them in does everything freak out. Doesn't matter which channel I have them plugged into either.

Maybe the receiver is messed up, or Maybe I'm such a noob I have some core setting not right. I have the throttle plugged into Channel 3, the elevator plugged in to channel 2, and the rudder plugged into Channel 4... What's the difference between PPM, and PWM in the RC world?... I guess I need to youtube some more.
 

MrKilometer

Member
You'll be using PPM for an R/C plane usually; PWM, SBUS, and other receiver protocols are more commonly used in quadcopters (in my experience at least). Here's a good article on the matter: https://oscarliang.com/rc-protocols/

In regards to the issues you're having, I would try switching the servos around on the receiver, or trying a different receiver. If that doesn't work, definitely try different servos, or even another transmitter. The key to troubleshooting these things is trying isolating each component until you find the part that's broken.
 

Bricks

Master member
I would try a different ESC (since you changed servos ) as you are loosing signal at the same time which is a sure sign of low voltage to the receiver, or the receiver is bad and dropping out when a small load is put on it by the servos.
 

LightBringer

Junior Member
You'll be using PPM for an R/C plane usually; PWM, SBUS, and other receiver protocols are more commonly used in quadcopters (in my experience at least). Here's a good article on the matter: https://oscarliang.com/rc-protocols/

In regards to the issues you're having, I would try switching the servos around on the receiver, or trying a different receiver. If that doesn't work, definitely try different servos, or even another transmitter. The key to troubleshooting these things is trying isolating each component until you find the part that's broken.

From the article it seems I would be using PWM correct?
"This is the most common and basic radio control protocol. Back in the days when there was no flight controller, the receivers were used to control the servos and ESC directly with standard PWM signal.
The downside of this is probably the wiring mess, as you have one servo cable for every channel."

I do have a wire for each servo.. But the receiver shows a channel for PPM.
20221118_111759.jpg
 

XSrcing

Creator of smoking holes
PWM sorry, that was a typo on my part. I'm not familiar with FlySky receivers, so I'm not sure why channel 1 is labeled PPM.

Receiver output is determined by the transmitter with these. When using PPM mode you need to connect the 3 IBus pins and the single pin labeled PPM. When using IBus or Sbus you just connect the Ibus pins.

When using PWM outputs channel 1 is normal PWM signal output.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I would try a different ESC (since you changed servos ) as you are loosing signal at the same time which is a sure sign of low voltage to the receiver, or the receiver is bad and dropping out when a small load is put on it by the servos.

I'm thinking Bricks may be right on this one as well - you may not have enough power and it's dropping out for low voltage. Try a different ESC. It might not be providing enough amperage, despite it saying that it's a 5V/2A or 5V/3A BEC onboard. I've encountered this with some low quality, no-name brand ESCs we bought off of Amazon, so it wouldn't surprise me if that's what's going on here - the ESC just doesn't have enough power for the servos.
 

LightBringer

Junior Member
It was the ESCs!! So... The 3 on the left do the same crazy stuff. The 2 on the right work just fine. Grrr, how infuriating. Yes, these are cheap no name ESCs, didn't think going cheap would be this non functional. Guess I learned my lesson. Any ESC recommendations for FT Flyers?
20221118_134928.jpg

Thank you all for your help!