Motor chirps, servos work, but no throttle

razeh

New member
We're building a mighty mini arrow, with the power pack F.
We've wired up the ESC to channel 3 on the receiver, and one of the servos to channel 1.
When I plug in the battery, the motor chirps. When I turn on our transmitter, the receiver's light goes on.
Adjusting the right joy stick moves the servo, so the transmitter is talking to the receiver.

Somehow during setup I managed to break something --- the throttle used to work, but while rewiring it to turn counter clockwise something went wrong. What I don't understand is how the motor manages to chirp but not turn.
 

mrjdstewart

Legendary member
did you use too long of bolts?

if you did and tightened them too tight, it can cause a motor short due to them being to close to the windings. hopefully not.

is the esc out of time?

first remove prop, turn on your tx, place throttle @ full. plug in your airplane. you should get a double tone, then place throttle @ zero. hopefully you will then get the usual chirps and your esc will arm, and you will now have full throttle.

if this doesn't work, all hope is not lost. you may have inadvertently messed with the settings of the esc. you will need to search for the instructions on how to do this depending upon the esc you are using. usually there is a "default" that you can use to take back to original settings.

if all that don't work post back up, sure between us all we can figure it out.

good luck,

me :cool:
 

Keno

Well-known member
Not sure, you said that you wired your ESC to channel 3, It should be in channel 1 and your servos should be channels 2 or up in number. But I don't know what brand your receiver is so you should double check you instruction for it.
 

razeh

New member
Not sure, you said that you wired your ESC to channel 3, It should be in channel 1 and your servos should be channels 2 or up in number. But I don't know what brand your receiver is so you should double check you instruction for it.
The TTX410 manual says channel 1 is for Aileron and channel 3 is for the throttle.
 
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razeh

New member
did you use too long of bolts?

if you did and tightened them too tight, it can cause a motor short due to them being to close to the windings. hopefully not.

is the esc out of time?

first remove prop, turn on your tx, place throttle @ full. plug in your airplane. you should get a double tone, then place throttle @ zero. hopefully you will then get the usual chirps and your esc will arm, and you will now have full throttle.

if this doesn't work, all hope is not lost. you may have inadvertently messed with the settings of the esc. you will need to search for the instructions on how to do this depending upon the esc you are using. usually there is a "default" that you can use to take back to original settings.

if all that don't work post back up, sure between us all we can figure it out.

good luck,

me :cool:
I used the short bolts, so I don't think I have metal bits inside of the motor.
I tried the throttle @ full plug in, got the double chirp, but no motor motion when I moved the throttle from the transmitter --- however, the servo does work, so the transmitter is able to communicate with the receiver.
I've been unable to find a manual for the power pack A&F flite test ESC.
I suspect that I've somehow managed to break either the motor or the ESC, so I've ordered a new motor and a new ESC, and will try swapping each one out.
Thanks for the suggestions!
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
@ full plug in, got the double chirp
First, take the prop off if you have not already.

Make sure you can freely spin your motor. If not find out what is keeping it from spinning.

Look at the output screen of your Tx to see if you are sending throttle commands. You mayhave a throttle cut switch activated.

Full throttle at ESC power up is part of the calibration process. Sounds like you Ned to repeat if you have not already. Turn Tx on & move to full throttle. Power up ESC, wait for beeps, move throttle to low, wait for beeps. Unplug the ESC. You are teaching the ESC what full throttle & no throttle looks like from your Tx.

Now test to see if ECS calibration fixed your problem.
 

razeh

New member
First, take the prop off if you have not already.

Make sure you can freely spin your motor. If not find out what is keeping it from spinning.

Look at the output screen of your Tx to see if you are sending throttle commands. You mayhave a throttle cut switch activated.

Full throttle at ESC power up is part of the calibration process. Sounds like you Ned to repeat if you have not already. Turn Tx on & move to full throttle. Power up ESC, wait for beeps, move throttle to low, wait for beeps. Unplug the ESC. You are teaching the ESC what full throttle & no throttle looks like from your Tx.

Now test to see if ECS calibration fixed your problem.
I don't have an output screen to see if I'm sending throttle commands :-(
I powered up the TX with the throttle at low and then moved it to high. I plugged in the battery to the ESC and got three beeps from the motor. I moved the throttle to low and never got any beeps.
What's confusing to me is how things could work well enough for the motor to beep, but not to turn.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
I don't have an output screen to see if I'm sending throttle commands :-(
I powered up the TX with the throttle at low and then moved it to high. I plugged in the battery to the ESC and got three beeps from the motor. I moved the throttle to low and never got any beeps.
What's confusing to me is how things could work well enough for the motor to beep, but not to turn.
Try the calibration again, this time move the throttle to low at the first beep.
I think you may have entered a programming mode.
 

Keno

Well-known member
I have been doing some testing on this. I am with Merv has he has stated please check it out and see if it solves your roblem. The only way I could even come close to your problem was that one of the three leads to your motor was broken. I am not familiar with the TTX410 so this suggestion may not have no value to solving your problem. I wish you success and return to flying as soon as possible.
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
Just a few thoughts!

One of our newbies had a similar problem. In his case he had accidentally flicked the motor kill switch. I am not saying you have but it is something that we give you similar symptoms.

Second try moving the ESC to another channel and fitting a servo in ch3/ See if the servo responds to the stick inputs and also see if the ESC will respond on another channel!

Just a few other things to check!

Have fun!
 

evranch

Well-known member
A motor can chirp with one lead broken off. It should at least vibrate though when you try to throttle up.

To me it sounds like the ESC won't even arm. 3 beeps for 3s lipo, no arming beep. I am not familiar with the exact ESC used in the power packs.

Is your throttle trim off? Many ESCs will not arm unless the throttle is set low enough.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
I agree, a broken lead was going to be my next suggestion. The motor will twitch, back and forth.
 

razeh

New member
check motor leads. a loose or broken one will cause the stuttering similar to a grounded winding.
I'm not seeing any stuttering.
I tried hooking up only 2 of the 3 wires to the motor. In one case, there was no chirping at all, in another case there was chirping but it was quiet, and in the third case it was normal chirping.
 

razeh

New member
A motor can chirp with one lead broken off. It should at least vibrate though when you try to throttle up.

To me it sounds like the ESC won't even arm. 3 beeps for 3s lipo, no arming beep. I am not familiar with the exact ESC used in the power packs.

Is your throttle trim off? Many ESCs will not arm unless the throttle is set low enough.
I've sent a request to the Tactic guys on how to reset the throttle trim. Unfortunately their web submission page is broken, so it will have to wait for a phone call (or if they respond to my tweet).
 
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Keno

Well-known member
I just did a check on this problem and here is something you might try; Plug a servo into your throttle channel and insert your power in one of the other servo channels to supply power to your receiver. Then move your throttle up and down (NO PROPS ON) and see if the servo moves with your thr stick. If your test servo moves then you probably need the new motor or ESC you ordered. It is probably best that others here that know more about the Tactic than self advise you on this procedure.
 

evranch

Well-known member
I'm not seeing any stuttering.
I tried hooking up only 2 of the 3 wires to the motor. In one case, there was no chirping at all, in another case there was chirping but it was quiet, and in the third case it was normal chirping.

I would not recommend doing this. This is called "single phasing" and can result in damage to either the motor or the ESC, even if both were in perfect condition. The chances of damage depend on the design of the ESC and how it self-calibrates and detects failure - so you may get away with it and you may not. To check your motor leads and windings, use an ohmmeter. All measurements between the leads (A-B, B-C, C-A) should be the same or reasonably close.

The fact that you had different behaviours with different lead hookups, though, implies that the motor or ESC is likely damaged.

With respect to the throttle trim, just turn it all the way down. The lower the better in this case. I noticed in a quick glance at the specs that your radio has "user settable throttle failsafe" and if this somehow accidentally got set, it could be holding the throttle in a position where it won't arm.

The simplest test is to do as Keno suggests and switch channels. If a servo moves through its full range when connected to your throttle channel, look at the motor/ESC. Likewise, if your transmitter is sending bad data, your motor/ESC may spin up fine if you command it via your elevator channel. You will have to hold the right stick at the bottom until it arms, then raise it up. I know everyone has said it, but I'll say it again, NO PROPS.
 

razeh

New member
I just did a check on this problem and here is something you might try; Plug a servo into your throttle channel and insert your power in one of the other servo channels to supply power to your receiver. Then move your throttle up and down (NO PROPS ON) and see if the servo moves with your thr stick. If your test servo moves then you probably need the new motor or ESC you ordered. It is probably best that others here that know more about the Tactic than self advise you on this procedure.
That's a really good idea. A servo plugged into channel 3 moves with the stick.
Thanks!
 
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