Duck
Active member
I finally diagnosed my stock Inductrix FPV as one of the first batches that suffered from a manufacturing defect resulting in the LVC kicking in after only a few seconds. This developed after months of slowly decreasing flight times. I contacted Horizon and they quickly replaced the main board. Now that I've done that I am still not really able to fly it with the Camera & shell on for more then a few seconds. I have enough thrust to take off then it diminishes until I am back on the ground. I am trying to diagnose the issue and could use suggestions. Things basically went like this.
Last year
* Got Inductrix, super happy doing laps around the house.
* A cracked frame resulted in me replacing the frame and adding a very small carbon fiber frame stiffener < 1g. No change in flight times but tiny difference in thrust.
https://www.hobbytown.com/inductrix...uctrix-sqare-carbon-stiffener-lyx1965/p565242
* Flight times went from 3-5 minutes to 2 minutes.
9 months ago
* Inductrix took a quick dunk in water due to a poor flight plan. Rinsed with distilled water and 99%+ isopropyl and it appeared no worse for ware.
* Flight times reduced to 30s or less with some batteries. I replaced all my batteries with a mix of chemestries (normal, HV and graphine)/brands. The new batteries gave consistent flight times of 30 seconds but no better.
* Prop replacements had no effect and I checked for hairs wound around the motors.
6 months ago
* Flight times reduced to 0. Inductrix was usually unable to lift off and unable to sustain even ground effect flight.
Last month
* I removed the Camera & shell and was able to actually fly ~2 minutes without them. It flew great! It seemed to actually fly faster then when I got my inductrix but maybe I was just more liberal with the throttle.
* I discovered that the LVC issue was known with the 1630 series board. I contacted Horizon and got a replacement board. The Indutrix with Camera & shell will take off to a maximum height of about 2 feet with most batteries. It will then drop to about 3-6 inches and stay that way for 3-4 minutes before LVC.
Now, about a year passed between when I got my Inductrix and now and I probably went through 60 flights with ~10 batteries. It sounds like motors ware out eventually but it isn't clear if I am there or not. Would new motors be in order? Should I look for stock or upgrade to something more likely to overcome the 'ground funk'? I see FT carries a popular upgrade:
https://store.flitetest.com/tiny-whoop-special-sauce-edition-motors-set-of-4/
Would a motor upgrade be in order? Is it likely to fix anything? Honestly between the main board replacement and the motors there isn't a lot left that might impact performance besides weight and I know flying with my frame stiffener used to work fine.
Right now my history is about 40% flights of "This is awesome why doesn't everyone do this" and 60% flights of "Well, this is a waste of time and money and I shouldn't try to convince friends to try this". I need a more reliable way to turn multi-rotors fun indoors where I can spend < 200$ and fly when I can't get out with my fixed wings. I want to get some friends into the hobby but given the reliability of the experience I don't want to. If replacing these things every few months is mandatory I am struggling to justify it. Suggestions?
Last year
* Got Inductrix, super happy doing laps around the house.
* A cracked frame resulted in me replacing the frame and adding a very small carbon fiber frame stiffener < 1g. No change in flight times but tiny difference in thrust.
https://www.hobbytown.com/inductrix...uctrix-sqare-carbon-stiffener-lyx1965/p565242
* Flight times went from 3-5 minutes to 2 minutes.
9 months ago
* Inductrix took a quick dunk in water due to a poor flight plan. Rinsed with distilled water and 99%+ isopropyl and it appeared no worse for ware.
* Flight times reduced to 30s or less with some batteries. I replaced all my batteries with a mix of chemestries (normal, HV and graphine)/brands. The new batteries gave consistent flight times of 30 seconds but no better.
* Prop replacements had no effect and I checked for hairs wound around the motors.
6 months ago
* Flight times reduced to 0. Inductrix was usually unable to lift off and unable to sustain even ground effect flight.
Last month
* I removed the Camera & shell and was able to actually fly ~2 minutes without them. It flew great! It seemed to actually fly faster then when I got my inductrix but maybe I was just more liberal with the throttle.
* I discovered that the LVC issue was known with the 1630 series board. I contacted Horizon and got a replacement board. The Indutrix with Camera & shell will take off to a maximum height of about 2 feet with most batteries. It will then drop to about 3-6 inches and stay that way for 3-4 minutes before LVC.
Now, about a year passed between when I got my Inductrix and now and I probably went through 60 flights with ~10 batteries. It sounds like motors ware out eventually but it isn't clear if I am there or not. Would new motors be in order? Should I look for stock or upgrade to something more likely to overcome the 'ground funk'? I see FT carries a popular upgrade:
https://store.flitetest.com/tiny-whoop-special-sauce-edition-motors-set-of-4/
Would a motor upgrade be in order? Is it likely to fix anything? Honestly between the main board replacement and the motors there isn't a lot left that might impact performance besides weight and I know flying with my frame stiffener used to work fine.
Right now my history is about 40% flights of "This is awesome why doesn't everyone do this" and 60% flights of "Well, this is a waste of time and money and I shouldn't try to convince friends to try this". I need a more reliable way to turn multi-rotors fun indoors where I can spend < 200$ and fly when I can't get out with my fixed wings. I want to get some friends into the hobby but given the reliability of the experience I don't want to. If replacing these things every few months is mandatory I am struggling to justify it. Suggestions?