PA 18 1700mm beeping 3 times

[Ar19adam]

Hey guys and girls! I am having an issue with my fms PA 18 1700mm.

I start the motor and run it full throttle after a few moments it will beep three times and shut off. If it does start back up it only goes about half throttle. I am reading this could be the esc.

Any info would be great.. fairly new to the hobby.

Thanks!

 

[quorneng]

I presume you are running the motor using the transmitter.
Don't immediately assume it is the ESC. ESC's tend to not run the motor at all if they fail.
Is the plane's LiPo battery is fully charged? If not then running the motor could be dropping the voltage to a point where the ESC shut down to protect the battery voltage dropping to a level that permanently damages the battery.
It could also be the ESC does not like the signal the transmitter is sending.
Have you set the throttle trim on the transmitter to absolute minimum.
Have to programmed the ESC to recognise the transmitter's throttle range?
I could also be a bad connection somewhere between the battery and the motor or even in the motor itself.

Only when you have checked as much as possible can you suspect the ESC.
Unfortunately the only way to identify if an ESC is faulty is by replacing it or by putting the 'suspect' ESC into a plane that is known to work. If the ESC still does the same thing then it is faulty. If the 'suspect' ESC works in the other plane then the fault in the original plane is elsewhere.
It pays to check everything before buying a new ESC.

 

[Ar19adam]

I presume you are running the motor using the transmitter.
Don't immediately assume it is the ESC. ESC's tend to not run the motor at all if they fail.
Is the plane's LiPo battery is fully charged? If not then running the motor could be dropping the voltage to a point where the ESC shut down to protect the battery voltage dropping to a level that permanently damages the battery.
It could also be the ESC does not like the signal the transmitter is sending.
Have you set the throttle trim on the transmitter to absolute minimum.
Have to programmed the ESC to recognise the transmitter's throttle range?
I could also be a bad connection somewhere between the battery and the motor or even in the motor itself.

Only when you have checked as much as possible can you suspect the ESC.
Unfortunately the only way to identify if an ESC is faulty is by replacing it or by putting the 'suspect' ESC into a plane that is known to work. If the ESC still does the same thing then it is faulty. If the 'suspect' ESC works in the other plane then the fault in the original plane is elsewhere.
It pays to check everything before buying a new ESC.

The battery is brand new and shows that it has the correct voltage.
I have programed the ESC as well.

What's odd is that I can run the motor for about 3-5 seconds wide open and have no issues. But then all of a sudden it is like it drops a gear and goes about half throttle or less. Then once the motor is stopped it will not start back up.

 

[quorneng]

Brand new. I hope you have charged it!
For safety LiPo are shipped at a near discharge level for safely. They have to be fully charged to 4.2V per cell before use.

The motor characteristics you are describing does match an ESC's safety regime for a near discharged battery. Dramatically cut the power to reduce the load on the battery but keep the BEC working so the radio and servos still function to allow a controlled landing asap. If the battery voltage still remains too low the ESC will not "ARM" so no motor. After time the LiPo voltage may recover enough for the ESC to arm but without more battery charge the same thing will happen again.

I could be wrong but that is what it sounds like to me.

 

[Ar19adam]

Brand new. I hope you have charged it!
For safety LiPo are shipped at a near discharge level for safely. They have to be fully charged to 4.2V per cell before use.

The motor characteristics you are describing does match an ESC's safety regime for a near discharged battery. Dramatically cut the power to reduce the load on the battery but keep the BEC working so the radio and servos still function to allow a controlled landing asap. If the battery voltage still remains too low the ESC will not "ARM" so no motor. After time the LiPo voltage may recover enough for the ESC to arm but without more battery charge the same thing will happen again.

I could be wrong but that is what it sounds like to me.

Yes, I charged them. I will put them on the charger again and see what they read. If they are full I will try it again and let you know happens. Thank you for the help so far.

 

[Ar19adam]

I made sure the battery was full and as you can see from how long it has been from my last post, it was not drained much. It did the same thing full power for a few seconds and then back downed the motor on its own. It then does the same three beeps over and over. I checked the cords for the battery esc and motor and everything looks good.

 

[Tench745]

The behavior you're describing definitely sounds like a low voltage cutoff, or some similar safety cutoff. Perhaps some kind of overheat warning? I've been looking for more information on the plane and the ESC, but haven't found anything that would help with your question.

Do you have any pictures of your setup? Maybe someone here will see something you're missing.

 

[quorneng]

+1 for a picture or better still a video of a test.
Are these tests taking place with the prop on?
With prop removed the motor will only draw one amp or less. If the motor then runs ok at full throttle then it would positively identify it as a power (volts or amps) related issue.
.

 

[Shurik-1960]

I am sure that in this case the battery is defective. In my practice, there were such symptoms. It's just that the author of the topic needs to take a known serviceable battery (or buy one). Or put its battery on another model and see the reaction. All the symptoms indicate that the battery drains heavily under load. And the engine and regulator do not play any role in this case.I'm willing to bet...