[Tricopter] Picking out parts for a Tricopter

Relations

Junior Member
Hi,

I want to build my very first Tricopter. It is also my first multirotor. Here are some parts that I picked out.

Hobbyking KK2.1.5 Multi-rotor LCD Flight Control Board With 6050MPU And Atmel 644PA (here)
HobbyKing HK6S 2.4Ghz FHSS 6Ch Tx & Rx (Mode 2) (here)
B-Grade 5000mAh 3S 20C Lipoly Battery (here)
Turnigy Aerodrive DST-1200 Brushless Outrunner motor 1200kv (here)
Turnigy Multistar 20 Amp Multi-rotor Brushless ESC 2-4S (OPTO) (here)

So my questions are :
-Are the parts compatible with each other?
-Is that battery enough juice?
-I Do NOT know how to pick a prop.
-On a Tri, which props rotate which direction?
-I have a TowerPro Micro Servo 99 SG90. Is it enough for the back motor?
-Is the ESC good for that motor?
-Any other things I should worry about?

Thanks,
Relations.

Edit : Wrong listing for the ESC. Corrected.
 
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C0d3M0nk3y

Posted a thousand or more times
Two thoughts:
1. That battery is very big and very heavy.
2. The ESCs are too small for the motors. The max current on each motor is listed as 16A, and the ESCs are 10A.
 

Relations

Junior Member
Is this a better option?
B-Grade 4000mAh 3S 30C Lipoly Battery
(here)

Is 20C enough on the 5Ah one? Is 30C enough on this 4Ah one?

I listed the wrong ESC. Corrected. Thanks! :)
 

ztoon

Gone with the Mistral
Hi,

I want to build my very first Tricopter. It is also my first multirotor. Here are some parts that I picked out.

So my questions are :
1-Are the parts compatible with each other?
2-Is that battery enough juice?
3-I Do NOT know how to pick a prop.
4-On a Tri, which props rotate which direction?
5-I have a TowerPro Micro Servo 99 SG90. Is it enough for the back motor?
6-Is the ESC good for that motor?
7-Any other things I should worry about?

1-I think so :)
2- Yes, 5000mAh x 20C = 100A discharge max and the motors you selected draw 3x 16A max = 48A
But this battery will be heavy, try something lighter as a start, say a 2000mAh/40C.
3- Depends what you want (duration flight, speed...). My guess is you would end up with something between 9" to 11" prop with that motors.
4- You can use all same props or cw and ccw props.
I use:
CW CCW
CCW
5- After a quick search, appears that servo look like very much a HXT900 hk generic servo right? If it is the case, no that servos can't handle the tail sytem, you need some serious servo there.
6- ESC you selected seems ok (20A). But I read some negative comments about these...
7- You need a BEC (your KKboard and servo needs 5V for power) as the ESC you choose doesn't have a built-in.
 
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Jnr Kuzi

Senior Member
Do not buy BGrade Batteries packs. Those are rejects from factories and they easily Get torn, Leak and then get fat.
Those are for testing purposes.
Do not buy one for your aircraft. I repeat, DO NOT Buy.
 

Relations

Junior Member
1-I think so :)
2- Yes, 5000mAh x 20C = 100A discharge max and the motors you selected draw 3x 16A max = 48A
But this battery will be heavy, try something lighter as a start, say a 2000mAh/40C.
3- Depends what you want (duration flight, speed...). My guess is you would end up with something between 9" to 11" prop with that motors.
4- You can use all same props or cw and ccw props.
I use:
CW CCW
CCW
5- After a quick search, appears that servo look like very much a HXT900 hk generic servo right? If it is the case, no that servos can't handle the tail sytem, you need some serious servo there.
6- ESC you selected seems ok (20A). But I read some negative comments about these...
7- You need a BEC (your KKboard and servo needs 5V for power) as the ESC you choose doesn't have a built-in.

Is this ESC suitable? It has a BEC built in. Also, Is it for a brushless motor?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__58263__Flycolor_20_Amp_Multi_rotor_ESC_4_6S_with_BEC.html
 

Niall762

English weather sucks
I use corona 929mg servos on my tricopter and they're great. I'd recommend dt750 motors with 11 inch sf props, f-30 speed controllers are rock solid and easily reflashable. I'd recommend a 3 cell battery with a capacity between 2200mah and 3000mah, don't use b grade!
 

ztoon

Gone with the Mistral
+1 for the DT750, a good cheap motor which need some preparation before used on a multicopter. I used them for one year, now I use the more expensives Tigers.
I coupled my DT750 with F20A hk esc, never had a pb with 3S/11" props or 4S/10" props setup.
 

Jnr Kuzi

Senior Member
Now thats perfect


this motor will work fine, you will get about 7-15minutes of flight depending how you fly.
I recommend that you buy a pack of xt-60 connectors because that battery has a jst plug. Jst plugs arent good at distributing power to many ESC's at once.
Dont get me wrong,they can work. But xt60s will work better.
 

Relations

Junior Member
So I've settled for this -
Hobby_King_20A_ESC_3A_UBEC - ESC
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__15202__Hobby_King_20A_ESC_3A_UBEC.html
Turnigy_Aerodrive_DST_1200_Brushless_Outrunner - motor
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...ST_1200_Brushless_Outrunner_motor_1200kv.html
11" Nylon Props (2 CW 2 CCW) - Props
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...Propellers_L_H_and_R_H_Rotation_2_pairs_.html
Turnigy_2200mAh_3S_25C - LiPo
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__8934__Turnigy_2200mAh_3S_25C_Lipo_Pack.html
And all the other parts from the Original Post.

Anything I miss? I'm on a budget so that's why I chose the parts.
 

Jnr Kuzi

Senior Member
Hey, you have selected well.
By the way, uhm are you new to the hobby, if yes, have you Got a battery Charger?
 

Relations

Junior Member
Hey, you have selected well.
By the way, uhm are you new to the hobby, if yes, have you Got a battery Charger?

No at the moment. I'm planing on getting the IMax LiPro B6. I have collected a decent amount of 18650 batteries over a few years and that charger can help me rate the battery capacities.
 

Relations

Junior Member
I decided to go with the DT750 instead. It is know to work and thus, less troubleshooting for me if anything goes wrong.
 

Jnr Kuzi

Senior Member
Okay, nice one. The Dt 750s are effecient motors, the only stress is working on the shaft. Otherwise they are awesome.
What brand are those batteries?
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
Good . . . that 1200kv motor with 11" props is a recipie for burnt motor (and likely would take the ESCs with it). That was a very poor selection, despite the advise you've recieved otherwise.

Those props will work well for the DT750's as others have mentioned on this thread, but *NOT* the 1200kv motor you've linked at 3S.

BTW, don't buy one set of props. Buy at least 3, consider buying 5, and be ready to buy more. The first thing you will break are props and you will break *MANY* learning to fly it . . . and many more there after, but at a slower rate. It really stinks to be grounded, waiting for another shipment for something as cheap as props. Also, learn to balance props ( and an inexpensive balancer is a good investement in making your rotorcraft fly nicer)

The DT-750 has it's quirks, but can be a good motor. There are better out there, but there are always tradeoffs -- it can stil be a fine choice. If you use the DT-750's, be sure to pick up a pair of nuts and washers for each motor, matching the prop shaft threading (I think it's M4, but check -- it's been a while). You will want to attach the prop to the shaft with one nut/washer above and below the prop, and a small gap between the bottom nut and the motor bell. Tightining the prop against the bell *might* casue the shaft to slip and when it does, it will burn out the bearings pretty quickly. The bell also tends to be poorly balanced, so it will vibrate until balanced with a properly positioned counter weight -- zipties can serve well for a balancing counterweight. It will fly without removing all the vibrations you can, but it will fly *MUCH* better when de-vibed.


Looking at your first post . . . the "OPTO" version of an ESC is lacking a UBEC. the way our power systems work, you plug the battery into an ESC (or all the ESCs in parallel) and they have a voltage regulator built in (called a UBEC). In addition to powering the motors, the ESC uses it's UBEC to provide regulated power for all the smart electronics. Effectively, Opto ESCs lack the regulator used to power your control board, reciever and servo. It's typically used in setups that have more than enough UBECs already or are electrically noisy and need external regulators and isolation (surprisingly, with as much going on in a multirotor, these aren't the worst).

You will need *AT LEAST* 2 non-opto ESCs to work with the kk2 board, since it has a divided power rail -- the power rail on M1 (used to power the board and reciever) is seperate from M2-8's power rail (which your servo is on). to powwer the board, you need one non-opto ESC connected to M1, and to power your servo you need at least one non-opto ESC on M2 or 3.

I'd nudge you toward a 30C or 35C battery . . . but the 25C will work. The 25C will wear out earlier (it will still last a while) and the throttle will start getting mushy and weak earlier in the flight time, where higher C packs will get closer to empty before you notice a significant performance drop, but overall it should work. I've found my 25C packs were rapidly joined by 30C packs (the 25C packs ran for quite a while after that, but the 30C packs flew better) and I've beeen slowly replacing my 30C packs with 35C (which fly even better).

If you get a kk2, buy a USBASP. You will need it to re-flash the board, and you will *WANT* to re-flash it. You don't need to buy HK's USBASP kit, but if you get one elsewhere (amazon, ebay . . . ), make sure you get the 6-pin adapter to go with it.