Tricopter problem

Daveed

Member
hello everyone, im having some problems with my tricopter after 2 to 3 minutes starts to lose power till it barely lifts off the ground. If i wait a few minutes it flies for another 2 to 3. my motors get to about 170 and esc's to 110 or so and battery gets warm. anyways i have no clue whats happening any advice appreciated.

my setup
Davids scratch build tricopter
rimfire 300 28-22 1380kv with 8x3.8 sf props
ss-12 esc
multiwii nanowii from hk
5k mah lipo
 

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
Much too hot. The motors should be warm, but you should be able to grab them in your hands.

The 5000 Mah battery should have enough power, is it a 2 cell, or 3 cell? What C rating is it?
 

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
There's got to be some problem. It should be flying much longer than that. The battery could be too heavy, but I don't think it's that. Mine carries a 2600 and a GoPro camera in the waterproof housing and has similar motor specs.
 

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
Can you get video?

The only other thing I can think of, is the props are out of balance, and they're causing strain on the motors and speed controls.
 

FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
That could be causing it, the pressure on the bearings could be causing it to heat up, and heat will hurt performance.
 

Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
If your motors are getting to 170F and the ESCs are 110F, something is desperately wrong. At most, after hard flying you should see AT MOST 120F. I wouldn't even try to fly till you figure it out. Just start up and run the motors and monitor.
 

Liemavick

Member
Mentor
Which motor mounts are you using? Is it possible you don't have clearance and the bottom of the shaft is rubbing?
 

Daveed

Member
I made my own mounts but made sure nothing is rubbing ,if it helps the tricopter weigths around 30 oz if im correct
 

johanjonker

New member
sounds like your ESC is to small, and your battery is to heavy.. I dont think your motors to small, thoses rimfire 300 draw about 12 - 15amps. and your only running 12amp ESC's and your setup is heavy.
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
Personally I run 2200mAh 3S on my smaller tri-copter for about 8 to 10 min fairly aggressive flying time.

Thurmond
 

Daveed

Member
I was trying to get something like that but thats all they had atm ill test when i get home see if it makes a difference
 

Daveed

Member
Good news i got a new much lighter battery and now flies great, motors got to 120 or so esc's to about 100 after 7 mins on 1300mah 3s lipo. Im going to get some 2200 or maybe 2500 depending on weight. ok my new problem is that on auto level mode it drifts to the right and backwards a little how can i fix that???
 

Billchuck

Senior Member
Good news i got a new much lighter battery and now flies great, motors got to 120 or so esc's to about 100 after 7 mins on 1300mah 3s lipo. Im going to get some 2200 or maybe 2500 depending on weight. ok my new problem is that on auto level mode it drifts to the right and backwards a little how can i fix that???

Ensure the control board is level with the frame. If it isn't, try to true it up. Check that the tri balances at the center of the frame (the point equidistant from all three motors), and move the battery if needed to balance it. Then watch this video (http://flitetest.com/articles/kk2-autolevel-explained) and pay attention to the part about accelerometer trim toward the end.

Edit: ignore the video, I thought you had a kk2 board. My bad.
 
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FlyingMonkey

Bought Another Trailer
Staff member
Admin
You can rezero the gyros/accelerometers. I'm not familiar with that board but there should be a way to get the board level, then get it to reset to zero.

If you're still not happy, buy a KK2 board. Recalibrating it is super easy, and then you can fine tune adjustments with just a few pushes of a button. No need to hook it to a computer to do any settings changes.
 

Daveed

Member
I think i found how to trim the auto level and what not (havent tried yet). Another thing i noticed was that when i give it throttle it pitchs up idk why?? Im using a dx6i radio set to plane mode, is that what causing that? Should i set it to heli mode? If anyone have radio settings they are willing to share that would be great. Thanks