Solved Why did my TGY-iA6 Rx blow up?

RC Soarer

Member
Hi there,
Today I was plugging in my battery (Turnigy 500mah Lipo 3s) and my servo (Tgy 9018 15g). Before I plugged in the battery I plugged in the servo. Just after I plugged in the battery I could smell a electrical burning smell but didn't associate the smell with any of my RC equipment. A few seconds after I plugged the battery in I saw a fire inside the Rx (image below). It was quickly unplugged but still I can see that I won't be able to use it again. What I'm looking for is reasons this could have happened and how to prevent it.

IMG_9466.jpg
 
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FDS

Elite member
The battery voltage is too high. The receiver is only designed to take a maximum input voltage of 4-6v. You put twice that through it. Use a BEC circuit to provide a constant 5v for the receiver and servos. 4AA rechargeable batteries with a servo plug on the end will work in a glider too.
Input voltage is listed in the manual. Always check the recommended voltage and use a smoke stopper when setting up.
 
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Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
A smoke stopper is always a good idea, in this case, I doubt it would have helped. I agree with @FDS, the mistake you made was connecting the battery directly to the Rx, battery voltage is just too much for the Rx to handle. You need to look for an ESC (electronic speed controller) with a BEC (battery elimination circuit). The BEC will reduce the battery voltage down to 5V, some the Rx will be happy with.

Any 4-6v source will work, to power the Rx & servos.
 

RC Soarer

Member
A smoke stopper is always a good idea, in this case, I doubt it would have helped. I agree with @FDS, the mistake you made was connecting the battery directly to the Rx, battery voltage is just too much for the Rx to handle. You need to look for an ESC (electronic speed controller) with a BEC (battery elimination circuit). The BEC will reduce the battery voltage down to 5V, some the Rx will be happy with.

Any 4-6v source will work, to power the Rx & servos.

I have an ESC which has a BEC: Turnigy Plush 10a, but what I also need to know is how do I set it up if I just want my plane to be a Glider. I thought that a ESC wasn't needed for a glider. If it is, then how can I set it all up?
 
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Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
I have an ESC which has a BEC but what I also need to know is how do I set it up if I just want my plane to be a Glider. I thought that a ESC wasnt
You are correct, for a glider you would not need an ESC. You have a choice, you get a separate BEC or a voltage regulator and use your 3S battery. Or you could use another 4-6v battery. I have used a fried ESC as a stand-alone BEC. I suppose you could use your ESC the same way. I believe I would plug it into the battery plug on the Rx. Even so, its possible you could damage your good ESC.
 

RC Soarer

Member
I think I know what happend when I blew up my Rx. Look below
See where it says s+-, that is where apparently according to a video on Youtube, it says I should plug my battery (it has a b11 plug) when binding. While the Bind plug should go at the very top port. I did that even when I'm not binding, is that what is wrong?

I don't know if I'm right, if I'm wrong feel free to tell me!
 

FDS

Elite member
You still put too much voltage into it. Is is very clear in the manual for that receiver than no more than 6v should be used to power it. If you just put 5v in the wrong place it doesn’t work, if you put over double that in anywhere, the magic smoke comes out.
The ESC isn’t doing anything other than providing you a Battery Eliminator Circuit, BEC for short, that takes any battery voltage put in and converts it to 5v out. In a glider there’s two options. A low power receiver pack, 2s LifePo packs are popular, as they do 6.6v peak, or 4AA’s, or a simple pre set BEC like this one, with any lipo or similar small, light battery.
595CCDA4-02BE-49F1-91BF-08E5424939A0.jpeg
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
I think I know what happend when I blew up my Rx. Look below See where it says s+-, that is where apparently according to a video on Youtube, it says I should plug my battery (it has a b11 plug) when binding. While the Bind plug should go at the very top port. I did that even when I'm not binding, is that what is wrong? I don't know if I'm right, if I'm wrong feel free to tell me!
All of the negative pins are on the same rail ( connected ), as are all of the positive pins. The positive and negative rail supply’s power to the Rx and servos. The signal pin tells the servo where to move.

The bat/bind pins are there for use in a glow fuel or gas engine. With those you have to use a separate 5v flight battery to supply power to the Rx & servos. With electric setup we use the BEC to power the Rx & servos
 

RC Soarer

Member
You still put too much voltage into it. Is is very clear in the manual for that receiver than no more than 6v should be used to power it. If you just put 5v in the wrong place it doesn’t work, if you put over double that in anywhere, the magic smoke comes out.
The ESC isn’t doing anything other than providing you a Battery Eliminator Circuit, BEC for short, that takes any battery voltage put in and converts it to 5v out. In a glider there’s two options. A low power receiver pack, 2s LifePo packs are popular, as they do 6.6v peak, or 4AA’s, or a simple pre set BEC like this one, with any lipo or similar small, light battery.
View attachment 134962

Hi FDS,
I think I've decided to just make a motorized version instead of a glider. The only reason I needed the glider was because I'm going to test it first in a wind tunnel. I think though that I could get a more accurate reading of how the flying wing will act in real life if I have the motor on the flying wing. If I will do this, then how can I connect every thing up using a Turnigy 500mAH 3S 20C Lipo Pack, a Turnigy iA6 Receiver 6CH 2.4G AFHDS 2A Receiver, a TURNIGY Plush 10amp Speed Controller w/BEC and a Turnigy 1600kv motor?
 

FDS

Elite member
There’s an FT video on electronics here that will cover most of it, your instructions will tell you how to bind the RX, DO NOT PLUG IT DIRECT TO THE BATTERY, use the BEC on the ESC.
The FT video won’t cover your binding procedure, as they use Spektrum, it’s similar but not identical.
There’s a weirdly silent version of setup here, using your TX and RX, including binding the RX. The Flysky and Turnigy are the same radio.
 

RC Soarer

Member
There’s an FT video on electronics here that will cover most of it, , your instructions will tell you how to bind the RX, DO NOT PLUG IT DIRECT TO THE BATTERY, use the BEC on the ESC.

Wow FDS,
Thats a different way of binding (the second video). Looks a little complicated! That one on Flite Test is one I've watched before. Would that way work on my Tx? As you mentioned before, after I fried my Rx I've learn't never to:
PLUG IT DIRECT TO THE BATTERY, use the BEC on the ESC.

Thanks for helping me out,

RC Soarer
 

FDS

Elite member
I have the Orange TX6i which is very similar to the Flysky, I don’t have a Flysky/Turnigy radio. You should just have to put on the bind plug to the right port, then power on the RX using the ESC power or a BEC like the one above, or any power 4-6v, then turn on the TX with the bind switch pushed up. It should then bind, after that you can remove the bind plug and set the ESC up by calibrating it, then centre your servos.
Another video here which has captions (and dodgy music!)
You can’t damage the RX if you keep using a 5v power supply for testing etc.
 

Steve Fox

Active member
Most definitely over voltage, any pin set can be used to power the rx but it must be within the voltage limits it tolerates.
I use the ia6b rx's which can handle a higher voltage of 8.4v (I give them 5v) but I screwed up once when doing some testing on something and supplied the rx with 12.6v, the result was a a fire so intense that it burned right through the hard case the ia6b has in less than 2 seconds and a monumental amount of magic smoke lol.

Shame I didn't do it to one of my ia6 rx's and killed an ia6b, I don't use the ia6 rx's due to the much lower range and wouldn't have cared about smoking one of those!
 
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