Why is my Dragonfly spinning?

[EffinJames]

I am having problems with my first tricopter build. I purchased the Dragonfly and I have it put together. Unfortunately every time I give it throttle, the whole copter spins. The tough-tilt keeps pitching to the right.

Does anyone know what I can do to fix this?

 

[CrashRecovery]

First what control board are you using? Second did you center the servo before installing it? Oh and welcome to the forums

 

[EffinJames]

First what control board are you using? Second did you center the servo before installing it? Oh and welcome to the forums

I am using the Naze32. I did center it.
It wants to flip it self over. I have cleared the boarded reprogrammed it. I have been searching for an explanation but I cant seem to fix it.

 

[Corbarrad]

"spinning" and "trying to flip itself over" are different things entirely.
If it's flipping over that means one motor produces more or less thrust as throttle is applied.
You should make sure all motors spin freely and that you're running the same size props (sounds silly, but ask me how i know..)
Make sure your escs are calibrated and double check your motors are hooked up correctly.
Let's say you have front left and front right swapped, it might get up to a hover, but as soon as the board notices a tilt to one side it'll increase thrust to that sides motor to bring it back into balance. and if that signal goes to the opposite motor... you get the idea.

A Video of one of your flight attempts might help other, more experienced forum users to narrow down your problem.

 

[EffinJames]

I should of cleared that up a bit with you guys. I figured out that i needed to reverse the servo to get it out of that death spin, once i did that it flew great for 2 days. Starting today i plugged it in and now it wants to flip over, the left motor is pumping out more power than the others and i did not change anything for it to do that. I have re-calibrated the ESC twice today and made sure everything was up to par and still nothing. It wont even get into a hover as soon as i start giving it throttle the left motor goes faster than the others and it wants to flip. I also turned it into a tricopter thinking that it was the extra motors but i was wrong. All motors are spinning in the right direction and props all facing the way the motors spin

I am using clean flight if that helps.
and thank you for the help

 

[EffinJames]

Here is a video of what is going on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIB_aFuxcwE

 

[hawkO_O]

hmm is that prop on the right way ?(right front) .... if i have a prop on my hubsan x4 wrong it does that ( they number a ... and b prob for each point ... so if you get the wrong one an that moter it wont work... just do something similar to what yours is doing there)

 

[EffinJames]

I doubled checked the props with my diagram. I think they are on right and they are all the same size.
My motors seem to be pulsing. I am going to try to replace the board.

 

[hawkO_O]

um are you sure ? i think the two front props are basicaly supposd to mirror each other when you look at them ... from look of the vid they dont apear to do that ... tho if you swaped your tail rotor with the front right one they would

>< i say this but im only going on how my x4 works and looks .. dont have all that much experiance really

hope you manage to get it working properly good luck !

 

[Zoltan]

My Dragonfly is doing the EXACT same thing spinning - Any help is appreciated

Here is a video of what is going on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIB_aFuxcwE

I am having the EXACT same issue(s). My copter lifts up just as "EffinJames" video:

CONFIGURATION: Hummingbird, five motor with servo, NAZE32, BL Heli 20A ESC, Cleanflight. Started with the Hummingbird configuration but turned it into a tricopter. I am still having the imbalance issue.

I have centered the NAZE32, calibrated ESC's. All prop's spinning the correct way (numbers facing up).

I am suspicious that it may be the ESC configuration because the sound of each motor at the lowest power level make a different sound. I have moved the motors to different ESC's and the sound coincides with the EAC.

Any help is appreciated

 

[ZoomNBoom]

Hold the copter in your hand (careful!) then apply a little more than idle throttle. There are two possibilities; either the copter will try to stabilize and counter any movements you do with your hand, or it will do the opposite and violently try to flip over (be ready).

If the former happens, one motor may not be getting enough thrust for whatever reason; badly calibrated ESC, wrong prop or prop mounted the wrong way, bad solder joint, ..

If it tries to flip, chances are you didnt configure something right on the flight controller or one motor is spinning in the wrong direction.

 

[Zoltan]

Thanks. I will start from the start by un and re-soldering the ESC, individually calibrating the ESC and reloading the NAZA32.

I am new to RC so a start from scratch approach makes sense. It will also get me even more familiar with the entire setup. I like your suggestion because I can feel (very carefully) what the copter is doing and better focus on what is going on. From the ground test it is difficult to tell if it is one motor / ESC is over doing it or one of the others is underperforming.

Z