One motor will not work. Wtf

L

Leadlicker

Member
So I built a robocat 250. This is my first build, and it's got me stumped. I can not figure why one motor will never turn no matter what servo channel it gets plugged into.
I'm using emax motors, lumenier opto 32bit 18 A esc's. Cc3d atom is my FC. I installed a lumenier ubec powering the atom/ receiver with same result, (That damn emax won't spin, but I know it works).

Previously I had emax nanos with the same issue but that problem child would flicker a bit.
What am I doing wrong and can I give more info or details for help. YouTube does not help.
 
Leadlicker said:
So I built a robocat 250. This is my first build, and it's got me stumped. I can not figure why one motor will never turn no matter what servo channel it gets plugged into.
I'm using emax motors, lumenier opto 32bit 18 A esc's. Cc3d atom is my FC. I installed a lumenier ubec powering the atom/ receiver with same result, (That damn emax won't spin, but I know it works).

Previously I had emax nanos with the same issue but that problem child would flicker a bit.
What am I doing wrong and can I give more info or details for help. YouTube does not help.
Click to expand...
Bad throttle calibration? Might try another motor under the same conditions, then another ESC in place of the one not spinning. This will likely isolate the problem to just the ESC. It could need to either re-calibrate the throttle end points, change some settings on the transmitter, or maybe reflash the ESC.
 
The lumenier esc is the second esc with the same problem. I have switched motors. Same problem. I've calibrated throttle points a few times.
Ive flashed the escs so many times.
The set of lumenier' say they are already flashed with the latest firmware.
Why would 3 motors respond but not all 4? Is there some wiring I did wrong? The esc's are powered straight from the built in board. In fact I followed the "painless 360" build video to a T.
In neutral speed calibration I can't get ANY motor to spin up in that spot, but that same motor will work other places.
 
I need to add that no matter what servo channel I plug that motor/esc combo into, it doesn't work but all the 3 work in that channel.
For instance motor/esc #1 is not working. Plugged it into ch 2,3,4...nothing. Plug motor/esc #2 into ch1 and it works. #3,#4 Plugged into ch1 and they work.
 
Leadlicker said:
I need to add that no matter what servo channel I plug that motor/esc combo into, it doesn't work but all the 3 work in that channel.
For instance motor/esc #1 is not working. Plugged it into ch 2,3,4...nothing. Plug motor/esc #2 into ch1 and it works. #3,#4 Plugged into ch1 and they work.
Click to expand...
Do you get the beeps when you power it on? If so do they stop or continue?
 
I get the beeps, they do a few beeps then stop, and the 3 motors will spin up.
The emax nanos I used previously had the same symptom. They did a "d" "ddd" and another "ddd". I never could tell which ones beeped though. Anyway, unsoldering the working esc's is a pain but should I just to hear if that #1 esc will beep?
 
I bought 4 cheap cloned little bee's for 20 quid. You get what you pay for. All 4 were kuput. It may be a dud. It happens. Try a spare. I had same problem but in the end it was a chip defect or something. Mine was channel 2. And I had mine out flying for a few weeks before. That was with a naze32 though. Never bought one again. You need spares to to go off. But sounds like the fcb is busted.
 
mozquito1 said:
I bought 4 cheap cloned little bee's for 20 quid. You get what you pay for. All 4 were kuput. It may be a dud. It happens. Try a spare. I had same problem but in the end it was a chip defect or something. Mine was channel 2. And I had mine out flying for a few weeks before. That was with a naze32 though. Never bought one again. You need spares to to go off. But sounds like the fcb is busted.
Click to expand...
If another ESC works on the same PWM output then the FCB has done it's job. Better yet if the ESC does not work on the receiver then the FCB is not needed to determine that the problem is with the ESC.
 
GJH105775 said:
If another ESC works on the same PWM output then the FCB has done it's job. Better yet if the ESC does not work on the receiver then the FCB is not needed to determine that the problem is with the ESC.
Click to expand...

As I said above I had the same problem, however the problem was with or rather somewhere in between the pins for motor 2 & the f1 chip. I swapped out motors & esc, made no difference. Then built a whole new quad with the parts except the fcb obviously. Which I still fly today. So in my case th fcb was needed. Unless you have a servo tester, even then.
 
mozquito1 said:
As I said above I had the same problem, however the problem was with or rather somewhere in between the pins for motor 2 & the f1 chip. I swapped out motors & esc, made no difference. Then built a whole new quad with the parts except the fcb obviously. Which I still fly today. So in my case th fcb was needed. Unless you have a servo tester, even then.
Click to expand...
I meant in the OP's case not yours.
 
Just pitching that in because I had 9 days off work last summer when the problem occurred the day b4 I went off. It took 3 days to figure it out with help of forums.
5 days for new boards to arrive which left A windy day to fly. Thinking about it now it may just be a case of leaving the soldering iron on the pin too long which damages the chip or something. Definitely no dry joints.
 
Well I made progress. I soldered a working emax nano esc to the motor on ch 1 of the cc3d atom I stated wouldn't work and voila! Wtf it worked. Maybe in the past when I did this I could have been so frustrated that I didn't do a good job of soldering. I've done this before and nothing, but just 5 min ago it worked.

So did I get a bad lumenier esc in my set of 4? I thought those were top tier esc's. It's the lumenier 18A 32 bit silk. I need some input.
 
So get yourself a servo tester $4 & test every esc & motor that comes through the letterbox before you chop any wires & apply it to the quad. I said in some other post I bought 5 cheap little bee clones 4 where duds, first ever set of simonk esc I bought one was a dud. That's why I always buy 5 of everything now. It does happen. I just don't buy from China no more. & try buy genuine boards & kit. I been flying the same genuine 4 little bee's for 7months now. & pocket rocket 20amp for the same time all OK. I can't tell the difference between oneshot125 & multishot so they're on multishot permanently. Great to hear you sussed it out. Now go have some fun.
 
I will clean up my wiring, switch my #2,3,4 wires around so they spin the proper direction and I WILL have some fun.
And for the record, all of my lumenier escs ARE good because I just got it to work on that problem motor. It must have been bad soldering again possibly, but that one emax nano esc is a dud. I admit that the signal/servo wires were too short so I soldered a longer set right to the board. I think I put too much solder and they were touching.
I really hope this helps someone with a first build as I am still a novice. Check your connections, test your esc's and motors with that servo tester. I will invest in one for my next one. It's going to be the "skitzo", it's the perfect quad for what I will do.
Thanks for the input, advice, and well, everything. I'm happy I joined the forum.
 
"I admit that the signal/servo wires were too short so I soldered a longer set right to the board. I think I put too muchsolder and they were touching."
This was on the new lumenier esc.
 
Can't you just reverse the motors in blheli configuration. Save the solder.
If you have blheli esc's download the blheli configuration tool from the chrome store. It's easier than blheli suite for flashing esc's. You will notice it gives you the option to reverse motor direction or have bi directional etc.
 
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