Next build questions/advice

[mikael]

Hello everybody,

I follow this forum closely and have learned a lot from all of the great users who have shared their experience and for that I am truly grateful. Before I start a new build I thought I'd ask some questions regarding the WKM.
I'm sorta new to multis. I fly as a hobby and have fun with it but I'd also like to do more aerial vids and photos as well as FPV. I have a Hoverfly Pro board that I was flying until I received the dji wkm. I've been flying the WKM for about a week which is currently on my flamewheel 450 frame and it's been a blast. Very smooth and locks on to altitude and GPS very well.(Video coming) I have a couple of questions regarding the different motor configs (X8, flat octo, flat hexa, Y6, etc.) as it pertains to the WKM as well as some questions regarding hardware, motors,ESC etc. First off I'm leaning toward a Y6 for my next build, I like the looks and have read that they are pretty stable.

With the HFP the Y6 offers fault tolerance if one motor dies. Is this also true with the WKM? If not do any of the other motor arrangements offer fault tolerance with the WKM?

The WKM aside I'm a frugal flier and have been using HobbyKing 40A BlueSeries ESCs for about a year with the HFP and with the WKM for about a week with no issues whatsoever. I'm planning on using them in my next build, do any of you see any problem with the specs or a reason that I shouldn't keep using them with the WKM? Are there any good similarly priced alternatives?

Also I've been using BC2836-9 880K spinning APC 10X4.7 props on the flamewheel 450 with the wkm with no issues. I'm planning on using them or these BC3536-11 for the next build. As I asked with the hobbyking ESCs, is there anything in the spec that would worry any of you using these with the wkm in a Y6?

Your words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.


Mikael

 

[mbsteed]

I haven't had good experiences with HobbyKing ESCs 20A. I had an entire batch that were bad and one of my HobbyKing 18A ESC went bad on my quad - it kept flipping until I replaced it. My HobbyKing ESCs were not exactly the same ESC that you intend to use but when you put expensive cameras, frames, and flight controllers on a ship - you want to ensure it doesn't drop out of the sky. The ESC is one of those components, if it goes, it typically means a huge repair bill. The ESCs you mention may be fine but I would rather spend a bit more and go for something I felt is a bit more reliable. That is why went with Maytech - more expensive but I haven't had a problem yet; with the belief that you get what you pay for. If I wasn't putting expensive cameras underneath, I would probably go the cheap route myself. Ditto for the motor - I have heard good and bad about the rctimers - again a reliability issue. I went Avroto on my X8 and will be using AXI on my octo. The bottom line: it depends on your purpose. You have to leave frugal behind if you intend to do serious AP work.

I don't know if we have had enough collective experience yet to talk with confidence about fault tolerance - there are some experiences being reported with octos that would suggest it doesn't but it may still be early to tell what is really happneing.

 

[Octo NZ]

With the HFP the Y6 offers fault tolerance if one motor dies. Is this also true with the WKM? If not do any of the other motor arrangements offer fault tolerance with the WKM?

Hi there,

I am quite new in the multirotor world, and I was about to get a Hexa with DJI wookong system.
I have been warned by the DJI dealer about this concern : if one motor dies, the MC will fall down in Hexa configuration.
With Octo configuration (price diference is not that much), the bird keeps flying with one dead motor and even two (considering the are not aside).
Honestly, I chose the Octo.
Cheers

 

[mikael]

Thanks for your replies. It it would be great to get a definitive answer from DJI on the fault tolerance subject so I'm going to write them and hopefully get answer. Has anyone asked and received an answer from them? More than a few DJI users are flying expensive gear including frames, cameras and controllers. There is no guarantee even with the more expensive ESCs and motors that there won't be a failure, I have read of some here and elsewhere so it would be great to know for sure. I'm not dinging DJI the wkm is the best FC I've tried, it would just be good to know what fault tolerance configs exists if any. Thanks Octo NZ for your input about the DJI dealer and the octo config. mbsteed if you don't mind my asking, where did you purchse the Maytech ESCs? Nevermind, I just found your build post, thanks and congrats on the win.