Originally Posted by
Tomstoy2
Preventative maintenance is a big part of reducing the chances of an equipment failure. Checking over all your connections, looking for anything that has shaken loose, blowing out your motors with compressed air, checking over your props for functionality and security of mounting, batterys for resistance and signs of puffing, the list goes on.
Can you please continue the list? The more we share what we know the more we all can enjoy this hobby or profession.
Every component that goes onto your frame needs attention from time to time. What I touched on were just the most common.
Any metal to metal connection, such as bolts to inserts should be loctite'd with blue locktite, medium strength.
Wires are often overlooked by new beginners. Wire are a source of noise, twisting the wires will eliminate a lot of that electronic noise. Making sure the wires are secure so they do not vibrate against the frame anywhere is critical and often overlooked.
Speaking of wires vibrating on the frame, any time a wire passes thru the frame that point of the frame should have the sharp edge broken with a small diamond file, your wifes nail file, light grit sand paper, whatever works.
My Hexa has the esc leads comming out of the frame and making a bend over the top plate. I split a section of heat shrink and superglue it where the wire will touch. I don't want vibrations to eat into the insulation and causing a short.
Still speaking of wires, I prefer to seperate the high voltage from the low voltage wires at different levels of the frame whenever I can. It's not a good idea to have a low voltage control wire laying across a battery lead wire or and esc, stuff like that.
Sucess is in the details, you can't get too anal.
Did you tip over and hit a prop? Check out the prop thoroughly. Flex it a little and inspect the hub area, see if you can find a fault. Look at the prop blade itself for nicks, this can set up a stress point.
Prop adapters could get bent. Inspect them for damage.
The prop strike could have loostened up the prop nut slightly.
Motor beatings fatigue and wear out. Motors also collect debris. I blow out my motors with compressed air frequently, inspect the leads for cracks in the insulation, and use oil to lube the bearings.
There are lots of arguments about oiling the bearings, I prefer to and have recieved the benefit of long life with the bearings. It's up to you to subscribe to what you want to follow.
New electronics require a burn-in period. Most failures of electronic components will happen in this burn in period. If I replace components, I will keep the Hexa close in for around 10 flights. This is just my rule of thumb. I've lost 1 motor and 1 esc during this burn-in period. Last thing I want to do is to loose an esc or motor a couple hunderd feet up and a 1/2 mile away. Been there, done that, didn't like the experience at all.
Connectors is a huge issue. If you need to add a splice cable make sure it's a top quality cable and heat shrink over the connection.
Same with bullet connectors from motor to esc. Once the motor rotation has been confirmed I heat shrink over them so they can not come loose in flight. Proper sizing of the connector is essential, also. You want to be able to draw the maximum amps the motor needs.
A big killer is vibration. All sources of vibration should be hunted down and eliminated.
So, you see, there is a lot to address. As I said, you can't be to anal.
Originally Posted by
Tomstoy2
I started off with a Gaui 330sx and had grand schemes of hauling a GoPro and fpv with it. The reality of it was, I did get the Gaui to fly, but it did crash a lot.
What was the cause of those crashes? Was that your first MR?
Mostly, it was ignorance on my part. You really need to do your homework. It was my first mr and I had grandure schemes for it. A 330 size frame isn't really large enough to lift a GoPro, a gimbal and fpv gear, not to mention it's limited size.
The gu344 controller isn't the best, but it does a fair job on a stock frame with no add ons. I then updated the controller to an fy91q with navigation system without doing my homework and ended up with a $400 paper weight.
Originally Posted by
Tomstoy2
After that, I graduated to my current x/a hexa and a WKM. Had one wreck in the beginning, got everything working and am extremely pleased with my results.
What was the cause of that crash?
Motor failure in flight. This was towards the end of the burn-in period. It was fine for the first 3 minutes of flight then all of a sudden the motor just quit. The Hexa still flew but drifted off towards the dead motor direction and could not hold height.
I kept it as level as I could and when she got close to the ground killed the throttle and let it drop the last couple of feet.
Inspection showed a lead came disconnected inside the motor.
Originally Posted by
Tomstoy2
Had a bit of bad luck, once when I flew into a power line and just reciently when a prop blade separated in flight.
Regarding the blade, did the blade come apart or did it become disconnected from the motor?
I was using Gaui 8" props, very impressive performance and durability with them on my part. I had one blade on the prop seperate at the hub. Once again the Hexa flew, but couldn't maintain altitude. It went down 1/4 mile out in a pumpkin field and I spent 1 1/2 hours looking for it.
These props served me a long time, but failure of my own dillegence was the ultimate reason for the last crash.
The only people who enjoy crashes are the observers. The pilot has his heart jump into his throat, swallows his pride and looks for the cause and how to eliminate it as best as he can.
You can say you have never crashed, but nobody can say with certainty that it will never happen. The truth of the matter is once it leaves the ground all bets are off.
My advise, be dilligent, be safe and enjoy.