Scratchbuilt Quadrotor

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
I soldered the connectors to the solder pads, but the center pad lifted slightly. The center connectors wiggled when I plugged/unplugged the motor leads in. I was afraid they'd tear the traces off the circuit board when connecting or disconnecting them or a crash. All the ESC's had the same issue. Always the center solder pad.

I think it would probably be safest to solder the wire directly to the pad (as intended). The stress that the connector would take in a crash (as you mentioned) could definitely recreate the issue you are having. You could always eave the connectors on your PDB and solder connectors to good gauge wire coming from the ESC.
 

Toymaker

Crashologist
That's what I have done on the power on the supply side of the ESC. I wanted to try the connectors right on the board to neaten up wiring a bit. The epoxy made them very strong so I'm going to go that route for now..Kind of hard to unsolder connectors coated with epoxy...LOL
 

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
That's what I have done on the power on the supply side of the ESC. I wanted to try the connectors right on the board to neaten up wiring a bit. The epoxy made them very strong so I'm going to go that route for now..Kind of hard to unsolder connectors coated with epoxy...LOL


Yep, epoxy definitely ensures a certain level of commitment. :)
 

Toymaker

Crashologist
Finally I have 4 working ESC's and motors!!! I got everything back together and powered up! Now to check rotation, balance some props, figure out how to calibrate the ESC's, and setup the Multiwii!
 




Toymaker

Crashologist
Yes for the ESC's
Well I got it off the ground tonight! about an inch. :)
Inside the house:black_eyed: It's raining out so I need to wait a bit and go outside. Everything seems to be connected and functioning properly.
I started without props, verified rotations and correct motors reacted with the radio inputs. Then I put props on held the frame firmly and gave it a little throttle (just enough to spin).
I checked to make sure the quad tried to correct for out of level conditions. So far So good!!!
 

SoCal Blur

Member
Yes for the ESC's
Well I got it off the ground tonight! about an inch. :)
Inside the house:black_eyed: It's raining out so I need to wait a bit and go outside. Everything seems to be connected and functioning properly.
I started without props, verified rotations and correct motors reacted with the radio inputs. Then I put props on held the frame firmly and gave it a little throttle (just enough to spin).
I checked to make sure the quad tried to correct for out of level conditions. So far So good!!!

Congrats!
 



Toymaker

Crashologist
I got the lid mounted.:) It's made from an 8" acrylic light fixture globe. I cut three of them from one globe. To mount it I had originally planned on using some handmade fiberglass or plastic brackets. The other day at work They were throwing out a bunch of harder packaging foam that some computers shipped in with. So I grabbed it and cut out a lid mount from that with a band saw. It cuts like butter with a 1/8" X 14 blade. I used velcro to attach it to the frame and the lid. Next time I make one I'll use my scroll saw to cut out the center hole so there is no slice through the side. Here's how it looks complete. I will be also adding some lighting soon. AUW is now 1207 grams.
View attachment 17034
 

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Toymaker

Crashologist
We are airborne!!! lost a propnut though...I though I had them tight..Off to HomeDepot for some nylon stopnuts...:) I'm happy!
 



Toymaker

Crashologist
The thing that amazed me was how high the blade went! It had to have gone 50+ foot up in the air lol!! then it took forever to come down kind of like a Maple tree spinner seed. The nut is nowhere to be found.
The motors are the multistar type that have the flats at the base of the 6mm motor shaft. No prop adapter at all.
Btw when I got bac from the store I put the stop nuts on and flew again for about 10 seconds and the battery warning went offf DOH! lol
This thing is going to be fun to learn to fly! It is very stable and has tons of power. It's lifting off with a little less than 1/2 throttle.Full throttle take off leaps off the ground!
 

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
The thing that amazed me was how high the blade went! It had to have gone 50+ foot up in the air lol!! then it took forever to come down kind of like a Maple tree spinner seed. The nut is nowhere to be found.
The motors are the multistar type that have the flats at the base of the 6mm motor shaft. No prop adapter at all.
Btw when I got bac from the store I put the stop nuts on and flew again for about 10 seconds and the battery warning went offf DOH! lol
This thing is going to be fun to learn to fly! It is very stable and has tons of power. It's lifting off with a little less than 1/2 throttle.Full throttle take off leaps off the ground!

make sure you have those locked down. That prop comes off someone could get really hurt - especially you!
 

Toymaker

Crashologist
I agree! The nut would have hurt too I heard it ricochet twice in the back yard! The nylock nuts won't come loose. We use those on high vibration applications at work.
 


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