Throttle Calibrating my Esc's Caused Unwanted Changes

RobertsUp

Member
Hi, I fixed my F450, replaced the bad gps module and I was looking forward to flying again. Then I remembered something. I had never throttle calibrated the esc's.

Naza M V1 with 3.12 fw and Maytech 40 amp esc's preflashed with SimonK.

The quad flew well with 3.12 from the start. In tests with the props off every function worked perfectly the way it should. Now I wish I had never calibrated the esc's. The quad is all messed up. Believe me I googled and searched for discussions of the issue for hours today. Learned some things but the quad is scaring me now. I'm afraid to fly it.

1. CSC arming no longer works the way Dji intended. The motors will start but I have to hold both sticks to a bottom corner and then move throttle up past 50%.

2. Sometimes the motors don't start all at once. They will if throttle is high enough, but motor response to throttle input has gone haywire. At least it seems
unpredictable and sluggish.

3. The response to throttle input is sometimes fast and sometimes not. If set at a hovering RPM the motors will sometimes slow down on their own without touching the stick and sometimes they'll slowly speed up. All without touching the stick. I can't fly it with it doing that. I have to have control over the craft.

4. In testing with props off, turning RTH on completely disabled throttle, rudder, aileron, and elevator. Flipping the switch back to off didn't return control. I was
seeing a flyaway. Turning off RTH and flipping to either ATTI or MAN returned control. Then I could return to GPS mode. I want to look at that again.

5. What bothers me most is that the motors rpm's have become unpredictable in response to throttle input. Sometimes I can't get high rpm's in GPS. Sometimes I do.

I've seen some workarounds. For instance increasing idle speed in Assistant. I calibrated the esc's again and recalibrated the compass and then ran an advanced IMU calibration. Did that twice. The quad seemed to calm down. I read that the craft will fly just fine after takeoff and I do hear the motors compensating when I move it around.

My setup is mainstream and common. I know I can't be the only flier who has found his nose up against the same brick wall.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Rob :dejection:

ps of course I know I can put it back the way it was by replacing all the esc's but that would be too easy wouldn't it?
 
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Hi Robert, the TBS discovery ESC's with simonK firmware have suffered from lazy motor start for a long time (recently fixed with new SimonK firmware and ESCs', with this new version they strongly recommend not to calibrate the ESCs' as they are pre-calibrated and if they are re-calibrated it will mess them up change the settings and they will no longer work as they should).

Having said that I used iPeaka ESCs' with factory installed simonk firmware (Naza-1 and GPS) and had the same problem with lazy start motors (I feel its the simonk firmware and Naza combination causing the problem not necessarily the brand of ESC).

Increasing idle speed in Naza helped a little but did not solve the problem totally. TBS sold a calibration cable that calibrates all four ESCs' at once when connected to your RX (I assume you calibrate connected to your receiver NOT the Naza) plus when calibrating with your Futaba radio & receiver the throttle setting must be set to -120% (this will sometimes not work with other radios). Do the calibration and then set the radio throttle back to 100%.

This worked for me and I have not had a problem since.
Regards - bruce

P.S. go to the TBS forum at FPVLAB and do a search for lazy motor start, there is plenty of info there regarding this issue.
 
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RobertsUp

Member
Thanks Bruce.

I already studied the threads that you sent me a link to.

I'm going to have to completely disassemble my quad, install new esc's and start over again. I don't know how to increase throttle settings in my DX8. It's too much for me to learn now.

Trapper at TBS gave it a name: "Slow Start Syndrome"
 
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Hi Robert, I have never had or used a DX8 so I can not help there, but I am fairly sure that if you can calibrate your ESCs' at minus 120% that will work if you can borrow a friends futaba radio and receiver just to do the calibration, that is if you can not find a way to set the DX8 throttle.
Regards - bruce
 

RobertsUp

Member
Hi again, Bruce. Your advice was spot on.

I was completely frustrated but didn't give up. I just had to study the DX8 and teach myself how to adjust the throttle endpoint. In the DX8 it's under servo setup. I put it at -120 per your recommendation. But I wasn't finished with the matter. I tested it and found no difference then slapped my forehead. I forgot to calibrate the esc's to the new throttle setting.

CSC arming and gentle takeoff mode are working again. Without the props on, the quad seems to be working more smoothly than before. It's fine now. :tennis:

I saw a danger that I didn't know about before. When dropping the throttle to turn the motors off, they do stop. But they're not unarmed. They start again if the throttle is raised. Glad I learned that in case I was holding the quad and the tx bumped against my leg. The quad has to be disarmed by repeating the CSC. I'm also going to put towels over the props whenever my hands are near those blades.

Thanks again, Rob
 
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Hi Robert I am glad you Persevered with it and it has worked for you. In the naza assistant do you have under ADVANCED - MOTOR "Cut off type" set to "Intelligent" that should disarm your motors.
Regards - bruce
PS after calibration you did set throttle endpoint back to 100% in your radio.
 

RobertsUp

Member
Hi again.

Today I flew my craft and ran out two battery packs. It flew beautifully. I mainly wanted to find out the flight times. It was 15 minutes. I flew it at a place I never visited before and two experienced multirotor pilots examined my craft and were impressed with how well it flew and how I built it. I never expected that.

It flew well without going back into my TX and setting throttle endpoint back the way it was before. Also, the craft is set to immediate cutoff. Overall I was cautious and never tried any of the gps features like RTH. I'll remove the propellors and change my TX setting back to -100% and test it. And also change to the intelligent cutoff setting. I'm curious to see how that will change things. I'm pleased with how it flys now even without making those adjustments you recommend.

Many thanks for all your help.

Rob
 
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RobertsUp

Member
No need to answer, Bruce. I did everything you said to do and the craft tests better than it did before.

I reset my throttle ending in the TX and tested. The CSC arming works like it should and I even seem to notice a higher power available in gph to be able to ascend more.

Changing to Intelligent mode did indeed disarm the motors using just the throttle.

Thanks, Rob
 
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RobertsUp

Member
At one point in my testing I set it to hover just above head height and I wanted to try one of those tricks you see in videos. I grasped one landing leg and began pulling it as I walked away. The quad is powerful. It began fighting my effort right away. It was really hard to pull. Three feet away and it fought so hard it began shaking. I let go and it popped back to the place it had been.

I'm not the slowest builder without a reason. I began ordering the parts in early March. The process was so slow and there was so much to learn that I ended up making too many posts to the forum. Because I'm naturally chatty. Now I'm flying my build with success. With no more wanting to be chatty on the forum without having flown anything but my mQX.

Thanks go to Bartman, whose stickys about building rather then buying an rtf I took to heart.

Many more Thanks go to everybody who helped me. HelloMan, Glacier51, Tahoe Ed, Kloner, and most recently Bruce365. There were others.
 
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sircking

Member
Hi Robert I am glad you Persevered with it and it has worked for you. In the naza assistant do you have under ADVANCED - MOTOR "Cut off type" set to "Intelligent" that should disarm your motors.
Regards - bruce
PS after calibration you did set throttle endpoint back to 100% in your radio.

Bruce365, mate have been reading your advice and it has solved throttle issues I was having setting up my hexacopter you are the man.

now all I need to do is get it to fly longer,

Thanks again mate you are a legend.

Pete
 

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