Hexacopter low power problem

[pkel63]

Hi all, totally new here, I am in the middle of my first frustrating build, S550 hex kit from Hobbyking - Emax motors 2216 - 810kv, Afro 30 esc, (originally Emax 30a opto';s but we wont talk about them!) APM 2.6 with 3DR power module. Turnigy i10 radio. My current problem is this: I installed the esc';s and calibrated them, all went well, they are in total synch but on power up there is a little acceleration when I move the throttle, but not nearly enough! when I yaw pitch or roll it does accelerate a little more. I then read that my Afro';s with SimonK don';t need and shouldn';t be calibrated so I re-flashed them with the SimonK most recent updated firmware. It made no difference still no power! here is a short video of what is happening https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiHuukIdqzg . Whats going through my head is: there is so much conflicting info on the net! do I need to snip the live wire from my esc';s even though its a linear bec? Is this somehow what';s stopping my APM from spooling up the motors to full power? I have of course gone through the setup process for APM with "Mission Planner" I have spent a couple of hours filtering through this forum and found a lot of really helpful posts, unfortunately not the one I need though I';m sure its there somewhere, Looking forward to hearing from you all.
Cheers

[Paul01]

Hi,

What mode have you got the APM in?

Depending on what mode you are in the throttle channel behaves differently, for example if its in altitude hold mode you only control the speed of ascent and descent the APM controls the speed of the props. Make sure your in acromode, the props should then speed up and down as you move the throttle stick.

[PaulJC]

As Paul has said above, flight mode can make a massive difference to the output

You want to be in Manual mode for any throttle testing

[pkel63]

Thanks Paul & Paul I will check this out and see what mode it is in. hopefully I will be back with good news

[pkel63]

I solved that problem back in mission planner! It turns out max throttle was set to 80 when it should be 1000!! Thanks to Painless360';s youtube channel, he has an excellent series on the APM flight controller - amongst others,, I dare say he covers all RC related problems in one way or another.... now to figure out why it wants to flip forward on take off :/

[Nige8021]

When you did the accelerometer alignment test in the setup, was the ground level in all directions? The other possible one would be the props on the wrong motors ?

[Powernumpty]

I think from memory Painless has one on flips on takeoff too, I watched it in a sneering "who needs.." attitude and something in it was not as obvious at all.

One thing I have not seen mentioned often is the lift one side on autolevel and see what motor starts first (Props OFF) and which stay off, or run very slow. The lowest motors should run hardest if everything is right.
It is a quick way to double check rotation direction too.

[pkel63]

Thanks for the tip "Powernumpty" on lifting a side to check for motor spooling up or down,, I look forward to this weekend and hopefully going airborne!!