QAV 250 clone build

[James.D]

I';ve received most of my parts for the build now.
Finally started the build yesterday as i had a few hours free 

built the frame to see how things were going to fit best, the gap above bottom plate is to close together to accept my esc';s so going to have to make some spaces or mount them above, not sure which way to go just yet.

I';ve soldered all the esc';s to the pdb. Unfortunately the sunny day was far to tempting and I had to go out for a blast on my bike so the build stopped there for now.

[manc]

Niiice!

More pics of build needed  ::)

[James.D]

Niiice!

More pics of build needed  ::)

Will post up some build pics later

[manc]

Cheers pal!

I need to watch your build closely, as you know we have purchased similar China kits so there will important lessons I need to take note of.

[James.D]

A few pics of what I';ve done so far.



As you can see the gap between the lower frame plates is far to narrow to fit the esc';s or pdb. Spaces are going to be used I think looking for something suitable to use.




Power supply cable and esc';s soldered to pdb ready for motors.

[Dino]

As you can see the gap between the lower frame plates is far to narrow to fit the esc';s or pdb. Spaces are going to be used I think looking for something suitable to use.

Try these: http://makeitbuildit.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=87_29&product_id=341

[James.D]

Try these: http://makeitbuildit.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=87_29&product_id=341

Cheers for the link just ordered some perfect as I';ve got some led';s to mount too. 

[bazzerh]

if i was you I';d try having the battery connector exiting the side of the frame and reaching about halfway to the topdeck. most of the batteries you';ll use will have just the right length of wire to pull over from opposite side and not be flapping around.

the way you';ve got it the battery wont reach if battery is rotated so leads are at front, and if at the back they';ll have a great big loop of wire flapping about, you could cable tie but you';ll also probably want rx and vtx stuff going out the back so would just be messy

[James.D]

if i was you I';d try having the battery connector exiting the side of the frame and reaching about halfway to the topdeck. most of the batteries you';ll use will have just the right length of wire to pull over from opposite side and not be flapping around.

the way you';ve got it the battery wont reach if battery is rotated so leads are at front, and if at the back they';ll have a great big loop of wire flapping about, you could cable tie but you';ll also probably want rx and vtx stuff going out the back so would just be messy

Sounds good to me, I';ll swap it round next time I get chance 

[bazzerh]

also i had some issues fitting escs inside the frame, i had 2 where your psb is and one each end. really don';t know how you';ll be able to fit them inside with a psb hogging the middle. i made a wire power harness but it was so fiddly i think if i did it over i';d use a psb like yours and have escs on the arms. doesn';t look as tidy but keeps them cool and saves lots of muttering.



not a lot of room in a qav250 frame!

[Friskle]

If you put the arm bolts parallel at not as you have, they should fit side by side touching each other, as for fitting with the PCB, you then remove lots of wire to make them sit perfectly :)

My other is basically the same frame, and with the ESC wires cut to fit, you should be able to manage it with a PCB.

[James.D]

Had a couple of hours free tonight so fit spacers to the arms (cheers Phil at http://www.makeitbuildit.co.uk/ )

I should have ordered a smaller PDB but decided  I';d try and make this one work. Fitted the PDB between the lower frame plates and I';m leaving the esc';s on the arms.
I also fitted LED';s front (white) and rear (red).

Motors can';t be fitted as the screws supplied with the motors were to short or to long Grrrrrrr.

Still waiting for my batteries and charger to turn up so can';t test anything.

[Nige]

Had a couple of hours free tonight so fit spacers to the arms (cheers Phil at http://www.makeitbuildit.co.uk/ )

I should have ordered a smaller PDB but decided  I';d try and make this one work. Fitted the PDB between the lower frame plates and I';m leaving the esc';s on the arms.
I also fitted LED';s front (white) and rear (red).

Motors can';t be fitted as the screws supplied with the motors were to short or to long Grrrrrrr.

Still waiting for my batteries and charger to turn up so can';t test anything.

Not teaching you to suck eggs but have you isolated the PDB from the lower and upper plates because CF is conductive and I wouldn';t want you to short anything first time you plug a lipo in..

Nige

[James.D]

Yeah it has been isolated from both frame plates but thanks for mentioning it 
I';ve still got to add more wiring yet for the FPV system but going to add that at a later date.

[James.D]

Got the QAV clone nearly finished but been having trouble with the CC3D,  Motor 4 will not spin up correctly   I had it working perfectly in the GCS set up but won';t work properly when ready to fly.
I decided to order a Naze 32 and fit that as the problem seems to be FC related.
Hopefully I';ll get that swapped over early next week 

Here';s how its looking so far

[manc]

Very nice dude, made quite a bit a progress already, those LEDs really do finish it off well.

I see you didn';t manage to squeeze the ESCs all under the lower section with the spacers you bought, do I assume the frame spacing simply did allow this?

Shame about the CC3D and motor 4, I thought it was pretty much plug&play with the CC3D... if you haven';t already you might want to pop over to the Openflight forums to see if anyone there can help, you cant be the only one having these setup issues, surely.

ManC

[Nige]

Looking great James well done..

I same problem and turned out I had some screw too long and causing a short in 1 and later 2 motors.. resolved now and she has finally flown.. might be worth checking that..

Very tidy build though you must be very pleased.

Nige

[James.D]

Looking great James well done..

I same problem and turned out I had some screw too long and causing a short in 1 and later 2 motors.. resolved now and she has finally flown.. might be worth checking that..

Very tidy build though you must be very pleased.

Nige

I pretty 99.9% sure its not the motor screws, they were way to long and I couldn';t find any the length I needed so made some spacers to go under motors till I find some screws the right size.
Somebody mentioned that it maybe a dry joint or dodgy motor winding, I';m going to look into this when I get time.

Thanks for the mentioning it though and i will double check them.

[James.D]

Build going backwards now lol. Marked up the motor and esc from the arm I was having trouble with, before taking it all apart again to start from scratch with a smaller better PDB.

After firing up the soldering iron to rewire the quad, I realised it was really struggling to heat up (it is quite old).
The build has hit another brick wall  I just can';t seem to make any progress.

FPV funds are all but gone now as I';ve ordered a new soldering iron, So once again can';t do anything till iron is delivered. 

[Nige]

Look at it this way James. Without a flying quad the FPV gear is useless. So don';t be down hearted, concentrate on getting her finished and airborn. Worry about FPV later.

[James.D]

Look at it this way James. Without a flying quad the FPV gear is useless. So don';t be down hearted, concentrate on getting her finished and airborn. Worry about FPV later.

I know I shouldn';t whine about it really, it';s just bloody annoying to finally get a couple of hours free to get some work done on it, only for my soldering iron to pack up and stop working.

Oh well till next time I guess 

[James32]

I know I shouldn';t whine about it really, it';s just bloody annoying to finally get a couple of hours free to get some work done on it, only for my soldering iron to pack up and stop working.

Oh well till next time I guess 

Your not the only one with issues dude, one of my motors decided to stop working during set up with a bit of magic smoke thrown in there too lol, Now I am going resolder every joint on the quad, all good fun lol.

[James.D]

Your not the only one with issues dude, one of my motors decided to stop working during set up with a bit of magic smoke thrown in there too lol, Now I am going resolder every joint on the quad, all good fun lol.

It';s all good fun eh?

I didn';t have to strip mine really, I could have just tested the esc & motor and sorted the problem from there.  I wasn';t happy with the build the PDB was huge, so it had to go.
Sorry to here about your smoking motor doesn';t sound to hopeful for that one. I can';t wait for the new soldering iron to turn up so I can maybe make a start this coming weekend.

[James32]

It';s all good fun eh?

I didn';t have to strip mine really, I could have just tested the esc & motor and sorted the problem from there.  I wasn';t happy with the build the PDB was huge, so it had to go.
Sorry to here about your smoking motor doesn';t sound to hopeful for that one. I can';t wait for the new soldering iron to turn up so I can maybe make a start this coming weekend.

yes the smoking motor wasn';t to ideal but I';m not sure if it was a bolt touching the windings or my dodgy wiring lol. I';ll start again lol.

[James.D]

New soldering iron got delivered yesterday and today I had 1 hour to have a tinker and start rebuilding the quad.
Mounted the PDB between the lower frame plates and the FC above using the same fixings and a form pad to stop vibration to the FC.
All esc';s are also being mounted between the two lower frame plates thanks to using a spacer kit.

[James.D]

The marked esc fitted fingers crossed it';s not fried.

[Dino]

If you were to mount the spacers on the other side of the arms the wires from the motors won';t need to wrap around the arms.

Did you drill out your CC3D case to get the M3 bolts through?

[James.D]

If you were to mount the spacers on the other side of the arms the wires from the motors won';t need to wrap around the arms.

Did you drill out your CC3D case to get the M3 bolts through?

I want to mount some more LED lights on the tops of the arms so I want the motor wires to wrap around.
Yes I did drill the case for the bolts to pass through, Just make sure it';s the correct size drill bit and not to big or the FC will lose it';s seating position.

[Hands0n]

Nice build coming along there. These little ZMR250 style frames are not the easiest to get everything packed away into.  I used 10mm aluminium stand off posts between bottom and middle plates. That worked well, allowing the PDB and ESC in board, even if there is no room for a blade of grass now ::)

If I might suggest one teensie change to the assembly - it may help servicing later.  Mount the motor arms to the bottom plate rather than the middle.  That way, should you have to replace a motor arm it is just a matter of unbolting the bottom plate.  Ask me how I know

So in layer terms bottom up it would be; bottom plate, motor arms, spacers, middle plate, and so on.

[deano]

Mount the motor arms to the bottom plate rather than the middle.  That way, should you have to replace a motor arm it is just a matter of unbolting the bottom plate.  Ask me how I know

So in layer terms bottom up it would be; bottom plate, motor arms, spacers, middle plate, and so on.

Thats not a bad idea. Thanks for the tip