Spanky 6 build

[Ben]

So, I finally got round to fitting the 6" props to the Spanky. I had some new motors - 2208 2300kv and the KISS 18a ESCs had arrived, so it was a good opportunity for a rebuild and tidy up. Thought I';d post up a few pics if anyone would like a look.

It started off with the strip down -



Installation of the 1st motor & comparison to the old ones -





1st KISS ESC attached -



All 4 motors and ESCs fitted -



Oops, managed to melt some of the sleeving, I might have to come back to that later. But the bottom plate is complete -



Reassembled -





And finally, the 6" props added -



Hopefully the weather will be good tomorrow for a test flight and setup. I';ve gone back to the standard PIDs ready for a tune and enabled Oneshot, so a bit of sun would be nice!

I';ll update with some footage soon..

Ben

[quadfather]

Are those Micro Titans?  They look beefy!

And what the heck have you done with the frame?  Looks like you were ploughing a field with it. 

[Ben]

These are the motors - http://www.readytoflyquads.com/rtf-mini-motor-x2208-2300kv

They are fairly beefy and sound sweet when run up without props. The guy who designed the frame recommended them to me, so thought I';d give them a go.

As for the ploughing of the field... I did have a couple of unplanned landings last time out 

[quadfather]

These are the motors - http://www.readytoflyquads.com/rtf-mini-motor-x2208-2300kv

They are fairly beefy and sound sweet when run up without props. The guy who designed the frame recommended them to me, so thought I';d give them a go.

Uncanny resemblance!

http://shop.myairbot.com/index.php/airbot-t2204-motor-2300kv.html

[Ben]

A very similar motor by the looks of things, although they are marketed at the same price and 2204';s.

Wouldn';t surprise if they were the same and rebadged though, without checking them both out together....

Edit - They are actually more expensive.

[quadfather]

A very similar motor by the looks of things, although they are marketed at the same price and 2204';s.

Wouldn';t surprise if they were the same and rebadged though, without checking them both out together....

Edit - They are actually more expensive.

RTFQ sells the 2204 as well for the same price as the 2208.  Must. Resist.

[Ben]

Go on.. You know you want them. You';ll only hold out until tomorrow when I post a vid anyway 

[bazzerh]

what are the shipping charges like from that shop, and did you have customs charges? I';ve been put off ordering from good old us of a since i ordered a ';bargain'; servo that ended up costing much more than the uk price

[Ben]

I paid $23 for shipping, but there may have been a cheaper option. I did order 12 motors at the time though, so again that could have pushed the price up.

There was no customs charges. I would have order from Europe if I could of, but no one had any at the time. That may have changed now though.

[bazzerh]

lucky to get that lot through customs unscathed! i just ordered some titan airbots and they do free shipping. $20 a corner but hoping theyll take a few prangs

[JAB1a]

Nice Build Ben, so did Chris H recommend those motors? I thought he was using the 2204 2300Kv Microtitans on 18A KISS.

Excellent build mate, very neat, I look forward to your video';s of this setup.

[kilby]

Considering I paid £18 per corner during the summer (in the midst of the Sunnysky drought) $20 doesn';t sound too bad

[Ben]

Nice Build Ben, so did Chris H recommend those motors? I thought he was using the 2204 2300Kv Microtitans on 18A KISS.

Excellent build mate, very neat, I look forward to your video';s of this setup.

Thanks mate.

Yes, when I spoke with Chris back in December he said he was using the 2204s, but recommended the new 2208s that were now available to me.

Unfortunately I got held up at work today, so didn';t get out. I will have to wait until tomorrow now to give it a go.

[Ben]

Hmm, that didn';t go quite according to plan - An ESC caught fire..

I had tested everything indoors without props and all seemed fine. The quad happily spun up to full revs and it all seemed good. I managed to get out this afternoon with it and again, it all seemed fine. Twice I took off and landed straight away for a PID adjustment. I was just about to take off for the third time when I saw the smoke, then the fire.

Oh well, luckily I ordered 5 ESCs as I had heard of people having issues with them. Plus I guess I did get around 8 seconds of flight time 

Time to strip it down and have a look then...

[JAB1a]

Oh good old KISS ESCs, I am sure it was nothing you had done mate, it just seems to be a random event that happens anytime, Ive had one the didn';t catch fire but did fail in mid flight and another that did exactly what you described, landed after a good flight the day before and then in first throttle up the next... pop fizz fire! contact Flydrino and get it replaced, add a photo of the burnt chip to your first email so he just sends you a replacement.

Hope it all gets sorted for you mate as I am looking forward to seeing this fly 

[Ben]

Cheers for the words of encouragement. I';m pretty sure it was just a failure, as everything looks ok wiring wise. (albeit a bit melted). Can you remember what email address you used to report the problem and obtain a replacement?

I';ve had it apart, removed the faulty ESC and installed the spare. Will finish putting it back together in a bit ready for another try tomorrow. Here';s a rather poor picture of the failed ESC -



Did your';s look similar when it went? Looks like the a fair bit has moved with the heat, but most damage is the bottom left.

[JAB1a]

Here is the email address I used to contact them, got a reply from Dirk each time...

support@flyduino.net

My KISS looked very similar indeed, but your looks like a v1.1 where as mine were both v1.0. Bother versions seem to blow at the FETs it seems, things get so hot the solder melts on anything close...

[Ben]

Bloody hell! The 1st one looks well burnt out.. Glad I was close by and managed to unplug quickly when mine went.

Cheers for the email address. Will send something over to him tonight and see what he says.

[Ben]

It';s rebuilt and ready to try again tomorrow. Hope it works out better this time.

[Ben]

It flies! Still needs a bit of tuning, but it';s almost there. It';s fast. Very fast. And I hardly got to take it above 50% throttle. Will get that tuning done this week.

As with the rest of this build, it didn';t go perfectly. Came in to land after one of the runs and managed to land on the smallest twig around that was stuck in the ground. It jammed in to the usb plug of the GoPro and mangled the socket as it pushed it up. So the GoPro is a write off. I had to go to PCWorld to get another one before I could fly again. 

In case anyone was  thinking of getting the Hero4 White, it turns out it is stuck inside the plastic waterproof casing and all the ports are at the back, not the side. So for me it was no good. I had to go with the H4 Silver.

Will put a video up a bit later, but generally I';m pretty happy with it.  ::)

[Ben]

Here';s a quick video from todays flights -

https://vimeo.com/121610699

Hopefully once I';ve sorted out the tuning and can use more of the throttle, I';ll be on to a winner with this one 

[Ben]

Hmm, not really getting the support from Flyduino I had hoped for. First of all Dirk said the motors were over 30a, when I directed him to the webpage were it says they are 15a, he said they are wrong and they are 26a as he has tested them.

Odd how one caught fire without any motors spinning, yet when I flew it, and was using the motors, they didn';t catch fire...

Edit, there is actually something at the bottom of the webpage of the motors where it does mention 26.3a. Still not sure how a motor that isn';t spinning can draw any currant like that?

[JeremyE]

Hmm, not really getting the support from Flyduino I had hoped for. First of all Dirk said the motors were over 30a, when I directed him to the webpage were it says they are 15a, he said they are wrong and they are 26a as he has tested them.

Go right to the bottom of the page, there you will see 26.3A for 6030 props... Which also means that whitespy';s max amps are definitely incorrect!

[Ben]

Yes, it would appear that the info is conflicting. RTFQ have some explaining to do there...

Still doesn';t explain how an unarmed motor can pull that many amps! It';s also a bit suspect that I flew with a spare ESC without issue.

So who is correct I wonder?! Still think the ESC damage looks too similar to all the others that have failed..

[JAB1a]

Yes, it would appear that the info is conflicting. RTFQ have some explaining to do there...

Still doesn';t explain how an unarmed motor can pull that many amps! It';s also a bit suspect that I flew with a spare ESC without issue.

So who is correct I wonder?! Still think the ESC damage looks too similar to all the others that have failed..

So sorry to hear this, I was hoping that Flydrino would just replace it after all the hassle they have caused with shoddy gear but I guess if they are given an inch of a reason not to replace then its in their best interest (money wise) not to replace... which isn';t good, because instead on one ';Wow great service'; thread they will get 5 posts of how they have let you down and other agreeing with either you or them, not the best advertising. My second replacement KISS turned up today so the Spanky 6 will be back in the air but this time with 2x V1.1 at the front and 2x V1.0 at the back... should be interesting

[Ben]

Yeah, it is a bit of a shame that I';ve found myself in the middle of this. Oh well, I won';t lose any sleep over it.

I will say that he is quite harsh in his replies, at Flydiuno, when you report a problem or issue with their KISS ESC / ESCs. The customer service could do with some improvement. I will put this down to experience and hope they offer more help to others with a fault in the future. 

[JAB1a]

lol yep, the replies I got were very short and... well no sweetness to be detected, they were just short but they did sort the issue out ASAP... both times.

[Ben]

Glad to hear they were ok with you. Did they ask what setup you have?

Hope your new ones work ok. Let us know how they go, will be good to hear 

[quadfather]

I will say that he is quite harsh in his replies, at Flydiuno, when you report a problem or issue with their KISS ESC / ESCs. The customer service could do with some improvement. I will put this down to experience and hope they offer more help to others with a fault in the future. 

Without having seen their replies, it';s probably a case of language barrier.  My wife used to say that when I asked for something nicely it sounded like I was giving orders. :shrug

Sent via Tappertock

[Ben]

Quite possibly that is the case. I had thought that and was giving the benefit of the doubt. But he didn';t reply to my last email when I pointed out that the quad wasn';t even armed when it caught fire.

The 18a KISS ESCs have a 30a burst capability for 20 seconds. With these motors, I don';t really need to go above 50% throttle for most stuff to go bloody quick, general flying is a lot less. So I doubt an over draw of currant was the issue in this case.

Oh well, live and learn. I';ve learnt not to buy their stuff again.