After flying 15 years...this happens
Flying my 3dhs Slick this week I experienced an electronics failure that cost me this beautiful airplane. On the third circuit of my third flight and advancing the throttle to full the motor didn't have time to spool up before losing all onboard power. Preflight check showed no problem and two perfect flights gave no indication what was about to happen. The airplane had a new 45 amp esc on a motor drawing 35.8 amps and a new lemon receiver which I consider reliable as any other. ( I fly several lemons and never experienced an issue) Doing an autopsy showed both the esc and receiver inoperative which complicates blaming one or the other. Could it be an overheating esc, maybe, or a completely failed receiver? The plane came in at about a 35 degree angle from 60-70 feet destroying the airframe. Was able to salvage the motor which I expected to have at least a bent shaft or need new bearings but that is one bit of kinda good news. Sucks big time...but that's flying..err...crashing. Talking about it is good therapy.
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Well, does (did) the ESC have a linear regulator for the BEC? You didn't mention what Voltage battery you were using, but, if the regulator was linear, or a buck type switcher, it could have failed, connecting full battery Voltage to the receiver. Since both died, apparently at the same time, this would be my best guess. -
https://headsuphobby-com.3dcartstore...EC_p_2212.html
This esc and 3S 2200mah battery.
Contacted HeadsUp just to see if this was a failure they were aware of and not that I expect anything from them. Just a fyi thing.
What you described is intetesting and indeed plausible.
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What about the battery?Don't just fly--WREAK HAVOC!!!Comment
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Things do happen, I think the failure rate is extremely low for 15 years you been in the hobby. Commercial airplanes fall from the sky, and still investigators dont know what happened. Have had a bad lipo once which caught on fire for no reason, connectors good, healthy battery pack etc and buy the way it was in a truggy, not an airplane.Comment
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The battery, on impact, smoldered and smoked but no flame.Originally posted by quitcherbitchen View PostComment
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I had that happen one time, and it was a battery failure. I was flying a 4S battery, and one cell completely went dead in flight, cutting off all power to the plane. Fortunately, I knew something was going on, and was on a glide path to land when it cut out. No real damage to the plane, and when I put in a new battery, everything worked fine again. I tried the old battery, and the plane was completely dead again.Comment
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I'd have to say the BECComment
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Do you think one of the internal leads to the cell that died let go? Weird that it would suddenly drop out in flight without a sudden spike or fire or something like that. I'm thinking if the lead let go it would also pop the balance wire off the cell as well. Just my thoughts for what it's worth...Originally posted by Loneflier View PostComment
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I suspect it was an internal lead or solder joint that completely failed, but I did not do an autopsy on the battery. I did use my battery checker to through the balance leads, and it showed 3 good cells, and 1 that read 0 volts. For it to go from fully charged to 0 in less than 5 minutes, it had to be an internal power system failure of some sort.Comment
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Very interesting :/Comment
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While not a Castle esc I called their technical department and they were very informative on the situation. The tech I spoke with said most likely the BEC failed and I concur.Comment
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we had a pilot who took off and lost power, wheels up landing, walks it back and it acts perfect. uses one of those battery checkers with a load and it checked out ok so he loaded it back in to fly again. I told him try a new battery, he did not. took off and flew the same amount and landed wheels up again. new battery no problem. discharged the battery slowly and one of the cells went to zero before the rest of the cells were out of the usable voltage range. typical cell ageing behavior. I've had them quit in the plane and blow up enough that getting them out is a bit of a feet.Originally posted by Loneflier View Post
swimmer I concur that it was a failed BEC I don't think there is any way to protect against that, I normally run a Y from the rx to the BEC/ESC so I can put a NiMH or NiCad pack on with it incase the BEC quite and its saved 3 planes. but have always wondered if a fuse between BEC and y would stop what you saw.Platt: fw190d9 Dynaflite:PT-19 IMP:Macchi202 ESM:fw190 ESM:Tank, Hien Jackson:DH-2 BH:macchi200 Extr:fw190 Holman:me109F H9spit2 FL:F4u,spit 9 FW:me262 GP:us60, Stuka, cub, F4u PZ:me109, albi EF Hurri, T-28 FMS: 2x fw190, me109 Lone Star:Skat Kat RSCombat:2xfw190d9Comment
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Welcome to the Squawk .........you the same Paladin from the RCG side??Originally posted by paladin View PostWarbird Charlie
HSD Skyraider FlightLine OV-10 FMS 1400: P-40B, P-51, F4U, F6F, T-28, P-40E, Pitts, 1700 F4U & F7F, FOX glider Freewing A-6, T-33, P-51 Dynam ME-262, Waco TF Giant P-47; ESM F7F-3 LX PBJ-1 EFL CZ T-28, C-150, 1500 P-51 & FW-190Comment
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This happened to me recently with my Durafly Vampire. ESC had an external BEC and that failed. Plane went in.
Buddy of mine was flying his Dallas Doll and the EFlite ESC went nuclear and melted the battery leads, causing one of the bullet plugs to pull out of the EC3 connector. plane went in.
This is why for most things over parkflyer foamy size, I like to run a separate RX pack.Comment
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You pays your money and you takes your chances. A receiver pack is not 100% failure proof either. I've had two fail, on one the factory soldered lead broke at the solder joint and on the other the factory welded intercell connector failed. I've also lost planes to BEC failure, and flight pack failure. I just keep it simple and use the ESC's BEC whenever possible, and a separate BEC when appropriate. When I absolutely need a totally independent separate receiver power source, I use a dedicated LiPo pack through a regulator.Originally posted by rampage View PostComment
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