Smoke and a new configuration

Jurriaan

Well-Known Member
I’m new in the quadcopter world and have two questions for you guys. Last month I started building and after a couple of days I tested the quadcopter without the propellers and everything went well (including configuring the CC3D and receiver/transmitter and all the wiring). I configured the following configuration:

- Q450 frame
- CC3D flight controller
- Emax MT2213 motors
- Emax 4in1 ESC
- ZIPPY Compact 2700mAh 3S 25C Lipo battery
- Flysky FS-T6 FS T6 6ch 2.4g w/ LCD Screen Transmitter + FS R6B Receiver

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4-Pc...450-X525-Quad-copter-MT2213X4/1532588220.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Emax...Control-Quadcopter-Multirotor/1905303599.html

The next day I disconnected the motor wires from the 4in1 ESC to the CC3D because I wanted to put the wires in a decent way. Once I was done I reattached the wires, but as I now know in a different order. At that moment I really didn’t realized the unwanted wire order and I connected the battery and soon I noticed 2 motors weren’t spinning when I moved the throttles. After 1 minute I could smell smoke. Resulted in a burned 4in1 ESC and 2 burned motors.

I have 2 questions:
The first one (maybe less important), has anyone an idea why this happened as described in the above situation? Maybe because I switched the motor wires in a different order and didn’t reconfigured it in the software? Or a faulty configuration or faulty 4in1 ESC?

The second question, I decided to buy 4 new motors and 4 separated ESC’s from HobbyKing.
Motors and ESC’s:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__12921__D2830_11_1000kv_Brushless_Motor.html

https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=33617

So this will be the new configuration:

- Q450 frame (integrated PCB)
- CC3D flight controller
- 4x Turnigy D2830-11 1000kv
- 4x Turnigy Plush 30amp Speed Controller
- ZIPPY Compact 2700mAh 3S 25C Lipo battery
- Flysky FS-T6 FS T6 6ch 2.4g w/ LCD Screen Transmitter + FS R6B Receiver
- 1045 propellers

I’m not afraid to try things and learn from my mistakes but I’m sharing my story with you all because I don’t want to run out of money :)

I can appreciate when you will give me feedback and advice for one or both questions especially regarding the new configuration. Thanks a lot.
 
I would go with faulty 4 in 1 esc. I had a similar problem with one. You should be fine with the new setup. Did you remember to order the Turnigy program card for the esc's?
 
Thank you for your suggestion, I thought I ordered everything now at HK :) but not..

Why do I need the programming card? Because I thought the CC3D software will handle this. Or a misunderstanding on my part?
 
The card allows you to better adjust the individual esc to suit your motor and send that refined info to the controller. The controller takes that info and makes adjustments so all the motors work together. You may find the default settings on the esc's are satisfactory for your needs. You can always get the card later if you are not satisfied with the settings.
 
You should have chosen a SimonK ESC which is already quadcopter ready with the proper parameters. No pre-programming needed.
 
Ok, I didn't knew that. When I read your answer I started a quick research. I found the following here: https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=33617

Hello, Can I update this ESC with SIMONK firmware ? What is the MCU inside ? Do you sell the socket to do ?

The turnigy plush esc's don't run simonK firmware but a similar one called BLheli firmware. To keep it short it does the exact same but simonk firmware doesn't work on the SiLabs chips which are in these esc's.

An engineer from HK told me today that no programming is needed, only if you want. With default settings this should be ok.
 
With default settings this should be ok
Did he actually say just OK?

These ESCs are pre-quadcopter era. Hopefully CC3D can deal with them.

That said what are the default settings?

turnigy-card.jpg


Oh well, good luck.
 
haha.. yes he said just OK. Actually two different engineers from HK said exactly the same. I just ordered the programming card, so I think I have to wait a couple of days.

Is there a good question I can ask them? What is your advice? Read the default settings and change these to???

I'm new in this world, willing to learn. So I won't go blind on HK advise.
 
Ok, great. I will wait for the card or learn how to program the ESC using my transmitter. Good to understand both options. In the maintime I will figure out what settings are default applied and what ESC settings are recommended for my situation.

My world is IT. Is an ESC like a "PC" where you have different manufacturers with different operating systems but you can accomplish the same thing?

Is there a general rule for default settings, for getting started with the greatest chance for a safe flight?
 
As promised my reaction after I received the programming card. It is very useful and easy to program the ESC’s. Like Jackson above already mentioned, check the factory settings because they probably not suit to your needs. I changed the settings like you see in the above picture. I also think the CC3D will take care of this, but better safe than sorry. Thanks for your help people!

Setting up your ESC:
 
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