I have a new SAB Goblin 630 almost ready to fly after a long delay in building it over the winter. This spring I finally completed it, thought it was ready, then ran into a problem with the HeliCommand FBL unit. After getting this replaced, I thought it was ready to fly, but now it looks like the Scorpion ESC is misbehaving.
What happens is that I spool up and once up to speed, or sooner, it appears to ESC loses power, then starts spooling back up. It happens on the ground, or in the air. The longest period of full, normal power was somewhere around 20 seconds.
I have calibrated throttle according to the manual.
I also spooled up at 50% flat curve to calibrate the governor, but the power loss happens while doing this as well.
I did not notice any warnings lights, other than the orange slow blinking indicating soft start active. Tried another trip to the field. Behavior just getting worse.
I lowered LVC to 12V. I tried without Governor (SS 1). I reset all settings, reprogrammed. Nothing helped.
This video shows the problem occurring on the bench with no load. The LED glows orange while spooling up, then as the ESC cuts out, LED shuts off briefly, before turning back on while blades are spooling back up. In this video I held throttle constant at 50%, yet the ESC cuts power, and restarts acceleration multiple times.
Finally I figured out the problem. It's not the ESC after all, so easy to blame considering the behavior -- so I did my best to isolate all other components..
First I disconnected the HeliCommand 3SX, unbundled the wires, and connected a good old AR7000 Rx - problem gone..
This made my first think the HeliCommand was to blame - didn't really want to believe that either, since it had just been replaced. Reconnected HeliCommand, problem still gone!...
Finally, I connected the dots.. I thought back to the 2.4GHz installation primer (http://www.archeli.com.au/forums/show...), where I had learned how to properly place the satellites. What I had forgotten about was cable routing : My problem seems to have been bad cable routing/bundling. I had bundled one of the satellite wires along with the throttle wire from the HeliCommand to the ESC. Once I re-did this making sure to route the satellite wire far from the throttle wire and servo wires, problem gone. To double-check, I bundled them together again, and the problem was back right away.. Then off to the field to hopefully finally fly my Goblin.
And indeed, problem solved. Flew two flights without any sorts of trouble. Great finally flying this awesome heli.
UPDATE 6/15/2013: Problem came back after 20 flights But solved again. It seems DSM2 satellites simply don't play well with the HeliCommand 3SX, at least with my particular combination of equipment. I had to switch to cable loom and a full receiver (AR7000)
UPDATE 6/18/2013: Had another 20 good flights, but then ESC started cutting out again. Not nearly as bad as before, but once each flight and once it did not come back in time to recover in-air, but I auto-ed safely.
This is infuriating and I have had enough. This 2 month old ESC is being shipped to Hong Kong for repair/replacement. I need to find a temporary or permanent ESC in the meantime so I don't lose all summer to waiting for around the world shipping and repair of broken electronics.
I bought my HeliCommand 3SX last fall, but did not get around to completing the build until a couple of months back. It turned out the HeliCommand had some issues, and needed repair/inspection. Fortunately ,the U.S. HeliCommand support guys arranged a replacement for me ASAP, so I did not have to wait for the turn-around time to Germany and back.
Then this 2 month old Scorpion ESC that I did not get to test for 1 month because of the HeliCommand trouble, and myself traveling, has to be shipped to Hong Kong, 2 week repair turn-around, and then shipped back here. I am guessing 6 weeks total.
I am sick and tired of paying top dollar for assumed high quality electronics and have it not function properly out of the box. Then be stuck without a flying heli, or having to buy replacement parts while expensively shipping these new parts around the world to be diagnosed and repaired or replaced. I had this happen with a V-Bar sensor - shipped to Germany and back. A HeliCommand unit - replaced in the U.S in 1 1/2 weeks! (way to go, HeliCommand!) and now the Scorpion ESC. Shame on your QA processes.
EDIT: Just bought a used Kontronik Heli Jive. That's what I should have done in the first place! Really looking forward to getting a super reliable ESC installed. My 5+ years old Jazz in a Trex450 Pro has never skipped a beat and it's hard to beat the Kontronik governor.
