General Radio problems how to diagnose

Kenrcflyer

New Member
I have timber X 1with 150 flights and today on my 151 flight st flight of the day took off 6ft high it all of a suddenspirolleud to ground. do these planes have just so many flights and get defective ? are these PNP receivers not durable ? How could I diagnose the problem any help would be greatly appreciated . Where do you even begin and how do you analyze this ? it made hard right turn abut 6 ft high and went in . My pre flight all all movements in correct motion ,no jittery servos I don't know how to zero in on my problem any help would be greatly appreciated . This kind of problems are the most difficult to have in RC flying. Thank you in advance Ken
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
I'll ignore most of the sarcasm... but I will say like everything in life, there are good quality parts and cheep ones. Good ones can fail just like the cheep ones but are less likely too.

Diagnosing failures also like everything else out there just takes time and experience. There are no hard and fast rules, no most likely it was this or that. It it only something learned over time. It sounds like it's time you start the process but do not expect it to be a quick one... learning isn't a quick thing, it takes time.

You already did at least some of the preflight tests... I didn't see you list a motor run up ( while holding the airplane by the tail typically by standing in front of the elevator ). Still... that is always where you start and make note of anything out of the ordinary.

Next, after an incident... you repeat the process. Are there any loose control rods, surfaces. Do all of the servos still work, does the throttle still work. You go back through and check each and every system trying to see if there are any clues there or not. Next you would inspect all wiring connections to see if anything there may indicate a possible cause.

What you sort of described... could have been a problem with an aileron or rudder depending on how it moved in the air. Ailerons would affect roll turning an airplane, rudder the yaw also turning an airplane. I'll mention the elevator would affect the pitch but your description doesn't seem to indicate that but I didn't see the incident happen either.

If some of your parts now are not working... you would use a process of elimination and just replace one piece in the chain of the non-working part. In the end, you would need to test each one at a time and separate from each other.


Sorry to hear about the crash whatever the cause or reason. I'm sort of amazed you hadn't had them before now.... but it does show why the statement of " crashing, it isn't a matter of IF but WHEN it will happen"
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
I reported your other post as a duplicate so it can be removed... If you mispost in an incorrect area, just report it and mention where you thought it should go instead. That keeps the dupes down to a minimum.
 

Kenrcflyer

New Member
I'll ignore most of the sarcasm... but I will say like everything in life, there are good quality parts and cheep ones. Good ones can fail just like the cheep ones but are less likely too.

Diagnosing failures also like everything else out there just takes time and experience. There are no hard and fast rules, no most likely it was this or that. It it only something learned over time. It sounds like it's time you start the process but do not expect it to be a quick one... learning isn't a quick thing, it takes time.

You already did at least some of the preflight tests... I didn't see you list a motor run up ( while holding the airplane by the tail typically by standing in front of the elevator ). Still... that is always where you start and make note of anything out of the ordinary.

Next, after an incident... you repeat the process. Are there any loose control rods, surfaces. Do all of the servos still work, does the throttle still work. You go back through and check each and every system trying to see if there are any clues there or not. Next you would inspect all wiring connections to see if anything there may indicate a possible cause.

What you sort of described... could have been a problem with an aileron or rudder depending on how it moved in the air. Ailerons would affect roll turning an airplane, rudder the yaw also turning an airplane. I'll mention the elevator would affect the pitch but your description doesn't seem to indicate that but I didn't see the incident happen either.

If some of your parts now are not working... you would use a process of elimination and just replace one piece in the chain of the non-working part. In the end, you would need to test each one at a time and separate from each other.


Sorry to hear about the crash whatever the cause or reason. I'm sort of amazed you hadn't had them before now.... but it does show why the statement of " crashing, it isn't a matter of IF but WHEN it will happen"
Thanks Randy very informative info I appreciate your help If I find the problem Ill post it thanks again....Ken
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
I mentioned the motor run-up as more a part of the flight precheck.... Obviously you want to make certain your motor or engine is functioning properly. On an engine, you'd also be checking to see that the air/fuel mix is proper. I also wasn't very complete with what a proper precheck was having assumed you had already investigated that long before you started flying. One additional point would be a transmitter test to verify the distance it can operate. On old radios, you'd shorten the antenna and then walk away to see when the airplane stopped responding, on newer radios you have to check your manual for a setting that enables it to send out a low power signal and again, you walk away to see if it works out to the range they recommend in the manual.

After a crash... you want to test if the motor is still functioning properly and can be relied on after fixing whatever did get damaged.
 

Fly-n-Low

Active Member
So did it lose power? Or did the radio just freak out?

So it is dead now or still working?

Everything I have is Spectrum and never had an issue.

Doing a run up, if it had a short or a bad ESC, it may rear its head.
 

Kenrcflyer

New Member
Hello Randy ok I tested my radio and found that when i give up elevator my ailerons go hard right . what does this suggest aileron problems or receiver problems. Thanks for your help Ken
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
First check that your radio is setup for the proper mode you want, normally in the USA we tend to use mode 2 but it is a user preference. I'd say verify your servo wires are plugged into the proper channel... I'd check them against the channel assignments shown in the manual for your radio/receiver.

If that checks out, the next step I'd test is using a second receiver with a servo... once you've checked the first channel then test the second using the same servo ( just plugged into the other channel ).
 

Fly-n-Low

Active Member
Okay, well, I usually start with a rebind of the RX... That is the FIRST place to start.

I assume you have a Spektrum Radio since you have a PNP? The more info you provide, the easier it is for others to find a possible solution.

So you don't have another model you fly that you can test on the same TX???

BTW I have a Timber, two Sport Cubs, a Carbon Cub, and two Opterra 1.2s (all PNP) .. Plus 8 or 10 birds that have Spektrum systems that have worked flawlessly.
 

Kenrcflyer

New Member
Thanks just don't understand why all of a sudden full up elevator effects my ailerons going hard right is it the rx or servos without knowing that I won't know when this will all of a sudden happen again. My understanding when bind a radio it stays that way for ever...
 

Fly-n-Low

Active Member
Nope. I have had other problems with the ESC... and others have had crashes where it threw up some error code. Binding is easy to do. After I put a plane together and get everything where I want it, I bind it again.

It could be a problem in the radio. You have another model? Or have a friend with one you can bind your radio to? Using the same model on your TX of course.

Depending on the TX (which one do you have???) you can mix channels. Maybe you inadvertently mixed the ele with the ail?
 
Last edited:

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
My understanding when bind a radio it stays that way for ever...

Your understanding is being a bit ignorant of software things ( including anything RC radios, computers anything that has settings ) that settings can and do get corrupted.

That is one reason I mentioned binding to a new model in your radio ( I mean not making any assumptions ).... I also didn't assume your wiring was proper and mentioned double checking that just in case.... you didn't say if you tested anything, so I felt repeating it is probably a good idea.
 
Top Bottom