450 Tarot 450 Flybarless ESC issue

[helicc16]

Hi, everyone. Ten months ago, I purchased a Tarot 450 Flybarless kit which also includes all the electronics. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the parts -- at least from what I observed during assembly. Man! After assembly, the heli proved to be helluva powerful bird - the kind of power I had never seen in helis of this size. With ZYX flybarless system onboard ( also produced by Tarot), this thing was rock steady.

I was so impressed that I ordered another kit and am in the process of putting it together. This time I am having problem with the motor system. I had a hard time getting the ESC to enter programming mode, noticing that sometimes the motor's beeps would sound muffled. After dozen power on - power off cycles or so, I was able to program the thing.

Everything was okay during the first maiden flight. On the second flight, the motor started to putter and hiccup. Thinking that I might have changed a parameter on the ESC by accident, I tried to reprogram the ESC. Again, I heard muffled beeping sounds. And puff, I saw smoke coming from the ESC.

The Tarot ESC is now a goner, and I don't want to risk destroy another good ESC unless I am sure the motor is not shorted out. Does anyone know how to test motor for shorts? If you own this helicopter , please share your thoughts on it?

 

[coolgabsi]

I don't know about how to test motor. Tarot is a align's first quality copy... Very very well made. I use their parts on my trex 450 all the time

All that said, get an align 35x esc and you won't look back.

I would test the motor outside the frame or with head taken off. And spool it up.

Fly safe!! have fun!

 

[Lee]

Check that you haven't got the motor screws going into the winds of the motor. Sometimes the screws are too long and hit the wires causing a short.

 

[Tony]

For testing a brushless motor, it's best to test with a known good ESC. However if you are worried about damaging the ESC there are other ways of testing the motor. I know you trashed the stock ESC, but you do have the one from the other heli. But, read on before you hook it up just incase there is an issue with the motor.

The first thing you will need is obviously the motor and a drill of some kind. Electric drills are best becuase they can hold the same rpm unlike a battery drill.

Chuck the motor up in the drill holding the case with your hand (where the wires come out). Spin the drill up to at least 1000rpm. You should see NO buildup of heat in the motor and there should not be any resistance. If there is resistance or heat, then you have a short in the windings and the motor is trashed.

Second test you will need an AC volt meter. Label the wires #1 #2 #3. chuck up the drill and put the meter on an AC setting (you will have to find your setting after starting teh first test. Run the drill up to full speed with the meter connected to #1 & #2, then #2 & #3 and finally #3 & #1. The output voltage should be exactly the same across all 3 polls.

The third test will build some heat, so be careful. It's the "Brake" test. wire all 3 wires together and spin the motor up while holding the can. With the wires shorted out to each other, it will act like a brake. DON'T DO THIS FOR MORE THAN 10 SECONDS!!! You should feel drag in the motor and it should remain constant. If you feel a chugging, then the motor is bad.

Remember a brushless is just a 3 phase motor. I hope this helps you in testing your motor to make sure it's good. Make sure to spin it for a while on the first test with nothing connected to the wires. This is just a baseline test, and if you have damaged the windings in the can, this will create a brake effect and built some heat. Hope this helps.

 

[helicc16]

Tony, you sure have lots of experience on electric motors. Based on what you wrote, I assumed the motor is going to have to pass all three test to be worthy again. However, I took the easiest approach to this: replacing the fried ESC with a genuine Align one and voila, problem is solved.

Nonetheless, I am going to conducts these test on a Dynam motor that came with a electronic kit on sale ( or what i thought) for 45 dollars. Boys! The folks at Xheli.com are darn good at making sales pitch. Their promotion videos and photos are of such pro quality. I wish I could say the same for their products.

When the stock motor on my first E-razor 450 burned out ( after about 4 flight !!!), I tried to replace it with this Dynam motor. Man! The motor would get hot really quick, coughing, hiccuping, and sputtering like crazy.

Anyhow, thanks for sharing your knowledge, which I can never have enough of.

 

[Tony]

My pleasure. Glad the ESC worked out for you.

 

[Westy]

hey tony .... can you do a resistance check across each set of phases and if there is a difference of more than 10% it be stuffed?

 

[Tony]

Yup, you sure can. There should be the exact same amount of wire on all 3 polls so the reading should be the same. Just remember, all 3 polls are soldered together at the end so you will have to check 1&2 2&3 3&1 to get the right readings.