I know this has no connection to the Typhoon H, but since it's the only drone forum I'm a member of, I thought I'd seek help here. I recently had a crash with a 350QX3 that rendered the stock body useless. I purchased a Microheli carbon body for it and did the installation. After installation I did a re-bind and went outside to arm and test for arming, run up, etc. All good "except" the motors will not run up. They arm ok but will not go above "idle" regardless of stick position. I get gps lock within 15-20 seconds, correct status light sequence etc., but the motors just will not spin up. No props installed at this point. Any suggestions?? Thanks in advance!
Help with 350 QX3
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Put the bird on the 350QX GUI. Look for the "battery voltage". This board has a habit of NOT reading the battery voltage correctly. If the indicated reading is too low, I think the motors will start, but will not spin up. This is from memory, I don't have one with this problem right now that I could check, but give it a try to see if that's the problem. Note the problem is not related to actual battery voltage. Actual battery could be fully charged, and actual readings everywhere on the board are correct, it's just the MPU does not "see" the real voltage.
Thanks for the input fellas! I've installed the props and will try that in the a.m., it's "0 dark 30" here right now. Far as the "GUI", I have no clue what that is. I'm kind of new to anything electric flight. Thanks again!
h-elsner
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GUI explained:
Download via this site: https://www.horizonhobby.com/pdf/BLH8160_GUI_ZIP.pdf
You need Serial-USB adapter cable. It should be part of the set you purchased. One side USB, the other side a small white connector that needs to put in the receiver plug.
After body change usually a reassignemet of motors is needed. Also test of ESCs possible with GUI. The GUI has a procedure for both.
br HE
You need Serial-USB adapter cable. It should be part of the set you purchased. One side USB, the other side a small white connector that needs to put in the receiver plug.
After body change usually a reassignemet of motors is needed. Also test of ESCs possible with GUI. The GUI has a procedure for both.
br HE
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Guys, thanks for all the great info!! I just finished running the GUI and the 3.0 firmware update was already in there. In addition all sensors and esc's show good. Only flag I got was a possible compass calibration and I'll to that one in the a.m. along with all the other calibrations then give her a try and let you all know. Thanks again for the assist!
Well, if I wasn't confused before, I sure as heck am now! Got the update installed and everything calibrated. Status light indicated everything was a "go". Then I tried a test flight and it would lift off but was not responding to throttle well at all, very unpredictable and would not maintain altitude on a centered stick. It did respond to directional commands ok, no problem there and it cycled thru all flight modes. So, landed and went back to the computer, whereupon I was unable to connect to the GUI and got a steady red status light. Battery was freshly charged before the "flight" and is currently reading 12.3 volts. So, needless to say, I'm about to just throw my hands in the air and walk away.
Make sure you got the receiver plugged in securely when you swapped back from the GUI. Sometimes the little pins get bent over. Look into the plug with a flashlight to ensure all pins look straight. That connection comes into play to some extent for both issues you are describing, so it's worth checking.
Did you do a "range check" on the controller? That basically means move about 90 feet away from the drone, cycle through the modes as you mentioned above. This ensures you have at least minimal signal to operate.
Batteries good in the controller?
What controller are you using?
A bad altimeter can explain the vertical part of the flight anomaly. This connection is part of the GPS plug. Might want to check that connection also. There is a calibration procedure for the altimeter, but I promise you're going to say something like "DO WHAAT....?" when you read it. (hint: Wrap it up tightly in a plastic bag before you put it in the refrigerator).
Did you do a "range check" on the controller? That basically means move about 90 feet away from the drone, cycle through the modes as you mentioned above. This ensures you have at least minimal signal to operate.
Batteries good in the controller?
What controller are you using?
A bad altimeter can explain the vertical part of the flight anomaly. This connection is part of the GPS plug. Might want to check that connection also. There is a calibration procedure for the altimeter, but I promise you're going to say something like "DO WHAAT....?" when you read it. (hint: Wrap it up tightly in a plastic bag before you put it in the refrigerator).
h-elsner
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What Ground control station do you have? DX4? Did you tried to calibrate it? There is also a video for that (Steve again):
What else? I had a case where the little pin in the receiver connector for the USB cable was bent and has no contact. If so no GUI connection will be established.
Also check the Windows device manager if the COM-port is still the same.
Flight Mode switch is not on RTH but Smart or Angle, right?
Don't give up. The Blade 350QX is a good flyer. I have set mine to another frame and I'm happy with it.
br HE
Edit: ****, I need to long to write something...
What else? I had a case where the little pin in the receiver connector for the USB cable was bent and has no contact. If so no GUI connection will be established.
Also check the Windows device manager if the COM-port is still the same.
Flight Mode switch is not on RTH but Smart or Angle, right?
Don't give up. The Blade 350QX is a good flyer. I have set mine to another frame and I'm happy with it.
br HE
Edit: ****, I need to long to write something...
Yup, did all that. Using a Spektrum DX6i. I used the same transmitter on my other 350QX3 and it was perfect. Even ran the GUI on the "good" one and it came thru without a hitch. However when I hook it all up on the problem child I get a pop up that says the firmware update is corrupted. I was very careful installing the carbon body, everything in heat shrink or otherwise insulated from the body. One very short test flight resulted in a solid red status light. I'm stumped.
Sounds like something is amiss with either the connector pigtail, or there is something going on with the MPU on the main board. When you did the update the first time, I assume it said "completed successfully?
I tried to upload an older version of the firmware update file, and the new version I use, but the system will not accept that type file. Was the firmware you loaded labeled as "350 QX3 Release.bin" ?
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The attached file is a reference card, including the status lights. (Didn't know if you had it). The solid red you mentioned means "fully discharged battery". That should not have happened on a short flight with a healthy, fully charged battery. Can you tell more about that fight?
The pins on the pigtail look ok and I'm going to take a closer look with a strong light and magnifying glass, the female end too. The firmware is labeled 350 QX3 Release.bin and it did indicate that the firmware was successfully loaded. On the last flight, I noticed that it seemed to take more throttle than usual to lift off and on returning to center it would not hold position. It would continue to climb even with a centered throttle stick and below center it descended pretty rapidly. Response to the right gimbal was pretty much normal, as was "rudder". The only affected input was throttle. On landing I checked the battery with a volt meter and it read 12.1 volts. I did not get the steady red status light until attempting to connect to the GUI again. I put that same battery in my other 350 QX3, used the same transmitter and had a flawless 8-10 minute flight.
I should have been more specific when talking about the connector pins. It is the female side that gets bent. While you are checking, I am going to pull some pins on a connector and see what it does when I hook to the GUI.
The wire colors get swapped at the connectors, so I attached a drawing that can be used to help discussion. Unfortunately, it covers several drones, but the 350 QX3 is on the left. I think the questionable pins will be the path that lead to points 3 and 4 on the board. The drawing was part of a project to fly a 350QX3 with a Chroma ST-10+ radio. Lots of junk you don't need, but the part you may need is also here.
The wire colors get swapped at the connectors, so I attached a drawing that can be used to help discussion. Unfortunately, it covers several drones, but the 350 QX3 is on the left. I think the questionable pins will be the path that lead to points 3 and 4 on the board. The drawing was part of a project to fly a 350QX3 with a Chroma ST-10+ radio. Lots of junk you don't need, but the part you may need is also here.
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Just pulling the pins out, one at a time, did not reveal anything useful. The Gui/drone both continued as if there was nothing at all connecting them, regardless of which pin was pulled. All connected, everything worked fine. Any disconnected, looked as if nothing was connected.
If you find a bent pin, it may be shorting to one of the others.
If you find a bent pin, it may be shorting to one of the others.
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That's how it acts, as though nothing was connected. Both sides of the pigtail look good. May have to pull it all the way apart, hope not, those itty bitty screws are hard to handle. BTW, how do you get those tiny little pins out, you must be a surgeon.
BTW, how do you get those tiny little pins out, you must be a surgeon.
The little rectangular tabs on the top of the connector are the pin latches. I use a sharp tip modeling knife to bend the latch up, then tug the wire a little to get the pin out. Tough for me, eyesight not good at close range.
I'm worried we might be "chasing the wrong rabbit", but we do need to eliminate the connectors and wires before we start the next set of possibilities.
I'm worried we might be "chasing the wrong rabbit", but we do need to eliminate the connectors and wires before we start the next set of possibilities.
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