ST16 Control Stick Problems

fly101 · Apr 24, 2018

The Hardware Monitor has become part of the checklist...

jcommstudios · Jan 3, 2019

Steve Carr said:
The air flow is for cooling and it is definitely needed. Some of the components get quite warm. It seems, for the most part, the sticks are the most common problem and I think it's mainly oxidation. ST16's that are used regularly have fewer problems than those which sit on the shelf for long periods of time. That also would explain why new sticks often need cleaned since they may have been sitting in a warehouse for a long time.

It's always a good practice to "stir" the sticks before flying and to also check them in hardware monitor.

@Steve Carr to the rescue again! lol I've been putting the latest replacement H up to make sure it is good to go and hadn't flown my H pro w/ST16+ for a while so I thought I'd check out the controller. J1 was slow. Did the "canned air and stir" a few times and she's back to quick! Thanks Steve!

Jon LeMay · Jan 6, 2019

My typhoon h isn't acting right when flying away from me and really flying back to me. I think the joystick settings are the problem but I don't know how to change it. The J3 joystick indicator looks sluggish, it doesn't look like the other side at all. The return to home works fine, so no recent crashes. Please check out the video attached. lemay

Eagle's Eye Video · Jan 6, 2019

And did you attempt the procedure outlined in post #2 of this thread?

Cleaning & Stirring the Sticks

Jon LeMay · Jan 7, 2019

Yes, after spraying the base of the joystick it works fine for a few minutes then it becomes sluggish again.

Eagle's Eye Video · Jan 7, 2019

Jon LeMay said:
Yes, after spraying the base of the joystick it works fine for a few minutes then it becomes sluggish again.

See this thread for a YouTube video on how to disassemble the ST-16 to get at the pots directly:

Maintenance and Care of the ST-16

jcommstudios · Jan 8, 2019

Jon LeMay said:
Yes, after spraying the base of the joystick it works fine for a few minutes then it becomes sluggish again.

There are a couple of rubber tabs on the back of the ST16 that you can remove to use some canned air to clean the contacts. It is not a one off procedure. Spray and stir the sticks repeatedly. I had the same problem with one of my controllers and did both the top and bottom numerous times and it resolved the problem without having to disassemble anything.

Jon LeMay · Jan 8, 2019

Eagle's Eye Video said:
See this thread for a YouTube video on how to disassemble the ST-16 to get at the pots directly:

Maintenance and Care of the ST-16

thanks I took the back off without too much problem and gave the pots a good spray and worked the joystick vigorously. That has solved the problem for now, everything is looking good because i have a commercial drone job tomorrow. LeMay

Sureshot · Jan 16, 2019

It just happened to me. Rapid beeping from the H.
I was able to fly the mission, but in a hover the H drifted to the right.
When I checked the stick responses, the aileron was slow & off center.
I sprayed the pot with "CRC QD contact cleaner" through the access hole and worked the stick.
It didn't help right away, but after it sat an hour, I worked the stick some more and that fixed it.

CraigCam · Jan 17, 2019

Any ST that has sat around for more then a couple days should get a good stick stirring before you even boot it up. It’s an inherent issue that requires routine checking and maintenance as part of pre flight check. You should also always raise up to a safe hover on first flight and check stick response especially for yaw as that’s usually the first place you find non or slow response in turtle mode. The good news is usually raising the slider toward rabbit gives you back some signal and better control and I’ve stirred the problem out while watching the H dance all around it’s axis during the stick wiggling. It’s not going to go away and will always require the pilot to check it especially if you don’t fly regularly.

Vidiot · Jun 15, 2020

fly101 said:
Ok guys it seems there are serious problem with the control stick programing on the ST16's.. I have been told by Yuneec my st16 needs the control sticks replaced and then the repair shops get it and they say its not the sticks its a firmware problem.. 3 times.. each time it comes back and works good for a few weeks then here we go again.. This time its the forward and back stick movement... When I got it back I went out to give it a test flight and it would only creep forward and back so when I got it back on the ground I went into the Hardware Monitor and sure enough the forward and back stick gage shows the stick response moving real slow again and only going to 30% throw at full stick... I called Yuneec and after only a 30min wait I talked to a repair tech who went threw all my work orders and due to not being under warranty any longer he agreed he would send me a set of control stick units so I could replace them and at the same time have a look to see if we can figure out what's going on with the potentiometers.. I received the control sticks in 4 business days and set down today to change them out.. Before taking the transmitter apart I decided to watch a few of the YouTube videos showing how to disassemble the transmitter and also stumbled across Richard Gilmore's video showing how his K1 Pan knob some how got mixed to his J1 up and down controls.. So I went back in to the Hardware Monitor and tried moving each control and low and behold I found that when I move my J2 yaw stick left and right my J3 control gage moves real slow also.. Full left yaw J2 stick causes the J3 stick gage to move forward to 25% .. This mixing that keeps happening to everyone could be a major cause of fly aways and crashes... Like you said Richard if you had turned K1 a little farther she would have dropped out of the sky!!!!! So now the question is what can be done to stop this from happening.. Does anyone know how to turn on and off mixing in the ST16?? I will be calling Yuneec on Monday morning and will post what they say here on this thread.. If you have control stick problems we could all post on this thread and maybe we can keep track at what's going on to solve this problem....

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I have this very same problem. Is there a non-return fix? Thanks!

DoomMeister · Jun 15, 2020

It is rare to have to replace the stick units. The cleaning for your ST16S (controller for the H Plus, H520, and H3) is the same procedure as for the ST16 (for the H920+ and H480). Refer to post #6 for the cleaning procedure How to: Maintenance Compilation. The calibration on the ST16S is not accessed the same as on the ST16 and is most likely not needed.

This problem also occurs with controllers from other manufacturers and similar steps need to be taken with them.

Vidiot · Jun 15, 2020

Ok. I swear this is real. Last night I checked the monitor output on j3 and it was 25%, all others were fine. After reading about "gunk" and sluggishness, I remembered my still amazing Mavic pro when I first bought it. The return to home button was STUCK! I figured it out and had to WORK it out physically and it never stuck again. Well last night, I was 25% on j3, I firmly but protectively slammed the controller on my desk from about one inch up, the j3 went to 50%, I slammed it again, all while giving throttle back and forth, it worked to 75%, I know have (and checked it today) FULL POWER FORWARD in sport mode. WOW! Just WOW! The "technical tap", still works and **** does the Typhoon H plus have balls. YEE HA!

Steve Carr · Jun 15, 2020

Part of your preflight routine should be stirring the sticks rapidly before takeoff. That keeps the sticks functioning and cleans to the oxidation from the contacts.

Eagle's Eye Video · Jun 15, 2020

Vidiot said:
Ok. I swear this is real. Last night I checked the monitor output on j3 and it was 25%, all others were fine. After reading about "gunk" and sluggishness, I remembered my still amazing Mavic pro when I first bought it. The return to home button was STUCK! I figured it out and had to WORK it out physically and it never stuck again. Well last night, I was 25% on j3, I firmly but protectively slammed the controller on my desk from about one inch up, the j3 went to 50%, I slammed it again, all while giving throttle back and forth, it worked to 75%, I know have (and checked it today) FULL POWER FORWARD in sport mode. WOW! Just WOW! The "technical tap", still works and **** does the Typhoon H plus have balls. YEE HA!

I do not believe slamming the ST-16 series of controllers is a recommended procedure... ?

However, if you own an Anafi aircraft that has malfunctioned, it is possible to take that airframe back to the dealer... and repeatedly slam the Anafi on the dealer's counter, to prove it is indeed a dead Parrot.