St16 Controller will not turn on.

Rednekroketeer · Aug 10, 2019

First let me say HI I'm Kevin. I'm very new to the drone scene. The Typhoon H is my first drone. I bought the drone in Feb'19. I haven't flown it but maybe 5 times and I have never flown it long enough to run 1 battery down. I work all the time and don't get much flight time. I was super stoked the first week in July to have a week off for vacation. I went to the Ozark Mountains in Northwest Arkansas, and was planning on flying and taking pics. I checked everything before I left and made sure my batteries were charged as well as the controller. The ST16 has actually been acting up since about the 3rd flight. It would stay in 'charge' mode even after unplugging and would drain the battery. I could tap the screen and get the battery level after being unplugged for hours.

Now the darn thing won't even boot up. I know it's charging, because the screen wil come on and show the battery level. When I activate the power switch though, I will get the YUNEEC splash screen, but then it beeps and the screen and the fans turn off. I have had it too long for warranty.

Any suggestions, Thanks in advance.
It may take me a couple days to respong back, due to my work schedule. 12 -14 hrs a day with a day off every once in a while. ?.

Kevin

Grumpy · Aug 10, 2019

Rednekroketeer said:
First let me say HI I'm Kevin. I'm very new to the drone scene. The Typhoon H is my first drone. I bought the drone in Feb'19. I haven't flown it but maybe 5 times and I have never flown it long enough to run 1 battery down. I work all the time and don't get much flight time. I was super stoked the first week in July to have a week off for vacation. I went to the Ozark Mountains in Northwest Arkansas, and was planning on flying and taking pics. I checked everything before I left and made sure my batteries were charged as well as the controller. The ST16 has actually been acting up since about the 3rd flight. It would stay in 'charge' mode even after unplugging and would drain the battery. I could tap the screen and get the battery level after being unplugged for hours.

Now the darn thing won't even boot up. I know it's charging, because the screen wil come on and show the battery level. When I activate the power switch though, I will get the YUNEEC splash screen, but then it beeps and the screen and the fans turn off. I have had it too long for warranty.

Any suggestions, Thanks in advance.
It may take me a couple days to respong back, due to my work schedule. 12 -14 hrs a day with a day off every once in a while. ?.

Kevin

How are you charging it?

Uav-meuk · Aug 10, 2019

Rednekroketeer said:
First let me say HI I'm Kevin. I'm very new to the drone scene. The Typhoon H is my first drone. I bought the drone in Feb'19. I haven't flown it but maybe 5 times and I have never flown it long enough to run 1 battery down. I work all the time and don't get much flight time. I was super stoked the first week in July to have a week off for vacation. I went to the Ozark Mountains in Northwest Arkansas, and was planning on flying and taking pics. I checked everything before I left and made sure my batteries were charged as well as the controller. The ST16 has actually been acting up since about the 3rd flight. It would stay in 'charge' mode even after unplugging and would drain the battery. I could tap the screen and get the battery level after being unplugged for hours.

Now the darn thing won't even boot up. I know it's charging, because the screen wil come on and show the battery level. When I activate the power switch though, I will get the YUNEEC splash screen, but then it beeps and the screen and the fans turn off. I have had it too long for warranty.

Any suggestions, Thanks in advance.
It may take me a couple days to respong back, due to my work schedule. 12 -14 hrs a day with a day off every once in a while. [emoji25].

Kevin

Hi Kevin.

Will it turn on connected to the mains ? Seems you have a totally dead cell battery for the handset. You can try balancing it on an unofficial charger but to be honest - I'd just buy a new RC battery for about £29

Unfortunetely with both DJI and Yuneec. You do need to maintain the batteries for long term storage.

Thanks. Chris

Mrgs1 · Aug 10, 2019

You can keep the ST16 battery fully charged, unlike the LiPo copter batteries.

william lewis · Aug 11, 2019

I have had that problem when i let the ST16 run down to low my solution was to get a new battery for the ST16 on amazon. that solved my problem you might want to check it out hope this helps.

John Hennessy · Aug 12, 2019

Hi Kevin,
The St16 battery is a lithium ion type unlike the flight battery which is a lithium polymer. Lithium ion can be fully charged and left that way , as that will not damage the battery and it's performance, but it can be run down and will take days to charge up. It is a single cell and can not be put on a balance charger as there are no other cells to balance with unlike the flight battery that is a 4 cell Lithium polymer type that should be balance charged ,preferably with an after market charger and adapter cable. Use the magnifine Glass to look up some threads on this subject and also the members updated user manual in the front of this forum. There is a stack of info if you search for it.
It is a fantastic machine and safe flying. Johnno Hennessy.
Keep flying on the green side of the grass.

dan reed · Aug 12, 2019

everytime i log on seems like another problem,another reason to sell my yuneec typhoon what the heck is wrong with this drone/drones

dan reed · Aug 12, 2019

everytime i log on seems like another problem

Ty Pilot · Aug 12, 2019

Dan, it is the nature of forums like this. Many people sign up or join these types of forums to get help with a problem they may be having or for advice. In this way, many of the threads are discussing problems or issues of a nature that make it seem like everyone is having problems when that in fact is not the case. Very few people start a thread to tell everyone that their drone is performing well and everything is normal.

Its like this on every type of forum (that is machine/device specific) that I am on, whether it is cars, motorcycles, or drones. Take a peak at any of the sister forums like Phantom Pilots and see if they're any different.

Mrgs1 · Aug 12, 2019

Ty Pilot said:
Dan, it is the nature of forums like this. Many people sign up or join these types of forums to get help with a problem they may be having or for advice. In this way, many of the threads are discussing problems or issues of a nature that make it seem like everyone is having problems when that in fact is not the case. Very few people start a thread to tell everyone that their drone is performing well and everything is normal.

Its like this on every type of forum (that is machine/device specific) that I am on, whether it is cars, motorcycles, or drones. Take a peak at any of the sister forums like Phantom Pilots and see if they're any different.

If we lived in a perfect world there wouldn't be anything to complain about, and that wouldn't be good!?

PatR · Aug 12, 2019

dan reed said:
everytime i log on seems like another problem,another reason to sell my yuneec typhoon what the heck is wrong with this drone/drones

Most of the problems are not relative to the drone, regardless of the brand or model. Most problems originate with the people using them. It may be lack of knowledge and understanding in battery design, proper use and maintenance of batteries and/or chargers, cameras, photography, SD card speeds, shopping for the cheapest SD cards, personal computer speed and memory limitations, antenna orientation, radio frequency theory and practical use, failure to read instructions, lack of physical and mental skills, lack of physical coordination, poor eyesight, or other things.

Short version is when people screw something up the first thing they blame it on is whatever it was that got screwed up. The one thing they will go to great lengths avoiding and obfuscating is themselves. It’s always the product, rarely the user...

More often than not descriptions of problems omit all the historical use facts that would permit easy identification of a problem, along with the ability to provide short and long term corrective actions.

Using the original post stating the ST-16 will not turn on, the most probable reasons are the battery is dead or disconnected or the switch is broken. The first two reasons are very easy to check so go there first.

If we consider the ST-16 in question had been working correctly previously we have to wonder how deeply the battery had been discharged during previous use. Too far and it will not re-charge due to cell damage or being below the minimum level the charger will allow. If such was the case we come back to lack of knowledge, which is not flight system issue.

Mrgs1 · Aug 12, 2019

The truth usually comes out by the second page that they crashed or some similar occurrence, then people can work on a solution to help.

Rednekroketeer · Aug 25, 2019

Uav-meuk said:
Hi Kevin.

Will it turn on connected to the mains ? Seems you have a totally dead cell battery for the handset. You can try balancing it on an unofficial charger but to be honest - I'd just buy a new RC battery for about £29

Unfortunetely with both DJI and Yuneec. You do need to maintain the batteries for long term storage.

Thanks. Chris

I apologize for taking so long to reply!!
Uav-meuk It will not come on no matter how the charger is connected. I checked the battery with a volt meter and it shows roughly 3.6-3.8 volts.

Grumpy said:
How are you charging it?

I've charged it with the ac cord and the 12v car adapter. The battery shows to be charged though. Just the controller isn't turning on. I'm gonna make a short vid clip of what it's doing. I'll upload it in a few.

Thanks for all the help! And again sorry it took me so long to reply.

Uav-meuk · Aug 25, 2019

Rednekroketeer said:
I apologize for taking so long to reply!!
Uav-meuk It will not come on no matter how the charger is connected. I checked the battery with a volt meter and it shows roughly 3.6-3.8 volts.

I've charged it with the ac cord and the 12v car adapter. The battery shows to be charged though. Just the controller isn't turning on. I'm gonna make a short vid clip of what it's doing. I'll upload it in a few.

Thanks for all the help! And again sorry it took me so long to reply.

Hmm. Maybe some corrupt files on the android side. I'm unsure how to enter recovery mode- maybe contact yuneec and state the problem to them. Is there a hard reset button on the u underneath of the controller. Hold it down for 10 seconds. Anything to try...

Also do you have a memory card in your controller...

Rednekroketeer · Aug 25, 2019

Uav-meuk said:
Hmm. Maybe some corrupt files on the android side. I'm unsure how to enter recovery mode- maybe contact yuneec and state the problem to them. Is there a hard reset button on the u underneath of the controller. Hold it down for 10 seconds. Anything to try...

Also do you have a memory card in your controller...

The memory card is in the camera on the drone. Here is the gdrive link to a video of what the controller is doing (or not doing in this case).

yuneec_st16_malfunction.mp4

drive.google.com

The video is about 40 seconds, and it shows me turnign on the switch and the blue led indicator lighting up. After a few seconds it will beep and the LED will get brighter but nothing else is working. The screen is still black , the fans aren't on. I stumped.

On a different note, I found a refurbished st16 at vertigodrones for 199, prolly gonna just gonna by it and donate my bad one to a good cause.

Uav-meuk · Aug 25, 2019

Rednekroketeer said:
The memory card is in the camera on the drone. Here is the gdrive link to a video of what the controller is doing (or not doing in this case).

yuneec_st16_malfunction.mp4

drive.google.com

The video is about 40 seconds, and it shows me turnign on the switch and the blue led indicator lighting up. After a few seconds it will beep and the LED will get brighter but nothing else is working. The screen is still black , the fans aren't on. I stumped.

On a different note, I found a refurbished st16 at vertigodrones for 199, prolly gonna just gonna by it and donate my bad one to a good cause.

Are you UK or usa ?

Chris

Mrgs1 · Aug 25, 2019

Are the fans coming on? It could be a problem that yuneec need to deal with, others have had similar problems.

Mrgs1 · Aug 25, 2019

Uav-meuk said:
Are you UK or usa ?

Chris

Looks like US, with the reference to vertigo drones.

Eagle's Eye Video · Aug 25, 2019

One other question... when you plug the charger cable into the ST-16 and touch the screen, does it bring up the battery charge level icon ?

Rednekroketeer · Aug 25, 2019

Eagle's Eye Video said:
One other question... when you plug the charger cable into the ST-16 and touch the screen, does it bring up the battery charge level icon ?

I'm from the US. And when I plug it in the screen comes on like normal, tap the screen and the battery level shows. But once you turn it on, nothing comes on but the blue LED by the power switch. No fans, No display, not even the error sound from moving the sticks around .