St16 orange glow

Spence8891 · Mar 27, 2017

Hey all, not sure if this is the right place but since this is my first post here it goes! I recently bought a brand new typhoon h from Best Buy, works great. I have flown it about 8-10 times without as much as even a hiccup, very impressed and very happy. Now this is where the problem starts. A few days ago I set up as I normally do, start up the st16 let it boot up then turn on the H. I'm waiting and waiting and realized it has been about 5 minutes and there is still no video feed. The camera is still operational, pan and tilt work fine but it's not connecting to wifi. I turn off the H then **** down the st16. Wait a few minutes and start the process over again, same results. I decide to go to the pad option on the transmitter so I can go online and figure out what's going on with it....wifi won't turn on. Sometimes the slider will move to the "on" position sometimes it won't. Regardless if it's "on" or in the "off" position it just keeps saying turning on wifi. I had let it set for about 20 minutes hoping it would connect and still nothing. Now we come to the part that's REALLY worrying me, the little orange glow. It happened to be dark in the room as I was messing with the wifi trying to connect and I happened to tilt the bottom of the st16 up towards me. I caught a glimpse thru the tiny gap around the headphone jack of what appeard to be a possible wire GLOWING ORANGE when the transmitter is on. I immediately turned the transmitter off. I turned it off and on several times over the next 30 minutes and sure enough every time it's turned on what appears to be a wire glowing orange shows up inside the transmitter. I have contacted Yuneec and have yet to hear anything back from them. This is very concerning bacause if there is an issue with the hardware I am worried about a possible fire. I'm not sure if the wifi and this glow I see are linked? Or if it's a software issue? Or if I'm seeing things and the orange glow is supposed to be there? I have looked and looked as much as I can online and have yet to hear about anyone else having this issue. I tried to take some pics but the space to see inside the transmitter is so small it was hard to get a good one. Any help or suggestions are much appreciated as I am scared to even put the battery back in the st16. Thanks guys hope to get some replies!

ricmitch · Mar 27, 2017

how long have you had it, can you return it to best buy and swap it out?

Spence8891 · Mar 27, 2017

Well my friend bought it on her credit card at xmas and up until a few weeks ago I started flying it.

ricmitch · Mar 27, 2017

probably too late then, Keep trying to get a hold of yuneec again. I don't know what else to do.

Steve Carr · Mar 27, 2017

Spence8891 said:
Hey all, not sure if this is the right place but since this is my first post here it goes! I recently bought a brand new typhoon h from Best Buy, works great. I have flown it about 8-10 times without as much as even a hiccup, very impressed and very happy. Now this is where the problem starts. A few days ago I set up as I normally do, start up the st16 let it boot up then turn on the H. I'm waiting and waiting and realized it has been about 5 minutes and there is still no video feed. The camera is still operational, pan and tilt work fine but it's not connecting to wifi. I turn off the H then **** down the st16. Wait a few minutes and start the process over again, same results. I decide to go to the pad option on the transmitter so I can go online and figure out what's going on with it....wifi won't turn on. Sometimes the slider will move to the "on" position sometimes it won't. Regardless if it's "on" or in the "off" position it just keeps saying turning on wifi. I had let it set for about 20 minutes hoping it would connect and still nothing. Now we come to the part that's REALLY worrying me, the little orange glow. It happened to be dark in the room as I was messing with the wifi trying to connect and I happened to tilt the bottom of the st16 up towards me. I caught a glimpse thru the tiny gap around the headphone jack of what appeard to be a possible wire GLOWING ORANGE when the transmitter is on. I immediately turned the transmitter off. I turned it off and on several times over the next 30 minutes and sure enough every time it's turned on what appears to be a wire glowing orange shows up inside the transmitter. I have contacted Yuneec and have yet to hear anything back from them. This is very concerning bacause if there is an issue with the hardware I am worried about a possible fire. I'm not sure if the wifi and this glow I see are linked? Or if it's a software issue? Or if I'm seeing things and the orange glow is supposed to be there? I have looked and looked as much as I can online and have yet to hear about anyone else having this issue. I tried to take some pics but the space to see inside the transmitter is so small it was hard to get a good one. Any help or suggestions are much appreciated as I am scared to even put the battery back in the st16. Thanks guys hope to get some replies!

The org glow near the headphone jack is an led light inside the ST16. Perfectly normal.

Steve Carr · Mar 27, 2017

The wifi, however, sounds like trouble. Remove and reinstall the antennas and try it again. If the wifi still won't turn on, you will need to contact Yuneec. See if they will let you return the ST16 only or cross ship a replacement. You may have to call them several times to talk to a tech. Sometimes they aren't good at returning calls. Mondays are always bad.

Typhoon Charlie · Mar 27, 2017

I had the same issue, it was the wifi board that went out.

Spence8891 · Mar 27, 2017

At first they were emailing me back quick when I was registering the h. Then the wifi problems happened so I emailed them about it and have yet to hear anything...that was last Wednesday. Every time I call it says the lines are busy and to leave a message or send an email. When I get home I'll remove the antennas and replace and see what that does. Also, I have the regular kit, not the pro with 3 antennas.

THoff · Mar 27, 2017

Also, be sure to NEVER turn the ST16 on with the antennas removed -- this will damage the transmitter circuitry.

Spence8891 · Mar 27, 2017

Alright thanks THoff, I'll remember that!

Spence8891 · Mar 28, 2017

So I talked to Yuneec support earlier and explained everything that's going on. They walked me thru some steps with no luck. I told him about the orange glow inside the st16 and he said that didn't sound good and they have never had an incident like that before. So long story short, because of the no wifi and glowing wire or whatever it is they are having me ship in both units..paid for by them. Doesn't change the fact that this sucks, probably be down a drone for what, 3 weeks at best? Aww well, I'll update as I know what's going on. Thanks for all the help much appreciated.

Airtography · Mar 28, 2017

I think you're doing the right thing -- however, I would have tried the Best Buy exchange anyway -- sometimes they do recognize issues and work with you. Anyway, I think you're in good hands with Yuneec -- just be patient. In the mean time, I looked at some pics I have of the ST16 insides. Curiously there are several wires and I'm not seeing any LED as mentioned above unless it's on the underside of the board (actually the top). In fact, the power switch does have an LED -- but it's blue. Curiously, wondered if your "glow" was consistent with the status of the switch. In the pic below -- the 5.8 Video transmitter board is at the top -- the one with a MAC address on it. Nowhere near the bottom of the ST. The 2.4 unit is at the bottom -- one with a serial number.

Keep us posted as this is certainly curious and not heard of before,

Airtography · Mar 28, 2017

Another close up:

Spence8891 · Mar 28, 2017

Yea the whole thing is very strange. It would happen when the switch was turned on almost immediately the same time as the blue led would light up, but when shutting down the blue led would be off and I could still see the orange glow inside until the tablet itself shut down completely. I haven't sent it out yet, I'll try and take a better pic when I get home today.

nicholas hickman · Mar 29, 2017

Spence8891 said:
Yea the whole thing is very strange. It would happen when the switch was turned on almost immediately the same time as the blue led would light up, but when shutting down the blue led would be off and I could still see the orange glow inside until the tablet itself shut down completely. I haven't sent it out yet, I'll try and take a better pic when I get home today.

I checked mine last night and am sure that what you are seeing is part of the back lighting of the screen, which I can just see the orange light when looking through the headphone jack.

Dr Delta · Mar 29, 2017

nicholas hickman said:
I checked mine last night and am sure that what you are seeing is part of the back lighting of the screen, which I can just see the orange light when looking through the headphone jack.

Yeh, makes sense. While the light goes out if the tablet switches off it almost must be tablet-related.

Cheers