Trex 500e Motor Cutting out

[GIXERMAN]

check how many mah your putting back in! i get 4min from my 550e and that 25% left in 5200mah pack. and im not the stig

[Red3]

I would defo go with re set your esc to low voltage cut of or disable it completey I can't remember if you can do the later with the standard esc.

[dani_r]

I would defo go with re set your esc to low voltage cut of or disable it completey I can't remember if you can do the later with the standard esc.

IIRC it's only low/med/high on the standard unit.

[Bungy15]

Have set the ESC to the low voltage cut off setting, need to wait for new blades now to try out, will check out for dry solder joints especially in the new battries then fix it down firmly and try it under load to see what happens, thanks for everybody's help.

[cjcj1949]

You are doing all the right things but they are not always enough. General rules are ok in general but it is better to understand the rules. The real killer with lipos is how low the volts go under load. Most people do not check this. Also the low voltage cutouts on escs are far too low and not very useful. It is not a good idea to have power reduced just because the battery is a bit low. There are cheap voltage alarms for about £3 that I have found very useful. I set them to either 3.6V or 3.7V per cell. The lower limit is for weaker cells. In general discharging to 3.8V off load is a good idea. But it does not tell you anything at all about how low the volts have gone on load. If your setup is taking more current than the battery or batteries are capable of then you may be discharging too far, especially if your batteries are cold when you use them. The voltage alarms give a nice load noise that you can hear and strangely it seems to be coming from the tx when the heli is flying. I have a problem with my heli at the moment. For some reason the flight times have gone from 6 mins to 4. The voltage alarm has stopped me from over discharging.

This is just a possibility, by the way, but one that can be eliminated cheaply.

1-8S Battery Tester Low Voltage Alarm

The unit I bought from GiantCod was 0.1V out, but that was some time ago. It is still good enough to tell you how low your batteries are going. Temperature is another good indicator. I would also check the end of charge voltages with a multimeter on the balance leads. Either make up a lead or isolate all of the probe except the tip to avoid shorting the cells by letting the metal probe ends touch. One of your chargers may be charging cell number 3 high, but it is more likely that cell 3 gets hotter than others because of its position in the pack.

Helis are a pain when they start going wrong. It is often a sign from above that you need a new one. You can then fix the old one with less pressure.

Every time we crash a heli we do some damage. This seems to add up and after a while a heli gets very prone to failure as not all damage results in something that doesn't work, just something that is closer to not working than it was before.

[Bungy15]

I've ordered 4 low voltage alarms, i'll fit them to all my heli's. i have seen then advertised but didnt think that they would be able to be heard. Many thanks

[dillwhacker]

Be worth checking the 3 wires where they go into the motor. I recently had an Align 500 motor where the 3 wires looked like they had overheated - insulation all melted exposing copper wires. A partial short as the motor warms up could cause power failure without necessarily trashing the ESC.

[coolice]

Hey.

Being honest, my past experience of low voltage alarms is mixed. While they are ok, come winter time they are a pain as the low temperatures mean the alarm comes on prematurely.
On the low C rated packs you may find the alarm will come on much sooner than absolutely necassary, so I would back one up with a timer and adjust flight times based on what your style of flying uses from the LiPo per flight.
If you can lower the voltage point at which the alarm sounds, until such time as you are hotdog 3D'ing with better C rated packs, I'd lower the voltage a little further. As soon a the model lands and current drain is removed, the overall pack voltage will rise slightly.
.

[Bungy15]

I've re soldered the EC5 connectors on battery and ESC but all looked to be good, I've also removed the motor bolts and looked for any trace of them fouling the winding inside the motor, a good check i tried was to gently insert them without the washer and they butted up without and resistance so i know with the washer there will be plenty of clearance. I will tether it down when the new blades arrive to see what happens under load. I've ordered a Fusion Smart Guard 2 Digital Battery Checker & Balancer P-FS-BC05 so I can keep a check on the batteries after flight and adjust the timer on TX accordingly.


I'm thinking of ordering a new ESC for my trex 550 (Castle Phoenix ICE 100 Brushless ESC CSEPHXICE100) and keep the Standard one as a spare for the 500. I like mechanical problems to sort out and get a little lost on the electrical stuff

Thanks all

[Red3]

Hi I run the ice100 on my 550 just remember the internal bec on most esc are not that good they dont deliver meny amps. I would suggest the cc pro bec to go with that esc its the one I run. And I know coolice is running the same combo.

[coolice]

Hi I run the ice100 on my 550 just remember the internal bec on most esc are not that good they dont deliver meny amps. I would suggest the cc pro bec to go with that esc its the one I run. And I know coolice is running the same combo.

You beat me to it dude ;-)

I was just about to post myself saying the ICE100 will be a good upgrade, but also to budget on buying a CC BEC PRO or similar to power the servos, as the inbuilt BEC of the ICE is not up to the job. I did try, as on paper its more powerful than Align inbuilt BEC, but it does not work.
.

[Bungy15]

Thank you both for information, I've searched it out and would you please comfire this is the correct one

Castle BEC PRO Switching Regulator CSECCBECPRO - Electronics BEC - ALIGN-TREX.co.uk

I suppose the wiring information is understandable from the instructions.

[coolice]

Thank you both for information, I've searched it out and would you please comfire this is the correct one

Castle BEC PRO Switching Regulator CSECCBECPRO - Electronics BEC - ALIGN-TREX.co.uk

I suppose the wiring information is understandable from the instructions.

Hey.

Your welcome buddy, glad to help.

Yes, that's the one. The new version is slightly different in case design as it now has two capacitors on the circuit board, so just check you are getting the very latest type.

Wiring is very simple, splice main power in wires onto the main ESC power wires and connect the two servo plugs to your receiver, one into the battery port and the other into a spare channel.
The only hurdle you might have is programming the BEC PRO's output voltage, as you need the Castle link and out the packet its set to 5 volts. Ask the store where you purchase it from if they'll set it to 6 volts for you, I don't think we're very close or I'd offer to do it for you. There maybe a forum member in your local area will to program it for you even.
.

[Bungy15]

I'll get the Castle Link too, that way i'll have everything to hand if i need to alter or check settings.

Castle Link USB PROGRAMMING KIT HEP09501 - Electronics ESC - ALIGN-TREX.co.uk

I'm down in Launceston Cornwall and all members in the Bude club only fly the smaller electrics upto 450 size so i dont think any body will have the kit needed for programming, it will be good to have my own anyway.

Thanky you

[spillage]

agree with all posters re solder joints... My mate purchased a 550e and we were looking at the joint soldered on the ec connectores - switched to deans.... and it was awafull.... checked the motor to esc soldering..... heatshrink was just about the only thing keeping the two pairs together.....also some solder sold on the current uk market needs a higher than normal soldering iron to get a flow of solder decent enough for a joint.... I had a 25w antec and have switched to a higher wattage - only 30w from my local cheapo traders...£5.00's!!! But is giving far superior results.... also some wires on controllers have like a coating on it... cannot remember what it is called but you need to break through that first with heat....also some modern solder does not need the old flux as it is built in....my mate kev does nearly all my main soldering as he has loads of stock of old lead solder!!!

Hope you find your fault... these problems aare sent to test us!!!!

John