this is my first arduino quadcopter build. after uploading the required software to arduino, it was time to calibrate the ESCs. Right after calibration was finished, i gave my motors maximum throttle using the transmitter, and the motors responded excellently by increasing RPM. i was shocked to find fire and smoke coming from the rigth ESC on the back of the quad!!! i really have no idea why did this happen. i am using a 35C 3S 2200mAh Li-Po battery, an arduino uno and 30 AMP ESCs. please , anyone give me a clue to what the heck might be going on!!
What rating are your motors. Sounds like you are pulling more than the ESC can handle
MarkDerbyshire:
What rating are your motors. Sounds like you are pulling more than the ESC can handle
A2212 / 13T , 1000KV brushless motors. BELOW is a table of the specs of the motor i am using, which i copied . it clearly states that the max current is 13amp , which is not even half what the ESCs can handlle!!
No. of Cells: 2 - 3 Li-Poly
6 - 10 NiCd/NiMH
Kv: 1000 RPM/V
Max Efficiency: 80%
Max Efficiency Current: 4 - 10A (>75%)
No Load Current: 0.5A @10V
Resistance: 0.090 ohms
Max Current: 13A for 60S
Max Watts: 150W
Weight: 52.7 g / 1.86 oz
Size: 28 mm dia x 28 mm bell length
Shaft Diameter: 3.2 mm
Poles: 14
Model Weight: 300 - 800g / 10.5 - 28.2 oz
You're reading it wrong. What that specification says is that YOU MUST make sure that the motor is never forced to use more than 13A. If YOU put too big a load on a motor it will draw more and more current until either it or the ESC die.
So the important question is: what propeller did you have on the motor?
OTOH if you had no props on or the same on all motors it's possible you just got a bad ESC. It does happen.
Steve
slipstick:
You're reading it wrong. What that specification says is that YOU MUST make sure that the motor is never forced to use more than 13A. If YOU put too big a load on a motor it will draw more and more current until either it or the ESC die.So the important question is: what propeller did you have on the motor?
OTOH if you had no props on or the same on all motors it's possible you just got a bad ESC. It does happen.
Steve
I had NO props on the motor during the incident!! so i guess the props had nothing to do with it.
BUT the thing is that all the other motors and ESCs worked quit well and had no problem . the fire was caught on by one ESC off of 4 ESCs. so do you think the largest probability is that the ESC had a defaut(manufacturing error, bad shipping ..) from the manufacurer ?
It does happen sometimes.
Boardburner2:
It does happen sometimes.
probably should get a better quality ESCs!!
but for this motor , isn't a 30 amp ESC sufficient ?
also you said that i should not give the motor more than 13 AMPs. well, doesnt the motor take as much amps as it needs not more nor less , automatically?
A good quality working 30A ESC would be plenty. I think the largest possibility is that your wiring is bad and shorted it out after it was calibrated. If it really calibrated normally then a manufacturing defect is less likely. Either way after smoke and fire come out of anything electronic it is now dead.
A motor takes the current it needs to drive the propeller YOU put on it up to its rated speed (approximately kV x voltage). If the prop is too big then the motor will draw excessive current trying to get it up to speed. Then either motor or the ESC fail. Putting the right size prop on is YOUR responsibility.
If you really have no idea about this sort of basic thing I'm afraid your chances of getting something as complicated as a quadcopter working don't seem good.
Steve
Do you know what current the motor was drawing? If not, you are just guessing.
Measure the current draw of a single motor. Do not jump to wide open throttle. Ease up to it. If the current is too high, then you know the motors are going to pull more than the ESC is happy with.
For under $9, this watt meter can measure up to 30A.
I do not recommend running unloaded motors at WOT. It puts the RPM range on the high side. I have had some ESCs complain, jumping out of full operation. I suspect that they could not process switching that fast.
Its a cheap ESC, they explode sometimes. This is why you have spares.
slipstick:
A motor takes the current it needs to drive the propeller YOU put on it up to its rated speed (approximately kV x voltage). If the prop is too big then the motor will draw excessive current trying to get it up to speed. Then either motor or the ESC fail. Putting the right size prop on is YOUR responsibility.
No prop was installed, meaning that the motor was unloaded. This risks causing excessive speed, but would require minimum torque (and therefore minimum current draw). I would expect this to be more likely to destroy the motor instead of the speed controller.
Even state of the art machines (eg. Airbus A380) can have their engines blow up unexpectedly.
Not being able to eject heat quick enough is what happened obviously - probably due to a fault in the ESC. If it happens again after you replace your burned one with a spare, then check wiring, and check motor.
It can be a pain if you have just ordered what you need from china especially.
Probably best to order a spare at the same time to avoid the 3 week wait for a new one.
Mate had a similar problem with a 3d printer, took him 3 months to get the required replacement.
Jiggy-Ninja:
No prop was installed, meaning that the motor was unloaded. This risks causing excessive speed, but would require minimum torque (and therefore minimum current draw). I would expect this to be more likely to destroy the motor instead of the speed controller.
Hence the part of my reply you didn't quote where I suggested that a wiring fault was likely. Poorly insulated wires, run motor up, wires twist and short...dead ESC. Seen it a few times.
Steve
And don't forget the "Affinity Laws" when dealing with fans / propellers , power required varies with the cube of speed (doubling the speed requires 8 times the power).
I happen to know that the local shop gets them from china , and several have had faults.
Advantage is i can take one back and get an instant replacement.