First build problems NAZA M V2 F450

[xsnowb27]

So I finally got to try out my quad for the first time today and cant figure out what the issue is. It's an all stock Naza F450, stock ESC's stock motor's with a 4s 5000 mah LiPo. I did the GPS calibration successfully the LED shows no errors and I have the best signal to the satellites. I've balanced the props which are DJI 1038 props, the FC is not upside down and from what I can tell there is minimal vibrations. My gains are set:
Pitch 150
Roll 150
Yaw 100
Vertical 105
Atti Pitch 150
Atti Roll 150

My issue that I am having is I can't keep it flying, no matter what mode I'm in. I start of in manual mode and it will allow me to take off and if I either keep it in Manual Atti or GPS mode, it doesn't matter for some reason I can fly to whatever height I want but then when I try to hover or anything it won't stay up at all. My quad just starts dropping even if I'm at full power and then when it gets to the ground it won't go any higher than a few inches. If I power down the motors and start them up again I can do pretty much the same thing but I just can't get it to stay in the air

 

[tstrike]

When you did your sticks calibration in naza assist, did you finish with your throttle stick in the middle and green on the screen?
Is your voltage alarm in naza set up? If it is, try turning it off and see if that's it.

 

[kgarrison]

Make sure the GPS antenna and FC are pointed in the right direction. You should be taking off in GPS mode. Did you do a compass calibration before the flight? For the altitude issue, it could be voltage alarm or that you don't have the FC set for the proper voltage from your battery.

 

[xsnowb27]

When you did your sticks calibration in naza assist, did you finish with your throttle stick in the middle and green on the screen?
Is your voltage alarm in naza set up? If it is, try turning it off and see if that's it.

I re-calibrated and my voltage alarm has been off on the Naza and still doing the same thing unfortunately.

Make sure the GPS antenna and FC are pointed in the right direction. You should be taking off in GPS mode. Did you do a compass calibration before the flight? For the altitude issue, it could be voltage alarm or that you don't have the FC set for the proper voltage from your battery.

GPS and FC are both pointed in the same direction. If I start the motors in GPS or Atti mode then they wont start actually throttling up until about 50% throttle. If I start it in Manual mode then flip to GPS or Atti then it throttles up fine (not sure if this has anything to do with it). I did a compass calibration right before flying as well as letting it find all satellites. I turned the voltage alarm off in the Naza setup and I have my limits set to 2000 meters for height and distance.

 

[xsnowb27]

So this morning decided to take it out again and see if I could get it in the air. Went through the steps, powered it up let it find GPS and mark home. Started the motors and took off. This time it flew great for about a minute then all of a sudden it felt like it started to lose power again and started slowly dropping no matter how much throttle I would give it. This makes me think that maybe its a problem with power? Would this mean I may have a bad solder somewhere? Bad wire? Bad ESC or Motor?. I did notice that one motor would spin faster than the others upon landing and going down to idle. Anyone have an idea maybe? Thanks.

 

[Bartman]

do you have failsafes enabled? could it be auto-landing without you realizing it?

 

[tstrike]

Is it with the same battery every time? A solder failure would rarely show itself in such a mellow manner...

 

[xsnowb27]

do you have failsafes enabled? could it be auto-landing without you realizing it?

Well I have failsafe setup on it but from what I can tell its not going into failsafe, LED not flashing rapid yellow and I'm still able to control it when it goes down. By the time it gets low to the ground it basically touches then bounces back up and can hover maybe a few inches off the ground and able to move around. After that it refuses to go more than maybe a meter off the ground.

Is it with the same battery every time? A solder failure would rarely show itself in such a mellow manner...

2 different batteries. What I did notice is that the motors do get quite warm, maybe too much prop? I did try the stock 8 inch props though and it does the exact same thing. ESC's don't really get warm though.
I also noticed that the first minute it flew fantastic just like it should and then when I started having the problems again I would try and yaw while a foot or 2 off the ground and it really didn't seem to like doing that. I'm not sure what else to do here. Naza is fully up to date on firmware, I calibrated the IMU calibrated the compass but still no matter what mode, manual, Atti or GPS it does the exact same thing :livid: last resort I guess is completely tear it down and try and rebuild?

 

[bigloudvtwin]

Well I have failsafe setup on it but from what I can tell its not going into failsafe, LED not flashing rapid yellow and I'm still able to control it when it goes down. By the time it gets low to the ground it basically touches then bounces back up and can hover maybe a few inches off the ground and able to move around. After that it refuses to go more than maybe a meter off the ground.



2 different batteries. What I did notice is that the motors do get quite warm, maybe too much prop? I did try the stock 8 inch props though and it does the exact same thing. ESC's don't really get warm though.
I also noticed that the first minute it flew fantastic just like it should and then when I started having the problems again I would try and yaw while a foot or 2 off the ground and it really didn't seem to like doing that. I'm not sure what else to do here. Naza is fully up to date on firmware, I calibrated the IMU calibrated the compass but still no matter what mode, manual, Atti or GPS it does the exact same thing :livid: last resort I guess is completely tear it down and try and rebuild?

Do you have your altitude limit set at 1 meter maybe?

 

[Bartman]

maybe the altitude limit like bigloudvtwin suggested, certainly worth looking into.

here's an idea though, a bad ESC or motor can make the FC lose its mind and do weird things. to test the esc's and motors tie the helicopter securely to a picnic table or something so it can't get loose. run up the motors and stress them out a little, maybe by putting the bigger props on and running at a high RPM for a couple of minutes. Stop, disarm the motors and immediately feel the ESC's and motors to see if any one in particular is hotter than the others. if one is failing then this might expose it.

i was thinking about a short video to demonstrate this sort of testing to find a weak ESC as there doesn't seem to be any other way. you having a problem is convenient in that if it helps you out then we can point others in the direction of this sort of test to identify weak components.

bart

 

[tstrike]

Maybe try the mythical "black tape mod" on the side of the naza. Some say the naza's barometer can get messed up if the side of the naza gets hit from sunlight. I guess it's a combination of sun heating up the naza plastic housing causing the barometric reading to be wrong resulting in a naza equipped ship not holding altitude. Not saying this is your problem, just throwing it out there.

 

[OneStopRC]

You said you was using a 4S, you state you're using the 10" props, move to the 8" and see how it works out for you. You should really use the 8" on a 4S, it will probably make you more stable... try it out.

Scrub that, just noticed you tried the 8" props. What is the specs of the battery? I wonder if you bought a cheap low "C" rated battery? The size battery you're running is kinda heavy for the 450.

 

[Bartman]

Maybe try the mythical "black tape mod" on the side of the naza. Some say the naza's barometer can get messed up if the side of the naza gets hit from sunlight. I guess it's a combination of sun heating up the naza plastic housing causing the barometric reading to be wrong resulting in a naza equipped ship not holding altitude. Not saying this is your problem, just throwing it out there.

i've heard of that as well but it probably wouldn't be so bad that it couldn't fly or climb at all, no?

 

[xsnowb27]

maybe the altitude limit like bigloudvtwin suggested, certainly worth looking into.

here's an idea though, a bad ESC or motor can make the FC lose its mind and do weird things. to test the esc's and motors tie the helicopter securely to a picnic table or something so it can't get loose. run up the motors and stress them out a little, maybe by putting the bigger props on and running at a high RPM for a couple of minutes. Stop, disarm the motors and immediately feel the ESC's and motors to see if any one in particular is hotter than the others. if one is failing then this might expose it.

i was thinking about a short video to demonstrate this sort of testing to find a weak ESC as there doesn't seem to be any other way. you having a problem is convenient in that if it helps you out then we can point others in the direction of this sort of test to identify weak components.

bart

That was the first thing I thought of because at first I did have the limits set at 40 meters then switched it back to 2000 meters but same issue. One motor does like to idle a lot faster than the others. I'll try out tying it down maybe tomorrow after work and see what happens.

You said you was using a 4S, you state you're using the 10" props, move to the 8" and see how it works out for you. You should really use the 8" on a 4S, it will probably make you more stable... try it out.

Scrub that, just noticed you tried the 8" props. What is the specs of the battery? I wonder if you bought a cheap low "C" rated battery? The size battery you're running is kinda heavy for the 450.

It's a Turnigy nanotech 5000 Mah 35/70 C battery. Balance charge both of them when charging. This morning I did manage to get it to fly for probably about a minute without any problem at all, seemed like everything was fine and dandy and was able to keep it at hover at around 50% throttle then just slowly started losing altitude no matter what throttle (I went full throttle because any less would have just dropped like an expensive brick)

 

[xsnowb27]

Maybe try the mythical "black tape mod" on the side of the naza. Some say the naza's barometer can get messed up if the side of the naza gets hit from sunlight. I guess it's a combination of sun heating up the naza plastic housing causing the barometric reading to be wrong resulting in a naza equipped ship not holding altitude. Not saying this is your problem, just throwing it out there.

Hey willing to try anything here for a fix haha! I have it hiding in between the top and bottom plate so don't really think sunlight is really getting to it but will try anyway.

 

[tstrike]

Can you get your hands on a smaller 4s to test, that's a pretty big batt! None of your cells are draining faster than the rest, all balance out during charging, all reading same voltage? Did this naza ever fly on anything before? Do you still have the receipt?

 

[Bartman]

there could be a component on the circuit board that is wiggling or overheating....if you can rule out the ESC's and motors then it will be more obvious that it's in the NAZA itself. if that's the case, send it back. good luck with the testing tomorrow.

 

[xsnowb27]

Can you get your hands on a smaller 4s to test, that's a pretty big batt! None of your cells are draining faster than the rest, all balance out during charging, all reading same voltage? Did this naza ever fly on anything before? Do you still have the receipt?

I'll try and order something smaller. I got bigger batteries since I was planning on upgrading to an F550 anyway but wanted to at least start off with something with a couple less motors and possible issues haha. Everything balances out all cells at this moment since I threw them on a storage charge at 3.8v. I'll have to take a look after attempting a flight tomorrow/torture test. This was a brand new kit I bought so Naza and everything all sealed up brandy new. I do have the receipt, got it within the last 2 months.

 

[Bartman]

hi guys, sorry to disagree but if he's only flying one of those batteries and nothing else in the way of extras then the F450 should be ok lifting it, imho

 

[xsnowb27]

hi guys, sorry to disagree but if he's only flying one of those batteries and nothing else in the way of extras then the F450 should be ok lifting it, imho

When it did fly it didn't have an issue with lifting it at all. Like I mentioned before, this morning first flight of the day, plugged it in and let it go through its warm up steps, gain satellites and mark home position. Started motors and took off without any issue. I flew it to maybe 30 or 40 feet off the ground hovered no problem brought it lower and maneuvered around a bit and then that's when the issues started happening again, same as yesterday. Slowly just started dropping.