Mikrokopter Okto xl pdb on fire !!!???

[yeow]

Hi everyone,

This is a first incident happen to my MK OKTO XL after 6 month happy flying.

Few days ago when I bring down my okto to site for a job, upon lipo plug in, there a smoke emit from the some electronic underneath the dome. After checking and bold enough to retest with lipo plug in, I noticed there is a spark fire emit from the PBD ring and throw some flame that cause some burn mark to the adjacent BL.(pls see photo)

As this a a ARF kit I purchase from a shop, I truly no idea what cause this? It seem like there is something wrong with the PBD rather than the BL to me(that's my assumption)

View attachment 5042View attachment 5043

I truly wish to learn something from this instead of throwing the blame to the shop who do the solder job for me.
Could it be overload of current? I have 4 strip of LED, 1 BEC 6.5v and 1 BEC 12v that power a HDMI converter to RCA and video transmitter.
It carry MK SR2 camera gimbal with Sony nex5n often(which consider very light for okto xl)
It record about 100 degree celcius on previous flight session which suprise me.:dejection:
George

 

[fsimao222]

Hi,
Have you already check under the BL?
Have you already take the lipo off to see if the flames come from there?

 

[jrlederer]

Also, do you contend that, since receiving the okto 6 months and many flights ago, that you never needed to remove the dome to perform any type of electrical work? Bare with me on this, I am going somewhere with the question.

 

[yeow]

I have check the underside of the pdb and Bl and find no burn mark or anything. As you can see the smoke stain on BL is cause by flame shoot from a small hole from pbd

Yes. I had remove the dome often to connect mktool or doing soldering job for extra LED and bec and other task

 

[ZAxis]

We suffered a similar burnout on our y6 last month. A LED strip had it's connecting wires pulled in a heavy landing and the power to it was short circuited by the carbon fibre frame. The LED drive transistor went up in smoke. It was the weakest link in the circuit, perhaps on your's it was the PDB tracks.

andy

 

[yeow]

We suffered a similar burnout on our y6 last month. A LED strip had it's connecting wires pulled in a heavy landing and the power to it was short circuited by the carbon fibre frame. The LED drive transistor went up in smoke. It was the weakest link in the circuit, perhaps on your's it was the PDB tracks.

andy

Andy, what do you mean by LED transistor?

For my case, any advice what should I do next? I guess the PBD need to be dump and rebuilt the PBD ring with the BL again right?

 

[ZAxis]

Andy, what do you mean by LED transistor?

For my case, any advice what should I do next? I guess the PBD need to be dump and rebuilt the PBD ring with the BL again right?

The LED transistor is an option on the hexa PDB to allow the LEDS to be switched on/off from the Flight Controller. The Octo PDB seems to lack this feature and the LEDs are simply powered straight from the battery. For the Octo you need to use the Extension PCB (Link), this gives an additional layer of isolation between the LEDS and the battery.

Anyway, damage to the PDB is not good and I would seriously consider having it replaced. You just don't know what else has been affected and since the board is there to pass the control signals to the BL motor controllers it is ' flight critical'. You or your shop still need to figure out what caused the problem in the first place. A short circuit of some kind is still the leading contender. Check your LED/BEC/etc wiring carefully.

andy

 

[yeow]

Hi Andy,apreciate your advice, oh, now I know what is the transistor,I do have the extension PCB which I never solder it out as it too tiny soldering work for my skill. A close examine show that the hole where spark shoot out is the passage of a circuit line bury under the pcd coating, contacting the shop to see is this still within warranty.

Now my confident shaken with MK electronic, too bad, I have order a complete PCB for my upcoming Y6
I am at cross road now, the MK telemetry of height and xbee way point is essential for my work, but as for safety and reliablity, should I move to WKM, I do not want to keep wonder when will be the next short circuit happen while my craft is at 300 feet height. Any thought?

Yeow

 

[Bartman]

the LED's can also be powered from the FC and switched via the two "output" channels that are configured under the Output tab of MKtool.

not to beat a dead horse but the will-it-burn or won't-it burn moment every time the batteries get plugged in certainly grows old after a while. Mikrokopter is well aware of the weaknesses of the BL/power architecture and yet it remains the same. i get to hear stories from people who have relatively new equipment burn up only to be told it's there fault. repair costs run into the high hundreds of dollars or yet the $12 Turnigy Plush stalwarts seem to soldier on without the drama.

Mikrokopter isn't the only smooth flying flight control system with a full complement of features. If the company doesn't make the conscious decision to come out of the dark ages then they I'd guess they'll be a part of the early chapters of multi-rotors and that's about it. my solution has been to start bringing two full MK equipped heli's with me everywhere i go so i can do what i need to do when things go poof on the #1 heli for no reason. trying other flight control systems is also part of the longer term plan and that's proceeding nicely.

@yeow, where are you located?

 

[yeow]

Bartman, I alway have fear to look at mk expose electronic day to day, I know there are many happy mk flyer out there but this incident really make me rethink about should I change my controller.
I consider myself a careful flyer, I own 2 MK and happy that I have never crash them before.

may I know what the the new controller are you trying now? I am from southeast asia.

 

[Bartman]

yeow,
i'm currently trying the HoverflyPRO system with GPS. It flies really well but the GPS system doesn't have waypoint navigation yet. THey also don't have the failsafe system in place yet so it can only do what you've programmed the receiver for if radio contact is lost. the company is working very quickly to get caught up with the other FC manufacturers.
i'm still working through getting my helicopter flying with the HF system but so far I'm pretty happy with it.
Bart

 

[DennyR]

The Naza with GPS is quite impressive. Best value for money that I have tried.

There are far more comprehensive fireworks kits available than MK and a lot less money. Holger is laughing at all of you....... on his way to the bank.

 

[Bartman]

The Naza with GPS is quite impressive. Best value for money that I have tried.

There are far more comprehensive fireworks kits available than MK and a lot less money. Holger is laughing at all of you....... on his way to the bank.

hopefully not for much longer

 

[yeow]

hopefully not for much longer

I keep figuring should I switch to WKM with current promotion on 5 waypoint datalink package.
I have a monthly assignment, I wonder will WKM really that less hassle if compare to MK? I am building heavylift Y6 with the MK hexa XL and BL on my desk now......