Retracting Legs Servo Problem..help!

Q

Quinton

Active Member
This has been driving me crazy the last 24 hours.
I just got the Cortex, and it has retractable legs, when I check the cables coming directly from the retract servos one at a time on their own, everything works perfectly up/down etc.

Problem is when the 2 retracting leg cables are put together, nothing works.
I have opened up the insulation just in case there was a loose connection but it seems to be fine.
Can anyone see why this would NOT be working?
The Positive and Negative cables are wired up to a 6V regulator, inside the Multi Rotor, and I am supposed to plug the signal cable on its own into the receiver/flight controller switch to make it go up and down.

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Droider

Droider

Drone Enthusiast
I am supposed to plug the signal cable on its own into the receiver/flight controller switch to make it go up and down.
Click to expand...

Thats how it generally works. I take it there are two servos then?
I cant quite see in the picture but I take it also that both signal wires are joined?

is there no instructions?

Dave
 
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S

sk8brd

Member
Quinton i dont know too much about the inner workings of retracts but Trent from copterkids on another forum said his retracts were not working on his cortex and would get stuck down. Its on helifreak. He said the servo actuation was week. You can check out what he wrote- google cortex and heli freak. Its his z15 5d review post he did. Also Check out what happened to his first 5d gimbal. Lol
 
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Q

Quinton

Active Member
Droider said:
Thats how it generally works. I take it there are two servos then?
I cant quite see in the picture but I take it also that both signal wires are joined?

is there no instructions?

Dave
Click to expand...

Well it should work, but it doesn't.
There are 2 servos, I am supposed to plug the 2 servo cables into the male holders, then the single signal wire into the rx to make them go up or down.
Its not a Futaba thing or anything compared with a Spektrum thing, that requires more than just the signal wire in?

When I plug 1 servo cable directly into a port it works, I plug the other into a port, it works, but when I take them out and plug them both into the male holders, where the 2 positive/negative wires are connected to a 6v regulator which leaves the signal wire which is connected to the 2 male ends also and plug it into the receiver..nothing happens :(
I know it should, but it doesn't.

Both servos work perfectly if I try them out separately, but the moniute they are together nothing happens, even though all the connections seem OK. (They all come pre soldered, thats why I opened it up to make sure no bad connections)
 

SoCal Blur

SoCal Blur

Member
Quinton said:
Well it should work, but it doesn't.
There are 2 servos, I am supposed to plug the 2 servo cables into the male holders, then the single signal wire into the rx to make them go up or down.
Its not a Futaba thing or anything compared with a Spektrum thing, that requires more than just the signal wire in?

When I plug 1 servo cable directly into a port it works, I plug the other into a port, it works, but when I take them out and plug them both into the male holders, where the 2 positive/negative wires are connected to a 6v regulator which leaves the signal wire which is connected to the 2 male ends also and plug it into the receiver..nothing happens :(
I know it should, but it doesn't.

Both servos work perfectly if I try them out separately, but the moniute they are together nothing happens, even though all the connections seem OK. (They all come pre soldered, thats why I opened it up to make sure no bad connections)
Click to expand...

This may be a silly question but when you plug both into your RX, how are you supplying power to your RX? It looks like just the signal wire is going to your RX when both are connected. If that's true, where's the power coming from for your RX?
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
sk8brd said:
Quinton i dont know too much about the inner workings of retracts but Trent from copterkids on another forum said his retracts were not working on his cortex and would get stuck down. Its on helifreak. He said the actuators were week. You can check out what he wrote- google cortex and heli freak. Its his z15 5d review post he did. Also Check out what happened to his first 5d gimbal. Lol
Click to expand...
Ah thanks for that, but his at least worked, they only got stuck a couple of times.
I see his 5D span exactly like mine :)
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
SoCal Blur said:
This may be a silly question but when you plug both into your RX, how are you supplying power to your RX? It looks like just the signal wire is going to your RX when both are connected. If that's true, where's the power coming from for your RX?
Click to expand...

I plugged a 6V lipo into the rx, it is a spare one I have just to test things with.
I even have a servo tester, where I can plug both servos into it at same time, and a 4.8-6v battery at the other end, and they work flawlessly, the second I take them out and connect them into the 2 male adapters, and then plug the single signal wire in ..nowt!
I have tested everything, and it really should work..thats the frustrating thing.
I have checked the power even coming from the regulator which the negative/positive is connected to 6V, and its there alright, thats why I was asking is it a futaba thing with a single signal cable and nothing else.
 

S

sk8brd

Member
Give the legs a little push and see if they open:) on a more serious not gotta be the adapter? Are you wiring it to a two way switch- do you need endpoints or any of that stuff setup. I imagine its an off on type of thing right. How do the dji retracts work doesnt the a2 automatically detect low voltage and put the legs down like on s800's and such. Just throwing out ideas. Let me know when its up and running wanna check a vid on that thing i kinda like the design of it.
 
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SoCal Blur

SoCal Blur

Member
Quinton said:
I plugged a 6V lipo into the rx, it is a spare one I have just to test things with.
I even have a servo tester, where I can plug both servos into it at same time, and a 4.8-6v battery at the other end, and they work flawlessly, the second I take them out and connect them into the 2 male adapters, and then plug the single signal wire in ..nowt!
I have tested everything, and it really should work..thats the frustrating thing.
I have checked the power even coming from the regulator which the negative/positive is connected to 6V, and its there alright, thats why I was asking is it a futaba thing with a single signal cable and nothing else.
Click to expand...

Maybe it needs the Ground wire as well? Just grasping at straws at this point as it sounds like you have pretty much done all of the necessary troubleshooting.
 

S

sk8brd

Member
Quinton some guy on another forum said switching his futaba rx from a mode to c fixed non working retracts. Also said to check sub trims to make sure there on one side or the other- whatever that means and assign to 2 way switch not three Maybe give it a try.
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
Here's a quick video showing the 2 servos working properly when plugged directly into a servo tester (or a rx for that matter, so I dont think its a communication thing).
The signal cable is already plugged into the tester, so it really should have worked when plugged into the 2 cables together.
As you can see there is 6V coming from the regulator which is getting its power from the cortex
Its driving me mad..as it "should" be working.

 
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Q

Quinton

Active Member
Ok my brother in-law called up, and said to me right away that it would never work, as the signal wire always needs a negative or positive to make a switch.
He proved it to me, and got a servo cable and connected it to the open wires, and plugged it into the rx and presto, both legs started to work together on the one cable.
So who is right? and if this is the case why are they being sent out like this ARTF?..surely there are 100s of these things being bought like this..is it really the problem?
 

SoCal Blur

SoCal Blur

Member
Quinton said:
Ok my brother in-law called up, and said to me right away that it would never work, as the signal wire always needs a negative or positive to make a switch.
He proved it to me, and got a servo cable and connected it to the open wires, and plugged it into the rx and presto, both legs started to work together on the one cable.
So who is right? and if this is the case why are they being sent out like this ARTF?..surely there are 100s of these things being bought like this..is it really the problem?
Click to expand...

eh hem.... I think I made the suggestion of adding the negative cable a few posts back... (so I guess that makes me "right") LOL :highly_amused:
 

Q

Quinton

Active Member
SoCal Blur said:
eh hem.... I think I made the suggestion of adding the negative cable a few posts back... (so I guess that makes me "right") LOL :highly_amused:
Click to expand...

You did indeed.
The thing is I am going to have to call tomorrow and say that it doesnt work with just a signal cable on its own, and his answer will be I have sold 100s of these things that work like this.
These are being sold artf, and so far I couldnt get it to work with just a signal cable, and there was actually no xt60 added to the PDB to plug the flight controller on to.
I am at the moment using the gimbal one I asked him to add to it for testing!
Thats why I just want to make sure if a switch can not be made with just a signal cable...surely I am not the only one that has had this problem?
 

Maverick

Maverick

Member
Quinton said:
You did indeed.
The thing is I am going to have to call tomorrow and say that it doesnt work with just a signal cable on its own, and his answer will be I have sold 100s of these things that work like this.
These are being sold artf, and so far I couldnt get it to work with just a signal cable, and there was actually no xt60 added to the PDB to plug the flight controller on to.
I am at the moment using the gimbal one I asked him to add to it for testing!
Thats why I just want to make sure if a switch can not be made with just a signal cable...surely I am not the only one that has had this problem?
Click to expand...

Quinton,

Maybe they're sold, with the intention of plugging the servo cable (signal wire ONLY) for the retracts, into a spare port on the flight controller like a WK-M, and switching it through that...??? Maybe retracts can't work like this - just a suggestion...
Just the other night, I added four 5v LEDs to my quad, for orientation, and I powered them using the (+) and (-) from the T-Motor ESC BECs ( one LED per ESC BEC), leaving only the signal wires going to the WK-M FC. The LEDs all work perfectly, as they only draw 300mA MAX. and each BEC can handle up to 2A, and after flying for a full battery, the ESCs are only slightly lukewarm... So, I know for sure, that WK-M FC only needs a signal wire, but maybe retracts/servos need a (-) also...?

Mav.
 
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Maverick

Maverick

Member

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SoCal Blur

SoCal Blur

Member
Thanks. Looks like the LED strips are 12v. Oh well, was worth a look. I was hoping not to have to add a 12 BEC but I guess its unavoidable unless I use individual LEDS.
 


S

sk8brd

Member
Quinton- whats the word on the streets? i went to bed and you were still tinkering woke up and are you still tinkering?:nevreness: i see you got them to work did you try using the fc to handle them yet. doesn't the fc get powered by the pmu--are you saying there was no power hookup xt60 or something sodered for the pmu on the pdb--i thought it came artf-just add fc and gimbal and your on the way to happy land.
 
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