Shug, that sounds like an installation or battery issue than a timer/ESC setup issue.  If it were setup, then you'd have a full-length flight that you weren't happy with!

I'm tossing a bunch of possibilities out here, assuming that you don't have much time with electrics.  So forgive me if this is redundant:

• Friction -- does the motor turn freely with no power applied?  You should be able to flip the prop like you were starting an engine and have it rotate for a turn or two.  If it stops dead when you flip it, something is rubbing.
• Prop -- do you have the right prop for the motor and number of cells?  If you've heavily overloaded the motor the ESC may go into overcurrent; in severe cases the battery may sag (although not after a few seconds!)
• Battery -- are you sure it is charged up?  Most ESCs will cut power if the battery sags.  This could also be influenced by too much prop.
• Timer -- do you have it programmed for a few seconds, or six minutes?

Let us know what prop you're running.

If you have not done so, take the prop off, set the thing up, push the button and see what happens -- what should happen is that the thing should run normally for your programmed flight time without the battery or ESC getting too hot (keep feeling them).  If that's the case it eliminates the timer and friction as candidates for the problem.

Shug, that sounds like an installation or battery issue than a timer/ESC setup issue.  If it were setup, then you'd have a full-length flight that you weren't happy with!

I'm tossing a bunch of possibilities out here, assuming that you don't have much time with electrics.  So forgive me if this is redundant:

• Friction -- does the motor turn freely with no power applied?  You should be able to flip the prop like you were starting an engine and have it rotate for a turn or two.  If it stops dead when you flip it, something is rubbing.
• Prop -- do you have the right prop for the motor and number of cells?  If you've heavily overloaded the motor the ESC may go into overcurrent; in severe cases the battery may sag (although not after a few seconds!)
• Battery -- are you sure it is charged up?  Most ESCs will cut power if the battery sags.  This could also be influenced by too much prop.
• Timer -- do you have it programmed for a few seconds, or six minutes?

Let us know what prop you're running.

If you have not done so, take the prop off, set the thing up, push the button and see what happens -- what should happen is that the thing should run normally for your programmed flight time without the battery or ESC getting too hot (keep feeling them).  If that's the case it eliminates the timer and friction as candidates for the problem.

Thanks Tim.

No friction at all.
Motor turns freely.
Prop is a 9X4.5 as recommended by Brodak
Battery fully charged for sure.
Timer set for 5 minutes. Worked just fine the first 5 flights.
Here is the set-up
Details

Package includes:
BH-1850 Brushless Electric Motor
BH-1863 ESC 35 amp
BH-1846 Battery 11.1V
BH-1857 Charger/Balancer GT-P4
BH-1869 Timer
APC 9 x 4.5 Electric Prop

Worked just fine the first 5 flights.

Ah ha!  If it did work but doesn't now that's a sign that the ESC and timer setup is OK (or at least was; I'd like to say that they don't change spontaneously, but we're talking about computers here).

I'd check all five power wires to make sure that nothing broke.  From the sound of it it's most likely a battery wire, but check the motor wires, too.  Feel them along their length; if there's a spot that's too flexible it's a sign that the wire inside is broken.  Carefully inspect the connectors to make sure that they're springy where they should be springy and solid where they should be solid.  Wiggle the wires where they go into the connectors and into the ESC -- with just five flights on the setup it's more likely that you had a dodgy solder joint that let go rather than a broken wire.

You may also want to set up whole system with the thing powered on, then wiggle, tug and press on the wires at the connectors and at the ESC.  If your ESC makes a power-on beep when it isn't supposed to, you've found a loose connection.

It could also be that one of your batteries died an early death -- if your charger allows you to do a discharge/charge cycle it may be worthwhile to do one.  I'm not current on what chargers will do, and I'd have to look up what voltage you'd want to discharge to, but it's a worthwhile test.  Also, if your charger measures pack resistance, check that for all the packs -- if the one you flew with is higher than the others, you've found your bad boy.

Ain't this fun?