Author Topic: Non Starting Electric (what?????) (Read 874 times)

Dennis Adamisin · « **on:** July 16, 2007, 06:23:51 PM »

HELP!

Brodak has done a wonderful job engineeriing a dirt simple e-power SYSTEM, even including the charger and battery balancer. It is all supposed to be idiot proof, but just to prove there's no such thing, I just, uh, lowered the bar.

After an adventure trying to get the battery packs charged I finally got a green "Charge Complete" light!

* Installed the battery in airplane, plugged it in, got a beep and blink
out of LED on ESC. Prop also jerked slightly. Hit power-on switch. No
LEDs lit anywhere. Tried setting timer - no lights. Tried starting - no
start.

* Unplugged battery, moved power switch to opposite position (thinking
it was safetied some how) Repeated plug-in sequence, got beep and LED
blink on ESC but nothing else.

* Repeated the above a few more times to make sure I had not overlooked
anything.

* Moved 2 connections from motor to ESC - twice. Retried
battery/connect/power up - NOTHING.

Got two Brodak (3S) batteries, one checks at 12.59V the other at 12.51V. Seems like that should overcome the low voltage blocks.

Any ideas what I am doing wrong, or what diagnostics I might be able to do?

Alan Hahn · « **Reply #1 on:** July 16, 2007, 07:03:05 PM »

I think the batteries are ok, so that's one thing out of the way. If you look at the slide switch, "on" is when the slider is pushed in the direction where the two wire are soldered. That reminds me---make sure they are both still soldered on. One of mine broke off, but it was hidden by the shrink wrap tubing.
Hook up the battery, with the switch off--I get a single beep. No light (yet) on the timer board. Then switch the switch "ON", and one light (flight length light) comes on the timer board.
Now push and hold down the start push button on the timer board. A red light comes on. After a few seconds, the motor should try and start.

Mike Palko · « **Reply #2 on:** July 16, 2007, 08:54:04 PM »

Hi Dennis,
Here are the directions for the Brodak timer. Let us know how it goes.

Mike

John Paris · « **Reply #3 on:** July 16, 2007, 08:55:45 PM »

Dennis,
There is a small button located above three LEDs (green) and another above a single (red). Try pressing the button above the 3 LEDs to see if perhaps one of them is burnt out. They should toggle through the 3 with the top being 5 minutes, the middle 6 and bottom 7. If that works, great. If not hold the airplane and try pressing the button above the single LED and it should turn red. Prop will start spinning in about 5 seconds. It could be a quality issue as well with the timer. Contacting Brodak should have you back in action in a couple of days.

The beeps and actions you have described seem to indicate that the speed controller is ready. You might want to check the wires on the switch that Alan has described as well. He is a little more versed in the electric stuff than I.

Hope this helps.
John

Dennis Adamisin · « **Reply #4 on:** July 17, 2007, 04:11:42 PM »

Alan wins the long distance diagnostics award.

One of the wires was held to the switch with shrink wrap but the connection broken. Repaired and just test ran. Powered up, the timer started blinking this way and that and whoo boy we got POWER!

Had set the timer for 5 miinutes, let it run about 2 minutes then decided I did not like the way the spinner was blurring. Did not really feel like it was vibrating but I did not like the blur. So I will remove spinner for next test, and probably fly without it. That should help motor cooling anyway.

MIKE:
Thanks for posting the timer instructions - I made sure not to lose mine, and even broke down and READ them when I was having trouble before! My bigger problem was with the instructions for the balancer. It is hard to dtermine exactly WHAT is supposed to be happening with it. Is there an enhanced version of the instructions for the battery balancer that shows:

* WHEN should the balancer be used? Is it to be plugged in BEFORE starting the charge, then let sit for awhile then start charging?
* What is the balancer supposed to show - at start of charge and later into the charge?
* My balancer keeps screaming when it is attached to one of the batteries, indicating a major voltage imbalance, yet that pack measured 12.51 volts versus a target peak of 12.6 - is the balancer that sensitive? What should I do to balance the pack?
* How does the balancer go about its job, does it bleed off high cells to boost the low cells? If so should the charger be attached whenever the balancer is on to provide the make-up voltage?
* If the balancer starts screaming (conitous tone) should I immediately DISCONNECT everything?

Iknow, to paraphrase the old SNL routine, I ask a lot of questions for someone from MI but heack, I just want to SAFELY charge these things without grenading the battery, the charger or my garage!

BTW have any of you tried the Li-MN batteries from Apogee? they sound like a easier to handle alternative, albeit at a slight weight penalty...

- showing what should be happening during the charge cycle?

Author Topic: Non Starting Electric (what?????) (Read 874 times)

Dennis Adamisin

Non Starting Electric (what?????)

Alan Hahn

Re: Non Starting Electric (what?????)

Mike Palko

Re: Non Starting Electric (what?????)

John Paris

Re: Non Starting Electric (what?????)

Dennis Adamisin

Re: Non Starting Electric (what?????)