ericvn

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Help! CC3D Issues get worse every time....
« on: May 20, 2017, 03:15:58 am »
Hello,

This is a desperate plea for any help whatsoever that may lead to getting the ZMR250 quad (cc3d, simonK ESCs, ElectriFly 11.1V LiPo) I've been working on for over a year in the air. I followed a standard beginner's build guide (http://www.dronetrest.com/t/qav-zmr-250-assembly-build-guide/1244) and strongly believe my soldering/cable connections are not the issue--but either the CC3D FC or the ESCs are the issue.

For a while, whenever I connected the cc3d to Librepilot, I could get the vehicle setup wizard working only until the ESC calibration; from this point, my motors would not spin during the motor testing (like, ever. At all). I would flash/upgrade the firmware to the most recent version each time. Recently, I was able to get 3 out of 4 motors spinning on the Configuration>Output tab, and have set the 3 (working motor) neutral values, with the corresponding PWM and update rate values that made it work. Because I have never been able to complete the vehicle setup wizard, I have not gotten the transmitter set up, which means that on the firmware tab, the "Input" and "Output" alarms are always red. It seemed so close to success....

As of now, the CC3D does not connect to the computer anymore via just USB. As in, no lights turn on. This has never happened until now. The CC3D still powers up ONLY when the ESC cables are connected to it and the battery is connected to the PDB; but this means the setup wizard does not work as when I am told to disconnect the battery to test the ESCs, the CC3D just disconnects and the wizard fails. At this point, after months of no success, I am considering just buying new ESCs and a new FC (Naze32?) and testing those out instead. Has this ever happened to anyone? Is my CC3D considered game over?

Other notes:
-I tried using Betaflight and buying a FTDI adapter and using the STM32 and VCP drivers, but that failed as well.

Re: Help! CC3D Issues get worse every time....
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2017, 05:12:53 am »
Hover the mouse over the red output alarm.  What does it say?

Make sure that all the output banks (top of output page) you are using are set to the desired ESC protocol.

Test the "bad" motor/ESC by plugging it straight into the RC receiver throttle connection.  If it doesn't work there (but you can get a "good" one working there), then you may have some bad hardware.  If the bad one works, try manual ESC calibration (all ESCs) with PWMSync and 1900 for output max.
https://librepilot.atlassian.net/wiki/display/LPDOC/ESC+Calibration

USB cables are often the problem.  Try (without battery) a different USB cable to get CC3D to work.  Try wiggling the USB connector in the socket at both the PC end and the CC3D end to see if you get momentary connection.