The saga of a wet nose…
Since none else posted a report I guess I’ll get it started.
I got to the sod farm about 10:45 and Gene was already there. We talked about the best place to set up then we moved our cars. Shortly thereafter, Bob W. arrived, then Rich then Art, then Bob Gill and a new member whose name I don’t remember. Robert arrived, another new member named Duane. If I forgot anyone please forgive me.
My first launch with my electric Eagle was exciting. We all noticed on the way up that something on the tail was fluttering. I shut off the motor but had no directional control, only up & down. The wind picked up the plane and it flew great, all by itself, all the way over to the Busch property. As it approached the trees I gave it some down elevator and just before it hit a tree I gave it up.
It lightly brushed a tree branch and glided to the ground hitting tall grass on its way to a soft landing with the nose in a drainage ditch. Bob W. & I were able to retrieve it. It looks like the ! servo horn on the rudder broke but other than that no physical damage. I cleaned it up this morning and put it all back together but when I connect everything the cam makes a funny squawking sound and the motor won’t turn on.
When we opened the canopy yesterday we saw only a couple of drops of water. I dried them up and removed everything to let the inside dry out. I’m not sure what did I miss? I don’t have any way to test anything.
Ideas??
Thanks,
Ed
Ed, glad you got you plane back in one piece!
Dave
Ed,
Interesting problem! So, what works? Does the esc and separate bec show any life? Motor should be ok since it’s ac induction! I looked into this when I built an RC car for my granddaughter and found that nothing likes water, told her to avoid water!! I would think the esc, bec and cam to be toast!
Gene
Well, I hooked it up again this afternoon and all of the customary beeps were present and it sounded like it wanted to go, so I flipped the motor switch on my Tx and the motor ran for about 1.5sec then quit. I disconnected everything and reconnected is all again, flipped the switch and the motor ran
for about 1.5sec then quit again.
Don’t have a clue,
Ed
So the bec works I guess. Disconnect the cam for a test, it’s not protected at all! Do you have another esc to hook up any size for a test? The esc is a very high density electronic device and quite subject to moisture!
Gene
Ed:
Possibly low battery.
As for water and r/c planes. Once I was flying a white foam profile (everything in the open) electric power plane at Creve Coeur Park. I took it up high and lost sight. I walked along the tree line at the edge of the lake. Thinking it might be in a tree I ran the motor a bunch of times hoping to locate it by hearing the motor. Then I noticed a white thing far out into the lake. I got a kayak and paddled across and after some time found it floating.
So, what I had was a plane that had been in the water for at least an hour and a half and had been operated as a motor boat numerous times. I took it home, opened the servos to drain the water and spritzed them with CorrosionX. Did same with speed control. That’s it. Has run fine now for 3 years.
Robert
Hi Ed,
That is the same behavior I had when my battery pack was sagging below 3V per cell. Something is probably causing enough drag to cause an excessive load. The bright side is that it appears that your ESC is working like it should.
Perhaps you have some water/crud in the gearbox. You may need to open it up and clean re-lube the gears. (I have some light gear lube that came with my Tenshock.)
You also might try running the bare motor with the gearbox off to help isolate that as a cause.
I would also suggest blowing a hairdryer through the motor for a bit with the gearbox off just to make sure it is totally dry.
And as a last idea, I would also put a drop of sewing machine oil on each of the motor bearings.
That little Mega motor is a jewel and I doubt that it gets along well with wet.
Hope this helps,
Wayne
Robert & Ed,
Once had a glider in Emerald View Lake, after drying the receiver and servos were fine!
Gene
Ed,
Does the plane have an ALES cutoff? If so, that could be the reason it shuts off after a brief run — the cutoff could have some water in it and think it’s 500′ high. Just a guess.
Even if that’s not it, let it dry for another day or two. In the past, I’ve dunked various pieces of electronic gear and had them come back to life, including an RC receiver. The most traumatic was my then 9-year-old son’s Gameboy. He dropped it in our swimming pool. We retrieved it almost immediately, but it wouldn’t come to life. Lots of tears. I swore to him that it would come back (of course, not knowing if it would or not). Sure enough, three days later it worked just like new.
Tony Estep
Tony,
The ALES cutoff is set for 150 meters. Wayne gave me some ideas on taking out the motor and drying it out and lubricating it. I’ll give it a couple more days.
Ed
Ed,
When there were quite a few sailplane drivers (MVSA and Eagles) into r/c sailboat regattas, your radio gear would routinely get soaked. We would just drain the components, open up the cases and let them dry in the summer sun. Usually ready to go again in 30 minutes. As long as it was in fresh water, we never did have any issues with repeated dunkings . . . this includes dunked gear in an HLG landing in the old Keeven pond.
Make sure that everything is completely dry before operating. Components that are heat shrink encased might take a while to dry out.
Brian