Motors wont start, forward LEDs dont stay lit

[Tim Malley]

I recently had an indoor crash (thought I could PREVIEW a set of waypoints, pressed GO and it took off in my apartment!) anyway it got stuck wide open in a corner until I finally shut down the battery. Two nicked props but no other apparent damage. I went to test it (Props off!) and it wont fire up. I have relinkedthe controller, swapped batteries, checked the calibration with the Assistant (seems to worked fine but I keep getting popup "calibration error"). Everything looks fine but motors wont start. Two other symptoms: I can't get the compass calibration to work, and after initial flashing of all 4 LEDs, only the two GPS LEDs stay lit- slow flashing green. I am wondering if the crash caused something.

 

[RoyVa]

Sometime when the props are stalled and trying to turn and can't it cause the motor controller damage (ESC). They sometimes will smell burnt or just blow the mosfet's. Then they are toast. You can find them online for as little as $19.00. Most of the time it's ESC damage and not the motors. Hope this helps! Also the LED are part of the ESC also so I would suspect the two that don't light up.

 

[Tim Malley]

Sorry to be dumb- what is ESC? Also, aren't all four LEDs supposed to stay lit after initializing? Is it normal for only one set STAY lit? I cant remember if fore or aft, but the set that stays lit go to slow green after a moment but the others go out after startup and tone. Is there a log somewhere in the assistant that shows faults or issues? I am going to try the calibration again later. Thanks so much for the reply.

 

[RoyVa]

During flight the forward LED's stay red so you know which is the front of the craft. Don't think the calibrations going to help those forward motors. But give it a try. If not your looking at some hardware repairs in the quad. Here is what and ESC is with the shell removed. To change out an ESC you need to have pretty good solder techniques.

 

[Tim Malley]

I re-calibrated again- missed the IMU the first time. Fired right up (props off!) and I had a great afternoon flight. Thanks for the help RoyVa. Newbies be(aware)- incomplete calibration equals motors silent!