2LikesLoose sensor wire causing motors to stop?
11-11-2023 | 01:38 PM
#1
Loose sensor wire causing motors to stop?
At my last off-road race I had 2 identical motors stop working back to back. I'm running a Hobbywing G2 Pro ESC and a Trinity Revtech 8.5 motor. In my first heat I landed very hard on a large triple jump and the motor just stopped. The speed control was still getting a signal from the radio and the servo worked fine. I had an identical brand new backup motor so I put it in and ran my 2nd heat. The car worked for about 4 laps then it stopped working as well. Same symptoms: ESC was getting a signal, servo worked fine.
After the race I inspected the car more closely and found that the sensor wire was loose in the ESC. It basically fell out of the ESC when I touched it. I also noticed that 1 of the sensor wires had been ripped completely out of the sensor plug on the motor side.
So would a loose sensor wire cause the motors to simply stop? Or do I have larger issues with my ESC?
After the race I inspected the car more closely and found that the sensor wire was loose in the ESC. It basically fell out of the ESC when I touched it. I also noticed that 1 of the sensor wires had been ripped completely out of the sensor plug on the motor side.
So would a loose sensor wire cause the motors to simply stop? Or do I have larger issues with my ESC?
11-11-2023 | 02:44 PM
#3
Even without a sensor cable the motor should still run. It will cog and won't feel as smooth, but it will still round.
It sounds like you might have a bad connection between the ESC and motor. Double check your solder joints and make sure your wires aren't broken. I've had wires break inside the insulation but look perfectly fine.
It sounds like you might have a bad connection between the ESC and motor. Double check your solder joints and make sure your wires aren't broken. I've had wires break inside the insulation but look perfectly fine.
11-12-2023 | 07:09 AM
#6
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,410
From: Austin,TX
possibilities are endless, here's what I do to address them:
HOBBYWING TECH SUPPORT 1/8 & 1/10 OFF ROAD
HOBBYWING TECH SUPPORT 1/8 & 1/10 OFF ROAD
Originally Posted by Bill DeLong
Here's what I like to do to diagnose problems
1) If you made any changes to your ESC programming, then I would reset everything back to factory default. Also reset the radio if necessary, follow the calibration directions very carefully and pretend like this is a fresh install... re-calibrate the ESC. If the ESC loses calibration frequently then you might have a bad radio, potentiometer may need to be replaced on the throttle, etc... swap radio with a known good radio to test. Also check all wiring is clean and tight, any loose connections can be problematic, sometimes it's worth the effort to re-solder everything just to have nice fresh connections to play it safe
2) If problem persists then: Swap sensor wire with a known good wire
3) If problem persists then: Use a sensor tester to verify motor sensor board is good
4) If problem persists then: Pull out motor and disassemble, inspect rotor for any damage (cracked magnets, etc)
5) If problem persists then: Swap motor with a known good motor
6) If problem persists then: Swap ESC with a known good ESC
*** very important to swap motor first... a bad motor can kill a good ESC... been there done that!
*** generally, most issues are motor related... sometimes a sensor wire connector goes bad, a hard crash can take out a sensor board, an overheated motor can burn up a stator and any debris in the motor can damage a rotor... sometimes ESC's can get finicky if they are over heated or damaged from a bad crash or hard landing from a big jump, Kyosho sells an impact resistant gel-tape that is good to help absorb shock, I also use a zip tie to secure the ESC firmly over the fan mount... but over time almost all ESC's will start to glitch after too many hard impacts. Best advice is to drive clean and always land smooth on the down ramps to avoid hard chassis slaps!
*** Mysterious Issue resolved: ESC shuts off when applying throttle or steering input
1) If you made any changes to your ESC programming, then I would reset everything back to factory default. Also reset the radio if necessary, follow the calibration directions very carefully and pretend like this is a fresh install... re-calibrate the ESC. If the ESC loses calibration frequently then you might have a bad radio, potentiometer may need to be replaced on the throttle, etc... swap radio with a known good radio to test. Also check all wiring is clean and tight, any loose connections can be problematic, sometimes it's worth the effort to re-solder everything just to have nice fresh connections to play it safe
2) If problem persists then: Swap sensor wire with a known good wire
3) If problem persists then: Use a sensor tester to verify motor sensor board is good
4) If problem persists then: Pull out motor and disassemble, inspect rotor for any damage (cracked magnets, etc)
5) If problem persists then: Swap motor with a known good motor
6) If problem persists then: Swap ESC with a known good ESC
*** very important to swap motor first... a bad motor can kill a good ESC... been there done that!
*** generally, most issues are motor related... sometimes a sensor wire connector goes bad, a hard crash can take out a sensor board, an overheated motor can burn up a stator and any debris in the motor can damage a rotor... sometimes ESC's can get finicky if they are over heated or damaged from a bad crash or hard landing from a big jump, Kyosho sells an impact resistant gel-tape that is good to help absorb shock, I also use a zip tie to secure the ESC firmly over the fan mount... but over time almost all ESC's will start to glitch after too many hard impacts. Best advice is to drive clean and always land smooth on the down ramps to avoid hard chassis slaps!
*** Mysterious Issue resolved: ESC shuts off when applying throttle or steering input
11-12-2023 | 07:45 AM
#7
Good advice everyone, thanks for the feedback.
I checked the settings on my ESC and it was set to sensor only, no Hybrid sensor/sensorless, so that might explain why the motor simply stopped when the sensor wires came unplugged. I've also replaced all the motor and battery wiring and obviously installed in a brand new sensor wire. So I'm basically at billdelong's second step.
One question for you Bill: Where can I get a good sensor tester? I see things like the Hobbywing tunalyzer and SkyRC motor analyzer... will those tell me if a sensor board on a motor is bad?
I checked the settings on my ESC and it was set to sensor only, no Hybrid sensor/sensorless, so that might explain why the motor simply stopped when the sensor wires came unplugged. I've also replaced all the motor and battery wiring and obviously installed in a brand new sensor wire. So I'm basically at billdelong's second step.
One question for you Bill: Where can I get a good sensor tester? I see things like the Hobbywing tunalyzer and SkyRC motor analyzer... will those tell me if a sensor board on a motor is bad?
11-12-2023 | 08:28 AM
#8
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,410
From: Austin,TX
Good advice everyone, thanks for the feedback.
I checked the settings on my ESC and it was set to sensor only, no Hybrid sensor/sensorless, so that might explain why the motor simply stopped when the sensor wires came unplugged. I've also replaced all the motor and battery wiring and obviously installed in a brand new sensor wire. So I'm basically at billdelong's second step.
One question for you Bill: Where can I get a good sensor tester? I see things like the Hobbywing tunalyzer and SkyRC motor analyzer... will those tell me if a sensor board on a motor is bad?
I checked the settings on my ESC and it was set to sensor only, no Hybrid sensor/sensorless, so that might explain why the motor simply stopped when the sensor wires came unplugged. I've also replaced all the motor and battery wiring and obviously installed in a brand new sensor wire. So I'm basically at billdelong's second step.
One question for you Bill: Where can I get a good sensor tester? I see things like the Hobbywing tunalyzer and SkyRC motor analyzer... will those tell me if a sensor board on a motor is bad?
https://www.redwingrc.com/product.php?productid=955
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prX_4inKpig
11-12-2023 | 02:01 PM
#10
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 6,410
From: Austin,TX
Thanks, I'm not really active you YT anymore though I'll post a video on rare occasion, I just don't have the time to put into it for proper editing than I care to spend, getting a $100 check every 6 months just isn't worth the hassle, ha!
11-12-2023 | 03:02 PM
#11
Tech Master
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,825
From: Miami, FL
It’ll run, but I had a problem once where my car just didn’t want to start from a dead stop. Turn Marshall picked it up, had me blip the throttle, and it worked. Put it down again, nothing. He then pushed the car while I gave it throttle and it got going again.
in my case, it turned out to be a dirty connection, which after some quick blasts of contact cleaner on motors port and the cable connector, solved the problem. Until I resolved that though, the cogging at low speed was so bad that it just wouldn’t turn over under load.
in my case, it turned out to be a dirty connection, which after some quick blasts of contact cleaner on motors port and the cable connector, solved the problem. Until I resolved that though, the cogging at low speed was so bad that it just wouldn’t turn over under load.
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