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problems with my mikrokopter boards.

Discussion in 'Electronics' started by David N Atkisson, Feb 2, 2013.

  1. David N Atkisson

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    Howdy folks,

    For those who don't know, I had a major crash a few weeks ago and have been busy as an elf trying to recover. If you want to know some of the issues check the thread under Cinestar 8 under the title " Had my first Major Crash today".

    It's funny how much looked fine when it came to electronics but turned out to be broken when I went to put my CS* back together. I had a few great people help me check out all the MK electronic boards and I had to replace both my GPS board and my Navicntrl board. The two boards that checked out where the Flight Control and the Power Distribution boards. I just got the older boards back and was installing them and getting everything plugged in. then I plugged in the usb cable and turned on mk-tools and have gotten some unusual errors.


    I was just getting all the boards back in place today and thought I had worked out all the kinks. When I got everything back in place I fired up MK-tools and got a weird error. Error 17. I thought maybe I needed to update my NaviCntrl board to the latest firmware which I did. The navi is version 28 o Now and the FltCntrl board is 88. But still getting the error. When I hook mk through the NaviCntrl It starts out with compass error which I expect and then goes to this error 17. When you click on details it says " ERR: 12C to BL, check 12C connections. Any ideas. This is definitely new to me. I also noticed that all the little red and green leds under the power distribution board for each motor are lit. When I power up all the motors do turn and do a motor check. but am unable at this time to do a motor test. Any ideas? I'm so close but oh so far away from getting this bird back in the air again.
    Thanks again for all your fine input so far.
    David
     
  2. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    The I2C bus is the main signal bus between all the boards. So let's start by taking it a face value. The Error suggests that not all the BL-Controls are good. If, as you say, ALL the BL-Ctrls have both Red and Green LEDs illuminated, then the problem is the wiring between the FC and Power Distribution board.

    Given that the FC -> PDB I2C bus connection is suspect, then (a) the motors will all self test (that's done autonomously by the BL Ctrils) and (b) you will not be able to motor test as the command is not making it from the FC to the PDB.

    Hope that helps you narrow it down. Double check that the mini-Molex connector between the FC and PDB is good. If in doubt, you can hardwire the connection between the C and D pads on the FC to PDB. The mini-Molex is an alternative to hard wiring the I2C bus.

    Please remember the Universe works like this:
    1. Two steps forward.
    2. Three steps back.


    Hope this helps.
    Andy.
     
  3. Mark Melville

    Mark Melville Member

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    David check ur moles connector from the FLC to distro board. I bypassed the molex cable and hard wired the boards. Works like a charm.
     
  4. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    I forgot to mention that Mark had done that and blazed a trail for us....

    Andy.
     
  5. David N Atkisson

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    Okayyyyyy! Hmmmm, I used a brand new mini molex no change, but If I decide to try to hard wire does anyone have a picture of the procedure. I'm not sure if I have the understanding without further instruction.

    David
     
  6. Gary Haynes

    Gary Haynes Administrator
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    David

    From the Err Code list it says to:
    Cause: the I2C communication to the BL-Ctrls is disturbed.
    Check supply of the BL-Ctrls
    Check the I2C cables (mixed C and D)
    Check the address of the BL-Ctrls
    Disconnect single BL-Ctrls to find one defective

    Was any work done on the PDB board? I saw a video from Thiago where one of the BL's had not been identified with the proper solder address jumper so the PDB thought it had two BL's with the same address.

    My opinion is that if you can avoid it I would not do the hard wire. Really haven't heard of anyone having a problem with the Molex connector and you can always put a dab of RTV on it if you think it might work loose. Just my personal opinion.

    But if you do want to do the hard wire:

    1. On the bottom of the FC board you will find a D, C (9) and GN pad (13). You will also see the +/- pads for the buzzer (12).
    2. You will also need to connect power from the battery to the +/- pads (14/16).

    Screen Shot 2013-02-02 at 8.27.36 PM.png
    3. On the PDB, on the bottom side, you will find a D and C pad. You can use any - pad.

    PDB D&C.JPG

    Small wire gauge like 26awg or perhaps a bit smaller works well.
     
  7. Mark Melville

    Mark Melville Member

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    Dave also check the BL address. I had a defective MK Distro Board and I sent back to Germany seeing I live in Italy. They sent it back to me and I still had issues. It was sent back and they had not soldered correctly the BL address on the 2 and 7 boards. Ahhhhhhh. Now everything works correctly. I still suggest direct wiring so there's no possibility of the molex coming loose during flight
     
  8. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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  9. Dave King

    Dave King Well-Known Member

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  10. Dave King

    Dave King Well-Known Member

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    That's nuts!! I hope Quadrocopter doesn't have to send my boards back to Germany now!!
     
  11. David N Atkisson

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    Hmmm, not sure if BL address would be the issue since this is my original Power Distribution Board and it never had problems until now. I haven't done anything with address assignment before and it worked just fine. Unless the address assignment areas on the board can mysteriously resolder themselves into a new configuration. What do you think?
     
  12. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    You're correct David. BL addressing is unlikely to change spontaneously (unless the BL Ctrl's were running a certain widely used Operating System -- which, fortunately, they're not). ;)

    Andy.
     
  13. Dave King

    Dave King Well-Known Member

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    David you mean you haven't had any issues with the board since the C8 had a high impact crash. I think the board is a 4 layer circuit board. If you get a crack in the middle layers you could have problems you wouldn't see on the surface. You could test the BL circuits go here for the info (I got it from Gary) http://www.mikrokopter.us/index.php?page=7

    Like yourself I have been chasing my tail with electronic bugs. I have been getting random IC2 errors that pop up in MK tools and the on the GPX logs but show no sign of flight or performance issues. I just sent both my PDB and FCB back to Quadrocopter for them to test. I'm hoping the FCB is bad and not the PDB. I have learned very quickly though its good to have spare boards if you want to get back up and flying again. Luckily for me its 15 degrees and 4 inches of snow out in Pittsburgh.
     
  14. Mark Melville

    Mark Melville Member

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    David I bought everything through Quadrocopter after I finished a picture I was shooting in Ohio last summer. I packed it all up and brought it back to Rome. After several months I finally got everything up and running when I found the distro board problem. I spoke to Karsten at QC and he arranged for me to send it directly to Germany. I must say that they were very fast. And yes, I agree. You should have almost 2 of everything.
     
  15. David N Atkisson

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    David, I did the step by step test of the boards and got as far as all lights on the PD board show red and green less solidly. and when I did the test on the FltCntrl board both red and green leds show red and green solidly. also mk-tools show the board responding when I change the angle of the board. Firmware is up to date on the FltCntrol board. 88n is the firmware version. The last part of the test where you install the mini molex is where the test fails. I have tested 6 different mini molex cables. when mk-tools start receiving data then the BL-Cntrl goes green and then turns red after a few moments. All leds on the PD Board start green and then go back to solid Red and Green. The error is the same as what I initially reported.
     
  16. David N Atkisson

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    The strange thing is I had a colleague install and test these boards just last week and he reported that they both performed fine. Not sure what to think or where to go from here.
     
  17. David N Atkisson

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    Just a note here. I did do a visual inspection of all the solder connections for the address of each bl controller and they all seem to be accurate according to the mk link that David gave me above
     
  18. Dave King

    Dave King Well-Known Member

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    David are you getting the results below in the pictures "AFTER" you applied power to both boards? Also when you hooked up both boards for the first time together did you do with them bolted to the hub and the FCB on the standoffs so they couldn't touch? IF you tested them on the bench or off the copter could the flight control board touch the PDB when it was powered up? From what I read this is the most common mistake people make when they test the boards together for the first time.


    fcpdgreenred.jpg

    blgreen.jpg
     
  19. David N Atkisson

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    Boards are not touching at all but I did not bolt them on. The initial problem started with all boards plugged in with all motors and molex cables installed and bolted on in the correct manner. Nothing touching and all motor cables safely stowed so they where not rubbing the PD Board. I will reinstall as before and try again.
     
  20. David N Atkisson

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    Sorry I pushed button to soon. the last test I did had red and green less on with no flickering both on the Flt Control as above but on the lower PD board the leds where red and green with no flickering. not all green as shown in your picture.
     

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