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Bench Testing the ALTA : Things to know

Discussion in 'ALTA' started by Andy Johnson-Laird, Aug 25, 2015.

  1. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Matt, you can thread a servo female/maie cable from the Boom 1/2 position, around the hub behind the close-out panels and mount the radio on a different close-out panel. Feeding the flight battery voltage connector might be a different story as it uses a micro-Molex connector (at least I think that is what it is).

    Andy.
     
  2. Kasper Bröns

    Kasper Bröns New Member

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    Hi guys!
    Got my Alta last week, i tried it out and it flew grate! But now when i tried to fly it, it says Battery FAIL or Config FAIL. I also got a message "sorry something is wrong with synapse!" fail code 32.


    What could this be?! i really dont understand anything here.....
     
  3. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    That's disappointing for you, Kasper.
    I don't think Freefly has published any information that would allow anyone on the forum to diagnose this, so your best bet will be to open up a support ticket by sending an email to support@freeflysystems.com, I'm afraid.

    If you do find a workaround, please post again in case someone else has the same problem.

    Andy.
     
  4. Kasper Bröns

    Kasper Bröns New Member

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    Yeah it really sucks.. But does anyone have any idea of what i could do? reseting it or something like that? i´ve tried downgrading software and then upgrading it. i have a big job next week and it would be good to get it going..
     
  5. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    The only thing I would suspect is that some connector has come loose, but there's not really too many connectors that are accessible without taking the ALTA apart -- apart from which, if you do start taking the ALTA apart you're likely to misalign things when you put it back together. So the short answer is: don't.

    It's still early on the West Coast of the USA (06:40), so if you can wait until 08:00, then call +1 (425) 485-5500 to talk to FF's technical support and see if they can suggest a diagnostic strategy.

    Andy.
     
  6. Kasper Bröns

    Kasper Bröns New Member

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    Hi guys!
    I found out what the problem was thanks to freefly customer help.
    "It looks like your packs are just slightly overcharged and the voltage limit warning is being tripped in the flight controller. I would recommend draining the packs slightly and reducing your charger cut off to a lower voltage per cell. The ALTA is just giving a warning that the starting voltage should be under 25.4v. This is equal to about 4.2 volts per cell."
    :)
     
  7. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Thanks for posting Kasper. Are you using the standard Freefly charger or a third party charger? I'm just curious to understand the cause of the problem.

    Also, did you have to tell FF support anything beyond what you wrote in your postings for them to be able to diagnose the problem?

    Andy.
     
  8. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    Hey Andy. Did you mean the FF or 3rd party batteries? I didn't think FF made a 6 cell charger or provided any battery charger with an Alta.

    Kasper: Are you using some of the new LIPO batteries that can be charged to 4.3 or 4.35 volts per cell? Charging basic 4.2 volt per cell lipo batteries higher than 4.2 would not be a good idea.
     
  9. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Michael: You're right. What am I thinking???
    Well, the real question is: How did Kasper manage to overcharge his batteries.

    Andy.
     
  10. Michael McVay

    Michael McVay Active Member

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    There are those new high voltage lipo batteries out there now. FF might have to make a change to the voltage check if those gain popularity. I think you can change a setting in the Hyperion chargers to change the volts per cell number to something other than 4.2 for the mac charge or he could have just had a bad balance board that was not properly balancing the cells during the charge or not reporting the cell voltage to the charger at all. I posed the question about higher voltage lipos to him - we'll see if he knows how it happened.
     
  11. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    I agree, Michael. That's what motivated my question. FF will need to advise on whether those batteries can be used a max charge voltage per cell. Right now the answer seems to be no.

    Andy.
     
  12. Vince Joseph

    Vince Joseph New Member

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    With regard to the bench test... I cannot get the motors to test via the app on my Apple iPhone 11. All the functions work but I cant test the motors. The jumper is in place and the aircraft is in "Pre-Arm" which might be the issue??? Any Advice???
     

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