Problem with DX6i (Experienced two times this week and the last)

[Gregor77]

Has anyone heard of this one before...

Issue one!

Building GP catalina, plug all the servos in and this has two ESC's.  I run a sep SBEC and remove the red wires from both ESC.  I plug the "orange RX" in and the elevator goes to full down.  I think that's strange.  So I change the servo and it plug it in and it flickers on the work bench and limited input from the radio.  So I think, oh the orange died.  Change the orange to a AR6100 and it does the same.  Then I check all the wiring and it looks OK.   Charge the battery and it's at 60%.  Try again and the servo jumps to normal after 10 mins of messing with it.  Unplug the battery and plug it in again and the servo jump and locks full down and then jumps up after 2 mins.  So I get upset and put the plane away.

Issue 2

My 2 year bristol build, brand new servos, brand new AR8000, binded last night, no issues, tested.  I go to the field with Jeff and Ronnie and when I was giving it a final test.  The elevator locks down with slight input gittering it a bit.  Jeff played with the sticks a bit and then it worked normal.   I did some taxi tests and didn't risk going up.

Any advice.. I think it might be time for a new radio.  There might be something wrong with the radio?

[Ededge2002]

I have had spectrum binding troubles from having a poor antenna connection. This was with my module system but the symptoms sound similar. I've also had troubles if I tried to bind with the TX close to the model. I've heard that it can swamp the RX.  Another trouble I had was using a remote reciever that had previously been used with another TX. It wanted to bind to two different radios. Lastly if the wire from RX to remote antenna is not in tight it has given me fits.

Ps have you hugged your 72 radio today?

[Ededge2002]

Did you move the antenna around on the TX and try again?  Possibly damaged coax that only gives trouble in specific position.

[pmackenzie]

Did the LEDs indicate any drops/fades?
It is fairly important to learn what the various flash codes mean, and to look for them whenever there is a problem.

Having said that,  it could possibly be a transmitter issue. Perhaps the wires to the elevator pot are going bad?

Pat MacKenzie

[Tomahawk]

To make sure the SBEC is not the problem, you could pull it and run a 4cell battery pack to power the system.

Chris

[Gregor77]

I grabbed my old radio and it worked fine.  I looked at the code for the radio in question and it appears to be a recall unit.  Off to horizon.

[pmackenzie]

I grabbed my old radio and it worked fine.  I looked at the code for the radio in question and it appears to be a recall unit.  Off to horizon.

Everyone flying Spec should be checking their transmitter against those recall numbers.

DX6i stick pot issues (could be what is going on here)
http://www.spektrumrc.com/Articles/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1901

DSMX recall (many models)

http://publications.horizonhobby.com/read/archive?id=3714

Pat MacKenzie

[Gregor77]

Oh, no.. I have to send both now back to HH