Chieftain turret turn motor strange behaviour on initial switch on

[Mark Russell]

Hi I have some strange behaviour with my turret turn motor only on initial start up. When I turn on the motion pack switch the turret turn motor either rotates slowly or quickly. If I turn it straight back off and on again all is ok. I assume that this shouldn’t be the case? Everything else works and performs as it should. Any ideas anyone? See link below...

[Mick Regan]

Hi Mark

On the assumption your are using a modern radio setup, like the Spektrum, try going through the binding process again. First ensure all your controls are neutral, any trim, sub-trim or offsets are zeroed. When you bind to the receiver, the settings on your transmitter are you failsafe settings. When you initially switch on, until your radio binds, your receiver will be in failsafe. If your turret turn has any offset, it will operate until the radios bind.

Mick

[Mark Russell]

Hi Mick thanks for the response. I have already tried this. All controls are centred, sub trims all zero etc with no offsets. I turn transmitter on first so there shouldn’t be an issue? Anyone else seen this issue as I have tried everything to no avail???

[Richard Sharp]

Hi Mark I had a similar problem with my Tiger 131 running a Seckrum DX8 on power up it would sit nicely wait then all of a sudden charge off across the garage smashing into the wall, after lots of painful work taking everything apart rebinding I noticed that the small block that carries the two small antenna had dropped off it Velcro as soon as I put it back in its correct alignment everything started behaving itself. Try checking the antenna alignments with your RC’s recommendations.

Richard

[Adrian Harris]

Which transmitter/receiver are you using ?

A quick test, and you'll need some space, or do it with the turret removed and just watch the motor

Turn the transmitter on and wait for it to fully boot.
Turn the tank on.
If it starts doing this, move the transmitter stick fully to the left and then to the right and back to centre.
The motion should stop.

Adrian.

[Mark Russell]

Hi Adrian it’s a DX8 with an AR8010T receiver. I’ll try this tomorrow. Are you saying that if I do this then it will stop doing it permanently? The antennas are located at 90 degrees to each other. The interesting thing is that once turned on-off-on if you turn it off and back on within say 30 minutes then it’s ok. Leave it longer and you have to do the on-off-on...

[Adrian Harris]

> Are you saying that if I do this then it will stop doing it permanently?

No, unfortunately.

There has been a known issue with some Spektrum receivers and these speed controllers, due to them outputting pulses before they've actually connected to the transmitter. I don't know for sure if this receiver is one of them but the symptoms look similar.

Adrian.

[Mark Russell]

Tried what you suggested Adrian and it makes no difference. The turret continues to turn until you turn if off again and straight back on...
Anyone else had this issue with???
Help...

[Mark Russell]

It looks like I will have to find an alternative solution then! How about if I put a switch in the feed from the speed controller B to the turret turn motor? I mount this next to the main power on/off switch and only turn it on a few seconds after the main power switch has been turned on? Doesn’t seem right though having to do this. Has anybody else had this issue and found a solution? Does setting the fail safe make any difference?

[Richard Goodwin]

Mark - i have a FrSky Taranis and when I tested all the electronics on the bench, I don't recall any issues with motors turning on power on apart from if the controls weren't set in the zero'd position. I must admit though, I'm not using the Armortek sound or smoke modules; am using alternatives!

[Mark Russell]

Hi Richard everything is zeroed and centred so it cannot be anything to do with that. Anyone else using the DX8 with the AR8010T receiver?

[Adrian Harris]

I'm using that combination in a King Tiger here at the moment but with the large Motion Control Module and not the Red Box system and no problems so far.

I was working on a customer tank yesterday which uses a DX6G3 and AR6600T receiver, again with the large MCM. Every so often, at power up, the satellite receiver didn't light the orange LED to show that it was bound and working. I'd guess about one shot in four it would link at the same time as the receiver.

I know the AR9020 receiver can go a little mad if one or more of the satellites is disconnected.

Might be worth checking your receiver and satellite(s) and seeing if they are all powering up as expected.

Adrian.

[Mark Russell]

Everything seems to power up as expected. I Have struggled to set the fail safe, would this make any difference? Is there an explanation on the forum of setting the fail safe with a DX8 and AR8010T? Following the instruction manual doesn’t seem to work?
Otherwise i’ll Just have to resort to on-off-on...

[Mark Russell]

Hi I have made a significant development hopefully in respect to this issue. If I disconnect the turret plug then this issue does not happen . I can turn on and the turret motor remains stable. Reconnect the turret plug and the fault occurs again. So next step leave the turret plugged in and disconnect the power supply to the 5 volt voltage regulator used to supply the recoil unit. I can turn on the main power switch and the turret motor doesn’t turn. Reconnect the recoil power supply and the turret motor turns on main switch on.

So it has to be something to do with either the 5 volt power supply and/or the recoil unit. Any thoughts guys...

[Adrian Harris]

Looks like it's another example of a shared 5V line affecting the modules.

You need to make sure the 5V from the recoil supply can't get back to Module B.

I'm not familiar with the wiring, so won't offer a solution but I'm sure Armortek can provide one.

Adrian.