Hi, my throttle no longer is reacting to the button press/tap, and is unable to arm. I can hear the mechanical click and haven’t tried disassembling it yet, I also connected it with USB OK, and even reflashed it with the same firmware (5.7, non-PI). No change. I thought it was maybe to battery being too low, I charged from 55% to 62% but no change. Is there a cutoff voltage that prevents arming?
More details: I had a routine flight, armed the throttle with 2 taps, flew for 14 minutes on the smaller battery, disarmed the throttle before landing, and landed OK. I haven’t tried re-arming again that evening, but the next day I plugged it in again and it now displays everything correctly but won’t react to button taps.
The controller keeps beeping single beeps every 10 seconds or so, I thought it used to have two tone beep before (high, low), but my recording shows that before flight it was beeping the same way.
UPDATE: I also did disconnect and reconnect both of the 4-pin cables on the controller a few times, no change.
And the throttle display shows “BATTERY ERROR” very briefly on start, but I think I had noticed that before, it’s split-second on boot.
the latest firmwares have changed the default arming sequence for the buttons to a tap then hold.
if you don’t see the controller screen update when arming then it’s something happening on the controller itself and not the motor/ESC. It’s typical for the ESC to beep periodically when it’s on but at 0% throttle
Good to know about the change, I’m guessing the tap and hold is introduced with 6.0 that is not available for my older throttle yet, but I will try it when I get home. I like the idea. Is there a simple way to diagnose the throttle button/potentiometer similar to gamepads at Hardware Tester (it shows animated buttons and stick values in real time)?
Or perhaps we could show the status on the throttle display, even when it’s disarmed, just a tiny 1-2 pixel dot for the button and 1 pixel width line animated for the throttle status…
Update: I took it apart and measured the connectivity in the leads underneath the circuit board (after ungluing the screen). Didn’t work, as if the microswitch was broken inside. I then tried the two metal dots in the side of the microswitch and they worked. I kept trying the underside leads and attempted to push the switch in, didn’t seem to budge, well soldered mounts, but it started to work. I did dozens of dry tests more, and it works just like before (I am able to 2-tap almost exactly 50% of time in 30 tests, after failing 100% of time in similar number of tests; can’t wait for the new tap and hold mode).
Weird.
I didn’t take a good photo but I think the 2 dots (or rather short dashes) I tested successfully against are on the side facing the camera.
The problem is back. I haven’t flown in some time, went to the field today and the throttle was broken again. Spent 30 minutes trying to arm, reconnect, etc. I did test the motor at home a week ago, and I was able to arm the throttle. No such luck today. I checked the firmware, updated from 5.7 to 5.9 (SAMD21 version) but no change, except it now was also showing battery at 0% instead of 90. Downgraded back to 5.7 for now.
I took the throttle apart, and it looks like the microswitch is slightly bent/torn AWAY from the circuit board:
I don’t trust my soldering skills to keep me airborne, but I will try to get it fixed at a local electronics repair shop. Is that side-mounted microswitch common? Is there a better alternative that would fit the enclosure and survive my muscular gamer thumb (or occasional snags)?
Update: I spent a day fixing it (I replaced the button with a stronger one from a broken xbox gamepad, and cushioned the button with a rubber membrane like in the gamepad).
I added hot glue for strength, and made the button protrude less, to avoid snags or too much force. As I was reassembling the enclosure back, I tried to fit the controller cable a bit better in the enclosure, and must have wiggled it one time too many (no forced pulling or anything), and the connector broke off the circuit board.
This time I can’t solder it myself, and a local repair shop quoted me $150 for it but could not guarantee it would work or not pop off again. I agreed when they lowered it to $100 plus tax because the alternative is likely no flying for another month (and spending $300 on a new remote)
I just wanted to document my frustration with the throttle in case the pictures or information help somebody or it leads to a better design in the future (for one thing, most of the xbox controller buttons are designed to limit maximum force using levers with limited movement). Also the cable is a pain, most other devices use wireless throttles these days (efoil, eskateboards, etc).
Afterwards, I noticed my throttle board had holes that looked like for a zip tie, but there was no zip tie itself - although I may have removed it a year ago when the first problems started. And then I saw that the newer white board design does not have the holes anymore, possibly adding to more frustration in the future. Again, I hope this helps with a new version or switching to a different kind of remote.
