Testing.... Testing...

Well, once again this post is not the post promised in the last post...  I think it is even better!!!

Today was testing day.  I was able to test all my motors, including Thrust tests.  I also did a preliminary test of the KK2 board.

Before I could do any testing I needed to make some cables for the Thrust Test Bench so that I could connect the ESC to the motor and the battery to the Test Bench.  I won't bore you with the details, other than, while I really like using the 4mm polarized banana plugs for connecting batteries, soldering them on is kind of frustrating.  The soldering part is easy, the problem is getting the metal part of the connector to snap into the plastic part of the connector.  If you get any solder on the outside of the metal barrel you will have a problem getting it back in the plastic connector shield.  Needless to say, I always manage to get solder on the outside of the connector.  So, then I have to get out a little file and try and remove the excess solder.  Not a lot of fun.

Anyway, I got a battery connector cable made for the Test Bench and also made up three wires with 3.5mm bullet connectors on one end so I could connect from my terminal strip to the motor.
This part was pretty easy, just solder on the connectors and put a piece of heat shrink over the exposed connector.  Easy Peasy as our Aussie friends say...

Below you will see a short video of a motor test, including Thrust measurements.  There is good news and bad news...  The good news - all the motors worked great.  The bad news...  They actually worked better than I had planned and gave me more thrust than estimated via eCalc.  I had expected about 600 grams of thrust at about 10 amps current draw.  I got that, but at about 70% throttle.  At full throttle, with a newly charged 3S battery I got 800 grams of thrust at 16 amps of current draw.
In subsequent tests I got about 760 grams at 15 amps since the battery was not fully charged.
This was bad news because the Electronic Speed Controls (ESCs) that I bought are rated at 18 amps and I am getting close to that rating at 16 amps.  I was hoping to have only about 10 amps at full throttle, which would have given my sufficient "head room" with an 18 amp ESC.  It's even "badder" news because currently Hobby King is out of bigger ESCs.  I would like to return the three unopened ESC and exchange them for 30 amp ESCs of the same brand, but they are completely out of stock.
Not sure what I will do now...

Here is the video I promised:

 

 

Here is the eCalc simulation estimates:

The other testing I did was plugging in the KK2 Flight Control Board to make sure it at least powers up and the buttons and sensors work.  That test went very well.  The KK2 board powered up as expected and I was able to move through all the menus and perform some preliminary sensor tests and configuration loads.  So, it appears the KK2 board it functioning A-OK.

So, lots of good news today.  Unfortunately I need to decide to go with the ESC's I have or wait until they get more in stock and then wait the 2 or 3 weeks to receive them from China.
At this point I am not sure what I will do...

Next Post:  Check back and see  :-)