Dead Tiger Moth

[jvandyke]

I've been flying a GWS Tiger Moth for 2 years now and love it. I fly it in the back yard which is really a soy bean field and occasionally take it to the park.
Last time out I was ready to launch and hit the throttle, nothing. I haven't played with it much yet but I'm worried I fried the speed controller? I have a charged flight battery and rudder and elevator work. It must be the flight battery is fried, the eps or the motor itself. How does one trouble shoot this?

[Dave Robelen]

Hi,
I would proceed along these lines. Unplug the motor from the ESC. Make up a battery from a couple of flashlight cells and wires taped together. If the motor will start and run on 3V, it should be fine. Next, plug the battery directly into the motor and let it run a bit. If it seems to be producing good power without fading, the battery is probably fine. The rest is checking all of the plugs and wires in the motor circuit for good connection, and no breaks. The fact the the servos are working shows that the battery is getting through the BEC portion of the ESC. If all these checks show OK, and it still will not crank, the ESC motor drive circuit is certainly suspect.
Regards, Dave