plugged it back in and the motor twitches weird on arm, like it tries to spin and then kind of stutters and stops. the other three are fine. betaflight shows all four ESCs responding in the motors tab but when i push the slider on that one it just does the stutter thing.

running a blheli_32 4in1 so i cant just swap one ESC independently which is annoying. could be a winding issue in the motor i guess? or maybe one FET on the ESC is toast. not sure how to narrow it down without just swapping parts

basically i want to do mostly freestyle, maybe some cruising around in open fields, not really racing. i was looking at the ImpulseRC Apex and the TBS Source One but someone in another thread mentioned the Source One flexes a lot and isnt great for motors above 2306? not sure if that matters at the 2205 range i was thinking about.

also im decent at soldering ? ive done keyboard stuff and some RC car ESC work ? but ive never done an actual stack before. is soldering a 4in1 ESC to a flight controller harder than it looks or is it pretty forgiving? the connections look small in videos but maybe thats just the camera angle

any input appreciated, still have a month or so before i actually order anything

starting to look at alternatives and wondering if anyone has actual long term experience with frames in that mid range price bracket, like 40-70 USD. ive been eyeing the Apex HD and also the ImpulseRC Reverb came up in a reddit thread but i couldn't really find many people talking about it recently so not sure if its still even worth considering. mostly doing park freestyle, some light proximity, nothing insane.

also semi related ? when i rebuild im probably going to redo some of my wiring since its kind of a mess from previous repairs. any reccomendations on wire gauge for the main battery lead on a 4S 2306 build, currently running 14AWG and it seems okay but wasnt sure if theres a reason to go heavier

the ESC that came bundled is rated 45A per corner and im planning to run 2306 2450kv motors on 4S. felt like it should be fine but someone in my local group chat said i should go 60A minimum for freestyle and now im paranoid. is 45A going to be a problem or is that guy just being overly cautious. i dont want to burn an ESC on my first real build obviously but also dont want to spend another 40 bucks if i dont have to.

also any tips on motor order for soldering onto the ESC would be appreciated, ive done it on a tiny whoop board before but this will be my first time with individual motor wires and im a little nervous about it

its always the same arm too which is weird. rear right. could be a slightly off-spec hole from the manufacturer but i dont know how id even check that. frame is a TBS Source One v0.4 if that matters. motors are just XING2s nothing special.

at this point im questioning whether i should tap the holes or just get helicoil inserts or something. anyone dealt with this or am i doing something fundamentally wrong with carbon and screws

my question is basically ? does the amp rating on a 4in1 ESC matter that much if im not flying super aggressively? i was looking at the Speedybee F405 stack because its cheap and has good reviews but its only 45A per motor. some guys on youtube are saying get at least 50-55A but i genuinely dont know if thats for like racing builds or if it applies to me too. also confused about whether i need BLHeli_S or BLHeli_32 for what im doing, like does it matter for a beginner doing slowish freestyle

also havent soldered in like 10 years so thats going to be fun lol. already bought flux and decent solder, got a TS100 iron. any tips before i destroy my first ESC appreciated

its a 4inch running 4S, nothing exotic, relatively new build. i looked in betaflight and there are some spikes on the motors tab but i genuinely dont know what im reading. someone mentioned desync but i thought that was more of an older thing? also possible i have a bad solder joint somewhere but i already reflowed everything i could see. flight controller is a SpeedyBee F405 if that matters

gonna try swapping props tonight because one of them did take a hit last week but im not super confident thats it

motors im looking at are the T-Motor F40 Pro IV 2306 1750kv, running on 6S. ESC was going to be a Mamba F55 AIO or maybe just a 4in1 55amp stack. someone on reddit said 55A is overkill for freestyle but i genuinely dont know. like are they going to cook if i go full throttle for extended periods or is that just not how it works with modern ESCs

also havent soldered in like two years so im kind of dreading the battery lead situation on a 4in1. any tips there would actually be helpful, last time i did thick gauge wire i ended up with cold joints that i didnt notice until the thing cut out mid flight

i dont think im holding the iron on too long, im at 350c with a TS100 and im in and out pretty quick. the solder flows fine. but then two days later im doing the build and i move the wire and pop, pad comes off. not sure if its a quality issue with the ESC or if im doing something wrong. the pads look clean when theyre done, no burning or anything.

running out of ESCs to practice on lol

i was going to go with a SpeedyBee F405 V3 stack because its cheap and has the built in bluetooth for configurating without a computer which honestly sounds amazing when im out at the field. but then someone in my local group said i should just get a proper separate FC and ESC, like a Mamba or something. is the integrated stack really that much of a compromise or is that old thinking at this point. also running Xing2 2207 motors which i think should be fine for freestyle.

also slightly nervous about the soldering since ive only ever done light stuff on whoop boards. any tips for not destroying a $60 ESC on my first attempt would be great

im wondering if i maybe overheated the VTX when i was soldering because i was using a pretty chunky iron tip and had to hold it on there longer than i wanted to. or could this be a power issue? the VTX is on raw battery voltage with just a small cap across it. running 6S if that matters. the VTX is rated for it but still.

havent changed anything else, same quad was working fine before i swapped the VTX out last week

the frame has those rubber grommets for vibration isolation and im not sure if those go under the FC or the ESC or both. also do i need to worry about which direction the ESC faces relative to the FC because of the ribbon cable length? it seems short and i dont want to solder it wrong and have it under tension the whole time.

been looking at this for like two days now and its probably simpler than i think but any help would be great

the solder joints on the ESC pads look solid to me, shiny, no cold joints that i can see. battery is a pretty fresh 1500mah 6S so i dont think its sag causing it. im running 2207 motors which shouldnt be too much for a 45A ESC right

honestly starting to wonder if its the FC or maybe something in Betaflight settings. running the latest BF release. any ideas before i just start swapping parts randomly

my question is about matching motors to the ESC. i understand the basics but im getting confused reading different threads because some people say the ESC amp rating needs to headroom above the motor's peak draw and others are just like 'slap a 45A on anything and call it a day.' im looking at the BrotherHobby Returner R5 2306 1700kv motors and was going to pair with a 45A 4in1 but honestly dont know if thats overkill or if i should go 35A to save a bit of weight.

also slightly unrelated but should i be worried about the stack height on a 30x30 vs 20x20 for a 5 inch build? feels like 30x30 would be more solid but maybe im overthinking it

its a 35amp 4in1 and honestly maybe thats the issue? someone mentioned the brand i wont name here but its one of the cheaper ones and maybe i just need to accept that and spend more on something reputable. but also i feel like 35amp should be way more than enough for what im doing, i fly mostly freestyle not like race gates or anything super aggressive.

current draw at full throttle measured around 28-30 amps so there should be headroom. the ESC just gets brutally hot and then one of the phases goes out usually. is there something else i could be doing wrong that would cause this or is it just a garbage component situation

main thing im hung up on is the frame. budget is tight, maybe 30-40 bucks for just the frame. i keep seeing people talk about the ImpulseRC Apex and the Source One but also some people swear by the TBS Source One alternatives that are way cheaper. is the Source One still a good starting point or is it kind of dated now? i dont care about having the coolest looking thing, i just want something that wont crack if i crash it into a tree at moderate speed which i definitely will do.

also should i even worry about a unibody vs split plate design for a first build or does that not really matter until youre more experienced and actually breaking frames regularly

the thing is the crashes werent bad at all. like grass landings mostly, one time i clipped a tree branch at maybe half throttle. im running a fairly normal 5inch setup, nothing overweight. previous frame was a used Armattan Rooster i got second hand and that thing took way more abuse without cracking. is this just what you get with budget carbon or did i maybe get a defective piece. wondering if the layup on cheaper frames is just garbage or if theres something about how i mounted the motors that could cause this kind of stress fracture

got some RDQ 2306 2450kv motors and im looking at the Mamba F7 stack. the 45amp ESCs on it should be fine for 5inch on 4s right? or do i need to go 6s and get different motors. i keep reading conflicting stuff. some people say 2450kv on 4s is totally fine for freestyle, others say just go 6s from the start and save yourself the hassle later.

also nobody ever talks about what order to solder things in and i really dont want to fry anything. do i do the ESC first then run wires to the FC or the other way around. feels like a dumb question but i genuinely cant find a clear answer that isnt just someone selling a course

also partially considering the iFlight Nazgul Evoque F4 but its maybe slightly bigger footprint than i want. at that weight and size does the arm thickness thing even matter or am i just overthinking it because ive had two bad arm snaps on my 5inch and now im paranoid about everything

i did my first round of soldering last night and its... passable i think. the XT60 joints look okay but im not super confident about the motor phase wires, they feel secure but theres a tiny bit of flux residue i havent cleaned off yet. is that actually a problem or do people just leave it. also im using 63/37 rosin core which someone here recommended a while back, using a Hakko FX-888D so temperature shouldnt be an issue, running it around 350c.

main question i guess is the cap situation and also whether i need to do anything special with the ESC signal wires going to the FC or if plug and play is genuinely plug and play at this point

my flying is mostly park gaps and power loops, not super technical stuff yet. weight and durability matter more to me than outright performance at this point. anyone have strong feelings either way or is this one of those things where you just fly what you like

i checked my solder joints and they look ok to me but im not super experienced with a iron so who knows. battery is a 4s 1500mah tattu. im wondering if maybe the used ESC is just toast or if i did something wrong. also not 100% sure i have the motor order right in betaflight, could that cause this? i havent maiden it yet obviously

im using the stock screws that came with the motors (BrotherHobby Returner R5s) and the frame is a TBS Source One. already tried tightening them down hard but it keeps happening. someone mentioned threadlocker but i heard you can use the wrong kind and then you can never get the motor off again. is blue loctite actually safe for this or what do people usually do

also wondering if its a vibration problem rather than just the screws, like maybe my props are unbalanced or something. one of them did take a pretty good hit a few weeks ago and i just kept flying it