Bad X9D+ ?

[HOQUIAM]

Wayne !,

I have an X9D+ that is new-old stock that has been on the shelf for several years. I needed to upgrade it along with the other pieces of equipment
and when I turned it on nothing happened, so I removed the battery and found it registered 0.0V! I mean DEAD. I took a battery out of another
X9D+ and plugged it in. (Tx switch OFF) Instantly the Vibrator motor took off running at full speed and I could not shut it off no matter what I tried.
So I removed the battery. No wonder the original battery was DEAD.

Does this unit require service or is there something I should do first?

Tom Strom

 

[Wayne]

Hey Tom,

Sounds like it may have the wrong firmware installed. Give a quick test, boot up in boot loader mode. Does that work?

To enter boot loader mode, push the aileron and rudder trims towards the center of the radio and hold them there, then tap the power button. Should come up with a little menu.

If that works, then yes, you have a bad firmware on the radio. Just a matter of installing the correct version. Sounds like you may have an old X9D, not the X9D+.

Let us know what you find and we can go from there.

 

[HOQUIAM]

Wayne, Henny

I tried the bootloader sequence and it did not effect the situation at all!
Is it safe to hook it u p to the PC to try and download a new version?
It is one of 4 X9D+ transmitters purchased several years ago for a project that never happned.
They other three were at level 2.2.2 and have since been upgraded to 2.3.11.

Since the TX was to be used as an Electric motor operator, I had to take the back cover off and back off the
Rachet part. I could see nothing amiss inside so I put the back cover back on. Then I tried plugging in the
battery again and low and behold no vibrator started up, But I then realized that the TX was on! but so was
the Power Switch!

O.K. I Just tried turning off the switch and the TX turned off and the Vibrator turned ON. When I turned on
the Switch, the Vibrator stopped but The TX did not come back on. So--I unplugged the battery, turned on
the Switch and plugged it back in. The TX came back on. Then I stepped through the programming sequences
and found the TX to be on level 2.2.2 and then I updated the Radio to the present date, time, and etc. all went
well. I then turned it Off again. No Vibrator! So I tried turniing on the Switch and nothing happens! I Tried the
Switch several times and nothing happens.

So I unplug the battery and start over-- Switch Off--Plug in Battery--Vibrator starts up--Switch ON--Vibrator keeps running.
Unplug Battery--Switch On--Plug in Battery--Vibrator Off--TX On-- all functions work--Switch Off--
every thing is Off--switch On--NoVibrator--No TX working.

OK Folks, any thoughts!

Tom




.

 

[HENNY]

TOM.
Honestly you have had issues with firmware updates at many levels. Pack up your X9D+ and send it for service to Aloft. This will get this radio back up and running.

 

[HOQUIAM]

Hey Henny, Wayne,

My Problem with this particular tranmitter has nothing to do with any upgrading or issues on my part! This unit was
DEAD on removing it from its Box. It is a 3 or 4 year old X(D+ never used or removed from it's Box. Something is worng
with it, maybe the switch, and that is why the battery is 0.00 Volts! What is causing the Vibrator Motor to run continuously?
and what lets the Radio start up if the switch is on when you plug in a Good battery? Then when you turn the switch off you
turn the Radio off and you can not turn it back on!

I know I am having problems learning how to work with Opentx but this time it is not ME!!!

 

[HENNY]

Tom it sounds to me like you may have a defective radio, this may be unrelated to Opentx or simply has the wrong version of firmware flashed to it. Does Nasa not have a way of sending such a radio out for repair. After years of not being used the battery may also be defective.

 

[HOQUIAM]

Hey Henny,

Just for fun, I will try to TRY to flash it!

Tom

 

[HOQUIAM]

Henny, Wayne

OK I just flashed my REBEL X9D+ from 2.2.2 to 2.3.11.

You guessed it, NO change to it's operation what so ever!

I went to Radio SET-UP and verfied the version change.

Tom

 

[HENNY]

When you said no change, You indicated it was dead and now you can see and go to Radio Setup. So sounds like something is now working.

 

[Wayne]

Sounds like some sort of hardware issue to me. If you like we can take a look at it and see what is going on. Guessing it may be a stuck switch as that sometimes results in this sort of odd antics. If you can power up the radio you might go into the radio setup and check all of the switches and buttons are operating correctly.

Do any of the navigation buttons feel odd when you press them? Maybe something as simple as the button tree being damaged.. That is an easy realignment fix. If stored with something smashing the buttons, I could see this causing trouble..

 

[Hoqiam]

Hey Wayne,

The radio was in it's original two piece foam box and inside a heavy cardboard shipping box. NO damage there!

The radio comes on if I turn the switch on and plug in a good battery. I can then work with the radio like there were
no problems. I even did the upgrade of the radio from version 2.2.2 to version 2.3.11. The switch will turn OFF the radio,
but will not turn it on again. The Vibrator does not run at all during this kind of an operation. I can then unplug the battery
and plug it back in with the switch in the OFF position and the Vibrator motor starts running and you can only turn it off
by unplugging the battery!

Interesting?

Tom

 

[HOQUIAM]

Folks,
Nothing has changed with the radio since I first found it had a bad battery. what is going on
now are things that I am learning about it, such as the radio will start up if I turn the switch ON
and THEN plug in a good battery.

If you had it in your hands and with the switch in the OFF position, and you plugged in a good
battery like I did, the Vibrator would start up and you would NOT be able to stop it without removing the battery.
You can wiggle all of the sticks, flip all of the switches, turn all of the knobs, and you can not stop the Vibrator.
Thats why the battery was DEAD!!!!

Tom

 

[HOQUIAM]

Folks,

I might add, that when I did the level change, I put the switch in the ON position then held the
two trim switches with my left hand and with the right hand plugged in a good battery. The TX
then went into the boot loader mode and I proceeded with the level change. The TX will stay in
an OPERATING mode as long as I do NOT TURN THE SWITCH OFF. If you turn the switch OFF, the
radio will turn OFF and nothig else happens. Even the Vibrator is OFF!! As long as you do not
unplug the battery it will stay that way. If you unplug the battery and plug it back in again the
Vibrator will start up again and the only way you can stop it is to unplug the battery. Catch 22!

 

[Wayne]

Tom,

We would need to get this in for further testing, I have no idea what would be causing this to occur. We have not seen this issue before.

 

[Kilrah]

This behavior is usually the soft power switch MOSFET being dead and always supplying power even when it's not supposed to.

 

[Konrad]

Good point about MOSFET failures. I've failed MOFET by installing the battery with reversed polarity.

 

[Wayne]

@Kilrah On the X9D+ is that mosfet on the switch board?

 

[Kilrah]

No it's on the mainboard, the switch board only has the charger

 

[fredman2]

Just for curiosity, was this issue ever finalized?

 

[HOQUIAM]

No. The radio is still $#%&!#.

Tom