LED Navigation light and RC servo troubleshooting 


5mm, 8mm or 10mm LED lights not working

The LED lights are wired to be used on 4.8Vdc only. Using these light on any voltage higher than that without a 5V voltage regulator or a dropping resistor will cause these light to burn out quickly.

Listed below are some things that may cause the lights and RC servo switch not to work.

Problem : Led light not lighting up. 

Cause: Broken wire in the heat shrink tubing. The wire is a 30 gage wire and too much pulling and twisting may cause on of the wires to break. Cut back the heat shrink tubing and resolder if necessary.

Cause: Reverse polarity. The black wire is the negative (-) side of the LED. This should go to the Neg (-) side of your 4.8V battery or supply.

Cause: Burnt (black) electrode inside the LED.  This can be seen by looking closely at the 2 electrodes inside the LED.  If this has happened the LED is defective and will need to be replaced (this problem may be caused by too much voltage).

Problem: LED getting hot when left on for long period of time. 

Cause: This is normal operation. The current draw that is needed to operate at the high MCD will cause the LED to get warm to the touch. With the air travel over the LED when the plane is in the air, this will help the heat transfer and keep it cooler.


RC servo switch not working properly

Problem: Switch not functioning on or off. 

Cause: Switch plugged in backwards in the receiver. Check polarity of the 3 pin connector. The Black/Brown wire is the Neg (-) side of the plug.

Solution: Need to adjust the EPA (end point adjustment) or servo travel adjustment to more than 100%

Solution: Adjust trim to more positive/Negative travel.

Problem: Switch working in the opposite direction than wanted on gimble control. 

Solution: Reverse servo direction on the transmitter.

Problem: LED lights not turning off. 

Solution: As stated in the instructions you will need to wire the LED or switched device for switching the Neg (-) side. On RC servo switches that have 3 wire output connector the RED wire is the positive side and the WHITE/YELLOW wire is the SWITCHED NEG (-).


Higher voltage operation

If need to operate on higher voltages than 4.8 - 5.0Vdc, I suggest you use a separate battery for the LED's (4.8 battery pack), use a 5V BEC or use a dropping resistor for the different voltages (see below)

5mm LED lights:

6 - 7V operation you will need a  10 Ohm, 1 Watt resistor in series with the voltage supply.

10 - 12V operation you will need a 20 Ohm, 3 Watt resistor in series with the voltage supply  

8mm and 10mm LED lights:

6 - 7V operation you will need a  5 Ohm, 3 watt resistor in series with the voltage supply.

10 - 12V operation you will need a 15 Ohm, 10Watt resistor in series with the voltage supply.


Strobe module

Module not working:

Make sure you have 2 LED's connected and the polarity is correct. The red center wire on the plug is positive and the white and black are the switching negative. 

If you using a "Y" connector with the strobe module, make sure you follow the schematic for proper polarity of the LED's and module.

Strobe lights will not turn off when used on a RC servo switch:

Make sure you are using the correct color wires on the output side of the RS servo switch. You must use the red (positive) and the WHITE (switching neg). If using the red and black output wires the module will not turn off.


 

 

 

 

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