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[SOLVED] Spirit GT governor, throttle output unchanged

Posted: Sat 02. Apr 2022 17:04:54
by Orjan
Hello again gents.

Raptor 90 3D, OS 91 HZ, Hatori muffler.
The engine is still tuned slightly rich after breaking in a new piston ring and a honed sleeve.

I gave the Spirit governor another try, and I can't get my head around what it's doing and what I am seeing in the log.
In flight on climbout the heli does climb very well, but on tictocs it can't sustain the rpm over some time.
Almost halfway in the flight I landed to adjust the needle a bit, and when flipping it into IdleUp 1 and 2 again there was no difference in sound between them. The rpm also sounded quite higher than before, so I think the governor didn't engage?
I landed again and felt the backplate to feel the temperature, but it was fine.
Up again and this time the governor took control, a lower rpm and there was a difference between Idle 1 and 2.
I looked at the log with the RPM and Throttle output, and there is something weird. The throttle output curve is very flat and "unresponsive", so I don't know what is causing this?

In the Governor/Throttle settings the requested rpm are 1700 in Idle1 and 1900 in Idle2.
The logging rate is set to 50Hz.

If anyone could shed some light over what I am doing wrong, or what the GT is doing wrong it would be very much appreciated! :)

I attach a screenshot of the Advanced Flight Viewer and the Governor/Throttle settings.
The red colour is Throttle output and the green is RPM.
If you need anything else just let me know.


Cheers guys,
Orjan.

Re: Spirit GT governor, throttle output unchanged when loade

Posted: Sun 03. Apr 2022 18:59:28
by ZeXx86
Hello,

if you are unsure if Governor is working, please check Flight Log where you should see Governor was Engaged event.

Please make sure to engage Governor directly from idle RPM. This could help to resolve the problem.
I do not recommend to use that gain high values for Governor. Instead please start with 3 and 2 for example.

Can you tell me what sensor do you use and how is it connected?

Re: Spirit GT governor, throttle output unchanged when loade

Posted: Sun 03. Apr 2022 21:48:07
by Orjan
Hello sir.

I did in fact have a look at the log, and it had several "Governor was engaged" events. But it just seemed that one time that it didn't engage...

But anyhow;
I have a neighbor who knows about sensors and we have measured the ones I have used. Let's just say that they didn't even remotely come close to where they should be...
So that is fault number 1, my own.
Second fault, also my own, is that I never used the "Tester" in the Spirit Governor/throttle settings until today. And that showed a sensor that was Active the whole time EXCEPT when passing over the magnet.
Surely that must have messed with things...

So I just ordered a Spirit RPM sensor. Hopefully that will be better 8-)

Usually I take off in Normal mode and then switch to IdleUp when in hover/flight, but I will try as suggested.
I will also adjust the gain down, no wonder I had to increase them with a faulty sensor...

I have used the sensor that came with the ThrottleJockey Revmax from Model Avionics, it's a hall sensor but that doesn't mean it's working correct for the Spirit governor.
See the picture below. My neighbor tried searching for info on it, but there was nothing to be found.

EDIT: the connection is Brown and Red wire (from the bottom up) on CH0, and Orange wire to mid pin on ELE/PIT/AIL.

Thank you for all good tips, much appreciated! :)
I will report back here when I have installed and tested the Spirit sensor.

Cheers,
Orjan.

Re: Spirit GT governor, throttle output unchanged when loade

Posted: Thu 07. Apr 2022 20:52:02
by Orjan
So I just got the Spirit RPM sensor and tested it by checking the "Sensor RPM tester" in the Spirit software.
It is actually showing the same as the other sensor I had before:
When away from magnet, Active.
When close to magnet, Inactive.

Is that correct behaviour? Or should it be the other way around?


Cheers,
Orjan.

Re: Spirit GT governor, throttle output unchanged when loade

Posted: Fri 08. Apr 2022 6:13:55
by ZeXx86
It is OK, although it might be confusing.
Main question is how reading will work. I believe that correctly.

Re: Spirit GT governor, throttle output unchanged when loade

Posted: Fri 08. Apr 2022 21:20:27
by Orjan
If the weather is flyable I will test it this weekend, and see how it works.

Thanks for your help so far :)


Cheers,
Orjan.

Re: Spirit GT governor, throttle output unchanged when loade

Posted: Tue 12. Apr 2022 22:05:53
by Orjan
So, I have finally been able to do some testing.

It seems to be working correctly now :) And I think I know why....
When I set everything up my brain followed the procedure I am used to do, which includes setting up and activating the Governor menu in my radio.
After I disabled everything Governor related in the radio, including switches, I tested this again.
And it looks to be working consistently now. Looks like the radio Governor messed it up now and then...
Only thing is that the requested RPM in the Spirit Tester was set to 1900 rpm, but the actual rpm was around 2050.
But that is no big issue as all I had to do was get a fellow pilot to tack my headspeed, and with a few adjustments it was done. It seems to hold that headspeed cosistently.

Now it's just a bit of tweaking of some parameters. Think it will work just fine :)

Thank you very much for your assistance :)


Cheers,
Orjan.

Re: Spirit GT governor, throttle output unchanged when loade

Posted: Wed 13. Apr 2022 13:41:07
by ZeXx86
Thank you for the message.

Wish you a lot of successful flights!