Although the Fullspeed TL is 3S rated, it could be different or I just had a bad luck. During my Fullspeed TinyLeader review, initially I test it with 2S battery and everything went good. Being curios to test its top performance, I powered it with a 3S LIPO pack. On first full throttle, some smoke came out from the drone and stopped working. I switched back to 2s and only one motor continued to work correctly :(
Firstly I contacted the manufacturer in order to check if such failure is covered by warranty. They didn’t even answer, which shows very poor customer service. I think I will stop featuring their products on First Quadcopter. Secondly, I contacted the seller. Their first replay was very positive and promised to send me a replacement ESC. Later, it proved to be also dead-end, no more replies. Finally, I order it from Banggood and paid it personally. It cost me US$24.99 with included free shipping.
FullSpeed FSD408 ESC main specs
- Compact 4 in 1 design;
- BLheli_S firmware;
- 8 Ampere rated;
- 1-3S LiPo compatible;
- Pre-soldered motor and FC plugs;
- Included screws;
- 16 x 16 mm mounting holes.
In 3 weeks after I placed my order, I received it. Besides the ESC, there are a flight controller servo cable and some screws included in the bag. No installation nor wiring instructions. Despite that product pictures shows that plugs are provided separably, luckily, they were soldered on the board.
Fullspeed TinyLeader ESC replacement guide
In order to replace the ESC, you need to disassemble the drone completely. Firstly I removed the canopy with the FPV camera, than the flight controller and radio receiver. After the above steps you have full access to the ESC and you just need to remove the motor plugs and take out the board. As tools, only a tiny Phillips screwdriver is required.
As the new board comes without battery cable, you need to reuse it from the broken ESC. This step requires a soldering iron, unfortunately. IMHO, they should provide the board fully functional with soldered XT30 cable, especially that the FSD408 speed controller is quite pricey.
So far so good, I put everything back, loaded the battery and gave it some throttle. Damn, still wont take off, just wobble on the ground till “shuts-down” (check the video below).
I asked on Facebook and RcGroups how to fix it; most answers were regarding the propeller order and motor direction. None of the solutions helped. Being desperate, I checked everything again and I found on BetaFlight Configurator that Accelerometer Roll Trim was set to 180° instead of 0° (don’t ask me how and why). I set it to 0 degrees and surprise!, it worked like new :)
Conclusions
Even without the manufacturer’s customer support, you can try to repair your drone. In most cases, you can find solid owner groups on Facebook or RC forums, which could give you a clue about how to fix your drone.
Just trow it away and purchase a new one, is not very environmentally friendly. Also, I found repairing my drone almost as fun as flying it. Furthermore, you can save a lot of money, while a brand new drone TinyLeader costs more than $100, most spare parts are below 25 bucks.
Finally, if you are thinking seriously about entering into this hobby, I highly suggest you to acquire some basic tools like a set of screwdrivers, a multi-meter, and a soldering iron.