Carefully review wiring diagrams before applying power

It’s obvious you have to re-pin the connector. I and everyone else has done that on every build. There is no standard, every ESC manufacturer could be, and probably is, different. I know the T-motor, Aikon and Airbot are just to name 3 I have used.

“Bad wiring diagram” is not an appropriate title for this.

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Maybe a misleading diagram would be better. You must agree that the Matek WD does not look like what is on the ESC image, right?

When I started my project I found that good wiring diagrams are hard to find. In fact, this one is from the GetFPV site. I cannot get a WD from the manufacturer so far.

When one starts a project they assume, and of this of course is bad, that the diagrams are correct. This outline looks like my ESC, but the wiring is wrong.

Anyway, Matek should probably just label the pins on their FC and not show wires going to an ESC because there are different ESCs to consider.

I don’t think so. Nothing at all wrong with it. If there was you would not be the 1st to point it as these are very popular boards all over the forum. You connected it wrong and apparently smoked the board. OK bummer, but that’s it. I suppose you connected Vbat to something you were not supposed to connect? Didn’t we discuss this already in another thread?

Yea but so what? It’s an example of one of many showing function to function connections. These types of illustration are all over the hobby.

It is still misleading. Had Matek just labeled their pins with no additional wiring, I would have searched for the correct WD for my ESC and no error would have occured. However, they put an incorrect diagram on their website and I assumed they were correct. No so.

If the information is not correct, then don’t publish it!

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So Dave, if I showed you a WD with 110 VAC connected the the Tx and RX of a usart, you would think this is OK, right?

If you showed that to me I would assume that your diagram is wrong and go to the source for the correct diagram.
I fail to see the point of this post. If it was titled “I smoked my Matek board by miss-wiring it” and then explained how you did so that at least would help others avoid it. Everyone else has seen that same diagram and built correctly.

For anyone else reading this let’s go back to your previous post and understand how you were able to get this wrong:
FC/ESC wiring

Let’s just agree to disagree, OK?

There are no connection standards, Unless you bought it as a set you need to check what the pins are on each device and order the wires to match. The pinout in the diagram for each component is correct, you made the error by not checking the wiring was going to the right place.

The only controllers with a connection standard are the pixhawk variants, but even then there is a difference between pixhawk 1 and all the newer, pixhawk versions.

Matek claims there is a standard…Betaflight Connector Standard | Betaflight

The outline of the ESC on the Matek WD looks like mine so I (erroneously) thought it OK.

I have rewired the iinterface and it is a no-go. I got 12 vdc on the Vbat pin but all other pins, including the gnd are at about 7-8 volts.

Next time, I am going to buy a cheap stack, not a very expensive Matek H743.

I have learned an expensive lesson here. Perhaps I should have just bought a DJI drone.

That’s a proposed betaflight standard. Matek may choose to support it or not. There are other standards, Droncode supports one. The problem is not a standard and some FC’s and ESC’s Don’t even have the same number of circuits on these interconnects.

But, the title of the post is now accurate in any case.

Perhaps so. Building RC craft isn’t for everyone and mistakes and failure happen. I lost a DJI Mavic Air in a river. It wasn’t the fault of object detection it was my fault for overestimating it’s capability. Expensive lesson but I don’t think i’ll lose the Mini 3 pro in a river…

I don’t think wiring up things is a rocket science job. It is easy if you start with correct information. Now my challenge is to determine what has been destroyed. I think I should be able to run my ESC from my PWM radio receiver outputs. In a similar manner one would think that I can look at the PWM outputs with a scope and see if they work. The puzzle for me now is why there is no continuity between the Battery ground and the Ground wire going from the ESC to the FC. Seems like there should be.??

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There might be some intentional circuit isolation in the voltage regulator circuit.

Cost is apparently very relative. I often use Matek hardware because it tends to be quite cheap by comparison to other similarly featured autopilots.

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Did you connect Vbat to the wrong pin? If so what pin? What’s the symptom of it not working? If you connected it to a motor output the FC is likely shot.

Actually a new post would be best for troubleshooting assistance.

Yes, by wiring per the “good” WD. I connected Vbat 12v to Motor out 4 or was it 1. Whatever it was with the wires. The FC works when powered from the Computer USB. All functions work. I am thinking about driving the ESC from the PWM of my radio receiver to see if it is still working. Anyway, I am having fun.

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OK, so no problem seen so far?
I’m surprised the microcontroller survived that.

If I can figure out a way to send signals out the motor ports, PWM or digital, I can look at them on a scope. Can I do this using MP with/without having my radio connected??? There are so many config parameters there is surely a setting that will allow this, sort of like Arming with no ESC connected.

MissionPlanner motor test
Configure the copter as an octo to test 8 outputs at once

As @xfacta suggests for low level output. You will need to monitor the actual outputs to determine if there is any PWM signal produced.
What do you have connected?

I must be blind, i dont see any discrepancy, it seems to go vbat, gnd, spare, curr, and four motors after that on both diagrams, but whatever you seem to have it sorted out now anyway.

Right now, nothing is connected to the ESC. I seem to be getting 400 Hz square waves on the motor pins. This is good. The duty cycle varies with my radio lever movements… To me this says the FC is probably good. I get 13 satellites locked.

Now to check the ESC somehow with my radio receiver.