Troubleshooting

Diagnose the symptom, then trace it back to the build.

Start with the failure, check the likely causes, and tie the fix back to power, signal, video, or setup choices.

No power or instant smoke-stopper trip

Likely cause

Shorted VBAT/GND, reversed harness, solder bridge, wrong pigtail, or damaged ESC.

Check

Continuity check before battery, inspect capacitor polarity, and verify harness pin 1 orientation.

Fix

Disconnect peripherals, isolate ESC and FC, remove bridges, replace damaged power components if needed.

Likely cause

Wrong UART, TX/RX crossed incorrectly, receiver protocol mismatch, inversion/half-duplex issue, or no 5V.

Check

Confirm receiver voltage, Betaflight Ports serial RX, receiver protocol, and pad assignment.

Fix

Move to a free UART, correct wiring, select the right protocol, and re-bind only after power is confirmed.

Likely cause

Motor order mismatch, ESC protocol issue, bidirectional DShot mismatch, overloaded prop, or weak solder joint.

Check

Test props off in Betaflight, verify motor order, inspect phase wires, and compare ESC firmware support.

Fix

Remap motors, reverse direction in ESC Configurator where appropriate, lower load, or choose compatible ESC settings.

Likely cause

Camera/VTX ecosystem mismatch, wrong voltage rail, missing SmartAudio/MSP DisplayPort, or antenna connector issue.

Check

Trace camera-to-VTX or HD unit wiring, confirm voltage rail, and verify selected video setup path.

Fix

Use the correct camera/VTX pair, assign the control protocol, add the needed adapter, or rewire to supported pads.