Hello, my name is Mario ,this is my first time trying to build my own quadcopter I’m using an aluminum frame, 30A ESC, A2212 1000kv BLDC, 1045 Props, 200A wattmeter, and a 3s 5200mah 80C Lipo battery. Now I had a stand with a load cell fitted so that I can record the data of my voltage vs thrust to include in my design. Before testing or even buying these motors I researched and they are supposed to reach up to 900 grams of lift while drawing nearly 18A. Now after calibrating and checking all my connections my watt meter indicates that the motor is only drawing 1A at most and generating 200 grams of lift at full throttle ,which i send using an arduino so i sure of it.Please help because as mentioned this is my first time and i really have no idea what this problem could be caused from.
Thank you in advance.
Try to calibrate your esc min/max throttle.
Sounds like it only goes up to ~25% throttle or something 
Thank you for replying. I checked the calibration multiple times I’m pretty sure that the esc is correctly calibrated and recieving the full throttle signal (2000)
please sent pic of the set up with watt meter and esc motor setup. carnt picture in head may be able to help further.
Ok, lets back up a little, what size frame are you using, did you make it, or is it a manufactured frame? What kind of firmware are you using for your flight controller, are you doing this whole thing with just arduino? I know what that is, but not familiar with it. If you’re building a quadcopter for the first time arduino might be a struggle. The most popular for quadcopters is Betaflight, there are others out there and some offshoots of Betaflight itself, but it will be the easiest for someone new, it is open source, available and fully supported on Github. Then what brand of ESC’s did you get, because there is firmware for those too, most newer ones don’t need calibrating if they are BLHeli, but there are a lot of tweeks and settings you need to manage in BLHeli software.
Multi-rotor copters are finicky pieces of machinery, a lot of things you work out on paper and research, don’t always hold true on the bench test, and the bench test doesn’t always prove true in flight. For example, here is a quote from Oscar Liang, quad guru…
> In static conditions, the propeller pushes more air than in flight, so on the bench your motor produces more thrust, with the greater load, it therefore draws more current. When the drone is flying forward (moving through “free air”), the load is actually smaller, so the amp draw is lower. In addition, the FC always leaves a little throttle headroom to stabilize the copter, so you will never actually see 100% of your motors capability. Based on my personal experience, maximum amp draw is usually 20% to 30% lower in flight than in static testing".
Also, those props are 10inch, correct? Most race quads are 5", meaning the frame is usually between, 240mm to 260mm, they are measured from motor post to motor post diagonally across the quad to get frame size. They are classified in official racing though, by their prop size, so the 5" class, you can have what ever size of frame you want, but the props have to be 5inch. So most other quad hobbyist use the same nomenclature, like…
“I just finished a new 3inch build!” would mean it’s probably between a 120mm-150mm frame, and has 3 or 3.5inch props. I tell you this because most 5" racers run 2205-2306 size motors, granted, it’s at a higher kv, but 10" is just to big for that motor size. Most quads with that size prop are running 2600 size motors, unless it’s an octocopter.
Also, if you are running a big quad, 3s batteries probably aren’t enough juice. and if you’re going to keep the 10inch props and up your motor size, you’re going to need higher rated ESCs ampwise. Remember, the amp rating on the ESC’s is a rating on what the motors can pull through them, not what they give the motor. Also, the “c” rating on 'lipo" batteries for quads is very different, than the “c” rating used for charging and discharging on battery chargers. If you are not building a racing quad, 80c is a little overkill. The simple definition is that is a burst type rating, an amount of voltage the battery can handle without getting voltage sag (performance of quad can’t keep up with voltage demands, and your quad is noticeably weak for split second or two) when the pilot goes full throttle briefly for a maneuver. If you take anything away from the rambling of this retired firefighter, learn about lipo batteries, I made the mistake of taking them for granted when I first got into the hobby, and almost burned down my basement. They are a very well made and a safe technology when handled correctly, but they are nasty when things go wrong. I’ll put a link at the end of one of the best safety articles I’ve found on lipos.
So let me know those stats, I’ll put a link below also to Oscar Liang’s page, he’s a wealth of all around knowledge for anything that flies. Also leaving a link to a Joshua Bardwell video showing how to download betaflight and BLheli, he is the foremost guru when it comes to building race/freestyle quads, but covers a lot of areas, and is very popular for teaching newcomers, and veterans alike. Happy Flying!
They only let me put two links, here are the other two…lol
