Servo saver?

[Cooper]

Anybody use servo savers? Im running a saw cat and when she goes airborne the servo shears off or strips the gears. I'm using a hitec lowpro servo. Works best for how I have the setup. I'm not really turning the cat much so if the forces during a turn press on the springs in the servo saver I guess it wouldn't matter much. I'm just tired of replacing servos after a flight! It's not a common occurrence that she goes airborne so I don't need input on that. Air dam top and bottom. Flight usually is from me pushing it too much in less than perfect conditions.

[Fluid]

I find your story strange - I have crashed many times in several boats at speeds well in excess of 75 mph - and have yet to damage a servo. I use full-size standard digital servos in my fast boats, usually but not always with metal gears. The last thing I want is play in the servo linkage on a fast boat, that WILL cause a crash. I have heard of a very few guys using servo savers, but none of them were record holders.....



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[Cooper]

So far this summer I've replaced 3 servos, just today another one!

[Fluid]

Then it's clearly time to upgrade your servos. If it's a 77BB servo - you can't expect much from a cheap servo. Get a 7775 MG instead. Yes it's three times the price of the cheap one, but if it doesn't break you'll be ahead. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result....


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[MR2NR]

Servo savers are really just used for cars and trucks unless you really love your servo. If you are ruining servos in a boat or plane you are doing it wrong....no really there must be too much bind in the rudder.

[properchopper]

I've run through lots of servos (admittedly they weren't the good ones Jay talks about) in my tunnels. When tunnels go acrobatic the long outdrive cranks hard on the servo and breaks gears or other internals. Tried the spring-loaded servo saver thingie ; didn't work very good at all - not enough spring tension for the outdrive turning-torque.

Then again, One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.... I shore am rasta picture.jpg (and a record holder)

[Cooper]

Servo savers are really just used for cars and trucks unless you really love your servo. If you are ruining servos in a boat or plane you are doing it wrong....no really there must be too much bind in the rudder.

No bind, only bind is the rubber boot seal. I'm not going through servos from regular use just from going 10 feet in the air going 95 + mph. ( not intensional). This is set up for saw only.
Yes hitec hs-77bb
Doing it wrong? I'm asking if others using "cheep" hitec servos ever Sher off the spline shaft or strip gears from a fast airborne crash. I just wanted to know if anyone uses/used savers. I have an all metal blue bird low pro to replace. Again I have never broken or striped a servo while running normal. I had the hull split on the front mate line on the sponsons also, was not the easiest part to reinforce so I may have skimped there. From another time, had the stinger bend where the vertical adjustment is too. Not from normal running but from high speed wreck.

So no to the saver, I didn't think so but wanted to know if anyone else was using them on saw boats.

[Remmie81]

Dont know what kind of arm/horn you are using. Plastic or metal one?
If you have a metal gear servo and a plastic arm(?), most of the time the arm will break if you crash hard instead of the servo breaking down.
Its cheap to replace the servor arm.

I always try to build in a "weak" spot. In my case the servo arm that will always be plastic and not metal. It has saved my servo's many times.

[line6]

try the Hitec HS-5645MG great servo for the price.


Jason Sims

[MR2NR]

I have seen and heard that Blue Bird servos are the lowest rated in the market. Like Remmie was saying I would look into a breakaway type setup with a metal gear servo. Maybe with a plastic servo arm or take some of the material out of the metal arm where it breaks there instead so you'll break the 30$ arm before the 70$ servo in a crash :) 95+ though and your in the world of expensive crashes no matter what though

[sanyijr]

That is strange... What are you using it in? Pics of linkage setup? Something isn't correct on that hardware I would assume.... weird for sure.

S

[Cooper]

http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...5&d=1330573169
http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/...7&d=1331605831
I'm not sure why some of you guys think this is strange? It's not a sport set up, I'm not really sure how to make things never break from a serious wreck at speed. It's not a common occurrence , but has happened several times and yes I'm using 20$ servos, less expensive to replace compared to other parts, transom, servo mount (just more work repairing )
I'm not sure if you can see in the pics but the 440 rod passes through 1/4 brass lined with Teflon then a rubber boot seal is attached so it woulnt leek. Boot is greased also so the rod can even slide in the tight end of the boot. There is two minimal bends in the linkage just to get a better straight shot to rudder. When rudder is turned in either direction the rod barely touches the Teflon. So I'm pretty sure there is no bind in linkage. Again it's not breaking from normal use but from hellacious crashes above 90mph. I don't think I could reinforce this set up to be bullet proof and still float. I just wanted to know if anyone used/uses savers? I'm not worked about replacing 20$ servos in the aspect of cost, more of a pain and time issue. Straight line racing, so if the springs on a saver resulted in a slight loss of turning radius then no biggie. Again I just wanted to know if anyone used them, I have not used one but was thinking about it. Simple question in my opinion. If the links don't show up then you can look at it under the build page under Cooper's shocker build #2
Thanks

[properchopper]

Cooper,

based on my experience using the servo saver on tunnels (which put lots of stress on the servos in fliperoos) I'd say that for straightlines they may work. The "lever action" of the tunnel outdrive puts lots more torque-feedback on the servo which shouldn't occur in your setup. I also buck conventional wisdom on servo spending; I love these ALL METAL servos for the $$ (and use plastic servo arms for the "fuse"): http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...5g_0_2sec.html

166 oz/in at 4.8V

[Cooper]

Thanks for the input, I set this boat up for using low profile servos, price isn't a concern, hell probablyhave over $1000 in it. Was just curious if anybody used um. When I run out of servos, I'll probably pull the mount and use a sideway mount so I can use standard size servos.

[daveives]

Is the rudder hinge line at the front of the rudder or one third to one half way back along the rudder chord?
How about a picture of the rudder setuP? If hinged at the front, maybe this makes the loading higher.