servo life

[cjcj1949]

I don't think a servo should die due to a bit of binding. I would call that faulty design. There is enough complexity available in the chips to handle this. Some servos have a low stall current. Even cheap ones. Or at least it is in the specs. If the servos can die due to binding it should say in the spec. I can't remember the name of the servo that has a low stall current at the moment, it was one of the fairly cheap newer brands that I couldn't find in the uk. It's only a problem to a supplier if there are lots of returns. If nobody wants a guarantee we may as well buy wholesale as a group and distribute them ourselves. It does seem that new digital servos are easy to destroy.

[Biggles]

Chances are it has been run at 6v the smaller aligns 410/420 do not like 6v if you look at the instructions it does say this.

[wiseman]

i,m starting feel a bit uneasy about my bleating after reading the replies, may be we all should just soak up any costs of heli failiers, im sure RCbagains wont make much on one servo but one duff servo can quickly turn into many more, im going to get a new servo this week, so onwards and upwards, putting the servo issue aside can some one explain how i should test what voltage is going into a servo, this might help me with my next buy.

[Zeeflyboy]

In my experience and humble opinion, the smaller align servos are junk and I won't touch them with a barge pole.

The DS610/620/650 seem better to me and also enjoy a much better reputation, but even so I always end up with Futaba BLS451 and BLS251 for low voltage setups.... It's a combo that I know works well and is reliable so I don't change it lol. I have no experience with the newer align HV servos, on HV I've only ever used the Outrage servos which are great.

[cjcj1949]

Chances are it has been run at 6v the smaller aligns 410/420 do not like 6v if you look at the instructions it does say this.

It is rated at 6V. Someone else had a problem with 410s and a lot of failures and was told that 6V is ok. If it isn't it would be useful to tell people before they buy them.

[cjcj1949]

i,m starting feel a bit uneasy about my bleating after reading the replies, may be we all should just soak up any costs of heli failiers, im sure RCbagains wont make much on one servo but one duff servo can quickly turn into many more, im going to get a new servo this week, so onwards and upwards, putting the servo issue aside can some one explain how i should test what voltage is going into a servo, this might help me with my next buy.

It's the BEC voltage. It's different for each esc. t looks as though it is safer to run servos at 5.0V if you want them to keep working. Some escs are fixed, some have switches and some change it in software.

I don't think it's bleating to expect something to work. If the suppliers want a good profit they should select a good product.

[Biggles]

It is rated at 6V. Someone else had a problem with 410s and a lot of failures and was told that 6V is ok. If it isn't it would be useful to tell people before they buy them.

You have just proved my point ( Someone else had a problem with 410s and a lot of failures and was told that 6V is ok.)..... I have used and set up loads of 250/450 aligns and always set them to 5.5 not had a failure yet!!! Ask anyone what voltage they had been running prior to failure then 99.999999% will say 6v.

At the end of the day Align servos are what they are.....cheap n cheerful.

The servo maybe "rated" at 6v but clearly the failures say otherwise.


(cue false advertising claims blah blah blah).

[cjcj1949]

MKS say 4.8V and mean a 4 cell battery. This would give 5.6V as the absolute max when first plugged in after a charge and 5.2V most of the time dropping to below 4.8V when under very high load like encountering a stiffie. (To use a technical term) MKS also sell and advise individual becs for each servo. This allows the current to be limited to a sensible value like 1.5 amps (depending on servo size) to prevent the servo getting destroyed. You would have to be careful to avoid too much foldback in voltage under high load. Foldback is when a power supply reduces its voltage to a very low level under very high load like a short to limit power dissipation. The 7805 regulators due this and many becs contain them. They would cause mysterious and sudden loss of control in overload. Kontronic use a buffer system with a battery in parallel. This could be a good answer if the bec just supplies enough current for continuous operation and the battery holds the volts at a lower level in overload.

Align aren't cheap servos and my DS520 on the tail of a 450 is troublefree except for peoples comments about it being a bit big.

[wiseman]

now had a response from RC Bagains, basicly saying due to the 28 day warranty period has passed ive had it, and that the servo isnt realy man anough for a 450 tail servo any way.
gonna have to go and buy a bigger and better one.