Tower Pro MG945 Servos - Any Good?

[Shaun K]

I've recently bought a  MG945 servo via ebay which I intend to use for mechanical retracts in a new project. Before buying this servo I read feedback on other forums such as RCGroups which seemed pretty positive. I've hooked it up to a receiver and it seems to work just fine, a little slow but very powerful. I figure that as a first test at least if a servo fails on retracts I land on the belly and scratch the plane a little. If it fails on elevator or ailerons it's "Bye Bye Plane".

Now this afternoon (Australian time) I mentioned to the local hobby shop guys that I am going to use a MG945 servo and there was a collective gasp of horror from behind the counter. They gave me a tale of woe about how they once bought a batch of 50 as a trial and had 46 returned over time. Is this a one-off bad batch or a common complaint?

Has anyone had any experiences, GOOD or BAD with these Tower Pro / Chinese MG945 servos? I'd love to hear any feedback you've got.

Thanks, Shaun K.

[Tim Mackey]

Well not so much the actual servo model, but Tower pro stuff does have general nickname for their stuff "Tower poo". having said that I do actually have one of their EScs and it is surprisingly still going strong after 100+ flights

As for using a normal proportional servo as a retract servo, well it is unusual, - I know it gives the option to slow things down unlike a "proper" retract servo, but as for belly landing, well that all depends on when within the cycle of operation the servo decides to quit doesnt it. If it stalls /stops whatever when the legs are halfway open then you are worse off than either fully up or fully down!

Thas just one reason why I now only ever fit air up /spring down retracts. 

[Tentpeg]

Hi Shaun,

How are things in the luverly Land of OZ? I once spent five very enjoyable years in Sydney, great place! 

I don't have any experience with Tower Pro 945 servos, but have purchased quite a few MG 995s from Hong Kong with absolutely no problems at all.

This is a metal geared digital servo and I bought four of them on ebay, from two separate dealers at the price of £5.50 each.. including postage! 

If you work that out in Aussie dollars, I think you'll find it's CHEAP.

It sounds as though your local dealer could be scare mongering. I would ignore him if I were you and take a chance.

Good luck.

Regards,

Tentpeg.

[Andy Green]

MG995 have been discussed before on this forum, try a search and see the comments.

Also check out best practice for retract servos, like using a separate battery pack.

Andy

[Tentpeg]

Good advice about the separate battery for retracts, but, unfortunately, Shaun originally asked about 945 servos and I've never had experience of these. Has anybody out there heard of them? Maybe a different designation for the Antipodes?

Regards,

Tentpeg. 

[Shaun K]

Thanks all.  The MG945 is a similar servo to the MG995, being a little less powerful. The MG945 is rated at 12kg torque and the 995 is rated at 15kg from what I have seen.

In reply to Tentpeg, as for cost my MG945 was also delivered from Hong Kong for $18AUD. Comparing that to the closest thing from Hitec would see me paying $59 "on special". 

Andy - Thanks,  I'll check out the forum on MG995s and see what the comments there are too. Also need to research how to hook up a separate battery to the retracts...

Thanks again.

[Andy Green]

Shaun

There is already a thread on retracts on this forum.

http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forum/forummessages/mps/dt/4/utn/1099/last/1/V/1/SP/

It tells you all you need to know.

Andy