David Pearce 4 Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I'm just putting my E-Flight Pulse XT25e together and am just about to use my Irvine Z Bend pliers for the first time. I noticed that the supplied pushrods are reasonably thick and did a dry run on some scrap rod of the same thickness. The Z bend appeared as expected but I noticed that the length of the rod that the servo arm would fit (the vertical section) was very short. When I test fitted an arm it was so snug a fit that the arm doesn't lay flat and if screwed back onto the sero would exert an unwanted twisting force. Does anybody have a similar experience/advice? Maybe I just need a right angle bend and a keeper. (Sorry, that's a lot of words for a simple question but difficult to explain without a picture.) Thanks David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanR Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 David, is the vertical section actually vertical ie at 90 degs to the other 2 sections? Does the servo arm actually fit between the 2 horizontal sections? Could you use a thinner section of rod for the Z bend and attach this to the control rod? Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Pearce 4 Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Hi Ian Yes it's at 90 derees. Fitting a thinner rod for the bend would help, how do you join them? The supplied pushrods are long and travel through tubes to the rudder/elevator and I don't have spares so I want to get his right. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Pearce 4 Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 I think I may have solved this by simply fitting a thinner servo arm. The ones that came with the Hitec HS225BBs were a little thicker than others I have. But I still think the tool creates rather a shallow vertical section for anything above a mini sevo arm. Of course I could be doing something wrong! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 No David, you are doing nothing wrong they do bend em tight, so its a thinner servo arm or a tweak with some long nosed pliers. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Pearce 4 Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 Thanks John, so much to learn coming back to this hobby but I'm getting there with help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 David I've had this problem for years when using 2mm pushrods and I'm rather surprised that as yet there's still no other manufacturer I know of who has rectified this by making a new Z bend pliers to correctly make Z bends to fit standard 2mm pushrods to standard servo arms, surely that's what the majority of modellers use them for ?! My remedy is to put a slight bend in the rod about 10mm behind the 'Z bend' between the servo and control surface so it doesn't twist the servo arm. Still looks tidy and works for me. Ronaldo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark bullement Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I find long nosed pliers do the job a lot better you can bend it to just the way you need it to be I put my Irvine Z Bend Pliers in the bin as I found them to over bend form time to time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I can't remember what make my Z-bend pliers are - but I've not encountered this problem? BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Have you tried doing a z bend with good long nosed pliers??, ever so easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max50 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Don't know my make of z bend pliers, but mine's the same David. Too short a 90 for the servo arms. In the end i had to use long nose pliers to tweek them. Haven't used them for a while now, just stuck in the drawer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I use small servos quite a lot (9 gram metal geared) The arms are not large enough for 2 mm rods. I bend Z bends in 18 SWG wire and attach these to 2 mm rods by binding with copper wire and soldering them. I use the normal Z bend pliers for these. I also have a supurb set of American Z bend pliers that literarly pull the wire into a Z bend but they only work with 16 SWG or the American equivelent. Don't know where to get these as mine came from Stu Richmond many, many years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Pearce 4 Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Thanks for all your helpful replies. My Irvine pliers are the ones with the "navigation pin" which makes it easy to bend at the right length. So it's a pity that they aren't sized just a little larger to fit some of the thicker servo arms. But at least I now know it's not just me, and I've successfully used a thinner arm Thanks again all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 These are those great American Z bend pliers. I had forgotten that they do work with 2 mm rods, Can't think how I did that. If you ever see a pair of these...Buy them. I need a new pair, mine still work but they are chipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Cooper Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I found this on UTube **LINK** and found it an easy way to make "Z" bends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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