Beware of cheap dangerous servos sold online.

[EarlyBird]

Here

 

 

[gangster]

Subtle difference both of mine differ from the previous pictures The odd one out in my collection is definitely more pink. The purple ones have different font positions and sizes to the genuine one shown. Both servos have the dimples but the cases are different the mounting lugs on the purple one is lower. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by gangster

[Robin Colbourne]

3 hours ago, Martin McIntosh said:

Somewhere on here, maybe a couple of months or so ago, somebody put a pic of a genuine TowerPro alongside a fake one. I was able to identify the ones I have as fakes. They are unusable for various reasons. Shame because the spec. is very good.

That's just it Martin; the spec is good, because it is as fake as everything else about the servo.  The seller, if he knows they are fake, will spout any old tosh to encourage you to buy them, and if he doesn't know they are fake, is just repeating the rubbish he has read from whoever sold them to him.  There is nothing that can be believed about fake servos except that they bear a passing resemblance to a product from a reputable manufacturer who (hopefully) stands by the specification that they quote.
 

[J D 8]

 The situation looks much the same with the basic SG 90 servos, been going through some I have and have found a couple of fake's, plastic arms also seem a bit brittle.  How can it be worth faking such low cost items ? Just the numbers sold I suppose.

[Martin McIntosh]

I checked with the OEM`s spec, not that of an ebay seller.

[gangster]

So  we pay £2 and get a servo that, Has a brittle output arm, indifferent spline, noisy pot that does not centre well, wiper that wears out in a short time, a case that is not great  and indifferent plastic gears

Hang on I have just described a Skyleader SRC1 of the 70s And they were swifter and queter and stronger than many of their contemporarys  So perhaps £12-£15 for a good standard servo is the real bargain

 

The difference is back then they cost over £20, which in real terms is well over £100.

[Martin McIntosh]

Quite. My Prestige set used Kraft KPS11`s with the same chip as Skyleader. Intensive F3A practice meant that they had to be stripped every six weeks. Pot removed and cleaned and the screwed together motors had the com. cleaned. A noisy pot is almost unheard of today even on 20 or 30 year old servos.

[Don Fry]

So these fake servos put us back 20 years. That is good news.

[Alan Hilton]

I have futaba and jr servos that I have had for 30 years ,and have been well used ,that are still working as well as the day I bought them . How cheap were these ?

[Stuart Z]

I bought servos (“FUTABA 3003”) and they didn’t centre and could not be positioned by hand-unlike the real thing.  They went in the bin, lesson learned and ordered from the Servo Shop, Steve Webb.  Better quality, behaved like the should and still good value.  (I remember the cost in the 70’s. )