Andy J Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 Need 6 or possibly 8 servos depending on what I can find in my spares stash for a mid size sports model. Searching on ebay for a suitable set of engines for the model led me to one site selling considerable quantities of used servos such as Futaba. Prices seem to be half of a new item so quite tempted to go down the route of buying used items. Given it should be very simple to weed out any duff servo on a cylic test is this approach likely to be a false economy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarlyBird Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 3 hours ago, Andy Joyce said: Given it should be very simple to weed out any duff servo on a cylic test is this approach likely to be a false economy? Yes, it is as there are too many fakes out there. The advice on here has been 'only buy from a reputable dealer (LMS)'. A club mate bought four 'Futaba' servos on ebay for £20 an experienced modeler took one look and said 'they are fakes do not use them bin them' later when tested non worked reliably, cheap? I have also read on here that fake servos can be fitted to second hand models just to make them more attractive and increase the price, not something that I have seen myself. Even if they are genuine, you have no knowledge of how near to the end of their life they are. They could pass the test then a few flights later fail in mid-air at the cost of the model. Based on this advice I only fit new servos bought from a reputable dealer like 4-Max. BTW there are topics on here with photos showing how to spot a fake. Here is one Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) yes Don't !, a good new servo from a reputable dealer is a cheap price to pay for the safety of your beloved flying missile, and the rest of your mates on the flying field. A friend did buy some new Futaba 3003 on ebay, all rubbish copies that were binned,,, Second hand Helicopters will be different, they don't normally go the 'cheap' way,,, Edited July 11, 2022 by Paul De Tourtoulon helis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 In general, I would say - don't do it. Like Paul's friend I wasted a few quid on some (Hitec 635 in my case) which turned out to be fake. I did get my money back after some to and fro with the Ebay complaint mechanism... but after returning the fakes to the seller, they had put them straight back up on Ebay a week later. Scum! I would now only buy second hand servos only when I knew the seller and had certainty they would not be fake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wagg Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 How about these from 4-Max ? https://www.4-max.co.uk/servo-4max-4M-100AMG-022.html https://www.4-max.co.uk/servo-4max-4M-175AMG-030.html https://www.4-max.co.uk/servo-4max-4M-410ABH-052.html I have had a few of these and up to now no problems although probably not enough flying to be considered a good test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 If you need to save money on servos then do what we all used to do - move servos from model to model! Just leave the servo arms in the model and still attached to the clevis when you remove the servo- this saves having to work out the movement required when reinstalling the servos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 Given the price of new servos now, it's hardly worth trying to buy second hand ones. Even if the seller is genuine, a friend, club mate, whatever, you don't necessarily know how old the servo is, how it was installed, whether crashed, bashed or left in an oily dusty drawer for 17 years. In moving servos around, I do wish that all the servo manufacturers would settle on a universal spline size/type/number, it would make things much simpler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 They could start with standard sizes....... not standard-ish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Carlton Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 That's a point GG, especially when it seems that particular servos become unavailable quite regularly to be replaced by a similar one that won't fit in the place you planned for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Walsh Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 On 11/07/2022 at 20:07, kc said: If you need to save money on servos then do what we all used to do - move servos from model to model! Just leave the servo arms in the model and still attached to the clevis when you remove the servo- this saves having to work out the movement required when reinstalling the servos. I remember that, one transmitter, one receiver, one battery and four servos. I had a 4 channel Sprengbrook set and the standard size linear servos were installed in spring steel clips so you buy extra clips for your models and just swap them over without fiddling around with screws. They also had some resilience in the case of a crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 I had need to put a new aileron servo in my Durafly Vampire today which reminded me of another area for possible standardisation. Digging through my box of working servos, I found one of the right size, spliced and soldered the lead and connected the linkage. Of course, Mr Murphy struck at this point and both ailerons deflected the same way when I tried it with the transmitter. Removing the factory Y lead and programming a second aileron channel provided a simple resolution but it could have been a different story had I been short of spare channels on the receiver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul De Tourtoulon Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 (edited) You could have soldered in a servo reverser, Edited July 14, 2022 by Paul De Tourtoulon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 I could have introduced an unnecessary potential point of failure too! The point being made was that direction of rotation is another variation (usually undocumented/advertised) in the myriad of servos on the market or supplied with ARTF models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangster Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 For many years I made use of the fact that different makes of servo rotate in different directions. I date back to the time when Futaba servos had different colour labels and Skyleader servos had paper dots denoting direction. Although I had one of the earliest transmitters with servo reverse (RCME FM) I always believed servo reversion was the invention of the devil and have seen the result in too many occasions. I kept the same set up for all models and simply used a Futaba servo if I wanted reversal. I only stopped this practice when I went onto 2.4. As for second hand servos I would be happier to use a second hand,genuine, Futaba, Hitec etc than a cheap and cheerful servo costing only a few pounds. In reality good servos from the manufactures we know and love are pretty cheap anyway 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.JPG.051c5bb1d446ab8af8a2c911cbae321b.JPG)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.