How long do you use a receiver before it goes in the bin?

[Michael Barclay]

I have been using Orange Full Range Receivers for five or six years now, and I must say they have been faultless. Unfortunately they seem to have been discontinued. ( Should have grabbed half a dozen whilst they were still being made, but we live and learn ).

Now in the process of building another new model I am wondering how long one can use a receiver before it is perhaps beyond its reliable useful life, and I would be interested to know the experiences of others on this subject.

Also as my receivers were purchased at different times I think it would have been a good idea to date mark them upon purchase as I have seven or eight of these but no idea which are fairly new and which are not so new.

 

 

[Cuban8]

Quite a few variables involved to give a definitive answer. In general, I'd say with modern surface mount technology that in itself is so much more reliable than the technology of a few decades ago, coupled with the move away from analogue operating that was prone to drifting and needed regular realignment (so say nothing of fragile crystals) then a modern receiver's life span should be nothing to be overly worried about.

Providing it's not been abused by crashes and dampness and the item passes a good range test and soak test (leave it on for an hour and see if it's OK) then you've every chance that the receiver will be perfectly trustworthy.

I wouldn't overthink it too much, I have 2.4 Ghz receivers still in use from the early days (DSM2) so they're fifteen plus years old I suppose and I have full confidence in them. More to worry about are old batteries and switches that can be a source of trouble if not regularly checked.

 

 

[Colin Carpenter]

Until u get a problem. I’ve got Rx as old as in post above. Spekkie and 🍊! Range check as neccessary !

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

There’s an argument that statistically, you’re more likely to have a problem with a new receiver as defective components tend to fail in early life. 

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Never given it much thought, age wouldn't determine how much I trust one though.

[kevin b]

One sizeable crash and it goes in a boat.

Any physical damage and it goes in the bin.

Apart from that I have never had one go "off".

Edited November 9, 2024 by kevin b

[RedBaron]

My oldest Rxs are about 20 years old and as already indicated

A working old one may be more reliable than a new one

See the bath tub curve

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

30 minutes ago, RedBaron said:

My oldest Rxs are about 20 years old and as already indicated

A working old one may be more reliable than a new one

See the bath tub curve

Sounds quite new to me, I have a Robbe / Futaba 8 channel one from the 1980's that still works well, but I do remember changing the Ariel and quartz probably 25 odd years ago, it's vibration and crashes that kill them off, I regularly do range checks with the engine ( IC) running, if there is a glitch throw it away.

[Cuban8]

2 hours ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said:

There’s an argument that statistically, you’re more likely to have a problem with a new receiver as defective components tend to fail in early life. 

Bathtub curve and all that........

[Frank Skilbeck]

Mmmm, never though about it, but I've got several 10+ year old MPX 2.4 receivers and some even older Spektrum DSM2 receivers still working fine, I can't remember ever having an Rx fail in flight 🤞, electronic failures have tended to be switches and a couple of servos. I have managed to brick a couple of old 35 mhz transmitters by letting the battery go completely flat and they wouldn't revive.

 

I've got some even older 35mhz receivers that are still in regular use.

[Brian Cooper]

57 years ago I bought a Simprop digital proportional outfit on 27Mhz. 

 

I sold it to a buddy about 50 years ago for use in a boat. 

He has still got it and it still works perfectly. 

It has been through a few sets of batteries though... lol. 

[Wookman]

I have a Skyleader reciever still in use at 47 years old.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I started buying Jeti receivers in 2009 and the originals are still working perfectly, with the exception of one which spent 4 years roosting in the upper branches of a large beech tree. After recovery from the ground one spring - time lying there unknown, it still worked but with reduced range so it now does duty for fitting out new models. 
 

I had one 35 MHz receiver which suffered a hard impact during 1/12th scale combat flying - one of my favourite Multiplex IPD ones.  When the model was test flown after repair, the receiver seemed to lock out and the model crashed again, thankfully into trees with little damage.  Static and range testing didn’t reveal any fault but it did eventually reproduce the problem when held at full throttle for a few seconds - the vibration causing a breakdown somewhere although unfortunately it was not due to the removable crystal or any obvious PCB fault so I retired it…with extreme prejudice. 

[Paul Marsh]

I wouldn't use 35mhz rx's in models now , not because the frequency but knowing they haven't been made for over 25 years(would you trust a 40 year old  rx in a expensive  and large model), and as said the older  ones used components such as chokes and capacitors that would have degraded somewhat now, and these rx's where much more intolerant of vibration, unlike later 35 mhz surface mount and new 2.4 ones.

Though I flew a RC model at a fly in, with a 40 year old Sanwa 35 mhz rx and passed range checks ok, as well a flight of a model no problems - but still...

 

[Jon H]

I have rx's and servos that are certainly over 20 years old now and even my tx must be getting on for 17 or 18 years. I also have models that are a decade old full of their new at the time equipment. Some are still on their original glow plugs even. They are all working fine and giving me no cause for concern. 

[Jim Hearnden 1]

7 hours ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said:

There’s an argument that statistically, you’re more likely to have a problem with a new receiver as defective components tend to fail in early life. 

Correct known in the industry as infant mortality. An inverted bell curve to be precise.

From my experience (I trained as an electronics craftsman 50 years ago) the common failure points in UNUSED hardware is electrolytic capacitors drying out. 

In continuous use this seems less of a problem. Otherwise a lot of issues are electro mechanical. such as plugs & sockets & switches.

[Jim Hearnden 1]

1 hour ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said:

I had one 35 MHz receiver which suffered a hard impact during 1/12th scale combat flying - one of my favourite Multiplex IPD ones.  When the model was test flown after repair, the receiver seemed to lock out and the model crashed again, thankfully into trees with little damage.  Static and range testing didn’t reveal any fault but it did eventually reproduce the problem when held at full throttle for a few seconds - the vibration causing a breakdown somewhere although unfortunately it was not due to the removable crystal or any obvious PCB fault so I retired it…with extreme prejudice. 

Possibly a cracked PCB. It can be a royal pain finding such faults, the round File 13 bin in the corner is the best fix.

[Engine Doctor]

Interesting topic . Ive read recently on a car forum about capacitors in various modules failing due to age related capacitor fail. Reasonably simple to replace if you catch them in time . I realise that on cars these items will be running for hundreds of times longer than on a model . These caps are the surface mount type mounted by the two wires and found on older types of rx . Apparently the seal fails and electrolyte leaks and can corrode traces on the board. Our modern rx's dont seem to use these type of capacitors but other onboard items like ESC and non flying items like chargers do .  Worth a check ?

[Martin McIntosh]

As has been said above, modern surface mount electronics are to thank for the reliability we have enjoyed for a long tome now. No big electrolytics to vibrate off.

I cannot remember when the JR DSX9 came out but I saw one in use at the field, had a quick look and shot off to the local-ish shop to buy one. Still using the original Rx plus very many more; JR, Spektrum and Orange, the only failure being an AR7000 which was stored in a mate`s heated shed an totally died.

[Chris Walby]

8 hours ago, Engine Doctor said:

Interesting topic . Ive read recently on a car forum about capacitors in various modules failing due to age related capacitor fail. Reasonably simple to replace if you catch them in time . I realise that on cars these items will be running for hundreds of times longer than on a model . These caps are the surface mount type mounted by the two wires and found on older types of rx . Apparently the seal fails and electrolyte leaks and can corrode traces on the board. Our modern rx's dont seem to use these type of capacitors but other onboard items like ESC and non flying items like chargers do .  Worth a check ?

IMO and supported over the years as an electrical engineer. Its not the number of cycles that causes capacitors to deteriorate, but the complete opposite. That if capacitors are left discharged for long periods, then just to compound things people reenergise them quickly as in turning them on quickly causes the failure. We have manufacturers that state that electronic equipment if left off for a number of months should have a voltage slowly applied to allow capacitors to reform and so as to prevent damage/failure.

 

 A few years back we had a building with a control system that consisted of hundreds of obsolete electronic controllers, but another site that had the same controller in use. All of the electronic devices were carefully removed and stored in a cool dry place, but 6 months later when the other site needed them we experienced 8 out of 10 failure rates. Eventually we had shelves and shelves of these devices continuously power up to get over the power up failure issues.

 

So you are correct, check all equipment on a regular basis as it won't shorten its life.

[Michael Barclay]

Thanks everyone for your replies, which generally are in accord with my thoughts on the matter, although I was perhaps having some doubts due to my being a tight Yorkshireman, and wondering if my thoughts were biased by not wishing to spend money!

Edited November 13, 2024 by Michael Barclay

[Dickw]

Voyager 1 & 2 are still working after 47 years and are still in touch - even if the communication "latency" is something over 20 hours each way 😁

 

Dick

[JackCook]

I'd check to see what protocol the orange receivers are using.

DSMX no problem. Good system.

DSM2, I'd consider stopping using them and upgrade to DSMX.

DSM2 is a good system for solo flying, or if everyone around you is also flying DSM2. But it is not compatible with frequency hopping systems used by all the other manufacturers and can suffer interference.

[leccyflyer]

I'm still using lots of DSM2 receivers now, with no radio issues. Unless a receiver has been damaged, or indicates that it has a problem I will continue to use them. No point in chucking away perfectly serviceable radio gear that is working well, just because it's a bit old. Some of my clubmates still regularly fly on 35mhz, but I retired and gave away all my 35mhz gear years ago as the benefits of 2.4ghz gear in electric flight were obvious.

 

The only instance that I've encountered where receivers which previously worked perfectly suddenly stopped working was with three Spectrum AR600 receivers which then refused to bind to the transmitter. Logic RC concluded that the firmware was somehow corrupted and that the receivers were not economical to repair, which I though was strange.

[Tom Gaskin 1]

I have a lot of legacy DSM2 receivers that I use on a regular basis at a busy club site with no issues at all. With its continued reliability I don't see any reason to retire them.

 

As Leccy said above, I have had rebinding issues in the past, but that was with aftermarket Orange receivers, not pukka Spectrum ones.

 

Tom