Steering Cuts out with AE-2

[Philthy]

OK I'm getting really frustrated, I could use some help from anybody that has a good idea here...

I run: 1300mAh 3S LiPo, ESC power wire removed, 10A CC BEC set to 6V, Hobbico CS-170 servo.

For the past couple weeks, my steering cuts out but I'll still have throttle controls. If I manually run through the steering range, the servo kicks back on (for a little while at least). Cold electronics, fresh pack, doesn't matter. What I find odd is that it doesn't always cut out, sometimes I can go through a whole day of crawling without the steering cutting out.

Any ideas?

Sent from my 306SH

[Eric0424]

You may have a crack in a solder joint on the circuit board or other component inside the servo. The pot. (potentiometer) may be going bad, brushes in the servo may be worn out if it's got some age on it. I'm thinking it's the servo, but check your plug(s) and connections at the receiver, BEC and the wires leading to the servo before buying a new one. The pins in the plug could be weak breaking the connection or there could be a break in the wiring.

If the servo was rough or tried to lock up while you were manually ranging the steering, there could be a chipped gear tooth getting stuck in the gears. If it was smooth through the full range of motion then the gear train is probably okay.

[Philthy]

The wiring and plug seem to be in good shape. The servo goes through its range smoothly and it's only about a year old.

I'll resolder the BEC wires, and if that doesn't fix it then I'll get a new servo and go from there.

Could it possibly be radio related?

Sent from my 306SH

[Eric0424]

Honestly, anything is possible. But with your throttle working I'm thinking the problem is servo and/or BEC related. If you could try your servo in another car/truck or another servo in yours, it would help eliminate it as the cause if nothing else.

[Philthy]

That's a good plan, I'll do that and report back.

Thanks Eric!

Sent from my 306SH

[Eric0424]

You're welcome.

[o0wiz0o]

That's a small Lipo. Could that not be causing issues? I know you say it does not happen all the time but maybe it's not balanced or you drive differently sometimes?

[Philthy]

Originally Posted by o0wiz0o

That's a small Lipo...maybe it's not balanced or you drive differently sometimes?

Wiz! Yeah, my rig probably thinks I'm bipolar because I have days of super slow, super technical crawling, then the next day at a different spot I'm yellin' "SKINNY PEDAL!!" I run the 1300's to save weight, I'm super competitive and my buddy has an MOA that he took to Nationals in '08 that I try to keep up with (key word - try).

I always balance them to peak 4.2/cell when I charge them, however I don't look at what the voltage on them is when I put them on to charge. It's a possibility that I could have one cell getting tired quicker than the rest I suppose.

Should I look at trying a different battery brand maybe? I've been using Venoms for years, they've never let me down before.

[o0wiz0o]

Can you borrow another pack to test? Preferably a bit bigger. You have a powerful servo that could be causing brownouts as it can't get the power it needs maybe?

[Philthy]

OK, it's working now (hopefully).

I split the case to check the gears, all good. I checked the circuit board, all good. I put it back together, no good. Swapped servo back to stock, unplugged BEC and reinserted power for ESC; no good.

I put a 5000 3S in that was fresh off the charger, no good. Put a different brand 2200 3S in, no good. Then tried a 2000 2S, still no good.

In my downtime, I took my steering links off because I wanted to ditch the odd mount that Integy uses for their links. I'd also noticed that my drag link was dragging across the diff cover while ranging the steering.

I moved the drag link, flipped the servo (to be able to reach the mount, ditching the pathetic Integy mount), reattached the steering link; all good.

It looks funny, but I've gone through four packs of heavy servo use and still no glitching.

Sent from my 306SH

[SDheavymetal]

I'm not sure maybe the radio?

[Philthy]

Realized when I got home that my servo horn would take a beating, so I put the links back with the servo still flipped.

It's still working, so I don't know. Maybe today is just a good Wraith day.

Sent from my 306SH