ProModeler Servo: 420oz, billet case, o-ringed, $79

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

I sent an email with a few dumb questions, they were answered quickly and correctly in hours not days. They are in stock, and as I'm near him, I might go and pick one up... Great vendor!

He's pretty great about that.

[mikemcE]

Ordered mine today

[Tgreer]

Got mine in, got one installed in my sporty. I'm very impressed. It runs cool, the quality is rediculously good and it's the quietest servo I've ever ran. So far I'm liking it better than my 7950th!

[mikemcE]

Does it need an external bec like my Savox?

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

Does it need an external bec like my Savox?

If you want to get it to its full potential, your going to want to feed it 7.4v. I did run mine for a a couple weeks without a bec. I didn't have any brown outs or other issues.

[mikemcE]

Reading on his sheet, seems that no difference with higher than 6v, I don't think I could tell between 380 and 420!

I have an external bec if needed. Thanks

[mikemcE]

Shipper came today, that is great service !!!

[mikemcE]

Hi Mike,

Have you received your servo yet? I hope you like it. Scratch that . . . I hope you love it!

Anyway, I haven't had a chance to update the site to show photos of what's changed between v3 and v4. Basically, we updated the case to try and make it bulletproof by inserting precision brass bushings in the aluminum where the steel gear shafts fit to stop the holes from wallowing out because of the ridiculous forces involved in crawling. Believe me, we're learning a lot from the crawler crowd about making our servo better.

Attached are a few pictures including one of the how we do the brass bushing in the aluminum case. Nobody else does this but us - not Futaba, JR, Hitec, or Savox. Basically, our goal is to offer the best servo on the planet and frankly, with the v4 we're out of ideas for improving it. Frankly, I never thought there's be a v2 much less a v3 and now a v4 but there you have it.

By the way, another photo shows what we do to protect the PCB. We took a page form the military and coated it in epoxy potting compound to protect against vibration and the shock of hard impacts.

Lastly, the third photo shows how we attach the potentiometer drive to the underside of the output gear. Instead of using a couple tiny plastic pins we use two massive diameter steel pins. My point? If for some reason you're unhappy, please call and tell me about it so I can figure out what's going on. And finally, if you're happy, do me a favor and tell everyone you know.

I close with hopes the photos will show you made the right decision in trusting us.

Cheers,
John

[mikebecher]

Thanks for posting that update from John! This has satisfied my curiosity to see what else has been done to make this servo even better.

[meatmonkey]

Someone was asking about long term durability. I have a V2 that's been going strong for over 6 months now in a Bomber that gets beat to piss. Last weekend at Rausch Creek I was launching it off of the moon rocks hard enough to snap off an RPM Revo variant rod end from the drag link and a lower link. The servo didn't flinch. After several more abusive packs in the same day the rod ends on the drag link are all egged out and threatening to pop off. This servo will literally rip apart 3mm rod ends and put the hurting to the 4mm versions!

I've ordered a V3 for my brothers Twin Hammers. He can break anything, so we'll see what lets go first. My guess is it won't be the servo...

The only way these can get better is if they figure out how to seal up the wires going into the case so I feel comfortable playing submarine with them.

[mikemcE]

I think you will get a V4 ..... I am so impressed by this and it's pricing!

[bilinvic]

All very good news to hear...I just ordered a v4 and I'm looking forward to having this rugged servo in one of my rigs to test out.

[SCREAMER]

Just got my V4 in the mail today. Just like my V3, it's fantastic. You won't be sorry Bil, maybe a little sorry you didn't get one sooner.

[84yoda]

I just wish it had more power (~500oz min), then I would totally get one. Maybe V5 will have that.

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by 84yoda

I just wish it had more power (~500oz min), then I would totally get one. Maybe V5 will have that.

Funny, PsychoJ-lo and I were talking about exactly that today. I won't buy any servo with less than 500 oz and neither will he. It looks like a solid piece but needs more power.

[rngrchad]

v4 on the way for me as well; should be here Friday. Can't wait to give it a go. The Customer Service is insane, and the speed on shipping is too. I'm on the hunt for the final weak link fix for my truck. The servo is my f'n kryptonite as its the one thing that ruins my day. Everything holds up on my truck except the damn servos. 7950's fall apart in about a month and replacement gearsets don't last but a few weeks for me after rebuilds simply because the plastic internal bearing guide thingy on the hitecs breaks every single f'n time. Anyway, beers up hoping for good things with the ProModeler 420

[84yoda]

Originally Posted by WHITE-TRASH

Funny, PsychoJ-lo and I were talking about exactly that today. I won't buy any servo with less than 500 oz and neither will he. It looks like a solid piece but needs more power.

Exactly. Since running the H50B, 500oz is almost weak now. Lol.

[WHITE-TRASH]

Originally Posted by 84yoda

Exactly. Since running the H50B, 500oz is almost weak now. Lol.

Yup. Bluebird 50kg is on my crawler now. My new crawler build is getting my 7980 with a dlux torque multiplier. Because apparently I need 1200 oz of torque to turn the 2.2's.

[bilinvic]

Originally Posted by 84yoda

I just wish it had more power (~500oz min), then I would totally get one. Maybe V5 will have that.

I'm going to be using the 420 v4 on my SCX10 II truck...420oz for 1.9 wheels is more than sufficient IMHO. On another note, I also just ordered a SHV500 from HH...that will be going on my much heavier and larger 2.2 B1B Bomber.

[SCREAMER]

I want to try one of those Bluebirds but I haven't heard much about long term durability. Are they fairly new to market or just not very common? Maslin also mentioned the speed is nowhere close to published specs. Are we certain that 50kg is pretty accurate?