What the newest cheap servo hotness?

[nd4spdbh]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

Welp... my JX 46kg just ate its steel gears, guess I'll be the guinea pig to see if your V1 gears fit.

I got less than 3 weeks out of this one, even the aluminum gears in the mg959 lasted a full month. I'm too poor to keep buying cheap, this might be the last straw.

promodler and never look back.

[TheLetterJ]

I've had a couple Promodelers, no real complaints, but in this case I think it might be 2290 and never look back. I had a few bucks set aside for new tires/foams/wheels for this car, which is about the same cost as the 2290. It's like my rc's know exactly how much "play money" I have, and they break parts accordingly.

[soze]

Just got my DS3218. Now to figure out which rig to put it in...

[soze]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

Clicked the link... Neato! Where to buy? 1 north American distributor in PA.
clicked thier website. Went to brands...

Nothing. Alturn is not anywhere on there.

Promodeler! Thanks durok! Was racking my poor little brain trying to remember that brand a few days ago.

I need something to replace my horizon 625wp servo that I tortured the last couple hours I was at proline. Says metal gears. Maybe thats why it sounds so awful. I should crack it open and see what's causing the horrific noise.

I've only seen Alturn servos on eBay.

[Frank211]

Originally Posted by soze

I've only seen Alturn servos on eBay.

When i found that link , i googled the company name , that link/website popped up(1st one) . I clicked, then shared it here.

[TheLetterJ]

Originally Posted by Hydrocarbon92

That sucks the gears are the weak point, that's what I feared. It's disappointing that servo mfg's put fancy motors in dolled up cases but still use razor-thin gears hardly any bigger than S148 gears.

Edit: looking at your before & after pics, do you think maybe that center gear needs a shim above it? It looks like only 2/3 of it was engaging, but they mesh 100% in the static picture. I'd also recommend using some high-pressure axle grease on the gears, friction from poor lube could be wearing them down quickly.

So it was the same gear that let go in mine. Top/middle gear. Though mine did leave a thin sliver of teeth, it makes contact with the full drive gear, so shimming could not increase tooth contact. Everything had a decent amount of grease on it. I'd like to give the hv500 v1 gear set a shot, but alas, they are unobtainium....

Unless somebody knows of a place with them in stock?

[Jeykito]

Thinking of getting the Reefs 555. anyone used this servo before? would appreciate the feedback.

[mikemcE]

Originally Posted by Jeykito

Thinking of getting the Reefs 555. anyone used this servo before? would appreciate the feedback.

New kids, lots of raves. Time will tell if it’s better than a ProModeler or HolmesHobby


Hang up and Drive

[Jeykito]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

New kids, lots of raves. Time will tell if it’s better than a ProModeler or HolmesHobby


Hang up and Drive

Thanks Bud!!

[durok]

I recently found some new info on my favorite cheap servo ( the DS3218 ) and thought I'd post an update.

(BTW - I noticed this thread was slipping deeper into the forum - in dire need of a bump, considering how many new "cheap", or "newbie", or even "budget waterproof" servo threads we get...)

The oft-discussed DS3218 has been recommended many times for an under $20 servo, you flat CANNOT beat it for the money.

I bring it up again because I found a listing that included an exploded view of the internals - so you can see both why it is inexpensive, yet why it works fine for so many people - basically if you are running roughly 4.5" or smaller diameter tires on a typical scaler/trail rig/basher, it is likely to be all you would need.

To repeat the product info:

For less than $18 (currently), you get (quoted from mfg, of course...) JUST shy of 300oz-in of torque and quicker than .15sec/60deg of speed at 6.8v.

Waterproof (hmm... let's say "water-resistant", but we have had people report they ran 'em wet just fine), Metal gears (sure, they're brass - and 1 aluminum) and an aluminum case center for heat dissipation and strength.

Let's not forget ya get a perfectly serviceable clamping aluminum servo horn with 2 pre-drilled holes FREE!

Actual specs are:

Brand: DSSERVO
Item: DS3218MG
Stall Torque (5V): 19 kg/cm (263.8oz/in)
Stall Torque (6.8V): 21.5 kg/cm (298.5 oz/in)
Dead band: 3μs
Speed : 0.16 sec/60°(5V) / 0.14 sec/60°(6.8V)
Operating Voltage: 4.8 ~ 6.8 DC Volts

This servo does NOT need to be ordered direct from China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong - there are US warehouses carrying it, do a Google search and you'll be able to get it as fast as 2 days from now - great in an emergency when you just fried your RTR electronics and need a quick fix.

*My personal experience - I've been running one of these hard in a Ascender K10 with a BPC heavy-gauge steel transverse full-size LiPo tray & 3400mAh packs, SSD brass knuckles, SSD brass rear axle lockout weights, aluminum beadlock wheels, and it's powered by a HobbyWing 1080 ESC with a Holmes Hobbies TrailMaster 550 21t motor.

This isn't a lightweight RC - not when compared to a stock RTR Ascender, it definitely has some heft to it. Unfortunately I have no scale, so I can't tell you exactly what it weighs - but this servo has had no issues with my 4.6" Vaterra TSL Swampers or my newer 4.19" RC4WD Goodyear MT/Rs whatsoever in 7 months.

I highly recommend it, and frankly don't understand why any company selling an RTR RC meant for use on the rough stuff doesn't just stick these in their rigs with their own sticker on them. These DS3218 servos are selling for what a RTR stock replacement servo sells for, and the RTR servo is typically rated at about 150oz-in (roughly 9kg), and is noticeably slower in response time, to boot.

Here are some pics:

[hillbillyrc]

I found my ds3218 for $15. Sure I had to wait 10 days for it to show (today) but wasn't in a hurry since I'm still building. Nice to know for $3 more I can get it in the us if need be.

[Smokin' Joe]

Ordered a couple DS3218s from China off aliexpress. $12.30 if you don't mind waiting.

[fyrstormer]

Aluminum gears are a complete waste of money. Most grades of aluminum are too weak to handle the high torque inflicted on them by rock crawling. Aluminum is a galling metal too, so under high pressure the gear teeth will stick together and start tearing bits of metal off each other. Anodizing the aluminum stops this from happening until the anodizing wears off, but the gears shown in the pictures above are obviously not anodized. At the very least, the gears should be made of brass; steel is obviously best for strength, and titanium is best for strength and weight, if weight is something you care about. Titanium is a galling metal like aluminum is, but it's so much harder that the galling effect isn't noticeable as long as the gear teeth are lubricated.

[Tufftf2]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

Aluminum gears are a complete waste of money. Most grades of aluminum are too weak to handle the high torque inflicted on them by rock crawling. Aluminum is a galling metal too, so under high pressure the gear teeth will stick together and start tearing bits of metal off each other. Anodizing the aluminum stops this from happening until the anodizing wears off, but the gears shown in the pictures above are obviously not anodized. At the very least, the gears should be made of brass; steel is obviously best for strength, and titanium is best for strength and weight, if weight is something you care about. Titanium is a galling metal like aluminum is, but it's so much harder that the galling effect isn't noticeable as long as the gear teeth are lubricated.

i have heard there is no such thing as a full titanium gear in a servo, just titanium coated....have i misunderstood or been told wrong?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[mikemcE]

Originally Posted by Tufftf2

i have heard there is no such thing as a full titanium gear in a servo, just titanium coated....have i misunderstood or been told wrong?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Correct, just coated. That’s why I still say size matters.


Hang up and Drive

[Tufftf2]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

Correct, just coated. That’s why I still say size matters.


Hang up and Drive

fwiw my next servo will be the 370in/oz promodler....

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[mikemcE]

Originally Posted by Tufftf2

fwiw my next servo will be the 370in/oz promodler....

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Let us know on that one. Seems like a great buy for a proven name


Hang up and Drive

[Tufftf2]

Originally Posted by mikemcE

Let us know on that one. Seems like a great buy for a proven name


Hang up and Drive

the 0231 savox in my truggy is on its way out would have lasted forever in my tf2 but only a few runs in a rig with 4.75's and it gets weaker every single pack.... when i get one ill defenantly post my thoughts

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[Hydrocarbon92]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

Aluminum is a galling metal too, so under high pressure the gear teeth will stick together and start tearing bits of metal off each other. Anodizing the aluminum stops this from happening until the anodizing wears off

On the 6th day, the lord created high-pressure synthetic grease. On the 7th he went crawling with properly lubed gears.

But seriously, if your gears are galling from metal on metal that means your lube is horrible. You can have the finest gears in your real car's transmission, but with a cheap lube causing metal-on-metal wear it won't last a day either. Just watch Roadkill and see how often they kill "legendary" motors/trans/diffs by simply running them dry.

[durok]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

Aluminum gears are a complete waste of money. Most grades of aluminum are too weak to handle the high torque inflicted on them by rock crawling. Aluminum is a galling metal too, so under high pressure the gear teeth will stick together and start tearing bits of metal off each other. Anodizing the aluminum stops this from happening until the anodizing wears off, but the gears shown in the pictures above are obviously not anodized. At the very least, the gears should be made of brass; steel is obviously best for strength, and titanium is best for strength and weight, if weight is something you care about. Titanium is a galling metal like aluminum is, but it's so much harder that the galling effect isn't noticeable as long as the gear teeth are lubricated.

Out of curiosity, which servo are you referring to?

Your post states "the gears shown above" - but this thread is many pages long...

The "El Cheapo but great for the money" DS3218 is mostly brass with what appear to be the two aluminum gears only touching brass gears, shouldn't be a worry there.

They are even labelled as such, and contact with brass is likely to reduce any potential galling.

BTW - not all anodizing is "matte" in finish - and the product literature for the DS3218 does state:

Features:
- High-precision metal gears with hard anodizing
- CNC aluminium middle Shell
- waterproof rubber seals screws

So, stating "obviously" not anodized is untrue - they quite likely may be.

Even if they are not, (I don't believe all mfg claims - see my comments elsewhere on titanium servo gears!) somehow mine is still very tight and precise in use after 7 months of abuse...

Once more - it's less than $18 (a fair amount less, if you are willing to wait on your order rather than get it shipped in 2 days) - I'm obviously not comparing it to "name brand" servos.

Unless we're talking about "name brand" RTR and budget servos costing nearly triple as much - in which case its specs and end user experience are handily beating many of them much of the time.

I tried to make the post clear as to when it's "the servo to get" and am unsure if you understood my point - as I can't tell what servo you are referring to.

I'm certainly not throwing it into my Bomber builds...

It's simply (in my humble opinion) the best RTR replacement servo out there, for the money - even if you've done some mods to your rig, and as long as you're not running really large diameter tires (over 4.6" or so) - and it's probably not going to last you if you've stuck a half-pound of lead weights to each of your front wheels and are using your servo to work your comp rig out of a hardcore bind by wagging the ass end................................



(I have a ProModeler 470 and a Holmes SHV500 for use in my 2.2" rigs, but I do believe my Ascender will chug along with this $17.99 thing until it pops, and as long as I can find more of them at the dozens of listings that are selling them - I will quite likely buy another - or two!)