What the newest cheap servo hotness?

[TheLetterJ]

It looks like an old favorite here, the Solar D772, is back in stock: https://www.hobbypartz.com/33p-solarservo-d772.html

[HugoBiermann]

Got my DSServo DS3218MG today. Fitted to my heavy D90. First impression is just wow for sub $20! Quiet and strong. Will post more after I get it out on a crawl.


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[Browneye]

Just ordered two more myself - ali express.
Amazon now has them for $13.99, I was going to order, but they take two to three weeks shipping from China. In my mind it makes more sense to use aliexpress then - paypal and they're on their way. They're a buck cheaper too.

The one I put in my comp-rig is doing fine, and I beat the crap out of that one. Bind it, stomp it, abuse it. I think I've replace it once and sold a couple of them to my crawling buddies. We'll be out on a trail or meet and theirs blow - they get that big-eyed look, like "what do I do now?" Browneye has one in his toolbox.

$20 and they're good to go and I have some $$ to order more.

[Natedog]

Good price and much better power than stock RC4WD TF2 Twister servo, but mine is developing play in the gears at center. I'm looking at better servos again. :/

Edit; I rate these as ok servos and good for the price, but long-term and/or heavy use, spend more and get a servo with customer support that can be shipped and paid to rebuild it every couple years.

[Browneye]

Savox 0231 on buddy's TRX knackered after a few runs. Very heavy rig though.

I already replaced 3218 for sloppy gears. The second one seems to be holding up.
Frankly I would rather replace them often than spend $100+ on one. Seems like they break too. I'm really not into rebuilding them. If 3218's fail too frequently will be looking to change however - jury out. ;)

Oh, and TRX blew portal axle-end gear - shredded it. $6.50 part. I suspect wheel got stuck and it is a weak point in the portals.

[Natedog]

Savox servos have never impressed me with their noise, excess battery consumption, nonexistent warranty, and too often short life expectancy. I’ve only run this cheap servo about one month, if I replaced it five times, I’d been better off buying Hitec for about $125, running that servo in all my other rigs and very few problems. They get slightly loose gears after couple years, I send them in, they email their findings and cost ( they’ve always been fair and honest imo), I payed them and it comes back to me like brand new. I’m all for researching and trying new stuff, but so far this servo is off my list.

[dweano]

Have you guys seen this? Its the bigger version of the Henge 8A/12A....its a 12A/20A! Gotta be new I think. Never seen it before:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/HENG...883091942.html

Also does anyone know the max current draw of a JX PDI-6221MG servo is? I want to use four of them.... I have a four wheel steer Traxxas Summit that I use JX PDI-HV5932MG on but I just killed my second one (gears stripped)....it is a 30KG servo. The Summit originally came with a dual servo setup that I converted to a single servo setup. I am thinking about changing to a dual setup again. 2 20kg servos (6221) should be better than a single 30kg servo and then two servos can "share" the abuse perhaps? Two gear sets to absorb abuse? Good thought process?

[Natedog]

Dweano, if it came with two servos, that's how I'd run it even with upgraded servo, unless you bought really badass (not cheapo) servo that is up to the task. If you're running cheap servo hotness, then definitely two, I bought one to try and won't waste another $20, ymmv. My 1.55 tired TF2 started to create excess play in this servo after only couple times crawling.

[Hydrocarbon92]

The 6221 amp draw is rather low, definitely under half of the 5932mg, so two would likely be fine. The 6221 is very slow in comparison, so it gears down a weaker motor to make torque.

I recall seeing that bigger Henge BEC but it was sold out or something. It's almost half the price of the other >10A options.

[dweano]

What would you suggest is the best 20kg ish cheap servo? For running two? Also I would be running four so I kinda want to try out that bigger BEC

[nzrc]

Originally Posted by dweano

What would you suggest is the best 20kg ish cheap servo? For running two? Also I would be running four so I kinda want to try out that bigger BEC

Can't go past the DS3218MG

[Ditchrat]

Originally Posted by nzrc

Can't go past the DS3218MG

That thing is craptasticly weak. I needed a fast spare and got one. It works, it hasn't broken after considerable use, but it is weak.

[TheLetterJ]

I'm gonna have to agree there. I picked up a ds3218 based on the glowing reviews here, and because it was cheap and available quickly. Though I suppose that it gets the job done, it is considerably slower and weaker than the few other "20kg" servos I've run. It's slower than even the 2075 that it replaced. If you've got the time to wait for shipping from China, a 4 pack of TowerPro mg958's is <$40 shipped, and stronger/faster than the ds3218... still my go-to cheap servo. I'm contemplating something from this category to replace the throttle/brake servo in my 5B.

I know Mr. Holmes already verified, but I finally put the HH 500HV V1 gearset in my 46kg JX servo today. Direct drop in, no fuss, so my expensive-for-an-off-brand servo has another shot at life, this time in a lighter 1.9" car. I also noticed RPP lists that gearset as no longer available/discontinued, so it might be in your (my) best interest to order a spare gearset for the future from Holmes Hobbies if you own a 46kg JX.

[Browneye]

DS3218 - the defacto cheap servo. LOL

Yes, it's not that strong, it's reasonably fast, and lasts pretty darn good, so I like it, especially for $12 from china. I've ordered a half-dozen of them now, and resell them for $20. The one in my comp crawler gets hammered pretty hard and still hanging on. Yeah, it gets loose, but still keeps going. Not unhappy with it at all. The biggest issue I have is the set screw comes loose. And it works on 6.5 or 7.4 volts, so there's that. For a stock (built in) bec on a 1080 it's still a really good option.
I don't think it's the best choice for my buddy's 10lb trx. Just sayin'. My vaterra stays reasonably lightweight.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

I know Mr. Holmes already verified, but I finally put the HH 500HV V1 gearset in my 46kg JX servo today. Direct drop in, no fuss, so my expensive-for-an-off-brand servo has another shot at life, this time in a lighter 1.9" car. I also noticed RPP lists that gearset as no longer available/discontinued, so it might be in your (my) best interest to order a spare gearset for the future from Holmes Hobbies if you own a 46kg JX.

Yep. Same gears. Should be a different material and temper from the JX gears, but same size.

I’ve learned more about JX since my last post, and how my 12v work got over to them and my case design sold to another business. My “factory”, it turns out, is an assembler that buys some parts through JX. JX is also an assembler and buys parts from other factories, but has the larger buying power. The two factories are owned by friends. An old worker of my factory also worked at JX, and even had emails at both companies after he quit, and started his own company reselling WHILE pretending to be the original factories. So my conclusion of it being a rouge employee taking my files were spot on in some ways. He was the guy I sent v1 files to.

So I’m being told information from three companies and it’s literally all one dude screwing with me, taking my orders under the guise of being an employee of one, reselling my work and files to other companies under his own company name, and getting JX to integrate my engineering branch into their own catalogue so that he can also use them for OEM. HE was the dude that started his own business with my v1, but he passed it off as JX being the bad guy. I’ve contacted both factory owners and his company emails have been shut down. They were not aware that he was poaching customers for his own company, and were rightly upset at my situation. I got a VERY mad email from him within a day of this, boy was he pissed that I sidestepped him (how dare I!!!) and got his email “in” taken away.

The only reason that I can reeeeaaaly tell that my v1 files are being sold to another US based company (besides the obvious PCB, programming, and looks) is that I hid a little “signature” in the case design. I still have higher quality motor, gear and pin materials. I’ve still made other improvements to make the v2 a more reliable servo. But it’s probably just a matter of time until it’s yoinked too.


Long story short- this is standard Chinese business practices. Everyone claims to be the factory, and even employees may not even be employees! This is the price of not doing everything in house, but sometimes we can lean on other engineers to move fast or execute ideas. And this is the risk that has to be considered.


I’m very glad I’m learning more hardware and software, because it is really the only way to have some semblance of long term stability and control over design. It really reinforces my appreciation for Tekin and Castle who engineer all their own products. I’m working on it, but it’s going to take as much effort to learn as I’ve put into the last 13 years of building motors. I love a good challenge though.


Cheers guys, thanks for listening. Game on!!!!

[durok]

JRH - Damn, what a mess!

I feel bad that I bought that JX way back when they first were advertising the 12V-capable brushless - I ordered it on 2/18/18:

Another one bites the dust...servo

I scored it for very cheap w/a coupon, the only time I've ever ordered from BangGood or AliExpress or whoever...

Took forever for it to arrive, and I immediately noticed how similar the case was to the HH SHV500 v1 - and I had only ordered it in case the v1 gave me an issue.

What's pretty ironic about the whole mess is that I have yet to have use for it, as my v1 is just chugging along in my Revolver-equipped Bomber without any complaints!

At the time, however - I had no idea of the JX servos backstory, as it had not yet been discussed here.

My next servo WILL be a v2, however!

[Teng]

JRH, I am so sorry and feel sad to hear this. I am Chinese and I hate their dishonest practice to gain filthy money from other true engineer's design and idea. Most of them just want fast money.

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[JohnRobHolmes]

It bothered me a bit at first, but it's water under the bridge now. I'm just glad I got that POS ex worker's emails yanked from him. It should be assumed that any work is going to be copied or flat out resold at this point. Especially the good ideas, lol!

[mtnmarc]

Trying out the ds3218. My tower pro mg946r is glitching on me causing signal cutout.

[HugoBiermann]

Thus far the DS3218 seems awesome. It throws my 5Kg D90 around when bound up. Gonna order some more soon.


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