Recommended Replacement Servo?

['04 Rubicon]

So my stock servo meet its final death yesterday. It started the little whine/click noise on it's first real rock outing but could still turn. I was running it like that yesterday and now it's pretty much toast. It just whined and wouldn't turn until the wheels were completely free. So, now the question is what is the best replacement servo?

I've seen throughout different threads where guys are running Hitec 225's but they seem to weak imo. Saw some Hitec HS 82's, not sure how durable they are. And some have even used full size Hitec 645 servos. But I'm interested to see what else are people running, reliably.

I was hoping to have one thread where people can find this information instead of searching through all of them.

So what replacement servo's are you guys that have switched running? And how is the performance, durabilty? Is full size too much?

[uberalles]

well i've gone through one stop and two hitech 255's
all burned up from over use, not meant to have the wheel cracked to one side or the other very long

i run a total of 4oz up front in the tires

they all got hot and just died

switch to the hitech 645. had to build a new mount
i saw nothing on the boxes (255 or 645) that sait the voltage output would hurt. same draw

as far as the 645 goes... i drove it hard the other day went through 2 (stock battery and a 1600 7.2 nimh) batteries from full to empty and had no issues... the esc didn't get hot like it would with the stock servo or the 255's and the 645 did not get warm

i do plan on upgrading the ecs and adding a bec, but for now it works

so far i've done the upgrade to two MRC's

this is just what i've done... kinda new to the crawler scene and if anyone has something else that works better i'm all for it

[uberalles]

oh 60 oz at 6v on the 255
133oz at 6v on the 645

[str8axle]

I bought a four Hitec 225 mg's a while ago on a servocity blowout. Like 10 bucks each. I used to run them in my Nylints and I thought they held up really well. First thing I did was stick one in the MRC and keep the stock for a backup. Seems much better than stock and is a perfect fit. I've thrashed it pretty hard and it's working. Should be no problem to put whatever servo you want on one of these but these with slight mods, mini servos like the 225 just bolt right in. They have 67 in/oz of torque. Wonder what the stock one has?

[swell searcher]

according to the horizon hobby catalog, the stock MRC servo is:

torque: 4.1 kg/cm @ 6v ( 57 oz/in @ 6v )
speed: .16 sec/60* @ 6v
weight: 28 g
size: 34 mm x 16 mm x 35 mm (1.3 in x .6 in x 1.4 in)
dual ball bearings

[NeXt559]

not sure if this is concidered thread jacking but,

ive been hearing about people burning up their stock and 225 servos,
for those of you who have, are you sure your epa's are set correctly?

i ask because, ive been using the stock servo since the mrc was released and ive yet to burn it up.

[str8axle]

Originally Posted by NeXt559

not sure if this is concidered thread jacking but,

ive been hearing about people burning up their stock and 225 servos,
for those of you who have, are you sure your epa's are set correctly?

i ask because, ive been using the stock servo since the mrc was released and ive yet to burn it up.

Yup that's a thread jack Kidding. I've heard others had trouble with them and I just thought it was interesting that I've had no trouble....yet.

[badger]

Originally Posted by NeXt559

not sure if this is concidered thread jacking but,

ive been hearing about people burning up their stock and 225 servos,
for those of you who have, are you sure your epa's are set correctly?

That is exactly what I was going to post. I would bet that not setting EPA's is probably one of the main causes of dead servos.

I'm using the HS-82MG in my modded MRC and it continues to work fine. I will say that running a Micro servo is not for everyone, you must be very secure in your masculinity as people might point and laugh at your tiny servo doing all the work.

[Trike Kid]

Originally Posted by NeXt559

not sure if this is concidered thread jacking but,

ive been hearing about people burning up their stock and 225 servos,
for those of you who have, are you sure your epa's are set correctly?

i ask because, ive been using the stock servo since the mrc was released and ive yet to burn it up.

I didn't burn mine up, just stripped the gears 5 minutes into the first run after swapping to the solid arm. I'm running the stock radio, so I think I'm kinda SOL on the end point adjustment, unless there's some mechanical way to do it. Kinda pissed me off how easy the gears went. I didn't have the tires bound up, just turned as I was going up a little crack line on my rock garden and those little plastic gears started screeching and buzzing. Now I can only really turn left. Waiting on a TS35mg from tower now (hey, I'm broke and I want to crawl)

[uberalles]

you can adjust your end points on the stock radio, the adjustment is just to the the right of the on/off switch.

the stock radio stripped out on me, i run a solid arm
no servo saver

as far as the adjustment goes on the end point i run it between min and the middle on the dial if that makes sense.

133oz at 6v on the hitech645....that's hard to beat
plus the few oz of added weight on the front

i have had zero issues with the big servo

[NeXt559]

Originally Posted by badger

That is exactly what I was going to post. I would bet that not setting EPA's is probably one of the main causes of dead servos.

I'm using the HS-82MG in my modded MRC and it continues to work fine. I will say that running a Micro servo is not for everyone, you must be very secure in your masculinity as people might point and laugh at your tiny servo doing all the work.

im soo serure about my masculinity i'm thinking about converting to a park flyer servo

[RexRacer19]

I picked up one of these tonight and was pleased to find a stripped servo as soon as I sat it on the ground to run it for the first time...on carpet. That is kind of poor that it comes right out of the box like that...

Guess I will be upgrading like everyone else. I was sort of looking forward to using the stock parts in this thing for a while and not spending any money on it. :-(

[badger]

Originally Posted by R1 Seven

I picked up one of these tonight and was pleased to find a stripped servo as soon as I sat it on the ground to run it for the first time...on carpet. That is kind of poor that it comes right out of the box like that...

Guess I will be upgrading like everyone else. I was sort of looking forward to using the stock parts in this thing for a while and not spending any money on it. :-(

That sucks to hear. Did you still have the servo saver on?

PM me your addy and I will ship you my brand new servo I pulled off my modded rig tomorrow.

[RexRacer19]

Badger,

Thanks for the offer man, but I don't want you to go through the trouble just for me. To answer you question, no, the servo saver was not on. I swapped out for the solid arm right away. When I set it down and was doing a radio check I noticed a clicking in the travel, before it even reached the end of travel.

I was curious, so I took the servo apart tonight. Sure enough one tooth was missing on the gear that sits almost directly over the motor inside. Unless this is just a fluke, I feel like a metal gear servo may be the only way to travel with this thing.

I put the servo back together and it works...just has a clicking sound that gets worse under load. Who knows how long it will last, but hopefully long enough to make a trip to my LHS for a better servo.

[badger]

Originally Posted by R1 Seven

Badger,

Thanks for the offer man, but I don't want you to go through the trouble just for me. To answer you question, no, the servo saver was not on. I swapped out for the solid arm right away. When I set it down and was doing a radio check I noticed a clicking in the travel, before it even reached the end of travel.

I was curious, so I took the servo apart tonight. Sure enough one tooth was missing on the gear that sits almost directly over the motor inside. Unless this is just a fluke, I feel like a metal gear servo may be the only way to travel with this thing.

I put the servo back together and it works...just has a clicking sound that gets worse under load. Who knows how long it will last, but hopefully long enough to make a trip to my LHS for a better servo.

It's really no trouble.

If you can flip the gear around 180* and it shouldn't hit that missing tooth through the turning range. And put the servo saver back on.

['04 Rubicon]

Originally Posted by R1 Seven

I picked up one of these tonight and was pleased to find a stripped servo as soon as I sat it on the ground to run it for the first time...on carpet. That is kind of poor that it comes right out of the box like that...

Yeh it's the gears that are the problem with mine. Once that servo saver came off and it hit some real rocks, it wasn't long til she started screaming stripping the gears. However, I did not set any EPA's either, I didn't think I had to when switching to the regular servo horn.

So far it looks like a few guys have burned up 225's and a few have used them with no issues. And Badgers Hitec HS82 has been working, but that micro seems too small for me. Has anyone burned up or stripped out the gears in a 225 after setting the EPAs correctly? And are there any other servos that can be used, I really don't want to use a full size servo.

I did some comparisons and I've narrowed it down to two servos. I already have a HS225 and quite a few others are trying it, so I don't want to test that one. I'm going to either go with a Hitec HS5245MG or a HS5085MG. Both have more torque than a stock servo. I'm leaning towards ordering the HS5245MG for pretty obvious reasons, more torque and no bushings or nylon.

Here are the specs on both (and the 225MG)

HS5245MG
Operating Voltage: 4.8-6.0 Volts
Operating Temperature Range: -20 to +60 Degree C
Operating Speed (4.8V): 0.15sec/60° at no load
Operating Speed (6.0V): 0.12sec/60° at no load
Stall Torque (4.8V): 61 oz/in. (4.4kg.cm)
Stall Torque (6.0V): 76 oz/in. (5.5kg.cm)
Operating Angle: 45 Deg. one side pulse traveling 450usec
360 Modifiable: Yes
Direction: Clockwise/Pulse Traveling 1500 to 1900usec
Current Drain (4.8V): 3mA/idle and 180mA no load operating
Current Drain (6.0V): 3mA/idle and 230mA no load operating
Dead Band Width: 1usec
Motor Type: 3 Pole Ferrite
Potentiometer Drive: Direct Drive
Bearing Type: Dual Ball Bearing
Gear Type: 4 Metal Gears, 1 Resin Gear
Connector Wire Length: 11.81" (300mm)
Dimensions: 1.3" x 0.7"x 1.2" (32 x 17 x 31mm)
Weight: 1.12oz (32g)

HS5085MG
Operating Voltage Range: 4.8-6.0 Volts
Operating Temperature Range: -20 to +60 Degree C (-68F to +140F)
Operating Speed (4.8V): 0.17sec/60° at no load
Operating Speed (6.0V): 0.13sec/60° at no load
Stall Torque (4.8V): 50oz/in. (3.6kg.cm)
Stall Torque (6.0V): 59.7oz/in. (4.3kg.cm)
Operating Angle: 45 Deg. one side pulse traveling 400usec
360 Modifiable: Yes
Direction: Clockwise/Pulse Traveling 1500 to 1900usec
Idle Current Drain (4.8V): 3mA at stop
Idle Current Drain (6.0V): 3mA at stop
Current Drain (4.8V): 200mA/idle and 2.0 amps at lock/stall
Current Drain (6.0V): 240mA/idle and 3.0 amps at lock/stall
Dead Band Width: 2usec
Motor Type: Carbon Brush
Potentiometer Drive: 6 Slider Indirect Drive
Bearing Type: Dual Ball Bearing MR106
Gear Type: Metal Gears
Connector Wire Length: 7" (178mm)
Dimensions: 1.14" x 0.51"x 1.18" (29 x 13 x 30mm)
Weight: .77oz (21.9g)

HS225MG
Operating Voltage: 4.8-6.0 Volts
Operating Temperature Range: -20 to +60 Degree C
Operating Speed (4.8V): 0.14sec/60° at no load
Operating Speed (6.0V): 0.11sec/60° at no load
Stall Torque (4.8V): 54.15 oz/in. (3.9kg.cm)
Stall Torque (6.0V): 66.65 oz/in. (4.8kg.cm)
Operating Angle: 45 Deg. one side pulse traveling 400usec
360 Modifiable: Yes
Direction: Clockwise/Pulse Traveling 1500 to 1900usec
Current Drain (4.8V): 8mA/idle and 300mA no load operating
Current Drain (6.0V): 8.8mA/idle and 340mA no load operating
Dead Band Width: 8usec
Motor Type: 3 Pole Ferrite
Potentiometer Drive: Indirect Drive
Bearing Type: 1 Ball Bearing and 1 Oilite Bushing
Gear Type: 4 metal and 1 nylon
Connector Wire Length: 11.81" (300mm)
Dimensions: 1.27" x 0.66"x 1.22" (32.4 x 16.8 x 31mm)
Weight: 0.99oz (27g)

[uberalles]

i've killed two hitech 255's one may have been because the end points. but the second one was not .... just not meant to hold a position.... it got hot and then died

645 is about a 1/4" bigger
and i have had zero problems ... plus 133oz is hard to beat in this little rig

[Mic]

I have a JR sz590 (metal gear servo that came with my Radio) I would recommend a full size servo probably a Hitec 645 would be way more than enough and work well, you just have to fab a plate up to fit the slightly larger servo.

[hpirs4]

I went with the full size traxxas 2075 digital servo rated at 125 oz. This was the best upgrade besides the added wheel weights. I used a ax-10 front servo plate & drilled it out to match the mounting holes on the losi. The fit is perfect. This servo is a beast, it's performance is what I was looking for.

[sddill]

Will the bec in the speed control handle the full size servo ok ?? Anyone had any problems with this ??