FUTABA USA

[Rich Jones]

If you are running over 6V then yes.

Grim

By over 6v, 6.5 or 6.7 would be ok without a regulator right? I just ordered a couple of the 305’s to try out. I run 1800 mah 2S Life packs. I had a Savox 231 MG lock hard right on me yesterday in my Slingshot, so I was at full throttle until I ran out of gas. Power or no power, that thing is locked up. End points were set for just enough to get the throttle wide open and just enough to close throttle with engine cutoff. I’ve run these for 3 years and have not had a problem. This particular one was almost brand new

 

[Grimracer]

ya know.. after I posted that it should have said 6.0V

if you are over 6.0V you will WANT a regulator.. (castle makes a good one as well as Futaba (albeit is a bit pricey)

you WILL shorten the life of the servo by going over 6.0V.

How might I know this you ask. I lost my MD369 Heli due to that VERY reason.. and just 2 weeks before the NATS. It had about 40 flights on it before the fore-aft cyclic servo decided it had had enough.. it was good however that Futaba service and the team that worked that line were just across the street.. yep.. the servo failed due to over volt. 6.6v Life.. was too much. (HV servos were JUST starting to come out at that time..)

Grim

 

[Rich Jones]

ya know.. after I posted that it should have said 6.0V

if you are over 6.0V you will WANT a regulator.. (castle makes a good one as well as Futaba (albeit is a bit pricey)

you WILL shorten the life of the servo by going over 6.0V.

How might I know this you ask. I lost my MD369 Heli due to that VERY reason.. and just 2 weeks before the NATS. It had about 40 flights on it before the fore-aft cyclic servo decided it had had enough.. it was good however that Futaba service and the team that worked that line were just across the street.. yep.. the servo failed due to over volt. 6.6v Life.. was too much. (HV servos were JUST starting to come out at that time..)

Grim

You definitely said that it was for 6.0v and NOT high voltage, I just didn’t know if there was some wiggle room for 1/2 volt or so. That answers my question. I guess I’ll need to get a regulator. Thanks Grim..

 

[Rich Jones]

This looks like it would work fine:

https://www.amainhobbies.com/futaba-ps01rs-1-amp-step-down-voltage-regulator-fut01102286-1/p220859
I could just run this between receiver and servo. The steering servo can handle the higher voltage so that doesn’t need a regulator, and I don’t need a BEC setup.

 

[Grimracer]

Rich, The regulator will run it at 5V +/-.2V your servos will thank you!

 

[Grimracer]

That reg is 1amp.. its not going to cut it.. you want to use this one.. (I should say this is a good one)

https://www.amainhobbies.com/castle...MIvrKT7Z_LgAMVjS3UAR0SogwqEAQYASABEgJE1PD_BwE
This one is 10amps

Grim

 

[Grimracer]

The nice thing about this one.. it will bring EVERYTHING down to 5v All servos and RX too.

= HAPPY RADIO!

 

[Rich Jones]

The nice thing about this one.. it will bring EVERYTHING down to 5v All servos and RX too.

= HAPPY RADIO!

So I ordered the Castle unit. But I’m a little confused. I’m currently running 6.7 volts (2S life 1800 mah) to my 334-SBS receiver to the ch3 plug. Steering goes to ch1 and throttle goes to ch 2. The SBS plug has a gps telemetry sensor plugged in. The steering servo handles hv. It’s a savox 1210sg. The throttle servo also handles hv supposedly but it locked up so that’s why I ordered the new Futaba servo. I liked the price but now I’m getting involved in voltage regulators etc….

Anyway, if I just want to protect the new Futaba servo, do I just hook it in line between the servo and receiver or is it more complicated than that? I don’t want to limit the torque on the steering servo. What is your suggestion for wiring this thing up?

 

[Daniel's Racing]

So I ordered the Castle unit. But I’m a little confused. I’m currently running 6.7 volts (2S life 1800 mah) to my 334-SBS receiver to the ch3 plug. Steering goes to ch1 and throttle goes to ch 2. The SBS plug has a gps telemetry sensor plugged in. The steering servo handles hv. It’s a savox 1210sg. The throttle servo also handles hv supposedly but it locked up so that’s why I ordered the new Futaba servo. I liked the price but now I’m getting involved in voltage regulators etc….

Anyway, if I just want to protect the new Futaba servo, do I just hook it in line between the servo and receiver or is it more complicated than that? I don’t want to limit the torque on the steering servo. What is your suggestion for wiring this thing up?

You can not put it between the receiver and servo. It has to go ahead of the receiver so everything gets the LOW voltage.

While that would be possible to do it would have to be wired specifically for that and it is not how they come.

You are being fed BS. No 6 volt rated servo has a problem with 6.6 volt. If it does you need to buy different servos not a voltage regulator.

6 volt rated means it is good for 6 volt pack.

I mean even 4 dry cells considered a 6 volt pack(1.5X4=6) is at at 1.64 volt per cell when new which is 6.56 volt total fresh. I know it says don't use dry cells my point is where would you get 6 volt pack from that is ONLY 6 VOLT. There is no such thing and they did not have a regulator in mind when they put that 6 volt rating on it.

A NiMh 6 volt 5 cell pack fully charged is 7.25 volt. That is accounted for when rated for 6 volt battery.

The fully charged LiFe 6.6 volt is LESS VOLTAGE than a fully charged NiMh 5 cell pack 6 volt pack. By a lot. The 6 volt NiMh is .6 volt MORE than LiFe at 100% charge.

The LiFe looses that .6 volt over in first 10% of discharge so it is gone pretty quick but then it doesn't lose but .1 volt the rest of the pack down to 10% left which is incredibly awesome. They are the perfect pack for 6 VOLT rated electronics.

5 cells X 1.45 NiMh cell voltage at 100% is 7.25 volt which is way over the 6.6 a LiFe has at 100% capacity.

ANY servo labelled 6 volt rated is perfectly fine to use with LiFe. 100% for sure.

Putting more electronics is not the answer. One more thing to fail is all that is especially in marine enviroment. The least stuff you plug in the better off you will be. Especially crap you do not need.

That servo S-U305 looks like the last servo you would want to buy to put in a boat. Anything that is also 4.8 volt rated should have you crossing that POS off the list the second you see that spec.

Where is Futabas waterproof lineup ? Futaba hardly even has any appropriate servos for us anymore. The good ones have been priced out of the market. No one is going to pay $140 or more for a servo that isn't even water resistant.

Go to a race, Look in the radio boxes. You will find there are NO Futaba servos anywhere. That is for a reason. No one is having compatibility issues. No one needs Futaba servos to use the Futaba radio.

You have to realize or at least it seems to me Futaba jacks prices quite a bit above what you actually get with a servo/battery or other accsessory. Usually it is because they are quality parts. A $40 servo in todays world from Futaba is going to be cheaply made bottom of the barrel servo. Lock it up even momentarily and you may smoke the amplifier in it easily. It may also have little to no tolerance for abuse in the gear train or the electronics. There are exceptions and some may even end up being a really good dependable servo. You are going to be hit and miss with any cheap servo though and most probably won't be that great for what we do with them.

You buying new servos you sure as heck do not wanna buy a 4.8 volt-6volt servo IMO. You still have to realize it is being overdriven.

You buy servo that has a low side rating of the voltage your going to use if you want best servo life as the electronics and motor will usually last longer. The exception is when you need the higher voltage in a appllication that could cause locked rotor at the lower voltage. You never want it to stall for sure.

 

[Grimracer]

Not worth it....

Grim

 

[Grimracer]

So I ordered the Castle unit. But I’m a little confused. I’m currently running 6.7 volts (2S life 1800 mah) to my 334-SBS receiver to the ch3 plug. Steering goes to ch1 and throttle goes to ch 2. The SBS plug has a gps telemetry sensor plugged in. The steering servo handles hv. It’s a savox 1210sg. The throttle servo also handles hv supposedly but it locked up so that’s why I ordered the new Futaba servo. I liked the price but now I’m getting involved in voltage regulators etc….

Anyway, if I just want to protect the new Futaba servo, do I just hook it in line between the servo and receiver or is it more complicated than that? I don’t want to limit the torque on the steering servo. What is your suggestion for wiring this thing up?

Rich,

Sorry just got back from IRCHA. you want the reg between the switch and the RX.

IF.. theHV servo that failed you might want to take that up with the MFG.. ALL HV servos I USE WILL operate on 2S life and Lipo. (no reg)

Grim

 

[Timbo Whalen]

You can not put it between the receiver and servo. It has to go ahead of the receiver so everything gets the LOW voltage.

While that would be possible to do it would have to be wired specifically for that and it is not how they come.

You are being fed BS. No 6 volt rated servo has a problem with 6.6 volt. If it does you need to buy different servos not a voltage regulator.

6 volt rated means it is good for 6 volt pack.

I mean even 4 dry cells considered a 6 volt pack(1.5X4=6) is at at 1.64 volt per cell when new which is 6.56 volt total fresh. I know it says don't use dry cells my point is where would you get 6 volt pack from that is ONLY 6 VOLT. There is no such thing and they did not have a regulator in mind when they put that 6 volt rating on it.

A NiMh 6 volt 5 cell pack fully charged is 7.25 volt. That is accounted for when rated for 6 volt battery.

The fully charged LiFe 6.6 volt is LESS VOLTAGE than a fully charged NiMh 5 cell pack 6 volt pack. By a lot. The 6 volt NiMh is .6 volt MORE than LiFe at 100% charge.

The LiFe looses that .6 volt over in first 10% of discharge so it is gone pretty quick but then it doesn't lose but .1 volt the rest of the pack down to 10% left which is incredibly awesome. They are the perfect pack for 6 VOLT rated electronics.

5 cells X 1.45 NiMh cell voltage at 100% is 7.25 volt which is way over the 6.6 a LiFe has at 100% capacity.

ANY servo labelled 6 volt rated is perfectly fine to use with LiFe. 100% for sure.

Putting more electronics is not the answer. One more thing to fail is all that is especially in marine enviroment. The least stuff you plug in the better off you will be. Especially crap you do not need.

That servo S-U305 looks like the last servo you would want to buy to put in a boat. Anything that is also 4.8 volt rated should have you crossing that POS off the list the second you see that spec..

Where is Futabas waterproof lineup ? Futaba hardly even has any appropriate servos for us anymore. The good ones have been priced out of the market. No one is going to pay $140 or more for a servo that isn't even water resistant.

Go to a race, Look in the radio boxes. You will find there are NO Futaba servos anywhere. That is for a reason. No one is having compatibility issues. No one needs Futaba servos to use the Futaba radio.

You have to realize or at least it seems to me Futaba jacks prices quite a bit above what you actually get with a servo/battery or other accsessory. Usually it is because they are quality parts. A $40 servo in todays world from Futaba is going to be cheaply made bottom of the barrel servo. Lock it up even momentarily and you may smoke the amplifier in it easily. It may also have little to no tolerance for abuse in the gear train or the electronics. There are exceptions and some may even end up being a really good dependable servo. You are going to be hit and miss with any cheap servo though and most probably won't be that great for what we do with them.

You buying new servos you sure as heck do not wanna buy a 4.8 volt-6volt servo IMO. You still have to realize it is being overdriven.

You buy servo that has a low side rating of the voltage your going to use if you want best servo life as the electronics and motor will usually last longer. The exception is when you need the higher voltage in a appllication that could cause locked rotor at the lower voltage. You never want it to stall for sure.

Not choosing any sides here...that's ridiculous!....however, Daniel, your explanation is EXACTLY the same as what the Savox techs explained to me when using LiFe Rx packs.
8 yrs later, none of my servos, nor my R304SB Rx's, are any worse for wear.
I did, before hand, purchase a CC regulator, and the same tech told me it was something to consider if using a LiPo pack, but not the LiFe.

Thanks to both you guys for the info.

 

[Grimracer]

the Savox 231 MG is not a High voltage servo (not that I can find)

Grim

 

[Rich Jones]

the Savox 231 MG is not a High voltage servo (not that I can find)

Grim

It’s the 230 mg that is HV. The 231 is not. So is it possible that I overpowered the 231? Yes, technically I gave it 6.6. I have used this same model in two other boats for throttle and they’ve held up so far. This one gave out on the 3rd or 4th run. I will make a note to make sure to get the HV model in the future which would be the 230. Sucks to hear about that Heli. Boats are expensive enough but I know you can really tie up some money in the Helis. Thanks as always Grim.

 

[Rich Jones]

You can not put it between the receiver and servo. It has to go ahead of the receiver so everything gets the LOW voltage.

While that would be possible to do it would have to be wired specifically for that and it is not how they come.

You are being fed BS. No 6 volt rated servo has a problem with 6.6 volt. If it does you need to buy different servos not a voltage regulator.

6 volt rated means it is good for 6 volt pack.

I mean even 4 dry cells considered a 6 volt pack(1.5X4=6) is at at 1.64 volt per cell when new which is 6.56 volt total fresh. I know it says don't use dry cells my point is where would you get 6 volt pack from that is ONLY 6 VOLT. There is no such thing and they did not have a regulator in mind when they put that 6 volt rating on it.

A NiMh 6 volt 5 cell pack fully charged is 7.25 volt. That is accounted for when rated for 6 volt battery.

The fully charged LiFe 6.6 volt is LESS VOLTAGE than a fully charged NiMh 5 cell pack 6 volt pack. By a lot. The 6 volt NiMh is .6 volt MORE than LiFe at 100% charge.

The LiFe looses that .6 volt over in first 10% of discharge so it is gone pretty quick but then it doesn't lose but .1 volt the rest of the pack down to 10% left which is incredibly awesome. They are the perfect pack for 6 VOLT rated electronics.

5 cells X 1.45 NiMh cell voltage at 100% is 7.25 volt which is way over the 6.6 a LiFe has at 100% capacity.

ANY servo labelled 6 volt rated is perfectly fine to use with LiFe. 100% for sure.

Putting more electronics is not the answer. One more thing to fail is all that is especially in marine enviroment. The least stuff you plug in the better off you will be. Especially crap you do not need.

That servo S-U305 looks like the last servo you would want to buy to put in a boat. Anything that is also 4.8 volt rated should have you crossing that POS off the list the second you see that spec.

Where is Futabas waterproof lineup ? Futaba hardly even has any appropriate servos for us anymore. The good ones have been priced out of the market. No one is going to pay $140 or more for a servo that isn't even water resistant.

Go to a race, Look in the radio boxes. You will find there are NO Futaba servos anywhere. That is for a reason. No one is having compatibility issues. No one needs Futaba servos to use the Futaba radio.

You have to realize or at least it seems to me Futaba jacks prices quite a bit above what you actually get with a servo/battery or other accsessory. Usually it is because they are quality parts. A $40 servo in todays world from Futaba is going to be cheaply made bottom of the barrel servo. Lock it up even momentarily and you may smoke the amplifier in it easily. It may also have little to no tolerance for abuse in the gear train or the electronics. There are exceptions and some may even end up being a really good dependable servo. You are going to be hit and miss with any cheap servo though and most probably won't be that great for what we do with them.

You buying new servos you sure as heck do not wanna buy a 4.8 volt-6volt servo IMO. You still have to realize it is being overdriven.

You buy servo that has a low side rating of the voltage your going to use if you want best servo life as the electronics and motor will usually last longer. The exception is when you need the higher voltage in a appllication that could cause locked rotor at the lower voltage. You never want it to stall for sure.

Daniel:

Thanks for your info. Seems to me the best course is to make sure the Servos are rated HV to be on the safe side. I bought the 231 and should have bought the 230. But I agree that it’s hard to believe that almost any servo cant stand up to a 2 cell life pack. In these days of modern batteries, and the life batteries are just incredible, servos should be able to stand up to what one would almost consider standard voltage now.

 

[Rich Jones]

Guys I didn’t mean to start a thing here. Everyone has some points to consider and I may technically have overvolted the 231mg. I should have gone with the 230. I really didn’t notice the difference and ordered the wrong model.

 

[Grimracer]

First, I am always happy to help when I can Rich,

Things, be it electronic assemblies or mechanical assemblies are designed with the load or operating specifications of the components within that assembly to whatever it is designed to accomplish.

A servo, ALL servos are designed using "components within" that have a set of "Specifications". Those component specs drive the overall specs of the servo.

Its just that simple.. if you play out side of those specs......

In the end we all just want you to have a good experience with your model.

Grim

BTY, those components will all have a tolerance.. this is very likely the reason some fail and some do not.

 

[Daniel's Racing]

First, I am always happy to help when I can Rich,

Things, be it electronic assemblies or mechanical assemblies are designed with the load or operating specifications of the components within that assembly to whatever it is designed to accomplish.

A servo, ALL servos are designed using "components within" that have a set of "Specifications". Those component specs drive the overall specs of the servo.

Its just that simple.. if you play out side of those specs......

In the end we all just want you to have a good experience with your model.

Grim

BTY, those components will all have a tolerance.. this is very likely the reason some fail and some do not.

Grim,

My point was really that there is no way any given 6 volt rated servo is safe on a 5 cell 6 volt NiCad or NiMh it's 6 volt rating was meant for and not also be just as safe on a 2S LiFe pack. They have very similar voltages at 100% capacity.

Absolutely just because a 4.8-6.0 rated servo has a long life using LiFe or 6 volt anything doesn't mean they all will. Some I believe are actually still the same 4.8 volt servo they always were or designed as such but yet they test one for some amount of time and if it handles it in the tests all of a sudden it is a 4.8 to 6 volt servo. Well that worked most of the time but back then we knew the ones that were ok and ones that were not. ........ and some were not even though they said they were ok on 6 volt.
That is what I noticed when we went from 4 NiCad/NiMh cells for 4.8 volt to 5 cell packs that were 6.0 volt. All of a sudden many of the servos specs were upgraded to 6.0 volt to match with the new 6.0 volt packs everyone started to go to. The 6 volt gave you a lot more servo torque which was precious and hard to come by 50 years ago. Same 4.8 volt servo.
Believe it or not if you see ones with old 4.8 volt - 6volt spec you still have to realize some are going to be happy with the upper rating of voltage and last almost as long as they always did. Another may push it to the edge if it is being worked and you are taking advantage of the servos torque it may be too much at the upper end of even the rated voltage. That is surely true.

Even though 6 volt rated should cover a 5cell NiCad/NiMh or 2S LiFe pack if it is a 4.8 volt -6 volt rating I would suggest to always try to avoid those so you don't have to test the 4.8 volt servo to find out if it is truly good for 6 volt packs. May work forever for the throttle but load it up on the steering and it toasts it. May have done the same with 4.8 volt too and maybe even more so. Low voltage allowing servo to stall would be way worse that a extra volt or two that prevents it from stalling because of the extra torque gained so you have to realize it isn't always just the high voltage that can kill a servo. Loads approacing the torque rating of the servo are hard on everything inside it.

Adding a regulator is just more electronics to go awal and burn up everything in your radio box. Not worth the risk when you can just buy the correct servo to begin with.

That is like buying a 3PV then finding out there is no steering speed and to get that you can buy $140 servos and a programmer to do that for you. Well yea you could but the smart thing to do would to be buy the right radio so you can adjust your steering speed easily from your radio even while underway if you were still dialing it in.

 

[Rich Jones]

I’ve heard the term “stall” come up a few times during this endeavor. What exactly does that mean for a servo to stall? Is that what happened to mine when it locked up?

 

[Daniel's Racing]

I’ve heard the term “stall” come up a few times during this endeavor. What exactly does that mean for a servo to stall? Is that what happened to mine when it locked up?

Rich,
Anytime the servo is being called to go somewhere it doesn't have the power to move to or even hesitates even momentarily anywhere along the travel or even loaded to point where motor isn't able to run at full rpm. The motor is being fed juice to go but it can't go so it doesn't move and the locked rotor or stalled servo occurs. When this happens the amp draw goes through the roof and you have very close to a dead short at the motor wires. This heats everything up really fast and the load is more than the electronics were ever designed for and it smokes the servo. Often it is a part on the board callled the amplifier that releases the majic smoke but when they lock up any part including he motor is suseptible to being fried. If it doesn't move for a few seconds that is all it takes.