Zim-uh-tosa

Hey guys,

I think there used to be a thread like this a while back but I am attempting to resurrect a solid information base on aftermarket servo's. Seems like there are many of us with the same questions about which servo's work best where, what to expect in performance for price and the heartiness of the gears in a crash, among other concerns. I would also like to include gyro's since they are directly related to how the tail servo will react. This is all a learning experience for me as well as anyone that posts here.

Let me start off by stating that I have used Esky 8g non-digital, TowerPro SG90's and now the HS 65HB's on the cyclic. I have used Esky 8g non-digital, TowerPro SG 90's, HS65HB and Futaba 3115 on the tail. I think for me, money has been one of the major issues in not having all the best parts to work with. Without breaking my bank account, I feel I have been fairly successful at building a nice, solid flying machine. I have learn so much from everyone on the forums that I couldn't be happier that I chose my little King to start my Helicopter experiences with. It has been frustrating, rewarding and everything in between...And I am addicted!

Later this week I will show pictures of my install of the HS65's and what needs to be done in order to use them in the stock frame. Since I already did the modifications to install the SG90's, the HS65's were very easy. Since they are longer from top to bottom than Esky stock servo's they require the ball/ball links to work. Only other thing I had to do was reverse the separate channels for each of the 3 cyclic servos(leaving the swash mix alone). So far, I can really see why I have had these recommended to me so many times. They are smooth, slop free, center perfectly and have the Karbonite gears(I paid $70 including shipping for a 3 pack). I will let you know if they survive my crashes like I hope they will. I only had to look at my SG90's and not one, but two gears would usually shatter!! I did not keep all the broken gears but I have a picture in limbo on my camera I can post later of the busted up gears.....My favorite analogy of SG90 gears is: They seem to be made out of uncooked pasta. They shatter that easy......

Please feel free to post fixes, pictures, recommendations and of course questions.

Thanks,

Z

funflier

8-12 min and those gears are al dente and great with a little butter and garlic bread..

jwscab

this thread will be very helpful, so thanks for starting it!

also, if you do reply with info (anyone) can you say if you needed to reverse the servos internally, or are using a computer radio (not stock)?

slotdr

Hi all, I just purchased a futaba 3114 for my tail servo and I am hoping it will drop in with no modifications, the Esky stock servos have served me well, even went to the digital for tail, but wanted something a little more high quality.

noobflyer01

what gyro are you using? if your gyro is stock then getting the digital tail servo will marginally be better. both the logitech or the gy401 will make that digital servo be much better.

slotdr

Hello, I have the Esky HH gyro and was thinking of installing my futaba 240 gyro I took off my helimax AXE CP

noobflyer01

the esky hh gyro wont be good enough in your application. the gy240 is what you want in the bird. use that with the futaba digital servo you got. you will see a remarkable improvment in holding power and response in your tail. if you ever get a chance get the gy401 and you'll love it. you can learn alot faster if you dont have to worry about the tail so much and thats what you'll get if you have the gy401. they say " buy cheap buy twice" and its true.


sounds like you're becoming quite an addict. i too learned on the king2 and when i got a bigger bird it was so much easier to fly and learn. the king2 is one twitchy sob but once you got the hang of it flys well enough to learn.
your next step is to buy a nice kit and build it to your budget. remember the bigger the better.

this is me flying the hbk2 6 months ago with esky hh gyro, 3100kv motor, 25a esc, 1500mah lipo everything else bone stock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrqSOCSz5og
6 months later and my flying my poseidon 480 CF pro : JGF 500th, 40a esc, cc bec, hs65mg cyclic, gy401 with 9650, thunderpower 4-cell lipo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrCtLafWPUM

Zim-uh-tosa

Funflier uses the 3114 servo on his King's tail with a Telebee Gyro. I flew it last week and it works real nice, especially for the price. With stock radio's, you run into problems using non-stock servos (like futaba) on cyclic because your radio simply can't reverse the swash mix. On the tail however, you can easily reverse the Futaba servo with the sliders on the bottom of your radio(marked rudder).

After you mount the servo, you need to perform a test to make sure that the servo is throwing in the correct direction. If you move the rudder stick to the right, the slider on the tail will be moving inward toward the boom. If you move the rudder stick to the left, the slider on the tail will be moving outward toward the rotor blades. Chances are that with the Futaba servo, you will have to reverse the rudder servo on your radio to the opposite of what is at now. When it comes to checking if the gyro is correcting in the proper direction, push the helicopter's tail back and forth and look at the tail slider. Whichever way you are pushing the tail, the slider should be correcting in the opposite direction. If the slider is moving with the direction you are pushing, you need to then reverse the gyro.

I would definitely use the 240 over the Esky Gyro. I have never set-up a Futaba gyro, but I will post the steps i take to get my Telebee dialed in. I am sure that some or most of it would cross-reference. The differences are the AVCS settings as opposed to the Telebee's Head Holding setting's. Here is the online manual for [link=http://manuals.hobbico.com/fut/futm0809-manual.pdf]Your Gyro[/link] in case you don't have the manual on hand. I will post my steps in a different post since it's l-o-n-g.

Z

Zim-uh-tosa

I saved my "long" post for how I successfully set-up the Telebee Gyro to hold the tail solid...

Here is my post:

(skip all the parts that you have already completed. I am just explaining how I set-up my Telebee gyro on a DX6i from the start)

Fore thought: Your main rotors are moving CW. looking straight at the tail rotors, it is moving CCW with the leading edges of your blades in the correct orientation!!! Make sure if you are thinking heli is going right or left that you are referring to the nose.....not the tail! Belt is not turning tail in the wrong direction??...OK

Make sure that you have the servo for the rudder plugged into the Telebee with the white/positive wire on the top of the 3 prongs. Gyro plugged into channel 4/rudder and single wire from gyro plugged into channel 5/Gear? If this is correct, set your radios gyro gain to 25 on the top value and 72 on the bottom(make sure on the main screen that you are not in the STUNT mode for the gyro, if you are, roll to the STUNT mode and click to roll until it says SW-GYRO. Also make sure that the TRAVEL ADJUSTMENTS are at 100% and that you have zero sub-trim(and your main trim is centered). Rebind the system and initialize in rate mode(switch flipped to the up position).NOTE: If you are using stock Radio, dial the manual gain on the gyro down to about 25%(anything under 50% is rate mode, anything over 50% will be HH mode on a HH gyro). Channel 5 will not be used, that channel is for the radio to control gain...Continue below.

Turn Tx on and plug-in battery to heli. Wait for the gyro to initialize. Where is the horn on the servo facing? It should be a perfect 90 degree angle up or down considering how you mounted the servo. If not, unscrew the horn and remount at the closest to 90 that you can get...Turn everything off once again and loosen the 2 servo screws that will allow you to slide the servo on the boom(not the ones that attach the servo to the mounts). Keeping the servo horn at 90 degrees, slide the whole servo assembly toward the nose so that the leading edge of the tail rotors are off-center, this gives the heli a bit of right rudder(leading edges will be facing in toward the boom). The slider on the tail rotor shaft will be very close to being in the center of its movement. When you are satisfied, tighten the screws holding servo. At this point, you can re-initialize with the gear switch in the down position. Note: On stock radios, turn the manual gain all the way up to 70-100% before you initialize power so you are in HH mode.

YOU might want to do this step next if you are new to the gyro. I did not do this step and skipped it due to experiencing where I needed my servo slid to: Initialize power to heli and test hover to see how close the tail is to holding in Rate mode. Do this step over(and over) until you are happy with the result....Known problems and fixes: If tail is spinning on you, first make sure that right rudder stick is sending the servo arm toward the boom(stock servo, stock mounting location). If the heli is spinning and you go to correct it and the heli starts spinning even faster the way you are correcting, you most likely have to reverse the Gyro. My settings for DX6i are: Rudder channel reversed, and Gyro on "B".

Next, you have to take the "creep" out of the servo. NOTE: Adjusting creep with a stock radio can/will cause the gyro to not initialize. Seeing how you have to use trim instead of sub-trim, it can throw things off for initializing gyro. Make a mental note where you ended up as your "happy spot" for creep, recenter trims to initialize gyro and then when everything is done beeping, move the trim back to the "happy spot".... (Creep is the slow movement of the servo arm attempting to re-center itself) Go into the SUB-TRIM menu and add plus/minus sub-trim until you have zero creep on the servo for both of the furthest amounts of travel.(this is where you will have to find the best happy medium between both sides of center on the servo). Make sure while you are doing this that you make a mental note on whether or not the servos are traveling too far and bottoming out and/or buzzing. If they are buzzing you might want to reconnect the push-rod on the servo horn to a lower hole, allowing for a shorter throw. [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O_ga2mrFZU]Help video for creep!, thanks Blusaber1[/link]

Now, go back to the Gyro menu and set bottom value to 72 for gain, leave top one at 25...(my bottom value is at 80, but you should start at 72 and add more gain if your tail does not wag, less if it does wag). Turn system off and REBIND. Test these settings.

Good luck and may the force be with you.....

Z

slotdr

Thanks Z, what do you meen by rebind, will that change any of the settings I already have set?
Do you have to rebind after any setting change on the Dx6i which I own and have set up with your help.

Zim-uh-tosa

It is a good idea to rebind the radio to the rx every time you change settings in the radio. It will not change any of the settings you already have. Don't worry!

Rebinding can be a big pain in the rear, but luckily Funflier has a killer little fix to make it easy as pie. I am hoping he will share with the class....He basically has an extension plug in an open channel from his receiver that gives him SUPER easy access to use his bind plug. There is a Carribeaner hanging off of his radio with his bind plug hanging from a string so he can just unsnap, plug, bind, unplug and snap...It's a snap! And I will be jealous of him, until I steal and implement his idea too!!!

If he can't get some pictures posted, I will snap some the next time I see him at California Hobbies...

Z

funflier

I like to experiment so I do a lot of rebinding and I found it a pain to dig for that little connector in the back soo. I took a old servo connector soldered the two outer wires to a female JST connector and plug it into the Battery slot on the rx. I then take the male JST and just loop the wires together and solder them. Hang the male connector to a string on a carribeaner and you can snap it to the handle of the tx. Also helps in not misplacing the little connector on the ground and losing it.

pictures:

funflier

Picture of my Futaba s3114 mounted, notice that I redrilled the inner hole even closer to the center to reduce the travel.
I use the Hitec HS-55 servo arms as they are about 2 times the thickness and much wider then the little 3114 horns which are very thin and I found the the ball screw will pull out of them in a short time or the entire arme will break off where hole was redrilled (3114 arms are also too narrow and are really made for Z connectors or snap connectors). I am using mine with a dx6i radio and as I remember they turn the same direction as the stock esky servos.

Hitec is the servos that turn the "wrong way" and can't be used for the tail with a stock tx and rx unless you internally rewire the servo or buy a expensive servo reversing cable (no, reversing the gyro or the tx will not work with the stock tx and rx)

slotdr

Thanks funflier, do I have to do any modification for the Futaba 3114 or if so what is a good drop in and fly servo, not yet 100% and modifying, I have 2 HBK2, one I use the dx6i and the other still using stock TX

Thanks

cbrian4

Im still amazed at how a computerized tx is able to bring out the best of what these helis have to offer, after installing the dx6i-you can fine tune everything, my king is amazingly stable. A computerized tx is the best upgrade you can do for these esky helis. Anyway be sure to watch the finless bob videos about how to set up the gyro with your radio, its much easier than written instructions as he shows you step by step with his radio.

Zim-uh-tosa

I chucked my HS65 on the tail just for fun and it seemed to work just fine....I know, I know, I have the DX6i. For those that have a stock radio, I am confused on why you can't reverse the servo and/or gyro to make it work for the tail??? I do however understand why they won't work correctly on the cyclic. Are these manufactured at the Mystery Spot, hoax built right in? Elaborate someone. Electronics are my achilles heal.....

Z

Zim-uh-tosa

Hello again,

I wanted to give a special shout out to our long lost member Nuttcase. In case some of you were not around at the time he used to grace the pages of RCU, he was one of the many pilots that really wanted to help out his fellow flier. Due to politics and bureaucracy, he bailed to seek greener pastures...Huh Umm...Anyway, Nuttcase has stepped up, and into some big shoes when Subzzzero pulled his setup videos off of youtube(rumor has it that he is going to attempt to capitalize on his videos in the form of DVD's). Nuttcase now has an extensive and growing collection of King2 and BeltCP videos, made to help you and I. [link=http://mysite.verizon.net/bizwptdb/id29.html]Here is the link to Nuttcase's King 2 videos[/link] and his expanding world, completely enveloped by RC helicopters. Stay a while and check it out....He has some BEAUTIFUL Heli cam video that is sure to astound...The video of interest for this thread will be the Esky Servo repair video. It makes it so much easier to learn when you can see it performed.

Thanks Nutt,

Z

noobflyer01

EXACTLY ....its being able to manipulate all the little things that make your heli fly better and to your taste. from mild to wild. thats why in the begining the guys at the lhs keep telling me to get the best transmitter i can afford first. i scuffed and bought a RTF instead. i'll be taking my foot out of my mouth now.

noobflyer01

Hey zim, i saw nuttcase vids on youtube. freaking awesome man! flying his esmart with a cam was amazing. he doesnt have to make those videos but he did it out of his own time to help others. that deserves respect.

slotdr

Hi All, just received my Futaba S3114 servo for the rudder, It states that you must use the servo arms that come with the servo, they seem thin and weak, what servo arm can I use? it looks like it will be plug and play, no modifications to install, am I correct on that, I won't have time till this weekend to install it with my Futaba 240 Gyro, I am so hooked

funflier

as I said a few posts up with the picture, use the Hitec HS-55 arms just cause the splines do not fit perfect doesnt mean you cannot press the arm on.

Zim-uh-tosa

It should be illegal to sell these things. I am going to rehab sooner or later!

Z

slotdr

Thanks
I will head over to my LHS and purchase Hitec servo arms any of these do you suggest

funflier

None of them. It's the HS-55 arms (not all Hitec servos use the same arms same with Futaba, JR or any other servo mfg) you need for the futaba s3114 servo all the others are too large or entirely diff splines. Your going to redrill it also to move the ball closer to the hub to reduce the actual travel. The splines are not a exact fit on the futaba but it can still be pressed on with finger pressure.

noobflyer01

slotr. i would not recommend you using the metal servo arms. i'd rather change the arms then change the entire servo in a crash. i heard the metal arms cause more damage to the servo in a crash.