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HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 1:38:47 AM   
Hooked-On-RC



Posts: 809
Joined: 6/7/2002
From: Surrey, BC, CANADA
Status: offline 		After 89 fantastic flights, my H9 1/3 Scale Extra 330S crashed today and I am not sure why, however post mortem found the batteries are fine, the reciever is fine, the switches are fine and operational, the wing servos work although one servo is stripped and the rudder servo works fine as well. On further inspection I found my elevator servos, both of them locked up, however when I apply power through reciever and battery and operate them using my transmitter both servos work fine, remove the power and I cannot move them by hand. Should I not be able to at least move the servos when there is no power to them?....of course I should.

Can anyone explain this problem? The plane is a total write off, however I will say this, H9 makes a fantastic ARF, well built, lightweight and very agile. I would buy another one in a heart beat.

feedback welcome and thanks in advance
       Post #: 1

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 1:56:58 AM   
vypr



Posts: 385
Joined: 5/28/2003
From: Woodlands, TX, USA
Status: offline 		Chixwithtrix had some trouble with a few 5945's that locked up intermittently after some flight time, fortunately found on the ground... She sent them in and they were sent back with some fixes. They sounded very different, maybe even a little faster and certainly more solid. I called Hitec, because iw as thinking about using some hitec's on my next plane and wanted to see if they had been doing anything to fix a problem...


They told me that they had redisigned the gear train completely and it was much tougher now. I would suggest that anyone running older 5945's should send their servos in and get them redone by hitec. I havent had much time, but at least they have admitted to a problem.

-Ian

(in reply to Hooked-On-RC)
       Post #: 2

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:04:30 AM   
mAvRiCk


 

Posts: 1126
Joined: 9/23/2003
From: East Longmeadow, MA, USA
Status: offline 		Ouch bro! I have 10 in my 40% DP Edge and they dont even humm at neutral and full deflection! IT's weird but they are perfectly synched!!

Dan

(in reply to vypr)
       Post #: 3

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:06:17 AM   
Stick Jammer



Posts: 2251
Joined: 11/21/2002
From: Crete, IL, USA
Status: offline 		Sorry about the crash. Just curious, was the plane having obvious elevator problems before it went in?

(in reply to Hooked-On-RC)
       Post #: 4

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:07:17 AM   
Tired Old Man


 

Posts: 12049
Joined: 2/25/2002
From: Central, CA, USA
Status: offline 		I've been exactly where you are now, but without much of an impact to cause any type of lock up. Remove the top of the case of one of the servos to see if the center gear pin has shifted sideways and elongated the receiving hole for the pin. Then check the other one. Of course you will be told that it was the result of the crash, and not the other way around. My vote is that this is what you will find, since it is well known to happen. You will also be told that there are no known problems with the case tops of the 59XX servos. I found it when Tony at Hitec told me what to look for after the loss of my aircraft. At that time I was told that it was a rare occurance. The big difference was that mine happened on the third flight of a new plane and servos, with a total flight time of less than 20 minutes.


In my case, after performing every possible test I could think of, and some others that were suggested by many, the only conclusion arrived at was that Hitec would fix the servo, and it just had to be my fault, or the fault of other equipment. Since that conclusion was determined by Hitec and/or their reps, I have unloaded 22-59XX servos, 1 Prism 7, several Hitec receivers, 1 Hitec gyro and gain control (it didn't work that well for me anyway), 18-615 and 605mg servos, tossed out all the Hitec servo extensions and switches, and switched completely over to JR equipment. Not a problem since, completely to the credit of JR, and my local hobby dealer who had advised me years ago to switch over to JR. I should have paid more attention when he told me.

By the way, I'm not sponsored, paid, or supported by anyone. Just my hard earned cash.

Best of luck to you and I'm really sorry to hear the this stuff is still happening.

_____________________________

If you can''t fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem.

(in reply to Hooked-On-RC)
       Post #: 5

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:15:14 AM   
Hooked-On-RC



Posts: 809
Joined: 6/7/2002
From: Surrey, BC, CANADA
Status: offline 		No problem with elevators at all. I was in an inverted flat spin...rolled over to a non-inverted flat spin and then rolled over again to inverted when she started to rock back and forth, so I maneuvered out of the flat spin applied a little throttle in a down line to pull out and she kept rocking and the nose pulled up as if I was applying full elevator so I cut the throttle to try and harrier it but she was stalling so I gave her more throttle and once again she nosed up and started to climb as if I was applying elevator, that stick was at neutral center so she just kinda stalled all the way to the ground where she hit. I tried more throttle on the way down and all she did was nose up as if the elevators were stuck in the full up-elevator position. When we arrived at teh crash site teh elevators were locked in the full up elevator position and we could not move them at all and the servos were not past center as one would expect. Now I cannot even move the elevator servos unless I use my radio and receiver, they move fine, no stripped gears no grinding no buzzing nothing, otherwise they are locked. I am going to talk to hitec and see what they say.

(in reply to Stick Jammer)
       Post #: 6

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:18:57 AM   
Stick Jammer



Posts: 2251
Joined: 11/21/2002
From: Crete, IL, USA
Status: offline 		Geeezz. Not another Hitec vs. JR debate. Tell me it ain't so.

(in reply to Tired Old Man)
       Post #: 7

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:23:12 AM   
Stick Jammer



Posts: 2251
Joined: 11/21/2002
From: Crete, IL, USA
Status: offline 		Hooked-On-RC,
Yeah, that doesn't sound normal for sure. You should be able to easily move the elevators by hand.

(in reply to Hooked-On-RC)
       Post #: 8

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:31:04 AM   
Aerohead



Posts: 532
Joined: 10/4/2002
From: Columbus, GA, USA
Status: offline 		Same here. I had ten Hitec 5945s I had bought to put in a new plane. I had read so much good about them over the last couple of years that when I first began to read about people having problems with them, I figured that they were a few isolated problems, most likely with setups that were putting undue stress on them. After reading more and more stories, though, especially from people I have confidence in to set their servos up correctly, I began to worry about using them in such an expensive project. I have heard enough now, though, that I am beginning to think that Hitec's quality control has gone out the window. That is what happened to the company I used to work for. Up to a few years ago they were a relatively small company that had a competent, loyal workforce, and a very high rate of customer satisfaction and quality control. With a management change a few years ago, the company grew at a blinding rate. But without the infrastructure to sustain that growth, the quality control began to slip, and bad management decisions led to deep cuts in areas that resulted in a product that is inferior in every way to that of the product put out just a few years before. I wonder if the same thing has happened at Hitec? At any rate, I have sold all of my Hitec digitals and programmer, and gone back to JR, which I never had any problem with. Luckily I never had a Hitec servo lock up or burn out on me, but why wait for this to happen, when I can pay a little more for a product which I have faith in?

_____________________________

Nick Jones

Badges? We don't need no stinking badges.

(in reply to Tired Old Man)
       Post #: 9

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:37:59 AM   
ukrconsul


 

Posts: 243
Joined: 3/13/2003
From: Ottawa, ON, CANADA
Status: offline 		I had 5 new 5945 servos late ver. 1.03 and none of them could be moved freely by hand. It is normal for these servos, check Hitec support forum.

(in reply to Stick Jammer)
       Post #: 10

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:50:07 AM   
Hooked-On-RC



Posts: 809
Joined: 6/7/2002
From: Surrey, BC, CANADA
Status: offline 		Well I have a brand new 5945 still in the box and I can turn the servo arm with ease. No power needed! It is normal for a servo to move without having to add any power. You should be able to move your control surfaces even though you do not have any switches turned on. I cant see how you say that "not able to move" is normal.

(in reply to ukrconsul)
       Post #: 11

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:50:35 AM   
Stick Jammer



Posts: 2251
Joined: 11/21/2002
From: Crete, IL, USA
Status: offline
quote:

I had 5 new 5945 servos late ver. 1.03 and none of them could be moved freely by hand. It is normal for these servos, check Hitec support forum.


Not normal for the ones I own. The elevators on my H9 fall from their own weight once the power is off.

(in reply to ukrconsul)
       Post #: 12

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 2:55:28 AM   
Hooked-On-RC



Posts: 809
Joined: 6/7/2002
From: Surrey, BC, CANADA
Status: offline 		Stick Jammer,
That was exactly the same case with mine, once the power to my servos was switched off both my elevators and ailerons fell from their own weight. then once power was applied they would jump back to center with no issues at all, no jittering,no buzzing, perfectly centered etc. So I am totally confused what happened here.

thanks

(in reply to Stick Jammer)
       Post #: 13

RE: HITEC 5945 Digitals Locked up - 10/14/2004 3:36:13 AM   
Tired Old Man


 

Posts: 12049
Joined: 2/25/2002
From: Central, CA, USA
Status: offline 		Pull the case tops and examine the middle pin hole with a magnifying glass. Then tell us what you did or did not find.

BTW, a good digital will offer little resistance to rotation by hand when there is no power applied. If they don't, you'd better start checking things before you fly them.

< Message edited by Silversurfer -- 10/14/2004 3:38:07 AM >

_____________________________

If you can''t fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem.

(in reply to Hooked-On-RC)