Vettster

I was flying at a club when the President who knows I have 300+ flights on my Sprint jet asked me how often I change the servo's. He is obviously looking out for the betterment of the club and the neighborhood... but it got me thinking. I wonder how long these servos DO last. Should we just keep using them till its to late?

With 300 flights on my sprint and only one elevator servo, I dont think it would be asking to much or a bad idea to change it out this winter.

Any thoughts?

erbroens

Better to change the president instead the servo..

RAMFlyer

My Feedback: (65)

My servos last longer than my airplanes

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

I'm no fan of Obama, but I doubt getting rid of him would make my model jets any safer.

G4guy

My Feedback: (13)

Now that's funny.........

but seriously, after flying turbine jets since 2000, I have never had a flight control servo fail.
I believe ours flight control servos do not have the wear and tear that say, a 3D plane might have.
Ron

rhklenke

My Feedback: (24)

I think that's the key - the servos in our jets have a much lower duty cycle and are exposed to a *lot* less vibration than in other applications like 3D gassers or helicopters. We have a CompARF Eurosport that is 8 years old and has probably 500 or so flights on it with the original servos. Those servos (JR 8411's) are still tight and don't exhibit any anomalous behavior like hunting that would make them suspect.

Of course the brand and type of servos is also a factor - for my money, the JR 8411, 8611, and 8711, can not be topped...

Bob

ravill

My Feedback: (11)

I've seen presidents be more detrimental to flying fields, people and, ofcourse, airplanes than ANY servo.

Jets just don't put the same wear and tear on servos that other airplanes do.

I've had big, heavy metal scale jets with more than 300 flights that have never had a servo fail.

That said, you can't scrimp on the elevator servo. EVER. Make sure you have a quality servo from a well known reputable source.

hotspot 01

Elevon servos in my rookie have seen 250 flights in the present model and around 150 flights in two previous planes no issues.

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

All joking aside. My Bobcat has over 1200 flights on it with all the original servos installed. I have had to install new gear sets on both elevator and both rudder servos several times due to hanger rash and a few crashes, but the servos are original.
I probably will change out the elevator servos sooner than later though, just because there are much better servos than 3321s available now.

NoOneFlysAtMyClub

My Feedback: (32)

1200 flights? Let me add them up. I fly about once a month. I'm lucky if I get in 5 flights each session. For me that's 60 flights a year. For me that's 20 years for one plane. Really?
How often do you fly? Do you have a job? Dude 1200 flights!!!!! What is your fuel cost for that 1200 flights? I am impressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bikecrasher

I have had servo issues from hitec to futaba.. On my fb jets mig the elevator servo cooked while I was taxiing out for a flight (Lucky) that model has over 70hrs on it, My eurosport killed its canard servo after about 50hrs.
One of my mates Eurosport with sbus servos had a elevon one died after around 50hrs of hard 3d fun.. so Id say the magic number would be 50hours depending on the flight envelope..

gunradd

My Feedback: (9)

I changed my gears and the metal ball link you get from dreamworks at about 150 flights due to wear. The ball end had allot of wear along with the gears in the 8711s. Was no big deal to change.I changed the gears in the servos my self. These are on a F22 with a heavy flying stab. So it probably depends on the load and how its used.

josecilurzo

Good point Enrique!!!
well, our Elan had 1200 flights, and, ours Sprint and Nano has today 50 hours run time each, we never had servo failure!!
but, we always checked it!!!

Jose

JohnMac

I had over 1000 flights on my first Eurosport in 7 years. The servos were getting sloppy so I decided to take them out and take a look expecting gear wear. In fact the gear wear was negligible, but the hole in the servo arm was oval. I changed these and the plane flew a lot sharper.

John

TheRickster

My Feedback: (12)

On Electronic stuff I trust used over new any day...

Rick

j.duncker

My Feedback: (2)

I agree with this. Electronics have a higher likelihood of failure in the first hour or so of use. That is why some people 'run in' their servos in some low value plane.

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

It is a Bobcat XL, and it is more than 11 years old. I lost count of the actual number of flights a long time ago, but I put about 200 flights on it the first year I had it, and many more after that. The past 4 or 5 years it has been considerably less than that, but I still get out as many weekends as I can.
In Texas our flying season is pretty much year round. The weather can be relatively cold and nasty from December-March, but we will still usually get at least one day a month that is warm enough to go out and get a few flights in.

lackeyma

My Feedback: (4)

Right after the crash.

CARS II

My Feedback: (7)

I had extensions go bad before the servos, come to think I have had only one low end servo ( new ) go bad in the last 10 years, and of course it was on the elevator on a small nitro plane, when it stop working it froze in a way that I was able to land that airplane just fine,

erbroens

Hi Jose, great to hear from you. I also canīt remember about a servo failure in a jet. Have seen high end servos failing in gassers, but never in a turbine powered model. Like cited above, I also presume the lack of vibration and "sober" control deflections may help to this record..

grbaker

My Feedback: (29)

I change all my servos out........... from one worn out / crashed airframe to the next one.

Vettster

That maybe the way its done in Brazil.. but here in Canada when the president of a club allows turbines to fly at his field for the first time ever.. We polity answer the question. Hens the purpose of my post.

Thanks to all that have responded. From what I gather the risk of servos burning out are rare at best. Makes sense that the gears or linkages would show some wear and tear from prolonged use. I always check my control surfaces before each flight session. No sign of sloppiness as of yet.

Thanks guys

erbroens

The funny thing is that I have so many good Canadian friends and even relatives that I canīt insult you back.... LOL


Anyway, good luck with your relations with your president and hope he didnīt ban jet engines at any moment based in the opinions you gather in RCU.

fred985

thats nothing,,i have a guillows glider with no servos and it has 301,435,672 flights. good God how these guys can tell tall tales.

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

1200 is a conservative estimate. I don't care if you believe it or not, but I am not telling tales though.