acdii

Does anyone know which servos from Hobby King are the S3010 Futaba equivalent? I found the S3003/3004 equivalent. HK15138. They seem to be pretty good for the price. They are going into a trainer.

tacx

My Feedback: (1)

3003 and 3004 should be fine for a trainer. Myself and many others have them in 60 size glow sport planes.

acdii

Actually I am looking to see if anyone has used the HK servo's and how they are holding up.

karolh

Lots of people use cheap chinese manufactured servos, but not many will talk about them

Karol

Altered1

I got some orange HK servos just to check them out....For applications where accuracy is not so demanding.... they work ok.... I reverted to my ten YO Hitec servos.   

acdii

so for something like a Kadet LT 40 they should be OK?

jester_s1

Not really. I haven't used them and doubtful I ever will. Altered1's comment is similar to what I've heard from others, that they aren't particularly accurate. As a beginner, the last thing you need is to fight an airplane that won't hold trim. It's not like you're going to save much money anyway. Standard servos from a reputable manufacturer are about $10 each while the cheapies are a little over $3. So, assuming the knockoff servos serve you well, you've saved $30. For a "good for the price" servo, get a set of Hitec 311's. They are trustworthy and plenty accurate and durable for trainers and mild sport planes.

http://www.servocity.com/html/hs-311_standard.html

Altered1

the ones i have had trouble returning to the same center point..... if that doesn't worry you, give them a go. I run an airboat, so a servo glitching will not result in my boat falling out of the sky..... YMMV.


[EDIT]

I posted this in another topic, It has relevence here, so :

" Unfortunately, after seeing many many RC people burned by HK, I have to say, you get what you pay for........ Sometimes you may NOT get what you pay for..... it may be broken or not arrive at all...... Getting a refund or replacement MAY be hard..... so be mindful of HK history, and only purchase what is in stock.... if it is on BK, you may be waiting a while, and cancelling order is often painful, and you will probably be billed immediately.... even if the BK part (and therefor your order) take months to send.... So also use a service like PAYPAL as they can assist with funds recovery if it all goes bad. "

HKare cheap for several reasons.... customer service and problem resolution is one area they are lacking..... I do like my ASP52AII Glow engine I got from them though.... :P


{EDIT2} The Servos I tried were HK15138 Standard size

snuts

acdii, you are getting some good advice.
I agree, only to add that I classify servo's as an investment. Natural progression is to move into either larger, or faster, or more precise airframes which will most likely utilize a better quality servo purchased for this trainer.
Hope this helps, enjoy your LT40. I started flying in 1972, and still have a trusty LT40 with floats, ski's, and wheels. Just a fun airplane to relax and burn touch & go's.

-Snuts

acdii

OK my mind is made up. Going to put S3004 Futabas in it, good ol reliables.   Going to get the Orange RX though, but for my Apprentice. Will swap the Spektrum out of it for the Kadet.  Going to put S3010's in my Deweyville with the DLE20.  I'll stick with what I know have a good rep.  I have enough servos for both planes, I bought a bunch for my P-51 build, but that plane is going to take a lot longer to build than the Kadet.

Slavko

Hi All,

First let me state that I support my local hobby shops as much as I can.  I also get quite a bit from HK as well.  I've got the HK 15138 servos in 4 planes now.  I have yet to have a problem, glitch, or failure of any kind.  I've got them in a 4 Star 40 and have them in three Kadets that I use for new pilots.  I will use them in other planes that I am working on as well.  If I were a competition pilot I suppose I would use a different servo, but for just general tearing up the sky flying I know I  can't tell the difference.  I might be a bit on the cynical side, but I think there's quite a few different servos, and other products as well, that come out of the same place.  The HK 15138 is an awful lot like the Futaba 3004.  The colors are different but there are a lot of simularities.  Not trying to offend anyone, just my opinion, which may not be worth much either.  In the end, safety is #1, and if you feel confident in the product like I do with the HK 15138's then use and enjoy. 

acdii

I could always get one and open it up next to a 3004 or 3003 and compare the parts. I mean $4 for a comparison is nothing.

How has their shipping been timewise?

marcc109e

I've got some experience with the HK15138 servo that's a little different than what I'm reading here. I've had 2 servos fail due to one of the leads on the position sensor POT coming off. On servo, the lead came off the leg of the POT and the other, the lead came off the PC board. In both cases, the wire broke. What I found was that the position sense leads (there are 3) are single stranded wire about the size of a human hair. See this video http://youtu.be/5dOeV-cvdrg

Since the only failures I've heard of are the ones I've experienced, I'm taking a chance and soldering better lead wire to the position sense. I've upgraded 6 servos in this manner. We'll see what happens

countilaw

You might say that the only thing between your plane and the ground is the non malfunctioning servo.

Why take a chance on a cheap Hobby King servo in a plane that you have a couple of hundred dollars invested in. Just one bad solder joint can be very expensive in a plane coming out of a loop headed for the ground.

As marcc109e said, " On servo, the lead came off the leg of the POT and the other, the lead came off the PC board. In both cases, the wire broke. What I found was that the position sense leads (there are 3) are single stranded wire about the size of a human hair. "

Do you really want to trust a cheap Hobby King in your plane. I don't think I would.

The same goes for their cheap Orange Receivers too.

Frank

flyerdave

My Feedback: (212)

Don't forget about the RCU classified ads. You can find some good quality,well known brand servos (futaba,jr,hitec) for sale by sellers with good feedback at some really good prices. I myself sold 4 entry level jr ball bearing servos in good condition for $22.00 shipped last week.I see these type deals everyday and I just wish that this forum had been around 32 years ago when I started flying! Does anyone remember the MRC trainer? 48" wingspan, foam with a .15 engine and futaba S28 servos.I won't tell how much I paid for my first airplane, but I bought 6 minute epoxy by the case so I could glue the plane back together and fly some more.The weight of this plane after a few crashes was at least double what it was new.Still gave me alot of good memories though.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

There is nothing wrong with using very fine wires for the pot sense wires. There is very little current in those wires. Just put a dab of RPV over the connections at the pot and the circuit board to keep them from breaking off due to vibration.

rib man

Let me update the product or products in my case. I ordered two DHT Modules and a receiver. It took 30 days to get the modules and over a week for the receiver. The antenna wire on the receiver was laying down in the bottom of the package and the first module I took out had two wires at the bind button that had come off from bad soldering. If you look at there solder on the circuit board it is dull in color not bright like most circuit boards. I do not know if they are using the incorrect solder or not. I do know the wire they are using does not have enough strands to hold it in place and it breaks off. If you think I am going to chance any of my airplanes to bad soldering for a cheaper price your crazy. I am 70 years old. Been in the hobby since I was 12 years old. Futaba all the way and never had any problem. By the way I called Customer Service and they don't care. Very disrespectful.

acdii

Wow opened an old thread I forgot about. Been using Futaba, Hitec, JR, SPectrum, MPI and Hobby People servos since this thread. So far the most reliable have been the Futabas followed by the Hitec. Burned out a JR, Spectrum haven't had enough flights for a decent baseline, had a Hobby People servo fail in flight, and MPI has a 30% failure rate.


Sticking with Futaba for my B-25 build using 3010 for wings, 3004 for the throttles, and probably 3010 for the elevator. I have a pair of Hitect thins for the rudders too. The Futabas I put in the LT-40 are still going strong today and I fly the crap out of that plane.

stevenmax50

My Feedback: (1)

I recently found this thread. I find it interesting due to a big discussion I followed on a Facebook RC page all about HK servos. one guy recommended a specific servo to me. I asked for input and the responses were passionate and many. some guys say they never had a problem and have used the servos for years. I'm talking servos with torque in the 90in oz and up range. Others were all about you get what you pay for. These things are waaaay cheaper than Futaba or Hitec. I would really like to buy them. But I admit I'm a little scared of them.

Desertlakesflying

My Feedback: (28)

Use these to replace the 3010's and you won't look back..... I have their big brother the LF-20 in my sport jet turbines with no issues.

http://www.valuehobby.com/radio-syst...3mg-servo.html

stevenmax50

My Feedback: (1)

those look like they are worth a shot.