karolh

Been having some strange servo happenings recently and am giving my existing servo extensions a hard inspection, and also wondering which manufacturer or brand offers good quality extensions. Please no Hobbico recommendations.

A.T.

As the size of pins and sockets do vary, can only recommend that the receiver manufacturers own extension leads be used.
quote from one of my recent posts

". Receiver Pins, Leads and connections.
Caution is recommended when changing Transceivers or Receivers in a model which has been used
with a different brand previously installed or a servo moved from one model to another.
The pins in different brand receivers are not all the same size, nor are the male fittings within
different brand servo plugs/extension leads all the same size.
Especially noticeable if changing from Futaba to Hitec & JR, the metal sockets in the male plugs often stay expanded and cause intermittant problems. Many cheap "after market" leads & plugs have different size connections
and whilst the covers may be a tight fit, the actual metal contacts may not be, with some shown to widen out
and not return to a tight fit when reused. Be alert to pin sockets backing out of battery & extension lead plugs, a frequent unseen cause of intermittant connections and Digital Servo Burnout. (also jpg attached - unable to attach system 500 error reported,) refer copy at Lead/Plug image

Several different gauge leads from Hitec have all been found excellent with Hitec (and other) systems when used for purpose intended.

Much more information available under sub sections
"Glitches & Jitter in Receiver, Servo & ESC - Causes and Cures"
"Servo - Alterations, Calculators, Databases, Leads, Repairs, Convert to an ESC or winch & FAQ."
below
"Radio Systems, Accessories, Alterations and FAQ" at
Alan's Hobby, Model & RC FAQ Web Links

Alan T.

Zeeb

My Feedback: (41)

There's another vendor who they talk about over on FG, but I don't remeber the name right now. I've had really good luck with MPI extensions and they run all the way up to 20g. wire and all of them with gold plated connectors. They are quite reasonable compared to say Futaba or JR branded as well as being bigger wire than those two both of which have 22g. wire in their HD servo leads.

http://www.maxxprod.com/mpi/mpi-3.html

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Tail Dragger RC

I use his HD extensions in a lot of my projects

DadsToysBG

My Feedback: (35)

1+ for tailgraggerrc. All my GS planes are wired with is extensions.

BuschBarber

My Feedback: (2)

+1
I have been using them for years. They also have Universal extensions if you need to convert Futaba to JR/Spektrum (without carving up the Futaba connector). Some Rx batteries come with connectors that fit very tightly in Rx servo ports. I use short extensions, between the Rx and the servo, to avoid having the servo port take the wear.

warbird72

My Feedback: (79)

MPI A+++++

rmh

Sometime when you are bored-
rig up a battery and 3 to four amp load at say - 6 to 7 volts ,with your favorite servo leads - in normal and or hd wire
check the connections for warmth every 5. minutes - and disconnect any hot ones .' the wires even lightweight ones - are seldom the problem but the connections can be huge resistance points.
small wires CAN create a resistance issue but the connectors we all use -are the real issue.

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

What??? No Hobby King ? ?? 

JIMF14D

I have used many extensions from a site: "servo wires.com". Lots of various sizes and wire types with good prices and fast shipping.
Try it!

Truckracer

My Feedback: (19)

As you know, you only have to measure the voltage across that connector to see how much power is being dissipated in the connection. Once they heat up to the point of a person being able feel the heat through the plastic housing, the connectors are pretty much toast. Some won't even tolerate 3A! Better ones will tolerate 4A with no problems though they're pretty much maxed out at that current.

Dave Harmon

Last year I got a Futaba 18MZ and it has receiver battery telemetry.
I set the alarm voltage in the transmitter well below the regulator voltage and tested it with a 4 cell nicad to make sure the telemetry was working the way I thought it should work.
It did.
I made lots of flights with a 2 cell LiFe battery through that regulator.
Then I took that regulator and put it in another plane for a test and then put another identical regulator back in the first airplane.

The first flight on the original airplane with the second regulator was ok for a couple of minutes then the low receiver battery alarm came on and I landed immediately.
I recharged the battery but it only took about 50mah.....it was not discharged.
Then I put another identical battery in the plane and took off.....the alarm sounded again.
I went home.

I played around on the bench with the airplane and discovered that the regulator was putting out low voltage with the battery fully charged.
Thinking it was a bad chip....I replaced it.
But the regulator still put out low voltage.
The original chip was not bad....

In further checking as I should have done in the first place, I discovered that 1 pigtail on the regulator was measuring high resistance on the black and red lead (+ and -)
I measured some other NIB pigtails that I have and found 1 that measured ok and replaced the original one and the regulator works fine with no voltage loss (drop).
I loaded the regulator with a resistor to it's rating and the output voltage was steady and within spec limits.

Further checking the bad pigtail...I found that after removing the pins from the plastic shell.....I cut the pins off and the wires themselves were high resistance.
Then I got more interested and checked all my regulators and all my NIB pigtails and found a few more the same way.

I tossed all the bad parts and everything is working fine on both airplanes.
I had been using the low voltage regulator for some time with my Futaba 9ZAP....of course it does not have telemetry.
The voltage had been low all along but not low enough to notice in the air.

Who made the regulators??
Don't ask...
I did contact the mfgr and advised the situation....but no response.

I've been doing this a long, long time but new situations just keep popping up.

So....be advised....load your regulators with a resistor and check the output voltage.

DH

4*60

My Feedback: (41)

No point...........deleted

rmh

the wire size means very little- EXCEPT over long runs -
In a perfect world the connectors would all be soldered ,solid pin types

rmh

The worst I found were on those dry cell battery boxes such as Futaba once used .
small conductor and a smashed rivet connection.

Four Stroker

Dave and Dick are the winners today. Aftermarket servo extensions AND connectors on regulators and such have crashed many planes. I have actually TESTED many at 3 AMPS. Futaba HD are about 3 milliohm (mOhm). Ancient Deans 3 or 4 pin, still available, are about 1 milliohm. Other than running down your battery, aftermarket (or homemade) crimps probably cause more crashes than anything else. Real hand crimpers are $500 new. Can be had on ebay (probably stolen from work) for $150.

thailazer

Since this is an old thread, are there any new suppliers of servo extensions that are providing gold plated connectors? All updates appreciated.

Some background: Had an issue on a plane yesterday where an aileron servo went hard down and just jittered. I was luckily able to land the plane and verify the servo was hard-over. Got the plane home and the problem existed for about a minute and just cleared up when I moved the wiring. Tested the servo extensively and it seems fine, so am suspecting the non gold plated Y harness that I had in the plane. Several club member have noted issues exactly like mine and recommended gold plated connectors.

Dave Harmon

No new mfgrs of servo extensions that I know of.
I always used the JR heavy duty extensions with gold pins and have never had a problem.
Since my previous post in this thread 5 years ago (post #12) I have had one more problem but not a regulator pigtail problem.
I was setting up a new airplane on the bench and noticed that one servo was jittering around neutral.
In checking this out I happened to pull on one of the extensions....not a JR extension....a well known HD aftermarket extension with gold pins.
The red positive wire pulled out of the pin with little effort.
In looking closely....the pin had never been crimped.
Of course I tossed the whole extension...and checked all the rest of them too!

Years ago I had some non gold plated connectors and they never caused a problem but I had previously put a slight amount of Deoxit liquid on each pin.
This stuff prevents corrosion and enhances conductivity.
That's too much hassle to do on every connector so I got rid of the non gold plated extensions/Y-harness etc and stopped thinking about it.

By the way....if you really need a Y-harness....try to get one with an integrated ckt chip....this will reduce noise overall.
If your radio will do it......use a mixer and get rid of the Y-harness....this is the best way.

Zeeb

My Feedback: (41)

Most of the vendors offer gold plated pins on HD servo leads, but you sometimes have to specify or look closely at the specs.

Second on the Y-harness ought to go away. They are nothing but trouble. I'm not sure what Dave is talking about when he says "get one with an integrated ckt chip" but a MatchBox would be a much better idea than the Y-harness.

thailazer

There are extensions that have an integrated circuit that takes the position signal and essentially recreates it. Seems like a comparator IC shrink-wrapped at the Y. Helps to have a low impedance drive signal going to the servo, but it does add additional components to fail.

Dave Harmon

Yep....both of you are so correct.

The Y-harness with the chip isolates servo motor noise and keeps it off the signal line (s) to the receiver.
Back in the 80's I used them a couple of times but then removed it and got a later model radio that had pre-mixed functions for two ailerons and elevators.
Of course this was long before the match box came along.
I almost crashed an Elan with 2 elevator and 2 aileron servos at a contest due to noise on the decoder outputs as the receiver reception reduced while in the air.
It worked fine on the ground where the radio signal was strong.

karolh

After having a bad experience with a good quality or so I thought fairly long aileron servo extension, now wherever possible I solder the servo wires to the extension thus eliminating one possible connection failure point, and insulate the solder joints individually with heat shrink tubing.

Dave Harmon

I did the same for a while in the late 80's but these days I use Futaba S-Bus which likely eliminates most of what we were talking about.

thailazer

That is exactly what I have decided to do as it will minimize the number of connectors that could fail. I did this on a 44cc plane I flew for a while and it was rock solid. Not sure why I got away from the practice.

With my radio and set up, I still need a "Y" harness at the receiver. Can anyone confirm that a Universal connector is compatible with Futaba? Maxx Products R/C Connectors (1 of 3)


doesn't seem to stock a "Y" harness with Futaba connectors.

Dave Harmon

Yes....they are....but....the universal connector is somewhat thicker than the Futaba connector so if you have several uni connectors plugged into the receiver....the connectors get difficult to insert/remove due to the 'squeezing' of adjacent connectors.
The Futaba style fit properly....on Futaba receivers.

In one of my earlier posts....the un-crimped wire was on a MAXX servo extension connector.
These connectors are thick too.
The gold pins can be carefully removed from the shell by lifting the tang on the shell with a straight pin.
Then insert into a Futaba shell so the whole thing comes together without getting too tight.
BUT....there's always a BUT....the universal gold pins do not always fit the Futaba or JR shell.
It's always something....

If you have some dead servos with the correct connectors....cut em' off and solder em' up.