DamonTX

In this month's issue of RC Report, one of the authors is recommending the S3010 because it's cheap ($24.99) and has good power (.72 oz @ 4.8V). Upon further research I found the speed at 4.8V is .20, weighs 1.4 oz and is standard sized.

This all sounds good but when you look at the Tower Tech Department notes they say:

"Use only NiCd batteries with this servo in all applications because
of the high amount of current this servo requires. Battery types
other than NiCd will not deliver enough current to properly operate
these servos."

Can someone please explain this to me. I've been using NiCds forever and have been wanting to start exploring the new types out there. Should I just stick with the NiCds?

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

NI-CADs have lower internal resistance than almost any other battery except lead acid cells. I have seen Nimh cells advertised as low internal resistance but I don't believe they can match Ni-Cads.

I would stick with Ni-Cads. I have some that are 10 years old that still test as good as new. Every Nimh battery I have had crapped out after a year or two.

DamonTX

Hehe...I guess I didn't need that AcuCycle Elite afterall. I bought it because it charges all kinds of batteries.

Dirtybird..thanks..with that said, I'm gonna stick to my NiCds. Especially after discovering these S3010 servos which I think will serve most my needs.

XJet

These look like nice servos for the price!

As for the NiMH versus NiCd debate -- it's true that a 600mAH NiMh battery pack will have a higher internal resistance than an 600mAH NiCd one -- but let's not forget that for the same size and weight, you can actually get a 1600mAH NiMh pack -- or a 5-cell NiMH still with more capacity.

I'm running four Hitec digitals (including 2 HS5925s -- which have a *huge* peak-current draw) on a NiMh pack and it's working just fine and I get 4-5 flights per charge. The pack is a 4-cell 1050mAH one made from 2/3A cells which are the same weight as AA NiCds and appear to have about the same internal resistance.

I think the problems that some people encounter are when they replace a regular AA-sized NiCd pack with an NiMH having the same rated capacity but which uses much smaller cells. In these cases the internal resistance *will* be higher and under heavy loads they will sag a lot more.

seanucd2000

My Feedback: (1)

I have a 5 servo plane full of the S3010's with a home made receiver pack of AA NiMh's I got at walmart for under $10, and have tons of flights on it. It works just fine. Plus, I can fly for three days before needing to charge the pack.

It cracks me up when people spend all this money on receiver packs.....

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

They may work to your satisfaction but if you measure the torque produced by the servo you will find the servo is not producing its rated torque. You are wasting the money you paid for the servos.
You also had to solder to the batterys. Thats a good way to make them fail.