boosted180

My Feedback: (8)

there are a lot of servos on the market now with very impressive specs at dirt cheap prices, but i'm not sure if they can be trusted.

i putting together my first large gasser (a 25% katana) and having been looking at options for servos. i'm wondering if i should just spend more for the "big brands" like hitec, jr, futaba or should i trust the "lesser-known" brands like cirrus and bms (which in some cases have very good looking specs for servos at much lower prices than the big name brands.

does anyone have specific suggestions on what i should go with. i want the best combination of price and reliability/ performance. my rtf weight is about 13.5lbs 78" wingspan. i fly some imac/ some 3d, usually nothing too "extreme".

thanks!

R C Jack

As I was once told, if you are going to spend 400+ dollars on a plane, why try to skimp on the extra 30-40 dollars that you KNOW will work, just my $0.02

Tomcat_104

My Feedback: (42)

[8D][8D]Good question Boosted180,

I have built 2 GS Warbirds and am building 3 more. So far I have followed RC Jack's advice and stuck with Futaba's (my brand). But I wonder if I should look at something else.

Gordito Volador

My Feedback: (1)

I use three brands:

EDF, Electric sport Planes = Hitec
Bigger Sport Planes = Futaba / JR
Turbine Powered Jets = JR

This has worked great for me with minimal problems. Just look for the deals from Horizon and when Tower is giving cupons. The upper end servos are not that costly in the long run.

Regards, Bill

XJet

I have to agree with what's been said.

I've tried out quite a few of these "generic" servos including TowerPro, Bluebird, WayPoint, etc and they've all come up lacking when compared to offerings from Hitec, JR and Futaba.

Right now I'm putting together a 30% Extra and was originally tempted to use some $28 Waypoint/BlueBird metal-geared servos -- but after actually trying a couple out I too advantage of ServoCity's recent 20%-off sale and bought some good old HS645s and HS5955TGs.

These *proven* servos sure cost more -- but I have a feeling that it's an investment in the longevity of my plane rather than a "cost".

Remember that the future of your engine, airframe, receiver and quite a bit of other expensive stuff that goes into your 25% Katana will hinge on the reliability and performance of those servos. Is it really worth trying to save $10 on each to (IMHO) significantly increase the risks?

DadsToysBG

My Feedback: (35)

Not to mention that you will use these servo's for years in many different planes.Spread the cost over 5 or more years and then look at the cost. The radio stuff I'm putting in my new plane (Lanier Yak 54) has been in 3 other planes. The radio system is now free, that's about as cheap as you can get. Dennis

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Is a crash due to a servo thats not up to the job going to cost you more or less than what it will take to buy quality servos in the first place (i wont even mention the time involved in repairs)

Tomcat_104

My Feedback: (42)

Hey guys,

Do you consider Hobbico Generic or Brand Name? My LHS really recommends their MG servos. What do you guys think?

David

Panzlflyer

My Feedback: (15)

I believe the last time I looked in a Hobbico one it was a low end Hitec!

fiery

My Feedback: (2)

Tower System 2000 = Hitec

Tower System 3000 = Futaba

Hobbico Command = Hitec

Disassemble Tower System 2000 and Command servo's .... Hitec part No.'s are stamped on the inner servo casings.

Planeclothes

My Feedback: (1)

If you look close you will find that: Hobbico CS-64 = Tower TS-64 = Hitec HS-635HB and Hobbico CS-70MG = Tower TS-70MG = Hitec HS-645MG.
Now the Hobbico CS-64 sells for 22.99, the Tower TS-64 for 25.99 and the Hitec HS-635 for 29.99. The Hobbico CS-70MG and Tower TS-70MG sell for 34.99 and the Hitec HS-645MG sells for 39.99. Very interesting...

Sport_Pilot

Ok, now that I am confused. Is Cirrus generic or name brand? Their digital servos are enticing.

boosted180

My Feedback: (8)

fiery, that is some very interesting information!

if the "generics" like tower, and hobbico are actually hitec and futaba with a different case sold under a different brand, then why spend the extra bucks for the "brand names"?

but i agree with most that it's not worth trying to save a couple of bucks for stuff that's not proven. that's why i've already bought hitec digitals for my katana.

i've used cirrus before and the only problem i've had with one of them is that it seems like after 6 months of using a cs-702 in my, it didnt center properly anymore. i'm not sure if the slop was already there in the beginning and i just didnt notice or it's something that develped after time. but i'd only use them in small glow and electric planes.

i'll stick with hitec for my big planes, but will definitely look into the tower and hobbico servos.

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

In almost 40 years of flying digital systems I have never had a servo fail in flight. I the early days, some of the servos were not near the quality of the cheapest servo you can buy today. There is simply not much in the servo that can go wrong.