Injunear, Being married to a former national level competitor, his JR 10Xs had complete pot replacement -- all 4 -- at two year intervals. Why? because they were slipping.

Regular wear to gimbals is a VERY common issue and is very noticable to the service team as a part of a regular checkup.

A regular checkup of a radio consists of:
1) Checking/changing lithium battery in a 9Z, 9V radio (all other Futabas use EEPROM and have no battery to service).
2) Checking all gimbals for proper motion, lack of wear, centering, proper support and mounting. (We have to service gimbals on roughly 1 in 12 radios we service every day....)
3) Checking of all trims for proper centering, calibration, mounting, ratchet "feel" (not slipping).
4) Checking of all pins, mounts, boards, solder joints, cables for wear, damage, "black wire disease", etc.
5) Checking crystals including vibration testing;
6) Proper tuning of the system directly on frequency including range check as well as 'bench check';
7) Checking of case integrity, mounting, hardware securing all items.
8) Check proper operation, security, and intact mounting of all switches.

That's just some of what a TX goes through when its here for a regular check up. Now for some modelers you may feel "its not worth it", but the first time you lose a $5000 aircraft to a slipped pot or failed cable, you might just feel differently.

NOTE: the synthesized modules DO have a higher maintenance need and should be checked annually whether your TX is or not.


__________________
Sincerely,
Mrs. AnnMarie Cross
Senior Manager, Proprietary Services and Support
Great Planes Model Distributors
[email protected]
www.greatplanes.com
www.bestrc.com