Wear and tear will also be influenced by the environment you fly in. People along the coastlines have to contend with salt water spray mixed in with ambient air, which will cause premature oxidation. Dusty environments will see crud, dust, sand, grass clippings, etc that drop in the gimbals and will affect performance. Exhaust oil/residue from the plane pitting next to you can affect the circuitry inside as well. Shoot, even that light sprinkling of pure rain water can ruin a transmitter with just a few drops, if placed right. All it has to do is carry any of the above mentioned schmap into a gimbal or across a couple of contacts on the circuit board, and youre re-kitting.

The way a person flies will also affect the tolerances of the gimbals. A person who is hard on the sticks is more apt to bend/break/damage them than a person who is more delicate. Same holds true for transport and storage. Guys who dont use padded transmitter boxes increase their risk of jarring a component loose within the transmitter if it slides around and whaps the field box.

Given the fact that can773 is a competitor who flies some pretty high dollar equipment, his version of preventative maintenance is going to be different than yours. Just because drag racers tear down their entire engine/clutch between rounds doesnt mean youre going to do the same. can773 is trying to keep his equipment within his own specifications, which may well be beyond those of the manufacturer. It is what he deems necesarry for the performance of his equipment, and the safety of himself, his equipment, and other fliers. Can you really take such a condescending attitude toward that? The fact that he is one of the upper echelon of fliers would lead me to believe that he is doing something right, or else he wouldnt be at the level he's at.

For your question regarding sending in your transmitter for a checkup, do you go to the dentist for a cleaning/checkup? Do you go to the doctor for a yearly physical/checkup? Or do you wait until a serious problem occurs, and deal with it then? I'd rather spend the lil bit of money it takes to tune/clean a transmitter, than to have to buy a new receiver, servos, battery pack, engine, plane, covering, hardware, fuel tank, all because I was too cheap and had my pride and joy go into the ground.

Injun, youre going to get alot more response if you try not to shoot down every comment in every thread that is made that doesnt agree with your personal views. Just because everyone has an a** doesnt mean they should take every opprotunity to show it.