Strange stuff tonight:

I am trying to fabricate a throttle pushrod for my cub. I got it all bent up the way it should be and then hooked it to the servo. I plugged the servo into slot #3 on the receiver (throttle) and plugged my regular 4.8v receiver pack directly into the receiver. Next thing I know, the battery wire right down near the plug are smoking and melting. I unplugged the battery quickly. What the heck happened??? The 4.8V isn't overkill voltage to plug directly into a receiver. I usually go through a switch, but the switch isn't a BEC or anything - at least that I am aware of.

So, I check the voltage on the battery to see if the wires are still good. 0 volts. So I grab another battery and plug everything in with different servos and NOTHING. Did I fry the receiver???? I went ahead and pulled the crystal out and reinstalled it. Now the receiver is working again....ok. Lets try the fried battery again - this time it is reading 4.8 or so volts.

So, I hook everything back up, but with the switch in line this time, hook up the throttle servo, and NOTHING - again. So, I do some troubleshooting and it appears the servo is dead. I completely isolated the servo, plugged it into various slots. etc and nothing. This servo is about 3 years old, but has never been used before. It is a Futaba S3004.

When I give it power, although it doesn't respond to any input, it will try to resist my application of force to the servo arm. If I turn off the power, it won't resist anymore. So it is getting power in some regard. The servo wire looks great, no loose connections or anything.

What do you think?