I thought it would be cool to have the retract servo move slower to look more realistic. Any ideas how i can do it with out breaking the bank or changing out alot of parts?

what radio do you have?
if you have a compy radio some of them have time delay so you could do it that way, usually the more expensive ones, my 10c does (i think) but my 7c doesnt
not sure about the spektrum ones, i would guess not though

One of these will do the trick [link=http://www.hobby-lobby.com/servo_slow_down_module_2157_prd1.htm]clicky[/link]

Goes between RX and servo and the movement can be as slow as 15 seconds.

N.B. only works on proportional servos though not on the type of retract servo that goes 180 degrees when commanded with no intermediate stops.

Here is one servo slower, there are others.

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/servo_slo..._2157_prd1.htm

A thought from the other side of the coin.


First most of us are not competing in a scale contest, at least one where you will have points deducted for gear retraction that is to fast.

The real reason most of us include retract gear in the first place is the wow factor for both the crowd and us. Not trying to impress some sour overheated volunteer judge thats been siitting in the sun all day.

When that retraction or extension occurs stage center for everyone to see that, well that is Wow factor. Now we artificially slow that function down to a crawl then guess what no one is gonna Know you just put the gear up or down, guess what you just did to the Wow factor 'ho hum oh did that airplane have its gear up?

If that function does not start and complete within around two hundred feet at stage center then there will be no Wow factor.

Nope not me I want my gear to function now.

John

To bad you can't dial expo into the aux channel.

Not long ago I followed a debate on the use of a voltage regulator with a Lipo battery vs. the use of a 6 volt Nimh. Seems the biggest reason that anyone gave for not using the regulator setup (which is what I use) was that you were introducing another point of failure.

Having said that, I figure that adding a timer to the retract servo circut is nothing more than adding an additional point of possible failure.

So far I haven't seen that side of it in this thread so I thought I would toss it in there.

Just my .01

A retract servo is not proportional. It is designed to go from point "A" to Point "B" at a given command. In other words, your Tx does not tell it how far to move, it just gives a comand to "move" and the servo takes over and moves to it's opposite end at its own pace.

So and electronic gizmo wouldn't really work. Now maybe you could reduce the voltage and slow down the motor, but then you'd also be losing power, which is something you DON'T want in a retract servo.

It says right in the Hobby-Lobby ad that it only works on proportional servos "Great for setting scale speed on retracts (with proportional servo)". And you do NOT want a proportional servo on gear.

Additional reducing gears would slow the final output movement down, increasing the output torque as well: a win-win solution, I believe.

Why aren't those servos made slower in that simple way, just designing them with a couple of additinal gear wheels?[sm=confused.gif]

The problem is: Where would you put them? They won't fit inside the case and they won't work outside the case.

Because they make the servos with a low profile so they will sit below the surface of the wing, so, there really isn't room in that little box to PUT any more gears.

I see.

Making the case wider may be?

How slow would be too fast for retracts?

Good point, but if it can be set up to open normally if the timer fails, then why not?

You want a "Fail-Safe" built into the Gear circuit? Now you are adding more expense. And WHAT part of the radio system do you want to monitor the "timer"? The power loss Minn mentioned was not a voltage/signal loss but a reduction of torque. Not enough strength to raise/lower the gear in all situations.

Check this solution out:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_92..._1/key_/tm.htm

Please go back to my post. I clicked quote on the wrong post.

Horizon has recently debuted a set of electric retracys for small planes and they will soon unveil a set of 60-size. I'm hoping to see them at Toledo this year

Horizons new gear - http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=EFLG110 and manual http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo...FLG100_110.pdf

My buddy Geoff and I just used these gear on the new H-9 Bonanza and they work great!

But going back to the OPs problem if he gets a high torque proportional servo and a servo slower then he can achieve his desired goal.

A Futaba S3010 handled a set of 40/60 size retracts just fine for me.

That might work IF you can set the end points exactly but if you don't it can leave the servo in a stalled condition which will draw excessive current. Even with the end points set correctly the servo could draw extra current trying to keep the gear in position. NOT a good idea in the long run.

OK good point however after a crash back in the 70s with early electric retracts when one leg jammed on takeoff I always use a seperate battery for the retract servo.

So for safety you need a system where the retract servo has its own battery. Actually this is a sefety feature even with a 180 retract servo as you can stall these !