I have a problem with some 5625's. These have the "Modified July 2001" sticker on them, so I thought the old overdrive problem would have been fixed.

Specifics: 8103 Tx, JR R600 Rx, 6v 1650 NiMH.

Problem: When the travel adjustment is set anywhere above 100% and/or the dual rate is above 100%, the servo sometimes stops short of full travel. If I just barely move the Tx stick off of the stop, the servo jumps up to full travel. This only happens about 80% of the time. I'm using them for dual elevator servos, so you can imagine the havoc that would be played in the air. This happens whether I'm using a Y-harness, or separate channels. They also appear to be moving at different speeds, again only some of the time.

It appears to me that the servos are defective. Is the programmer capable of fixing a problem like this, or should I just send them back to Hitec?

Thanks,
John

You should reset them with the HFP-10 programmer or you can send them into Hitec to have it done. This will update the software to the latest version.

Mike.

ATTENTION! If you reset them let them sit with power for 15-20 minutes before you fly them to see if they jump and won't hold center. I reset mine and on the next flight I lost my plane. Mike says there are no known issues however if you read the following thread there are at least 3 people with the same problems.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...highlight=5625

Sure Hitec said they would repair or replace the servo but what about my $500 airplane... Until they tell me different I am warning others of my own mishap to help prevent others from losing a plane..

Thanks for the replies, Mike and David. I'm waiting on my programmer to arrive. I sure hope this fixes this and any other programming issues with the servos. I sure would hate to lose a $1500 plane over this problem.

Mike, I've had a good experience with Hitec's service the one time I had to send something in. I had a 225 whose motored burned up, and you guys replaced the motor even though I had lost my receipt. I appreciate that.

I would like to suggest that you take your excellent customer service one step further and acknowledge with a post here on RCU that Hitec digitals manufactured before a certain date may very likely have a problem. I know it would cost money short-term, however, it would benefit Hitec's reputation greatly in the long run, and in turn I'm sure you would more than recover the cost of fixing the defective servos in advance, rather than after the crash.

As long as updating the software on my servos completely takes care of the problem, I will continue to exclusively purchase Hitec servos in the future.

John

Dude, don't count on that completely solving your problem. I did it and it created my problems. Hitec would never admit there is an issue with their servos however once you lose a plane or find the problem before hand they will gladly fix or replace it. If you do program them make sure you throughly test them before putting your plane in the air. Your right though, if they would admit it and recall the bad servos then we would all be happy but we all know that won't happen...

I'd hate to see your plane look like this because of servo failure... The plane had 4 sucessful flights then I reset the servos. On the 5th flight the left aileron servo held the aileron up causing the crash.

I have. Here it is again.

Important Information Regarding Digital Servos

While Hitec strives to deliver high quality products that work universally with a wide variety of other manufacturers equipment we occasional run across a compatibility issue with products other than our own.

In light of this it has come to the attention of Hitec, that our digital servo product manufactured prior to October 2001 may act erratically when used with a non Hitec computer radio where the user has programmed the ATV settings beyond 125%.

As a result of this finding Hitec would like to extend an offer to all owners of our digital servos built prior to October 2001. If your servo has the following identification labels on it, they will qualify for this free reprogramming service.


The affected servos are labeled as"Modified" with the dates listed below:
APR2001
MAY2001
JUNE2001
JULY2001
AUG2001
You can return your servos to the Hitec service department for reprograming with the latest software version, or you can upgrade the servo software yourself, using the RESET function of the Hitec HFP-10 Digital Servo Programmer with software version, 1.03 or higher. This will "update" your servo and should fix any known conflict with the non-Hitec equipment.

Additionally any HFP-10 programmers that contain a software version earlier than version 1.03 can be upgraded free of charge by by returning it to our service department in Poway, California.


Mike.

Well there you go, ask and you shall receive!!!!

I have 2 5645's that are dated april2001. Please confirm that this is only an issue if I have the ATV above 125%. Mine are set aroung 60% . Is it OK to defer modification until after flying season without undue concern.

747drvr- At this point I would recommend you update the programming just to be safe.

WreckRman2- I know you are upset and I would be too if I lost such a beautiful plane. However, your insinuation that there is a "known" problem and that we should recall all the "defective" servos is way off base. Hitec has literally sold 10's of thousands of digital servos and very small amounts have had any problems. However, since most of the digitals go into more expensive airplanes, if one fails it gets more attention. I believe your problem possibly came from resetting the program through the extension.

Mike.

747drvr, If your servos are working fine now and you aren't exceeding 120% ATV then I'd say leave them be. My radio doesn't even go over 120% ATV however like you I thought I would reset them because Hitec recommended it. This resulted in a lost plane on the next flight. Like the good saying goes if it isn't broke don't fix it. I sure wish I'd left mine alone.

Mike, your right, if it was a $100 trainer I wouldn't be as upset however let me ask you this question being that we used a friends programmer to reset my servos and I don't have a manual. Does the manual for the programmer state that one should NOT go through an extension while using the programmer? If this is the cause of my servo going nuts, which I feel isn't, then why am I reading of the same problem with others including one case of a 5625 doing this fresh out of a new box.

My goal here is not to dog out Hitec servos but to find a reason for my loss so others can benefit from my loss. If going through an extension is indeed the cause then let's get that word out so this doesn't happen to any others...

You know you made a comment on the phone that like losing a plane one could easily get in a traffic accident in our car. While this is true the difference is we all carry insurance to cover accidents in our vehicles while in the case of our planes we are left with a loss, period. There is no doubt in my mind that servo failure is the result of my crash whether it was from a faulty motor, bad programming or whatever. I'm trying to learn from this loss so that myself and others can possibly prevent it in the future. One would think Hitec as a company would want to do the same instead of just saying send it to us and we will stand behind our product by repairing or replace the servo.

I've already read one thread here where Hitec repaired a servo for doing this same thing and it did it again after you repaired it... The funny thing is that thread magically disappeared today!

http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...41&forumid=149

Is this a coincidence or is Hitec trying to hide something. After all you are the moderator for that forum Mike and most likely have the ability to delete posts..

Mike, after a little research no where in the manual for the programmer does it state the programming of the servos should be dirrectly hooked to the programmer and that going through an extension could cause problems. If you still feel this is the cause of my failure then Hitec has a problem. We followed the directions provided with the programmer to properly reset the servos as reccommended by Hitec and well you know the result.

I'll try to get these servos sent back to you within a day or so but like I mentioned on the phone if we can't determine what caused the failure in your servos I will no longer use them. I don't think that is to much to ask since my incident isn't the only time this has happened... Hitec needs to spend more time trying to determine the cause of failure instead of just replacing servos.

Continuing on with my research you mention above that you, Mike, believe my problem possibly came from resetting the servos through the extension. You mention this as a possible reason for my failure and we know the manual for the programmer does not say you can't use an extension while resetting the servos however on another post made by you in July 2002 you state the following in responce to someone asking if he could extend the leads via soldering:

"The only problem with that is the servos cannot be programmed through the long leads, or extentions. They can only be programmed through the stock lead.

So, if you don't plan to program them it will be fine.

Mike."

Later in the thread you say:

"they don't like anything over 4" even with our heavy duty wire."

Now this leads me to belive that you, spokesman for Hitec, are aware of problems trying to reset or use the programmer via an extension on the servo. If your statement above is true then this could possibly be the cause of my failure however how can I be held responsible for causing it if it is a known issue that servos cannot be correctly programmed via an extension and why is there NO mention of this in the manual for the programmer?

If you know this and Hitec knows this then why are the programmers being sold without complete directions and rules of how to properly program servos. We followed the directions that came with the programmer and if it had stated that one can not use an extension then by all means we wouldn't have used one and quite possibly not be where we are if this is indeed the cause of my failure....

Sorry but I still feel something is being held from the public...

Originally posted by WreckRman2 :
Since I originated that thread about the problem with my HS-5925 servo, and I referenced it in this later thread:
I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO KNOW WHERE THE THREAD WENT !
There was NOTHING in that thread offensive or inflammatory about Hitec or anyone else. It contained factual information, questions, and answers.

I do not know who deleted the thread but without seeing it cannot determine if there was a reason to do so or not. There can be many reasons but I think the basic thing a few of you are looking for is answers and I'm sure that both Mike and Hitec's goal is to provide them and if problems are ever found they would of course fix them as it's in their own best interest along with us the customers.

David...I am sorry to hear of your loss...if it makes you feel better I ditched 2 planes in 2 weeks...a beautiful and large Extra 300 along with my Cap 232 today...the Extra is fixed but not test flown and I'm hoping I can fix the Cap...both run all hitec rx and servos and the crashes were 100% pilot error in my case and not the fault of plane, motor or radio (although I wish I could blame them instead of myself)...

Well boys and girls let me put my $.02 in here. I had one HS-5645 out of five dated 02/02 lock in the ccw rotation on me while doing a preflight type test in my shop. The DR was set to 115% in both directions on high rate. It would lock approximated 90% of the time when going to the full ccw rotation. The entire plane has the HS-5645 servos, all dated 02/02, and all reprogrammed by me using the HFP-10 with the 1.03 version software, which is what it came with.

I have reprogrammed the five servos again just to double check and the problem seems to have gone away, at least for now. I plan on conducting extensive preflight type tests this week while I’m putting in a new 3W50 engine. Before the second reprogramming I tried numerous +DR and it stuck with any setting over 100%. I must also include that the sub-trim on the servo in question had to be adjusted to about 30 points ccw which is the direction the servo travels when it getting stuck.

Here is a copy of the contents of the deleted thread. I saved a copy in the E-Mail I sent into Hitec with the servo.
I Wonder if this one will disappear .........

I wrote:
********************
Hey Mike,
You probably still remember my problem with the bad HS-5925 on the Rudder of my AW 60/90 Edge. It had an intermittent problem of going to full counterclockwise travel and locking there. I sent it in and requested a replacement. Hitec repaired rather than replace. Upon return of the servo, both you and Hitec's technical department assured me the servo had been repaired, and I should not see the problem again.
Well, guess what. I took my repaired Edge with the "Repaired" servo on rudder to the field Monday afternoon (5/5/2002). About three minutes into the second flight, 150 feet up, straight and level, the Edge goes into a right hand spin. I had no Rudder control again. The Edge spun in again and tore the LG plate loose, and busted the Cowl. Upon reaching the plane I found the rudder full right ! I turned off the Rcvr, centered the servo and turned the Rcvr back on. Now servo worked normally ! I was even on low rates (60% travel) at the time. I'll be glad to send the servo in for your and/or Hitec's inspection. But this time I EXPECT a brand new replacement, not a repair. There is NOWAY I will put any part of this servo back into service.
How should I handle the return?

Mike Replied:
***********************
I'm very sorry to hear about the problem (again). Yes we will replace the servo for you. It would be best to contact our service manager Tony @ mailto:[email protected] to make him aware of the situation.
Mike.

No that doesn't make me feel better... I hate to see anyone lose a plane but it does happen. To be honest I wish that my loss was from dumb thumbs because I'd have no one to blame but myself and I could get on with it much easier.