Is a digital servo better?
 

Is a digital servo better for monster truck use or does it matter?

example: hitec 645 vs. hitec digital

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

For 645 vs 5645, the 5645 has more torque than its non-digital counterpart. As far as monster trucks are concerned, the more torque the better suited it is. Also digital servos have programmable features not found in non-digital servos. And of course digital servos are much higher priced. It really depends on what you need out of the servos.

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

Does the digital servo drain the battery more?

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

Given the extra torque of the digital servo, it does drain your batteries faster.

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

What if the servo has an FET lead? Can you use them without an ESC?

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

I dont know much about electrics but why would you use an ESC on a servo? You need a constant voltage but a changing signal???

If your wondering what a FET is, heres a link for ya :) http://whatis.techtarget.com/definit...213961,00.html

Ram

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

If you have a servo with a fet lead, that means it's a 7.2volt FET servo. If you want to run them without an ESC, you need to run a 7.2 volt pack to power the servo. How you hook this up without frying everything depends on your equipment. Trust me, it's not worth the hassle.

Right now, I'm running a 6 volt FET servo (KO Propo) for steering in my Mad Force. With the 6 Volt FET servos, you treat them like a regular servo.

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

Just a comment-

I had a Hitec MG645 in my Maxx- worked AWESOME. I picked up a 5645 shortly after and discovered that it's very glitchy with
my Traxxas radio set. As soon as I put the 645 back in, it was fine.

The 5645 servo works fine with another radio set that I have. Keep that in mind when you make your decision. I know it shouldn't
be an issue, but for whatever reason, the TQ3 Traxxas radio didn't like the 5645 servo.

One more thing- Do yourself a favor and get a niMH 6V Rx pack and charger before you upgrade servos. Your alkalines
won't last as long and it's just wasteful.

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

Having given digital servos an honest try when they first started becoming available, this is what I learned.
1. Digital servos are huge power hogs.
2. Trying to control digital servos on a radio not equipped with EPA will burn it/them up in short order.
3. Digital servos by design are not more powerful or faster than their analog counterparts, speed and torque are functions of internal gearing and motor amperage. Digitals simply read for and adjust to positioning input about 100 times faster than an analog which is what will cause them to burn up quickly if you try to run the servo past whatever physical limits are placed on it by your cars linkage.
4. Digital servos are more prone to problems stemming from moisture, vibration, and pounding than are analog.
5. A digital servo will produce much more heat than an analog servo with comparable speed and torque.
6. The idea behind digital servos is not more power and speed, it's precision and holding power. Great things for the large pattern planes they were developed for, not so great for hossing around a huge set of heavy MT tires.
7. Digitals servos are programmable, provided you are willing to drop another couple of hundred bones for a programming device.

RE: Is a digital servo better?
 

There is no reason to have a digital servo in an MT. Analog servos have worked fine for everyone for years. If anything, just but a nice HITEC analog servo for like 60$ (not even 60)