also try by passing the switch and plug battery pack directly into the receiver. We have had alot of switches go bad lately. I personally dont use a switch anymore like the direct plug in better.

I'll try that. I'm using the same switch that came in the buggy.

Yeah I had a problem with my switch one time, from where I had to keep changing the batteries, well it worked the wires to the switch and broke on me, so what I did was solder them back and melted plastic over the whole back of the switch to keep the wires from breaking from the solder.

try by passing it and see what happens. More and more people at my track are not using switches anymore.

What about the servo's? Should I upgrade and if so what would you recommend? I'm already on my second steering servo and just got the engine broke in.

hs645 or the best hs5955

Failsafes didnt save my Buddy Or Myself......


You have Two radios. FM AND 2.Ghz. SAME sort of Failure with BOTH. You say the Batteries are not the Issue......

That Leaves the WIRING(which includes the Connectors and switch),
the ANTENNA (which, contrary to popular belief, should be Straight and Upright with 2.4 GHz Gear),
or the Throttle Servo.

Check the wiring with a DMM (OHM Meter) if you have one. Wiggle n Pull on the wires as you Measure,,,, the connection may be Intermittant at ANY point on the wire or connector. It may be an intermittant OPEN wire, OR, an intermittant short to Chassis Ground, OR a short between cables(worn insulation).

A Brand new Radio (with new rcvr) should be OK, BUT, open the rcvr and visually check the antenna connection to be SURE. And mount the Antenna Properly....

The Suspect Servo is easily eliminated by installing the New one that came with the Radio.

And dont Complicate Matters by installing a Failsafe until AFTER you solve the problem....NEVER complicate a troubleshooting problem by introducing another Variable......

You should solve the Problem if you follow those steps......Good Luck....

I dont have a 2.4 GHz radio yet, but Ive heard that the 2.4 GHz systems can be sort of Finnicky if the cables are mounted near a source of Noise(which can be anything from a servo to an Engine to any MOVING metallic parts.)
Is this TRUE?

Thanks for the help. Thats what I like to do is isolate the problem without adding things before I know what it is that caused it to begin with. I've gotten some good ideas and will start with them and go one at a time.

You know, I've been thinking about some things for people to do to reduce the posibility of glitches. One of the things I have thought of is twisting the servo wires together in a twisted pair. (like the inside of a cat5 cable) and then slicing some fuel tubing and putting the wires inside (for protection and vibration reduction). Granted, crosstalk on a network is usually derived from separate pair of wires and the concept is different (data vs servo voltage), but it may be worth a go at it.

Just my random thoughts... maybe I'll try it and do a little how to.

Edit: Ha.... before anyone chimes in, just noticed that the wires are twisted on my hitec servo, but not on the stock servo. (may be on to something here)

Lol...I forgot something in the Above Troubleshooting Guide[:@]

I'm Assuming that the problem is NOT mechanical.
Loose or STICKING linkage?
Servo itself is Loose?
Engine Vibration being the CAUSE of an Intermittant wiring problem....

There... I THINK that covers everything

I have an thought...who all recieved a fm radio with their car....then changed only the radio not the servo's...I changed my servo's with the ones that came with my jr radio...could the stock fm units be good and it just be faulty throttle servo's??? I havent had a lick of problem with mine since the switch...and like Dennis said..I bypass the switch

Generally speaking, with Analog electronics (and certain types of Digital Circuitry as well) Low frequency Noise is abated using Shielding on the signal Cables. Thats not Really Practical here cuz most of us arent Electronic Techs and you can make things WORSE with Ground loops if you do Shielding incorrectly.Especially since we are talkin about Radio Frequenciy interference.

Twisting the cables CAN be effective for Our kind of electonis though. Also, BUNDLE the cable Neatly and securely. That should help with Noise AND wear n Tear of cables...

check all of your wire connections. The wires on some of my stock servos had barely any solder. Twice they broke off and I had run aways.[:@]

A Failsafe it USELESS if you have no power going to the servos at all. Yes it is good if you voltage gets low and it helps you but if you have no power there is nothing to close your wide open throttle servo. A throttle return spring is a good investement. I forgot to mention I had my monsoon take off on my and it was my ON/OFF switch. A wire on the switch had broken off and NO POWER, and I ran a spektrum! You also did not say if when your buggy ran away if you still had steering or not. If you did and no throttle then the you know it is the throttle servo.

Ok should I add more solder to my servos when I get my monsoon. I am going to put a failsafe and return spring still. I posted in another thread about the stock radios should I just get a new radio and servos. I didn't spend this much money to watch a bullet outta control heading for a neighbors car or house or one of their kids.

Edit: If I don't add the return spring I'll have ehroof saying you shouldda added a spring lol.

put in new radio system, failsafe and throttle return spring,

HAHAHAHAHAH too funny I was typing when you were lol

AMEN

i run my lightning with the stock am...dont run it alot though..been waiting to get another reciever for my jr unit...but havent decided if I wanna move up to a spektrum though...decisions decisions..lol

go sprektrum bro, its great, no need to worry about frequency conflicts, built in failsafe

Ok. Pulled everything out today and hooked the servo's into the receiver and turned everything on. Steering servo was making alot of noise and sounds like the gears are ratcheting a bit. The throttle servo was intermittent. I put in a servo from the junky condor for the throttle, did find a slight binding in the throttle linkage when I hooked it up. Got rid of the bind and everything seems smooth. Took the car out and turned everything on and went a good 1/2 to 3/4 block up the radio and still had control over the steering and throttle. Will try to run it some time this week and see what happens. Thanks for the help.

any pics of the bypass?

Just look at your reciever... remove the wire that goes to the switch (says batt on the reciever) and plug your hump pack directly into it. Remember, the only way to turn off your reciever now is to unplug the battery.

and make sure the black wire is to the outside of the reciever....