Some more 'Noob' Questions - this time on Servos

[ZaphodB]

Sorry for spamming the forum this evening 😜

 

Currently using (what my son and I thought) was a pretty decent (but cheap) servo.  Purchased from Amazon it is a DS3225 25kg (probably overkill for 1/10 TC steering!), metal-geared, 0.13s servo (this one).

 

It seems that we need a servo with  a faster response - fellow racers at the club are saying anything under 0.1s is "good" and many of them use 0.06 or 0.07s servos from the likes of SRT, such as this one

 

These seem to be extremely expensive.  Whilst my son is much more competetive than me, I don't think he needs such a fast servo just yet.  I certainly don't need one - although if you think I do, please say so!

 

So, can you recommend any cheap-ish (i.e. under £40) servos with a fast response, suitable for a 1/10 Touring Car.

 

What sort of stength servo is appropriate 5kg or under, under 10kg, under 20kg??

 

Any brands to go for and any brands to avoid??

 

I'm guessing that metal-geared servos are better, as are metal-cased servos (for better heat dissipation).

 

Then there's coreless and brushless ...

 

Finally, some folks last night seemed to know what the numbers on the servos mean - they have got to refer to the servo performance surely?  For example, the servoo that we are both currently using (see first part of this post) - what do the numbers 3225 mean (or even DS3225 for that matter - DS for 'Digital Servo'?).  Seems that the end number '25' refers to the 25kg torque?

 

I've found this servo which seems to give a great 'bang for your buck' - Macgregor MG2810HV 0.07s 10kg servo for £35 (as seen here).  From my research, it seems that this is a 'badge engineered' JR servo and that JR servos are well regarded (or have I got that round my neck too?)

 

Once again, thanks in advance,

 

Zaph

 

[Stormbringer]

The Macgregor servo looks quite good 

Have a look at savox servos as Spektrum,JR and Savox used to have a tie in ie Spektrum servo rebadged Savox and Spektrum used to make JR transmitters/receivers 

 

[BigGinge]

I’ve had a few from AliExpress now that seem pretty good and work out a fair bit cheaper than an equivalent from one of the more established brands. 
 

These are the ones I’ve been running in my XV01 and TB05:

 

 

12 kg, 0.09 s (on 6V) SPT 4412 (I think I went for the 180 over the LV ones but I’m not sure if there is any actual difference between the two):
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtAAsyq

 

25kg, 0.05 s (on 7.4 V) GX Servo X25
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mMowBFu

 

The X25 is very nicely made and seems plenty fast/strong running off road. The SPT really isn’t too bad either, especially considering it works out at less than half the price of the X25. 

Edit:

 

also run one of these in the TRX4, probably complete overkill for a touring car but still surprisingly quick. 
 

 

 JX HV7032MG 32kg 0.07s
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtUEQl0

Edited February 14, 2023 by BigGinge

[ZaphodB]

Thanks fotr the link Ginge

 

I had a quick look last night on my iPad but the AliExpress website and the iPad weren't playing nicely together!  The macBook is dealing better with the webpage - but the AliExpress search function seems to be pants.

 

The SPT 4412 that you pictured looks good but only a LV version.  My son is using 2S LiPo packs so would need to reduce the voltage (or would 8.4V be okay?)  They haven't (as far as I looked last night) have a HV version of that servo?

 

Just a quick question on AliExpress.  Never ordered from them before.  Are they quick?  Do HMRC slap any import duty on them?

 

Cheers,

 

Z

[Stormbringer]

the bec in the esc will most likely be set to 6v or less to supply the rx and servos unless youve turned it up yourself 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Stormbringer

[ZaphodB]

Thanks Storm,  I didn't know you could alter the BEC voltage!

 

Not sure my Carson allows you to do that (I suspect not), nor the Hobbywing 1080 I'm considering.

 

My son is running an  ancient Novak GTX which has a 6.0V  / 3.0A BEC output and doesn't appear toe be adjustable.

(GTX manual is here)

 

We also have a couple of Novak GT7 ESCs (manual here)

 

Zaph

 

 

[Fat Freddy]

9 minutes ago, ZaphodB said:

Thanks Storm,  I didn't know you could alter the BEC voltage!

 

Not sure my Carson allows you to do that (I suspect not), nor the Hobbywing 1080 I'm considering.

 

My son is running an  ancient Novak GTX which has a 6.0V  / 3.0A BEC output and doesn't appear toe be adjustable.

(GTX manual is here)

 

We also have a couple of Novak GT7 ESCs (manual here)

 

Zaph

 

 

The HW 1080 does have variable voltage options 👍

[Fat Freddy]

18 hours ago, BigGinge said:

 

Edit:

 

also run one of these in the TRX4, probably complete overkill for a touring car but still surprisingly quick. 
 

 

 JX HV7032MG 32kg 0.07s
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtUEQl0

Sorry to hijack your thread Mr Beeblebrox.

@BigGinge how have you found the JX servo in your TRX4? Have you used it much? 
I need to replace an Amazon special that claims to be 35kg but definitely isn’t. 

[ZaphodB]

On 15/02/2023 at 16:46, Fat Freddy said:

The HW 1080 does have variable voltage options 👍

 

Thanks for confirming the 1080 has variable BEC voltage.

 

Sorry to hijack your thread Mr Beeblebrox - not an issue as far as I am concerned 🙂

 

Zaph

Edited February 16, 2023 by ZaphodB

[BigGinge]

5 hours ago, ZaphodB said:

Just a quick question on AliExpress.  Never ordered from them before.  Are they quick?  Do HMRC slap any import duty on them?

AliExpress is a bit of a broker for loads of different sellers so delivery can vary quite a bit depending on exactly who you buy from. But the estimate on the page for each item is normally pretty accurate and you can often find sellers who will get stuff to you in a couple of weeks. 
 

All of the money stuff seems fairly safe and the one time I had an issue with a missing part in a delivery they refunded me without any real fuss. 
 

The VAT collection depends on how much your order is worth. For orders under some new threshold introduced by our government (possibly £135) international sellers are supposed to collect and sort the VAT on the and AliExpress seem to be doing this. I’ve not had any extra charges on anything I e bough since the new rules come in. Above the threshold they won’t charge any vat but you will (or at least should) get a bill for vat and duty from the courier once the goods arrive in this country. I’ve not tried this yet so don’t know how well that all works. 
 

2 hours ago, Fat Freddy said:

how have you found the JX servo in your TRX4? Have you used it much? 

I’ve not got loads of time on it, and I’ve never tried to submerge it, but so far it’s done everything I’ve asked of it. I’d happily get another if it broke and I couldn’t find anything beefier for similar money.  
 

I probably should say at this point though I’ve only ever had relative low end servos from Savox to use as a point of reference for these so don’t know how they would compare to the proper high end kit they sell. 

[ZaphodB]

Took the plunge with AliExpress and ordered a couple of SRT 10kg / 0.07s servos (cheap & cheerful - they'll do as spares if nothing else although they seem to get good reviews).

 

Paid with Paypal so less worry about card theft.

 

Est delivery date is 8th March so only 3 weeks - we'll see how it goes.

 

Regarding Excise Duty & VAT, yes, I'd read that the threshold was higher now.

 

Really adds to the cost when HMRC slap Import Duty on, then VAT on the total bill (inc postage) and Royal Mail charge you an extra £10 to collect the duty on behalf of HMRC.  Been bitten a couple of times with this - especially when importing stuff from the USA.

 

Zaph

[ZaphodB]

Update:

 

Well the two servos I'd ordered came on 1st March -  about a week before the estimated delivery date of 8th.

 

Well impressed.

 

Having looked at more servos since then the Spt 5410LV servo seems to be a winner - 0.07s at 6.0V (ideal if your ESC doesn't have a variable BEC function and only puts out 6.0V).

 

However, several of the vendors that list servos (and ancilliary parts) are saying things like "This product can't be shipped to your address.
Select another product or address. "

 

Bizarrely, one product was ok for a single item, if I selected  quantity of 2 I got the "Product can't be shipped" message *shrugs*.

 

Anyone else getting  this?  Is the site temporarily 'broken' in places??

 

Zaph

[totlxtc]

1 hour ago, ZaphodB said:

Update:

 

Well the two servos I'd ordered came on 1st March -  about a week before the estimated delivery date of 8th.

 

Well impressed.

 

Having looked at more servos since then the Spt 5410LV servo seems to be a winner - 0.07s at 6.0V (ideal if your ESC doesn't have a variable BEC function and only puts out 6.0V).

 

However, several of the vendors that list servos (and ancilliary parts) are saying things like "This product can't be shipped to your address.
Select another product or address. "

 

Bizarrely, one product was ok for a single item, if I selected  quantity of 2 I got the "Product can't be shipped" message *shrugs*.

 

Anyone else getting  this?  Is the site temporarily 'broken' in places??

 

Zaph

 

Check the flag symbol at the top of the page. Mine kept defaulting to Afghanistan so shipping became unavailable.

[BigGinge]

30 minutes ago, totlxtc said:

 

Check the flag symbol at the top of the page. Mine kept defaulting to Afghanistan so shipping became unavailable.

 

I've had a similar thing happen before; currently it seems to default to Russian when I go to try and log in which makes things trickier than it should be to work my way around.

[Ross9999992]

I much prefer the AliExpress app, I’ve been shopping there for more years than I can remember.

In regards to tax they now add on the 20%~ at checkout to cover it so you should never receive a customs bill when shopping there. 

[BigGinge]

5 hours ago, Ross9999992 said:

In regards to tax they now add on the 20%~ at checkout to cover it so you should never receive a customs bill when shopping there. 

Do they do that for all orders now or just the ones under the £135 (I think) threshold where foreign companies are supposed to sort the VAT out? 

[Ross9999992]

Fairly sure it’s on all orders now @BigGinge  slightly annoying as it puts the prices up but things are still cheap enough most of the time.

 

Banggood is another option though and they have a uk warehouse. I don’t think they deal with the tax on import goods so that’s still down to luck 😉

[totlxtc]

Can confirm all orders. Does it at checkout.

[ZaphodB]

On 10/03/2023 at 13:21, totlxtc said:

 

Check the flag symbol at the top of the page. Mine kept defaulting to Afghanistan so shipping became unavailable.

Yep, same here.

 

I got a product page where it said it didn't ship to my location and when I checked the flag, the country was set to Afghanistan.

 

Set it to the UK - able to order the product.

 

Zaph