new owner servo question

[freekshow]

brand new to the RC scene and thought I would jump in to the game with a RAMPAGE XB. Probably not the brightest decision but I did not want to deal with short nitro and electric run times from what I hear and went with the good ole 2 stroke


I am hearing a lot of bad press on steering servos that scare me. When I get this thing out of the box should I not even run it until replacing it ? Am i overreacting or are they really that bad ?? Last thing i want to do is get totally pi$$ed off by taking it out of the box and running it for 5 min only to have it break.... any tips for me on what to look for or what to do if it DOES fail...thanks much for any input !!

 

[krashkrieg]

Welcome to the forum!

Getting 1/5 was great idea, way better than nitro. Get yourself a killer bee kill switch first....it's the best $ you can spend on insurance for your new toy. Get yourself a good high volt servo like Savox 236 and be done with it.

After that consider an after market pipe, it will really wake up the stock motor. These are good upgrades to start with.

And of course you should re-loctite any metal a on metal screws.

 

[BertR]

With any servo always remember to set the end points correctly or you will burn it out as fast as a stock one...

 

[RampageShop]

I'd be more concerned about changing out the throttle servo than the steering servo. The stock steering servos are not that bad and if one goes out, you end your day early. Lose a throttle servo and you risk a run-away.

Grab a kill switch from me, or one of the other sponsors to the left or Killer RC and install it ASAP

Then go have some fun

 

[Ildy666]

Welcome to the forum....

 

[claude bigelow]

 

[topblissgt]

my sons Chimera have the original servos and he had about 15 tanks thru it including hard racing at a 1/5th scale track

 

[freekshow]

thanks so much for all the replies and welcome's In regards to the Killer Bee switch, I saw on one of the sites that its NOT recommended to add ANOTHER failsafe switch due to their already being a factory installed safety feature ( failsafe? ) ..if I add one, it will negate each other out . Is this true ?

Also in regards to setting the end points on the servo's ...is their an easy way to do it ? Some of the information gained from google and videos are contradicting each other so I would rather hear how from you pros

THANKS AGAIN !

 

[Deluge]

Welcome.

First take off the servo horns and make sure the trims are set to neutral so the servos are properly centered. Then put the horns back on as straight as possible. If they're not perfectly straight, that's ok, that can be adjusted using the trims on the transmitter. You just want to get them as straight as you can without using tons of transmitter adjustment.

Once you have them straight, you can set the end points. It's a simple process. All you're trying to do it have the servo stop just before it engages the servo saver, on the steering side. On the throttle side, you want the servo to stop pushing once the throttle is wide open. You can tell when it's trying to push beyond that, it'll buzz like hell.

The steering side is easy, just turn full lock and watch the servo saver. If you see it being flexed, back off the EPA until it stops flexing. For the throttle side, push the throttle linkage with your finger until the throttle is wide open. Then adjust the EPA so the servo horn barely touches the little stop on the linkage. You might need three hands for this. You need someone to pull the trigger on the transmitter and adjust the EPA.

Hope this helps, man. Good luck.

 

[blak__jak]

setting the end points is simple. just take wheel and throttle controls on your radio to their limits and watch your servos to see if there is any binding. if so adjust your control rods to get rid of it. as for the failsafe that you get from redcat throw it away. it's junk and your radio should have one build in anyway but that's only for out of range issues and won't let you kill the motor if say your throttle servo dies locked in full open and this happens more than you may think. if you read enough on here and other forums you'll see what I mean. it's happened to me and many others. take our advice and get a kill switch. they work fine with stock radio and if you do have any problems anyone on here would be more than happy to help you with that one. with these big beasts if you have a runaway and the only thing that gets hurt is your truck you can consider yourself lucky.

 

[blak__jak]

must have been typing while deluge was. his explanation of epa is much better than mine. I mainly wanted to make you aware of the value of a kill switch. it's a must have. take all our words on that. especially if your still running stock servos but in any case really.

 

[freekshow]

Thanks again so much for the info !! If I purchased a killer bee or another manufacturers kill switch ( i assume for the throttle would be most important ) , how do i go about disabling the factory installed one when installing the killer bee or another kill switch ?? I did not see a whole lot on the forum for disabling the factory one when installing an aftermarket ....THANKS AGAIN !!!!!

 

[rcgasser]

You do not have to disable the fail safe in the radio to run your kill switch. I think you have the wrong misconception of the kill switch. The kill switch will hook up to the motor and the receiver it will not be set up on any servo so if your throttle servo goes out while stuck wide open you can kill the engine from the remote and the car will shut down and you will not have a runaway also if your battery drops to low or you loose power the kill switch will kill the motor. A fail safe you must have power for it to work so if you are out of range it will close the throttle servo and not allow it to run away but if the servo has went bad while you are running the fail safe will do you no good. So please take every advice do not run with a kill switch they are a must I will not crank up any of my 1/5 scales without the kill switch installed first.

 

[freekshow]

OK, you talked me into a kill switch ...when I am looking for them, what is the EASIEST , LEAST HASSLE , PLUG and GO switch that I don't have to take motor out and rewire... I see super bee/killer bee might need a y connector to get i9t to work on my XB ... what switch do you recommend and have used ??? I guess I will upgrade as I go, but I cant swing kill switch, servos and all that stuff right now. I am figuring the kill switch is most important that way IF the throttle servo goes , at least the car wont

I see a lot of options for switched out there but cant tell which ones are made for the XB ....

thanks again for putting up with me !!!

 

[topblissgt]

Use a Ramtech kill switch. $25 and work perfect. + he a sponsor of this site.

http://ramtech-rc.com/product.sc?productId=63&categoryId=22

 

[freekshow]

Ordered...thanks !!!

 

[blak__jak]

I for one salute you on your good judgment. I've always used the killer bee but that was before it was the only readily available one on the market so I can't tell you anything about the others. i would now order a new hitec or savox throttle servo just to have it on hand. I've got 2 m/t's and a d/r and all throttle servos have failed.

 

[Lee_RampageXT_Kelsoe]

lol...information I could have used YESTERDAY...lol... my XTs steering went out at almost out of range, then it lost signal and went WOT...let's just say it didn't hit a tree or a curb or anything that doesn't cost money to fix...but these things are tougher than I expected... just bent some metal stuff a little and broke one shock mount....found this thread and immediately ordered the kill switch...I'm new to the mix gas 1/5 RC game... these definitely aren't toys...lol