Budget Metal Gear Servo Recommendations ~130oz HV?

[guggles 295]

Just like the title says, Im looking for some new Servos, would like to go hi voltage and not break the bank.

Minimum requirements are:

most importantly.... Reliable

Metal Geared 

around 100-150 oz torque

 

Let me know what you guys like, I seem to be having the worst luck with lower end servos just acting up or going bad. 

[cyclonecap 68]

Depends what budget is to you, but I've got one of these and really rate it. 25kg brushless for £35 delivered is great. The only downside to them is the case is pretty tall so it won't fit every vehicle.

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002480688340.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.33.6f4b1802Sk43HG

[alvinlwh 7226]

130oz is about 3.5kg? Don't think there are HV servos at that rating?

Otherwise cheap reliable HV servos include JX Ecoboost (21 - 36kv) or SPT (30kg). 

[sosidge 669]

1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

130oz is about 3.5kg? Don't think there are HV servos at that rating?

Otherwise cheap reliable HV servos include JX Ecoboost (21 - 36kv) or SPT (30kg). 

Torque is measured in oz-in or kg-cm

There isn't really a mid-range for servos any more.

You've got your basic Futaba servo which doesn't have the (claimed) performance or metal gears but performs well in a lightweight 1/10th scale car.

Then the Aliexpress cheapies that claim huge torque (25/35kg) and have metal gears but aren't actually fast. I have some of these and have been lucky so far but as with most Aliexpress products, quality control is non-existent.

Then you jump up in price to "premium" chinese brands that have very high specs for the money. I have a couple of these too.

And then if you are willing to almost double that price you can get a high performance servo from Futaba. This is what I always used to buy but the prices are insane now.

Most people these days are making do with the chinese cheapies or the chinese premium servos. Bear in mind there are a lot of people out there who just rebadge a chinese servo and add 50% to the price.

I wouldn't worry about HV compatibility. A good servo will perform well on 6V. The jump up to 7.4V won't make a bad servo good all of a sudden.

[alvinlwh 7226]

2 hours ago, sosidge said:

Torque is measured in oz-in or kg-cm

So is the 130oz the OP asked for  is 9kg-cm-ish?

2 hours ago, sosidge said:

I wouldn't worry about HV compatibility. A good servo will perform well on 6V. The jump up to 7.4V won't make a bad servo good all of a sudden.

But if a LV servo is used at 7.4V will kill it right? OP asked for HV so I assume he knows what he is doing. 

[sosidge 669]

1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

So is the 130oz the OP asked for  is 9kg-cm-ish?

But if a LV servo is used at 7.4V will kill it right? OP asked for HV so I assume he knows what he is doing. 

You have to actively choose to run 7.4V so there should be no risk of servo incompatibility when running standard servos. Unless you know what you are doing. But if you know what you are doing you probably wouldn't be asking for advice on a servo to buy.

[guggles 295]

6 hours ago, sosidge said:

Torque is measured in oz-in or kg-cm

There isn't really a mid-range for servos any more.

You've got your basic Futaba servo which doesn't have the (claimed) performance or metal gears but performs well in a lightweight 1/10th scale car.

Then the Aliexpress cheapies that claim huge torque (25/35kg) and have metal gears but aren't actually fast. I have some of these and have been lucky so far but as with most Aliexpress products, quality control is non-existent.

Then you jump up in price to "premium" chinese brands that have very high specs for the money. I have a couple of these too.

And then if you are willing to almost double that price you can get a high performance servo from Futaba. This is what I always used to buy but the prices are insane now.

Most people these days are making do with the chinese cheapies or the chinese premium servos. Bear in mind there are a lot of people out there who just rebadge a chinese servo and add 50% to the price.

I wouldn't worry about HV compatibility. A good servo will perform well on 6V. The jump up to 7.4V won't make a bad servo good all of a sudden.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I am looking for a balance of speed and torque. I dont need ultra high torque. I do want speed atleast as good as .16 seconds. What are some of these more "premium" models you speak of? I hope I know what im doing  Ive just been out of the hobby for a while so dont know what good budget servos are out there. Hence asking for suggestions.

 

To everyone asking about the HV compatibility, The servos will either be used with a 2s lipo receiver pack if they are HV and if they are not HV then the receiver pack will be used with a UBEC for 6v input.

What do you guys think about this one? Do you think its any good?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184521328726

[Mouc-RC 644]

Personally I'd recommend these ones: https://www.savoxusa.com/products/savb08kg-budget-analog-servo-15-8kg-cm

A bit noisy (as all Sävox ), not the fastest, not the "torquiest", but not so expensive & with quality control. To be checked: not sure they accept 7.2 or 7.4 volts.

[Shergar 141]

1 hour ago, guggles said:

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I am looking for a balance of speed and torque. I dont need ultra high torque. I do want speed atleast as good as .16 seconds. What are some of these more "premium" models you speak of? I hope I know what im doing  Ive just been out of the hobby for a while so dont know what good budget servos are out there. Hence asking for suggestions.

 

To everyone asking about the HV compatibility, The servos will either be used with a 2s lipo receiver pack if they are HV and if they are not HV then the receiver pack will be used with a UBEC for 6v input.

What do you guys think about this one? Do you think its any good?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184521328726

I’m pretty sure this is exactly the same at half the price (depending where you are). I've had no problems with Injora 👍

https://www.injora.com/products/injora-injs020hv-high-voltage-waterproof-20kg-digital-servo-for-1-10-arrma-kraton

[alvinlwh 7226]

12 hours ago, Mouc-RC said:

Personally I'd recommend these ones: https://www.savoxusa.com/products/savb08kg-budget-analog-servo-15-8kg-cm

A bit noisy (as all Sävox ), not the fastest, not the "torquiest", but not so expensive & with quality control. To be checked: not sure they accept 7.2 or 7.4 volts.

That is a 6V servo, put a 2S on it and it will melt. 

14 hours ago, guggles said:

The servos will either be used with a 2s lipo receiver pack if they are HV and if they are not HV then the receiver pack will be used with a UBEC for 6v input.

 

12 hours ago, Shergar said:

I've had no problems with Injora 👍

Another vote for Injora. I have mine powered directly from the vehicle 2S via a TEU-104, no BEC, no problem. 

[guggles 295]

@alvinlwh Whats the spline count for the Injora servos? Futaba 25T? And are they fast?

[alvinlwh 7226]

31 minutes ago, guggles said:

@alvinlwh Whats the spline count for the Injora servos? Futaba 25T? And are they fast?

 

25T. Pretty sure all my servos are a "standard" 25T and this is no different. As for the rest of the specs... 

[Wooders28 4910]

On 9/9/2024 at 6:29 PM, guggles said:

The servos will either be used with a 2s lipo receiver pack if they are HV and if they are not HV then the receiver pack will be used with a UBEC for 6v input.

If you're running a decent modern reciever, chances are it'll be fine on 7.4v, my Sanwa are 6v - 7.4v compatible.

Guessing it's for an IC car, if you're planning on having a reciever pack? 

If electric, you'll need a decent ESC anyway, which should be 6v-7.4v BEC switchable via a programmer , as once you start getting faster/more powerful servos, you need decent BEC Amp rating, otherwise you get 'Brown out ' where the servo sucks all the power away from the receiver, and it cuts out.

 

On 9/9/2024 at 6:29 PM, guggles said:

Do you think its any good?

If its cheap off eBay, nope....

I've tried a few different servos in the past, and one I went for was this 'Alturn Race Servo ' for my Novafox, with an official spec rating of 0.09s -60° @6v

Decided to do a vid, to show its lightning speed, against my KF2se's ,slightly slower (going off the spec...) 0.10s - 60° @6v ,  Futaba BLS 551 Brushless servo....🤔

 

 

 

Imo, you get what you pay for, if you're expecting a speed of light servo, that'll lift your house,  for a £1 off ebay/Amazon/aliexpress / temu,  then you might be in for a bit of disappointment.

My goto budget servo now is the CoreRC 9016MG, and for everything else, Savox 1257tg/ 1258tg ,with an Altrun still in a Novafox, (if you've ever built a Novafox, you'll understand why its still in there 😳, plus it does work, so..)., and the Futaba 551 in an On Road, Schumacher Fusion (which with it being a low profile servo, probably wasn't for Off Road anyway)

[guggles 295]

Yeah this for nitro vehicles at the moment. I guess Ill pick up a couple of the injora cheapies to see how they do and for the rest ill go with my tried and true favorite which is the hitec 645MG