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lentner3

Best budget servo

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I’ve got about ten kits. I’m looking to build them over the course of a couple of years but wanted to have everything I needed to complete them so when the chance arises I can get started. They are a mix of free buggy’s and touring cars. I’ve used all kids of servos in the past. None of these will be used really hard but I do want reasonable build quality. I’ve used the turnigy 4409MD

in the past but times that by x10 and it gets expensive. I’ve looked at some other hobbyking ones also. And I do have some eBay special mg996r but I opened them up and I’m not convinced they are genuine.

are there any other cheap options worth considering? The turnigy ones are abut £12 from hobbyking so this is the best I can find currently.

also seen these which seem like good spec but look shady.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333809432790

many advice appreciated.

by the way it’s been a while so hi to any of you guys that remember me😂

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I'm just waiting on delivery of 10x 15138 hobbyking servosz cost £30 Inc delivery, they are futaba s3003 copies and over the last 8 years or so have been very reliable 

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HK15138 from Hobbyking works ok as a Futaba S3003 replacement.  I've been using Hobbyking's Turnigy DRFT-303 servos for some time and I like them  better.  They feel a little faster and come with ball bearings for about $5-6 USD.  I also have some of the 4409MD servos, but none of mine center very well; there's too much gear lash so they are relegated to trucks/crawlers.

Generally the DRFT-303 has worked well for me for 1/10 onroad and some basher buggies, and when they still sold clones of the Savox 1258TG/1256TG/1251TG for $30 USD I bought a few and they worked great for 1/8 scale buggies/truggies.

 

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3 minutes ago, taffer said:

I'm just waiting on delivery of 10x 15138 hobbyking servosz cost £30 Inc delivery, they are futaba s3003 copies and over the last 8 years or so have been very reliable 

I worry about them being plastic and also analogue. Seem to have pretty low torque.

I did see the 15288 but that’s getting close to the cost of the turnigy ones.

does it matter if they are analogue or digital?

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3 minutes ago, speedy_w_beans said:

HK15138 from Hobbyking works ok as a Futaba S3003 replacement.  I've been using Hobbyking's Turnigy DRFT-303 servos for some time and I like them  better.  They feel a little faster and come with ball bearings for about $5-6 USD.  I also have some of the 4409MD servos, but none of mine center very well; there's too much gear lash so they are relegated to trucks/crawlers.

Generally the DRFT-303 has worked well for me for 1/10 onroad and some basher buggies, and when they still sold clones of the Savox 1258TG/1256TG/1251TG for $30 USD I bought a few and they worked great for 1/8 scale buggies/truggies.

 

Drft-303 look like a good option for the on road stuff but the plastic gears worry me for buggy’s etc.

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4 minutes ago, lentner3 said:

I worry about them being plastic and also analogue. Seem to have pretty low torque.

does it matter if they are analogue or digital?

Depends what kits you have got to build

I use them in thundershot, konghead, cc-01 etc...all fine

For cr-01, txt-2, cc-02 I have used £18 high torque, metal waterproof servos.

The ONLY issue I have with the 15138 servos is that if I slide into a wall, the tracking can go out, which I have to trim out, normally I end up hitting the other side and trim it back!😄

They used to be a lovely orange colour but now they only manufacture them in grey........

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4 x DS3218 Pro-180 for $44 which is £33 which is about £8.50 each from aliexpress

eg 

Link

or these ones if you want small ones. I have them and they’re good

Small ones

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Most of my non-serious race cars use Alturn AAS-752MG as they are fast enough for racing (faster than a basic cheap servo ) and I've never had one break.  There was a time when I thought I had some really slow ones but I think it was a settings issue on my radio as I dug them out recently and they were fine.  I also use the AAS-750MG in some light-duty crawly stuff as they are a slower but torquier version.  Again, no complaints and never broken one.  I also have some Turnigy servos from Hobbyking which are an identical casing, my guess is they are the same internals with a different label on them.

I have a couple of Turnigy D99X servos which are fast and low-profile, ideal if you need a lo-pro in that tight-fitting chassis.

In all honesty tho, for similar money, you really can't beat the Savox 0254MG - true Savox quality and although it might not quite speeds as high as some similar-priced servos, in the real wold the quality makes it better for racing.  I have them in my regular race cars because I know they won't let me down.

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So... something less than $15 USD?  How about Hobbyking 15268?  Or 15269?

'268' is $6.  '269' is $7.  4.5kg, 0.16 sec.  Compared to the standard 15138 servo (3kg, 0.2sec --$3.7), they are almost twice as expensive.  But they are 50% stronger and 20% faster. Waterproof too (15269).  Build quality isn't on par with $15 servos like 4409, but you are paying less than half.  

I often get a mixed batch of servos.  3kg servos like 15138 or Futaba S3003 can go into a lightweight chassis like the Grasshopper.  4.5kg servo on slightly heavier 4x4 buggies like DF02. (my Grasshopper and DF02 are used cars, so I don't mind the build quality)  6-13kg servo on Wild Willy or Konghead.  Faster servos like JX4409 on M-chassis.  Slightly slower 20kg servo on big things like Juggernaut.  I always have a couple extra servos on hand, in case of an impulse buy.  

But if you don't run heavier chassis, 15268 would be functionally fine.  Plastic gears should be fine up to about 5kg of torque.  The build quality is inconsistent, though.  One servo would look clean and respectable, so you'd think, "hey, it's just like Futaba!" And then another servo would have grease stain from the joint seam in the middle.  None failed on me, so that's fine for my bashers.   

There used to be Turnigy 10kg metal gear servo, AN10 for $9.  Smooth, quiet, strong, fast, cheap and better made... I liked it, but it's discontinued.  But there is Turnigy AN13 for $9.50. Also metal gear.  14kg, 0.13 sec is an overkill, but it's better than an underkill (is that a word?).  Speed and torque-wise it should be all around good performer up to Konghead.  

Digital is good for holding at certain angles.  It spends extra energy to give a lot more frequent inputs so the servo would get multiple messages to hold that angle.  This is important for airplanes and helicopters. You don't want wind to move the control angles.  But if you have 4 wheels on the ground, that's less of an issue.  More frequent signals or the juice it takes for them isn't going to make much difference for things that are sitting on the ground. So I wouldn't worry about digital or analog.  Torque and speed matters more.   

 

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SPT - Very reliable and good performing budget servo - I have 6 of these. Four 4412-LV and two 5425-LV. All are working great

PowerHD - Best budget servo overall for me. They have one of the fastest too. I have two of these. L12-HV and LW20-MG

I've also tried JX but the SPT is just better. That's why I switched.

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I've got a Bag with HSS MG996 Servos for cheap.

They have Metalgears inside are fast and tourqie.

For simple old Tamiyacars they are perfect for me.

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@lentner3 i think you've probably found the best bang for buck already. I use the SPT 4412LV or JX 4409MG which are very similar spec (I think the SPT will be my go to from now but I have 4 of the JX without issue) and they are basically the same price. If you go much cheaper the specs will be much worse with minimal saving. I know it gets expensive buying 10 but you'll be sacrificing quality for what will be a small saving per kit.

I notice the difference between a Futaba S3003 and a SPT 4412LV (I also notice how much better a Savox 1258TG is) so all of my runners get something around that spec. They are also cheaper than a genuine Futaba servo too which is a bonus.

I am actually using a SPT 4412LV in my FF04 EVO which has been set up to race in the FF class next year. If its too bad I'll swap it out but early signs suggests its fine.

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On 12/11/2020 at 9:33 PM, Nicadraus said:

SPT - Very reliable and good performing budget servo - I have 6 of these. Four 4412-LV and two 5425-LV. All are working great

PowerHD - Best budget servo overall for me. They have one of the fastest too. I have two of these. L12-HV and LW20-MG

I've also tried JX but the SPT is just better. That's why I switched.

Power HD servos are great.  Cheap, reliable, and plenty of torque.  I have them in a bunch of my cars and trucks and haven't broken any yet.

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The best cheap servos that I have ever found are the ones that come installed in used cars. Buy a car to restore, upgrade it from a mechanical speed control to electronic, and presto: you have a servo for another car. Nearly everything I have uses Futaba S128 or S148 servos, with a few newer S3003s thrown in. I somehow ended up with a bunch of old Airtronics 631 servos that I'm starting to use now, but it means I have to modify the plug and root around in my spares for a 23-spline insert for a servo saver. Still costs me nothing.

Some of my servos are probably 30-35 years old, and work flawlessly. You really don't need that much torque or speed, and if you use a decent servo saver, breakage isn't an issue. I think I've stripped the gears in one S148 over the years, and that was using it in a Clod Buster.

I haven't bought a servo in probably ten years. The last ones I bought were high-torque jobs for scalers/crawlers, and those are probably overkill.

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On 12/12/2020 at 3:33 PM, Nicadraus said:

SPT - Very reliable and good performing budget servo - I have 6 of these. Four 4412-LV and two 5425-LV. All are working great

PowerHD - Best budget servo overall for me. They have one of the fastest too. I have two of these. L12-HV and LW20-MG

I've also tried JX but the SPT is just better. That's why I switched.

Where do you get those PowerHD servos cheap? From what I've seen they are a similar price to Savox?

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You can get some 20kg on aliexpress for about £14. These are £24 on uk model shops. I bought them before I started buying the cheaper ones I linked to above

Hd power

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9 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

Where do you get those PowerHD servos cheap? From what I've seen they are a similar price to Savox?

They're available at a local hobby shop which is where I got the L12-HV for $60. While the LW20-MG, I got it at an Asian online shop, Lazada (Asia's version of Amazon) for $20.

The L12-HV is an amazing servo. Very fast @.06sec/12kg. Full aluminum casing, alloy gears, coreless motor. Price is more than reasonable for the specs and performance. I just wished they made it in blue too.

Anyway, if you want more speed, then this is it.

https://www.rcmart.com/blue-bird-full-aluminum-wide-voltage-high-speed-digital-brushless-low-profile-servo-bls-a911-00063331

Blue Bird Full Aluminum Wide Voltage High Speed Digital Brushless Low Profile Servo

Specification:

  • Torque At 4.8V 5.5 kg-cm / 76.4 oz-in
  • Torque At 6.0V 7.1 kg-cm / 98.6 oz-in
  • Torque At 7.4V 9.5 kg-cm / 131.9 oz-in
  • Speed At 4.8V 0.041 sec / 60°
  • Speed At 6.0V 0.032 sec / 60°
  • Speed At 7.4V 0.027 sec / 60°
  • Idle Current 4 mAh @ 4.8~7.4V Stopped
  • Operating Voltage Range 4.5V ~ 8.5V ( 4 ~ 6 Cell Ni-MH or 2S Li-Poly / 2S Li-Fe )
  • Operating Temperature Range -20°C ~ +60°C ( -4°F ~ +140°F )
  • Control System: Digital Controller / AD 12-Bits ( 4096 Steps )
  • Dead Bend Width: 0.001ms (1us)
  • Ball Bearing: Dual
  • Type Gears: All Metal Gears
  • Motor Type: Premium Brushless Motor
  • Horn / Gear Spline: 25 Teeth (Same as Futaba)
  • Dimension (mm): 40.8 x 21 x 25.4 mm
  • Weight (gram): 59.0 ± 1 grams / 2.08 oz
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On 12/11/2020 at 10:14 PM, Mad Ax said:

Most of my non-serious race cars use Alturn AAS-752MG as they are fast enough for racing (faster than a basic cheap servo ) and I've never had one break.  There was a time when I thought I had some really slow ones but I think it was a settings issue on my radio as I dug them out recently and they were fine.  I also use the AAS-750MG in some light-duty crawly stuff as they are a slower but torquier version.  Again, no complaints and never broken one.  I also have some Turnigy servos from Hobbyking which are an identical casing, my guess is they are the same internals with a different label on them.

I have a couple of Turnigy D99X servos which are fast and low-profile, ideal if you need a lo-pro in that tight-fitting chassis.

In all honesty tho, for similar money, you really can't beat the Savox 0254MG - true Savox quality and although it might not quite speeds as high as some similar-priced servos, in the real wold the quality makes it better for racing.  I have them in my regular race cars because I know they won't let me down.

My vote for Alturns aswell. Been using them for years. Had them in various different cars and buggies.

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13 hours ago, ACCEL said:

Budget? RC? i'm not seeing it:lol:

JX servos

It think they mean "budget for RC", it should be a line item in any household budget as its importance is below power and food but above netflix (but then my wife would see that all those small* purchases add up to a lot)

 

* small is relative, like the FF04 I bought was big, so the $50 I spent on it today** for a pinion, spur, paint and sensor cable is small, and unrelated to the FF04 (divide and conquer).

** and that is a separate small purchase so the body*** doesn't count

*** and the wheels/tyres were my old**** ones so they were free

**** old means they didn't need replacing but my TA07 got new ones so my FF04***** had wheels

***** the frontie class requires spoked rims, so it needs new ones anyway

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22 hours ago, TwistedxSlayer said:

My vote for Alturns aswell. Been using them for years. Had them in various different cars and buggies.

Better than futaba s3004?

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