Gotta jump in on this one. Last year I flew my brand new 1/3 scale Duo Discus for the first time at the Triple Tree Aerotow, in Greenville SC. Nothing like doing the first flight in front of a crowd. Well this crowd included Peter Goldsmith (I think he even towed me up), who is a muckey muck with Horizon. They are the good people who bring JR products to us. Very quickly after release from the tug, I figured something was really wrong with the plane. I had vague control. I managed to get it back along a path over the runway with the hope of landing out at the top end of the sloping runway. As it went by at about 40 feet over our heads we could all see the elevator waggling to beat the band. That was a very pricey JR 8411 servo in there. I eventually got it down in a rather abrupt manner near the crest of the sloping runway. Abrupt is a kind description for the belly flop that occurred. Upon arrival at the site, I had already decided that the JR product was my point of failure and I was letting it be known to all. Once I got to the plane, the gears in that servo were clearly goners.
As I carried the plane back along the line I really made an ass of myself by shouting at Peter to come figure out what had failed. He was waaay cool. He asked, "Did you range check this before you flew it?" "No," was about the best I could do. "Why don't we check that out" was Peter's suggestion. I only got about 10 paces away from the ship with my transmitter before the plane started that sickly jittering. I had simply grabbed a RX off the workbench and stuck it in the plane in my haste to finish the project. I really to this day can't say if it was on the workbench because it had been removed for cause from it's prior home. Even after my behavior, Peter was incredibly kind to replace the stripped 8411 so that I could fly again the next day. I can't say enough about Peter's representation of his product. Same applies to the people at Hitec to whom I have returned lots of fried out, stripped, or otherwise mangled gear and from whom I get repaired/replaced items in no time. No questions asked. After a crash, I am always disappointed. It is very easy to blame the products that seem to have gotten in the way. But most of the time, the company will be very professional and back their product, whether or not it was at fault. JR and Hitec certainly do. Now those blue things are another story. Cottage industry stuff with a cottage industry support system (in the past, don't know what they have set up today) is an invitation to disappointment. Yeah, they sent me the shafts after mine failed. Would have been really nice to have gotten the word before I committed a $750 plane to them. I seem to be saying this a lot lately, but here goes again. The truth may often be stranger than fiction, but it will never hurt your reputation like a cover up. If quality is the true mantra of the blue guys, like their web site and evangelists say it is, why don't they indicate a recall or safety directive on these servos? Will my servos be swapped out for new if I send them back? Or will I be told that the problems just couldn't be, like I was told, in person, when I presented the problem to the factory rep? I feel better now. :) Lee Estingoy Overland Park, KS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Glen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'Adam Kenneth Till'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "'Ben Diss'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'plenard'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'RCSE'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 12:43 PM Subject: RE: [RCSE] New Hitec Wing servos (and Volz Wing Maxx) > Hello Everyone, > > May I start by thanking Adam Till for his subsequent messages explaining > in more detail the reported failure of the 5125. We at Hitec (and I > suspect the whole soaring community) will be watching for any failure > trend that develops concerning this product. > > As for the 5125 in question, can we have sent back to our service > department for evaluation? I will see that a new one is forwarded to the > owner. We do track all the failure points of every returned product, so > we can spot any chronic flaws. > > > > Glen Merritt > Marketing Director > Hitec USA > Phone # 858-748-6948 x310 > Fax # 858-748-1767 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Simon Van Leeuwen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 10:12 AM > To: Adam Kenneth Till > Cc: Glen; 'Ben Diss'; 'plenard'; 'RCSE' > Subject: Re: [RCSE] New Hitec Wing servos (and Volz Wing Maxx) > > HITEC > Indeed a 5125 did start to melt the servo cover this last weekend, but > to say that the servo in question caused the crash would be erroneous > and misleading. In fact, a crash had occurred that caused enough of a > bind on this particular servo's control surface to cause it to > overheat. > > Given the digital electronics and associated update-rate, and low > (thermal) mass of the servo itself, and the fact it was running on two > 5-cell packs (redundancy), it's no wonder it complained (loudly). > > Under normal flying loads, these servos operate satisfactory. Any > (digital) servo subject to undo loads as a result of a crash (or > otherwise) could be expected to react in the very same manner. In other > words...don't doodle on the way to the crash site if you use digital > servos. > > VOLZ > Indeed early versions of the Wing Maxx exhibited centering issues, and > through testing showed temperature-specific drift in the amp design. > This made for constant re-centering on most trips to the field. Although > not widely known, a higher quality ceramic capacitor was offered as a > fix, but required SMT-level soldering skills. Installing this, and the > results, were less than stellar however. The PCB has since been updated. > As predicted, Michael will be releasing a digital versions of their > servo line-up, which might bring them up to on-par performance with > their counterparts. As always, we will have to wait and see. > > Adam Kenneth Till wrote: > > > > Nope, not the case I meant. This was in the outboard aileron of a 4m > > Salto. The airplane didn't quite make it back to the airfield after an > > aborted aerotow, and put down (relatively hard) in a farmers field. > The > > aileron didn't have anything to do with the forced landing...gravity > did. > > > > The Salto was found resting with one tip on a pile of dirt, and smoke > was > > pouring from the tip. The servo motor had burned through the case of > the > > servo AND the case of the mount. > > > > This isn't exactly an inappropriate application...and I resent having > been > > dismissed as a gossip-monger. > > > > Cheers, > > Adam > > > > ---------------------------------------------------- > > It's a big mistake to allow any mechanical object to > > realize that you are in a hurry. > > ---------------------------------------------------- > > The trouble with doing something right the first > > time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was. > > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > > On Mon, 15 Jul 2002, Glen wrote: > > > > > > > > Hi Guys, > > > > > > How about "the rest of the story". > > > > > > We at Hitec are aware of a HS-5125MG failing in flight in the manor > > > described by Mr. Till while being used as the elevator servo on a > 15-17 > > > pound turbine powered jet model. > > > > > > Would Mr. Till be willing to confirm this is the case to which he is > > > referring to? > > > > > > If this is the failure in question, I would have the modeling public > > > know the application of the 5125MG was inappropriate. Digital > circuitry > > > in a servo rated at 49oz/in does not make the servo "magical" and > thus > > > capable of over coming the very strict and unyielding laws of > physics. > > > There is an old saying "use the right tool for the job", it is clear > the > > > 5125MG was not the correct servo for the elevator of that heavy > plane. > > > Ladies and Gentleman please learn from this mistake so it is not > > > replicated elsewhere. > > > > > > It is regrettable anytime a expensive plane "goes in" for a > mechanical > > > reasons, it is further regrettable a good, solid product such as the > > > Hitec 5125MG is defamed through gossip on the internet. > > > > > > Glen Merritt > > > Marketing Director > > > Hitec USA > > > Phone # 858-748-6948 x310 > > > Fax # 858-748-1767 > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Adam Kenneth Till [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > > Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2002 6:44 PM > > > To: Ben Diss > > > Cc: plenard; RCSE > > > Subject: Re: [RCSE] New Hitec Wing servos (125MG and 5125MG-Digital) > > > > > > > > > Having recently seen one burn a hole through it's case and cover > after a > > > surface was jammed, I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole. I > think > > > they have "current draw issues". > > > > > > Cheers, > > > Adam Till > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------- > > > It's a big mistake to allow any mechanical object to > > > realize that you are in a hurry. > > > ---------------------------------------------------- > > > The trouble with doing something right the first > > > time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was. > > > ----------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > On Thu, 11 Jul 2002, Ben Diss wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Love them. Thin, fast, strong and programmable. They even come > with > > > a metal arm. > > > > > > > > -Ben > > > > > > > > > plenard wrote: > > > > > > > > > > Has anyone tried these new Hitec wing servos for TD > > > applications...and what do you think? I am considering moving up > from > > > my tried and true 85MG's. Thanks. > > > > > > > > > > Bob Lenard > > > > > Laguna Niguel, CA > > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send > > > "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send > "subscribe" > > > and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send > "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send > "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* > Simon Van Leeuwen, Calgary, Alberta > RADIUS SYSTEMS > Cogito-Ergo-Zoom > IAC25233*MAAC12835*IMAC1756*LSF5953*IMAA20209 > *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* > > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. 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