A few days ago I landed my Sharon imperfectly, scraping the grass with the lowered flaps (yeah, I know). Flew again, and discovered that things were wacky, and traced this to a flap that moved freely on its own. Since I finally had the servo covers installed "for real" I couldn't just check things, but I figured that I had broken a gear in the MicroMaxx HP and called it a day.
Well, it now turns out that the Micromaxx is just fine, but that the carefully glued-in plywood holder came loose from the top wing skin. The 15-min epoxy over about one square inch of clean flat surface proved to be weaker than the gear! (the plywood was nicely glued everywhere). I can hardly believe this, those gears must be really strong. Since I'd heard that Volz gears supposedly never break, I figured that I was about to cause Gordy a lot of grief.
This is a great time to mention that it never was the gears that were weak, in any servo! That was what Michael Volz found out when he made the Micro Maxx!
Sure he had all metal gears and more torque, speed, a convenient mounting system designed specifically for Sailplanes and tiny too. But it didn't long for him to realize you couldn't just make a servo stronger and have it be strong enough to work in the sailplanes that were emerging... and the demands we would be putting on the servos.
He made the mistake all servo mfgr's have made, big specs in servos made just like they always had been.
The Wing Maxx was the first step toward stepping out of the old box. Instead of all the components just standing or hanging around a gear deck, the Wing Maxx used the entire case to hold the gears from spreading and the motor from tipping when put under heavy loads, causing only the gear teeth 'tips' to manage all that force.
The Wing Maxx's case was literally molded around the motor and pot, holding them in place, and the top case was put to work to help hold the main gear in place by using a snap ring to 'sandwich' the upper plate of the case between the bearing and that snapring. That also allowed him to make the thinnest high performance wing servo ever offered.
Rense's HP has a Steel output shaft and a high duty extremely powerful carbon brushed motor. It has more torque than any of the digital wing servos offered today, and is optimized to run on 4 cells and at a similar current draw as the HS55's.
Steel or not, those teeth can be broken! I know I did it, twice when my plane jumped back on a landing snapping my flap forward. Steel or not, case or not, you can only make a watch so strong and the WM are thin! (course I use the Volz mounting system, so it wasn't about to pop loose)!
Now the Micro Maxx X series took things a whole light year beyond when it comes to durability and it is them that have yet to chip a gear, brass or the Steel used in the Micro Maxx XP.
If you guys want to know more or see more, go to the Volz Webpage and you will see the amazing features of servos designed specifically for high performance RC Sailplanes.
Volz Website
Okay so maybe the gears are That strong :-)
But its the whole Volz package that makes them a great choice for our use.
If you guys have some older Micro Maxx that have not been to my house for the free tune up, send them quick.... Just include return postage inside the package so I can send back same day... well if I am home :-)
Gordy Stahl
9303 LeBeau Ct
Louisville Ky 40299
502-777-0255 mobile
