Servo's and Their Problems
By Dick Wischer
Most of the servos we use are the ones that come with the radios we buy. There was a time when the, store would exchange the standard servo for one with more power (inch oz. of pull), and water resistant. Today that does not happen. The cheap servos that discount houses carry can cause problems after a years use. I have found that once servos start to go bad, no amount of work on them lasts. Cleaning the centering pot of carbon residue is a stop gap repair at best. They very quickly act up again and need to be cleaned almost after every use. Cheap servos tend to act up after a year of sailing, and then start to hunt. if you turn to starboard and then release the stick so it centers itself, it tends to Rome back so slowly that you over steer to port. This confuses the skipper because now the yacht wants to go to port and not sail in the straight line intended. I just throw the servo away and replace it. My time at the pond is too valuable to waste on a servo. Sail control servos are another thing that cause skippers no end of problems. For a 36X600 one that pulls 140 oz./in. is passable. Drum winches work best on 50X800's. It takes more power to pull in 800 sq. in. of sail than 600 sq. in. The HITEC-HS725BB is a drum winch. With 200 in/oz. and the speed of 360 degrees in 1.3 seconds using a 5 volt battery it's no slouch. At about $50.00 it is not too high priced for the skipper that needs a reliable winch.
Futaba sells a drum winch for about $140. I'm sure it's a good winch, just remember it costs more dollars than the HITEC, and until tested who knows if it's better.
Most of the servos we use are the ones that come with the radios we buy. There was a time when the, store would exchange the standard servo for one with more power (inch oz. of pull), and water resistant. Today that does not happen. The cheap servos that discount houses carry can cause problems after a years use. I have found that once servos start to go bad, no amount of work on them lasts. Cleaning the centering pot of carbon residue is a stop gap repair at best. They very quickly act up again and need to be cleaned almost after every use. Cheap servos tend to act up after a year of sailing, and then start to hunt. if you turn to starboard and then release the stick so it centers itself, it tends to Rome back so slowly that you over steer to port. This confuses the skipper because now the yacht wants to go to port and not sail in the straight line intended. I just throw the servo away and replace it. My time at the pond is too valuable to waste on a servo. Sail control servos are another thing that cause skippers no end of problems. For a 36X600 one that pulls 140 oz./in. is passable. Drum winches work best on 50X800's. It takes more power to pull in 800 sq. in. of sail than 600 sq. in. The HITEC-HS725BB is a drum winch. With 200 in/oz. and the speed of 360 degrees in 1.3 seconds using a 5 volt battery it's no slouch. At about $50.00 it is not too high priced for the skipper that needs a reliable winch.
Futaba sells a drum winch for about $140. I'm sure it's a good winch, just remember it costs more dollars than the HITEC, and until tested who knows if it's better.