Glowing servo

[Flyinfool]

I have a 401/9254 servo on the tail of my Stinger 50.
The Servo and gyro are about 2 months old.
Tonight I was flying and since it was getting dark I was not pushing anything, just flying lazy circuits with the odd stall turn.
At the end of the flight I climbed to altitude and hit hold for an auto.
As soon as I hit hold there was a tail kick, not bad just 10-15 deg and it came right back.
As I flared for the landing and tried to turn the tail into the wind, there was nothing. I set it down in the direction it was going and hit a dip in the field that caused the tail rotor to chew some grass, The rotor did not make it to the ground.
I killed the engine and as I was walking toward the heli I noticed a puff of smoke come out the top of the canopy.
I immediately shut the power switch off and peeled the canopy off to unplug the battery.
Once I got back to the bench, I plugged the battery back in and all was fine.
I turned the power switch on and immediately there was smoke billowing out of the 9254 servo and a bright red/orange glow from the bottom of the rudder servo. I immediately unplugged the battery again.
Looking at it closer the servo could not be moved by hand.
I popped the link off the servo and the linkage to the tail was totally free.
Tipping the heli nose up or down is enough to make the linkage move.
After 15 minutes o so the servo now moves freely by hand but has a hole burnt through the bottom near where the motor is.
I took the servo out of the heli and on the bench powered it up and it still works, but something inside is so hot that it glows like it was an LED.
I have never seen such a thing.
I think it is the heat from the glowing component the is causing the servo to bind after a short time, what amazes me is the the servo still works with a component glowing bright red hot.

Of course it is going back to HS for replacement.
I lucked out that it did not die in the air on a new heli with just 5 flights on it.

I was just wondering if anyone has ever seen or heard of anything like this before?????

[Kiwi]

When you go back to the LHS I suggest that you go and buy a Lotto ticket mate.

I have never heard of that and to be so lucky to even get it back is a miracle alone.

Let me know if you win it however.

Kiwi

[Flyinfool]

Naa, no sense buying a ticket now, I used up all of my luck for a while.

[ConRadical]

I never heard of anything like that.. electronics and glowing and still functioning??? Maybe back when they used tubes

[Edge 540]

WOW Send this in to Guinness. First person in recorded time who let the magic blue smoke out of an electrical component, and managed to put it back in! Great work!
You said by the motor. Maybe the pot is fried? I dont know how that would glow though. Any case I would quit messing with it and send it in for replacement/warranty repair. It is $100 worth of a servo.

[Flyinfool]

It is definitely going back in for "service".
I just can not fathom the whole concept of the component glowing, and hot enough to have burned its way through the case so that I could see it glowing, and still working well enough to let me land and play with it some.

I just had to share this one.