Since outdoor flying is just about done up here in PA, that means its time for foamies! Going through my foamie equipment I was in need for some new light weight servos. So the search began. When looking for foamie servos there are four things I look for. Torque, speed, weight and price. The higher the torque and the higher the speed the better. You cant have both so finding the perfect blend is hard. And of course the lower the weight and lower the price the better. Searching around I had a lot of different options. Hitec, Dymond, E-Flite, Blue Arrow, Futaba, JR and the list goes on and on. In the end the question seems to be: How much am I going to spend? or (for those really concerned about weight and torque) Which servos do I need to have a light yet powerful plane? This time when looking for my servos I was just looking for a good deal.
One brand that’s not well known yet is Power HD from TBM. When I came across their servos I was a bit confused at first because the torque of their servos was listed in kgcm. That was not help to me because I wouldn’t be able to compare them to other servos. After a few conversions I came up with that the 1550A servo with .9kgcm of torque was equal to 12.5 oz per in (correct me if I’m wrong). The torque was good, the speed of .12sec was good, weight of 5 grams was good and the price of $5.95 was awesome. I got these and really put them to the test at the Keystone Indoor Electric Fest. I flew all night putting over 36 flights on them and they performed great.



A few other servos:
Blue Arrow 4.3g with 11.1ozin of torque, speed of .12sec, weight of 4.3g and a price of $10.95.
The Dymond 47 has 15.2ozin torque, weighing 4.7g, speed of .18sec, and a price of $22.00.
The Hitec-55 with 18 ozin torque, speed of .14sec, weight of 8g, and a price of $13.95.
Futaba S3111 with 8.3ozin, speed of .12sec, weight of 6.6g and a price of $13.99.
JR S185 with 13.1oz of torque, speed of .06 sec, weight of 6g and a price of $17.99.

Any other good deals out there?
What other servos are you guys using?

very intresting, I'll have to steal yours and try em out! did you by chance try them on a 2 cell hooked up directly? most of these servos can handle the voltage and give you faster speeds. I'd be curious to see how they perform in that situation

No i haven't done that. You'll have to show me what you mean cause the receiver can't handle 8.4volts.

You are correct about the RX, I'll show you how.
here is the link: https://www.flyinggiants.com/forums/...oor-foamy.html

Same servo is $3.79 at Hobby City.

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...g/0.9kg/.10sec

great tips!

3DCrazy516,

You are correct on your conversion, an easy converter is here:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/torque.htm

Thanks for your detailed list!

MadDog Joe

Futaba 3114s and 3154's. 23 oz torque, .09 sec speed. Around 7.5 grams. 3114's are analog, 3154's are digital. Hard to beat these!

Dymond D47's are also awesome, but kinda slow and don't always meet the published torque specs. I used them on 2S Lipo voltage on the rudder/elevator of my pattern planes.

Originally Posted by jfstrama

3DCrazy516,

You are correct on your conversion, an easy converter is here:

http://www.onlineconversion.com/torque.htm

Thanks for your detailed list!

MadDog Joe

Thanks that is A LOT easier than doing all that factor label stuff!!!!

I'm a die hard D4.7 fan, I converted from the ever famous HGX 500 3.95 servo from Hobby city... I figured this year that why scrimp on servos when I don't on my big stuff?? It paid off last Friday at the National Guard base for our first indoor of the year!! They are a little slow, but they are super precise and center perfectly...

Just my $0.02

What about s185's.. seem like a good fast option also. I wonder if these could handle the lipo voltage?

I love the Dymonds too I use them in my Vantage. But I cant see paying so much for these mirco servos when there are other servos out there that are close in the specs (some better in different areas such as speed or torque) for half or even less in price. I just happy I was able to find some good quality alternatives to use in some of my other foamies!

Originally Posted by 3DCrazy516

I love the Dymonds too I use them in my Vantage. But I cant see paying so much for these mirco servos when there are other servos out there that are close in the specs (some better in different areas such as speed or torque) for half or even less in price. I just happy I was able to find some good quality alternatives to use in some of my other foamies!

The issue with the cheaper servos is their centering/precision just isn't good enough. It all depends what's important to you, of course...

Originally Posted by 3DCrazy516

I love the Dymonds too I use them in my Vantage. But I cant see paying so much for these mirco servos when there are other servos out there that are close in the specs (some better in different areas such as speed or torque) for half or even less in price. I just happy I was able to find some good quality alternatives to use in some of my other foamies!

Yes, specs may be the same, or close to, but don't forget about centering. In F3P, all you need is a servo that dont center worth a flip. Thats why I use the Dymond D47s on the tail of my airplanes. Torque version for F3P, speed version for freestyle.

For aileron servos, check out the new servo JR is coming out with in December. DS 188. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is a digital version of the DS 185. 6g weight, 13.1 oz/in of torque at 6V, .06 sec/60 degrees at 6V. Should be interesting to see how they perform. I have one on order now to try when they are available.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=JRPS188

Seth

Dang RJ took the words out of my mouth....