Considering S3152's for Kinetic 50...Anyone?

[rnbiker]

I am building-up a Kinetic 50 heli and I was considering the Futaba S3152 digital servos due to specs (torque, speed, etc.) and modest cost. However, while looking through a catalog that had a table of all of Futaba's servos, I noticed that these servos didn't have a check mark under helis, meaning they weren't recommended. I was a little confused, because some others that were checked as recommended, didn't have nearly the torque or speed of the S3152. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind this. I would like to put "good" servos on my heli (preferably decent digitals), but I'm trying to find the best cross between cost and performance. If anyone can explain why these wouldn't work (or maybe you have used them and they work fine) or recommend others, I would greatly appreciate the input. They don't have to be Futaba, but they have to be good. As for my flying and experience, I am a relative newbie who has successfully flown the Belt CP and the Blade 400 and I'm doing lots of fast forward flight and some loops and rolls. I don't think I'll ever be into the "extreme 3D" stuff, so keep this in mind for my servo options. I want them to be fast, responsive, reliable and good. I don't need the best, but I don't want to buy junk or something that is not right for helis. Has anyone successfully used the S3152's for helis, or am I looking in the wrong direction? FYI...the minimum torque recommendation per the Kinetic 50 manual is 42 oz/in, if that helps. Please help Helifreaks!!

[rnbiker]

Anyone?

[rnbiker]

Bump?

[kaan.gok]

I'm using 3152's on my t-rex 600N and Swift, they are pretty decent for their price. I even use it on throttle (Came with my Futaba 7C set).
Expensive servos are generally better, but I think they are adequate if you are not into hard 3d (that famous crack stuff, etc.)

Here's a flying video with 3152's at 6 volt with Align regulator

t-rex600N @ Orhanlı (8 min 36 sec)

[rnbiker]

Kaan.gok, that is EXACTLY what I'm talking about! They look like they work fine, and if I'm not mistaken, isn't you TREX 600 bigger than my 50 sized Kinetic 50? The kind of flying you are doing in the video is all I plan to be doing myself. It seems to respond pretty well to your commands. Have you been flying it long with those servos? Do they seem like they will last a while? I know the more expensive ones may be technically better, but if I'm not into the hard 3D stuff, I don't know that I would even be able to tell a difference. And the 3152's are really cheap compared to the 9252's I was looking at (they are the ones recommended as "best" in the Kinetic 50 build manual. The 3152's were not even mentioned as an option, but I thought they might work okay. Thanks for the input. Do any of you other Helifreaks have anything to add? Thanks.

[ama outlaw]

It's a good basic servo. It will fly the 50 sized helis just fine but start to do that "freaky" 3D and you'll start feeling the need for another servo. scale, cruising around sportflying and airplane style Acro is all going to be fine with this servo. Running them on 6V will be even better though. And I believe you will find your Kinetic 50 is a rebadged Raven 50, the 600N is a very compact 50.

[kaan.gok]

I know another guy who were using 3152's on the t-rex600n. In fact I asked the exact same thing and he answered that he was using them for a long time and did not have any problems. If you have the money, go with the better ones (9452's maybe), but if you are on a budget, they will be fine, I think. Especially if you are not like Szabo
I have around 40 flights with those servos on the 600N, around 100 flights on my Swift (530 mm blades electric), and they are fine so far.
I think Kinetic 50 and t-rex 600N are very similar sized helicopters.

One thing to add, you may think about 3050's for an option between 3152's and the expensive ones.

[rnbiker]

Okay, I finally decided on some servos.... After what was talked about on the forum and literally a couple of hours looking at specs, I finally bought a set of

Spektrum/JR DS821 Digital High-Torque Servos

Have any of you guys used these before or known anyone who has? I found them on eBay for $96 and change for a new set of 4 with an extention and all fittings included. I thought this was a pretty good deal. The specs are awesome (tons of torque and fast). I'm going to use 3 on the controls and one on the throttle. Now I just need to find a good gyro and tail servo combination that will work (same idea, decent, but not too expensive), or, I'm just going to go nuts and get the Curtis Youngblood Solid G and ATG governor setup. I'm definitely more worried about tail response than my cyclic and collective controls. I want the tail to be very steady both hovering and forward flight. I was considering a GY401, but the Youngblood stuff isn't really much more than that and everyone I know says they ROCK!! I can always upgrade my cyclic and collective setup if my flying gets more extreme in the future. I can't wait to get this thing in the air. I've got a brand new OS 50 Hyper that is just begging to be fired up!!

[kaan.gok]

Don't use them, you will crash. They are not recommended to be used on a nitro bird, even Spektrum does not recommend. Do a search to find failure stories.

[jay hall]

Do not use the 821's. Iwas hovering my Kinetic 50 yesterday morning, it just dove dead right past 30 degrees and planted itself into the ground.There are a lot of post here telling us not to use the 821's in helicopters, but i was not smart enough to listen. Thought with my easy flying style they would be fine, WRONG. after 4 hours of rebuilding my heli i am going with HS-5985mg's for this week until my DS8717's get here. Jay.

[Fboss38]

Per manufacturer, those servos are NOT suitable for anything above a 30 size. Many threads about this illsuited servo. Your first choice was much better.

[rnbiker]

Man, that was stupid!! I saw in a catalog that they had a checkmark as suitable for helicopters, but it didn't specify size! Well, I guess that was a waste of money! I suppose I will just have to use them on my new airplane instead. Okay, so what servos are best that I can get 3 of them for under say $100? I know that there are great ones out there, but it's hard to part with nearly $250 to get a good set. Most of them are anywhere from $80 to $140 each!! That seems a little pricey for servos. What brands/models would you guys recommend? Thanks Helifreaks!! You have saved me from a very seemingly probable crash with a brand new rig.....that's why I love this place so much. It is because of you guys that I was able to learn to build and fly in the first place. I would still be flying my little "mall flyer" coaxial if it hadn't been for the guys on Helifreak. I am closely watching for new posts with recommendations. Thanks again.

[kaan.gok]

3152's as you first tought are fine, you can get 3 for 100$.