Protos 500 servos

[jmtyndall]

Are the DS-9660A+ with DS-8910A+ still considered the go-to servos for the Protos 500? I've heard some talk of needing a full-size tail servo, is this still a common recommendation?

[MSH-Direct]

I run the MKS 9660A+ with the 760 tail servo, works great.
Reports have been mixed on the 8910.

[flint723]

If you are staying 6v then yes those cyclics are still very good. I wouldn't put the 8910a+ on the tail though, it's no better than a ds95i.

I think the general consensus was a 5kg tail servo makes the tail much better vs a 2-3kg, assuming both are around .03-.04s speed.

There are some minis around now that have 5kg torque but they are all hv.

I've ran a ds760 on 6v on a few diff helis now including the Protos 500, it's always been flawless.

[jmtyndall]

I'm probably sticking with the YGE internal BEC.

I'll scrap the 8910 from consideration

[cycled]

I'm using the DS-9660A+ and DS-8910A+, don't have any problem with them.

I did have a crash from (I think) brown-out with the YGE60's BEC. I'm now using the YGE90 which is great. It's possible just adding capacitors would be enough (I don't have an oscilloscope to check).

[ben_beyer]

I purchased KST servos to go in mine but I have not finished building it yet.

I am using DS589MG's on the cyclic and a BLS805X on the tail. I got them using a Chinese New Year sale and paid a pretty nice price from Buddy RC for them.

[piranhafreak]

I just picked up 4 align ds525mg gonna run then all around and try them out

[bgymr]

I think in this bird, rather than just looking at the dynamic specs, pay attention to the weight of the servos as well. I think the 525s will run great. There is a guy that ran align 620s all the way aorund on his x5. It works great. Protos (430) and X5 share that in common I think, they are at the bottom of servo requirements in their respective servo sizes IMO. Most micro servos would probably do well in the protos because it's light, and most mini servos would probably do well in the x5 for the same reason. But each is designed for a size up.

[jmtyndall]

The one I bought used has hyperion servos. Quite slow, very strong. I have a feeling I'll replace these with something around the 0.10s/60 range

http://www.servodatabase.com/servo/hyperion/ds16-fmd

Tail is a DS655, full size. This can stay for now, we'll see how it performs

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[Number]

What about some KST 515s? Plenty of torque and lots of speed. $40 from Alofthobbies. I love me some KST servos..

[jmtyndall]

My experience with KST is that they make an okay servo, that doesn't center great and tends to develop slop, and they also tend to be very power hungry, and heavy. For the price, they're quite good. I've been moving away from them and towards pricier, better servos

Also, as with most servos, the specs when tested are not quite as advertised

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[Number]

They're certainly faster than those 0.18 servos you have now

[Number]

And you're right, my KST 215 did develop a fair bit of slop, but it never had any effect on flight feel and performance. I imagine the larger size of the 515 would help also. My DS725's which have a couple hundred flights still feel brand new and have ZERO slop whatsoever - legit, my BK 7005 that's only got like 25 flights on it has more slop.

[DoubleCH]

KST develops same slops as the corresponding-spec MKS. My experience with KST (and corresponding-spec HobbyKing TGY) are they center very good, aggressive and precise near-center performance, so good they are fast, precise, and aggressive enough for tail servo use. They are heavy and power hungry because they pretty much stuff bigger guts inside a 1-step smaller case. For example the KST 215 micro-size servos are really mini servo guts inside a micro-size housing. I'm running TGY-S306G-HV (same-spec KST 215) micro size servos for cyclic and they're faster and more precise than the Align (510M I think which developed as much slops in fewer flights) mini servos that I swapped out for. The TGYs are more power-hungry but they are at least as powerful, and don't burn out like one of my Aligns did (motor melted plastic housing).

[Number]

How'd you mount 306G's in the 500?

[bgymr]

Hey bud, I'm not sure what he did, but I made adapters using an old carbon fiber frame from a crashed bird, I just cut it with a dremmel and drill it. Since the 306s had one hole I put them on the "adapters" with a m2 screw and nut. Then mount them like regular servos. I didn't do it on the protos but on a logo 400.

Anyway, if you're not into that type of thing, here are adapters cheap:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JR-Servo-Ada...wAAOSwDk5UGugC

or

http://www.ebay.com/itm/450-Pro-Carb...4AAOSwxH1T~aav

or there are files that you can print them if you have access to a 3d printer.

For the second one I offered the guy $5 and he didn't take it. FYI

[Number]

Cool, thanks.

[Number]

My only worry about using micro servos on a 500 is that crashing will almost definitely strip the gears or in my experience with the KST 215 (same thing) is the spline will snap off. They make breakaway arms but those seem awfully small for a 500 and probably don't have the right spacing either. So do you guys who use them on big helis just deal with the splines breaking?

[bgymr]

I agree with you on both fronts. It's a lot more torque and the spline will probably break off. I would not use the breakaway arms. But the gears are cheap for teh kst215.

I had these JR in my protos and logo as well They weigh a few more grams than the kst, but last forever. I'm not affiliated with the seller and can't vouch for him, but the servos are really good.

https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=740410

[DoubleCH]

I drilled a set of holes on CF frame to mount the bottom bearing block higher and slotted the frame a bit more for servo arm clearance (servo output hub sits higher because of the shorter servo). Those are the only mods needed, oh and external BEC because stock YGE60 or YEP100A BEC can't handle 3x S306G plug full-size Savox 1290MG tail.

I've crashed the S306G-HVs a good few times over the last 2000 flights or so due to system failures and a couple dumb-thumbs. I've only snapped an S306G output shaft once. I have had a couple times a servo arm breaks and some other times the blade grip arm breaks or the head linkage pops out, etc. Besides, the gear set for the S306Gs are just $7. I have a few sets handy for the occasions which luckily doesn't happen often [knock on wood].

I have to stress that again I've been flying the S306Gs mostly with narrow-chord near-centerline-CG 470mm blades. Most FBL blades have more forward CG making them require more servo force to drive. I've flown the S306Gs with 430mm Revolution blades which have more forward CG and the S306Gs cope no problem but I've only got like 40 flights with the Revo/S306 setup, not the thousands of flights with the 470/S306 setup. I don't recommend micro-size servos on the Protos 500 for every one.