Accord

I just installed my new Venom Fail Safe onto my car and connected it to the throttle/brake servo which is a digital HiTech HS5925MG servo. The servo worked perfectly before I installed the fail safe. Well anyways, I hooked the failsafe up exactly how it says in the directions tested it out and it worked perfectly. Then I turned on the electronics and my radio and when I gave it throttle the servo didn't move at all, and when I gave it brake it only barely moved a few millimeters. I thought something was wrong with the fail safe so I took off the failsafe and plugged the servo directly back into the receiver like it was normally, turned everything on, and low and behold the servo didn't move at all except for a few millimeters when I give it brake and it was beeping extremely loud . Everything was fine until I installed the fail safe, now my 95 dollar servo is an expensive paper weight because of the Venom Fail Safe .

What can I do? Does the Venom fail safe not work with digital servos or something and is only supposed to be used with analog servos?

Please help me! I don't think HiTech will be able to do any waranty stuff for the servo because the damage was directly caused by the Venom fail safe and it's not a manufacturers defect or anything.

Accord

I just looked on Venoms website and I found this product alert...

http://www.venom-racing.com/product/vfs/vfsalert.htm

Well it just so happens that I had a Futaba J connector on my HiTec digital servo, so apparently this was the cause of the problem. It says that Venom will repair my fail safe, but it says nothing about servos that have been damaged due to the problems with their failsafes. I really hope they'll do something about my 95 dollar paperweight... oops I mean 5925 digital servo that was destroyed by their product .

GT-4

man that sucks.

dg2b

Did Venom sent you the supplementary instructions? If not, maybe they can help with the servo repair.

bbntc3

Save yourself time and trouble.. Get rid of Hitec servos, they are all defected. I've tried them all. If you like them better buy and extra set of them so you can have 2 in the car and 2 shipped back to the factory for repairs.
It maybe the venom but I doubt it. One minute the hitecs will work the next they won't.
Ever thought about a programmer for the servos? digi's have a built in failsafe, you just have to program them.
I personally don't like failsafes due to the weight and problems they sometimes have.
Another route maybe be PCM. I use the Futaba 3PK radio, it can be used with PCM and with the newer receivers made for digi's.

FAST1

The best "fail-save" is a rubber band around the carb!!!


A PCM radio is the next best thing!

Data

thank you for the non-BS info and good advise

fastharry™

iTrader: (4)

sometimes the fuel can eat through the rubber bands.....I've been using rubber orings..available at Sears hardware,home depot..etc..they are in the plumbing section..

Data

i wonder if the rubber band or o-ring would put too much strain on the servo and shorten its life ?

dg2b

I use a TRS and failsafe from KO. To me, the servo would be cheaper to replace than parts from crash due to runaway.

Accord

Okay guys, just an update. I tested the fail safe out again with a crappy futaba 3003 servo, however this time I trimmed off the side tab on the plug and everything operated perfectly. So from this I have determined that the failsafe is fine and the only damage that was done was on the 5925 servo because I was using the Futaba J plug and never trimmed off the side tab on the plug like it said in the product update or whatever on their website. I'll be sending the servo out on Monday to HiTec and hopefully they will fix it.

Accord

Nope, they didn't. I ordered the failsafe a few months ago and never got around to installing it until today, which is why I never received the supplementary instructions and never knew about the problem. I'm just hoping HiTec will be able to repair the servo under warranty.

Accord

There is an ugly stereotype that HiTec servos are junk, that couldn't be any farther from the truth. I use HiTec servos in all of my cars, boats, and planes (I own more than 50 hitec servos in total) and they have all worked beautifully and I have never had a problem up until now, and even then the problem was caused by a 3rd party product and was not due to a defective servo.

My 5925 servo was destroyed by the Venom fail safe, this is undoubtedly the cause and Venom has even released a product warning stating their fail safes will destroy servos if you use a futaba J plug and don't trim the tab, unfortunately I never knew about this product warning until it was too late.

fastharry™

iTrader: (4)

Data.. your right..sometimes it can...I use real thin orings.........and If i get any squak from the digi's,I change size...

I never let them beep...

as far as HITEC's being junk....I agree with accord..I own over 30 hitec digitals..on steering and gas,in everything from my Veteq to Kanai to touring..have not had one go bad yet...

the only ones I hade trouble with were early edition 525's.(non digitals)...

futureal

I have had great luck using Hitec servos with Futaba radio gear, and horrible luck using Hitec servos with Airtronics radio gear. I'll take the same servo (all non-digital ones that I've tried) and it will work great with a Futaba radio/receiver and bad with an Airtronics/Sanwa. Jittery and re-centering problems.

I would recommend Hitec servos to anybody seeking to save a few dollars, though. There is nothing wrong with them by themselves.

And as mentioned above, the problem was with the failsafe, not with the servo.