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-   -   Digital Servos from China (https://www.rctech.net/forum/radio-electronics/1003830-digital-servos-china.html)

Horatio 02-18-2025 12:40 AM


Originally Posted by billdelong (Post 16166605)
I can guarantee that AGFrc branded servos used lower quality components which I outlined in the thread, these are hard facts.

When I bought my A80 series servos they were originally marketed at 1/8 suitable servos, it wasn't until after I filed a warranty claim when AGFrc changed the specs proving they can't be trusted and will do anything to cheat their customers. I took a screen shot from the web archive to prove this:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c07cc95f_b.jpg


*** VERY IMPORTANT***

What I proved is that AGFrc specs are over stated and can't be trusted, they are liars and not worth doing business with.

BUYER BEWARE with AGFrc


Well that sucks. It never made sense to me why a 40kg servo shouldn't be fine for 1/8th use anyway. But thanks for sharing the screenshot.

Moving the goal posts isn't a great look for a manufacturer when dodging a warranty claim.

There are numerous servo testing videos out there. It seems that AGF servos generally punch above their weight in terms of speed and torque per £. Nothing indicates that their specs are fictional from what I've seen. If anything, their servos produce better figures than specced.

AGF obviously let you down, failed on your warranty claim and so you have voted with your feet. Copy that.

If one of my AGF servos failed, I'd simply order another - no questions asked, because I feel that they don't owe me anything.

I've had them in some of my 1/8th rigs since 2021. Comparing them to Proteks, I have to say they have been excellent. No complaints.

The last time I had a servo fail was with an expensive HiTec servo which burnt out as a result of Rx being switched on with Tx switched off. 20 years ago!

Servo failure should be pretty rare generally, so the reality is that there should be very little probability of ever needing to use a warranty.

If the thing I bought was imported direct from China - it's pretty safe to assume that warranty claims are going to be time consuming and basically a non-starter.
​​​​​​


billdelong 02-18-2025 07:50 AM


Originally Posted by staiguy (Post 16166644)
@billdelong what exactly is nitropro warranty? They just say lifetime manufactur warranty. Do that mean no questions asked if something breaks? Most companies say warranty doesnt cover abuse or normal wear and tear. I would consider a steering servo automatically disqualified from any warranty use.



I believe lifetime is only on the gears, then it was reduced from 5 years to 1 year warranty on everything else.



My first NitroPro servo was a CT1 which I compared the internals with the A80 where the aluminum case was identical but everything inside was different between the chips, pots, glue/screws and how things were fastened to improve overall quality with NitroPro being far superior in every aspect.



My CT1 failed with a snapped pin that secured the main gear. That's when NitroPro said they were working on improving this design flaw using a softer metal that can flex instead of shear. I made a custom pin recycling a body clip and that custom pin never failed again, however that pin eventually wore out the aluminum slots in the servo case causing slop. At that point Nitro Pro sent me a prototype CT2 servo for free to test which had reinforced steel around the pin mount and the CT2 servo worked for 3 years of weekly racing in a 1/8 truggy until the internal electronics eventually failed. Since they already honored my warranty claim I didn't feel it was approriate to make another claim as I got close to 4 years of total usage between the original CT1 that I bought and replacement CT2.



I never bought another NitroPro servo and have migrated to the ECO Power 250T (OEM is JX) being my current favorite servo for the price, more info here:


https://bdrca.blogspot.com/2024/08/w...o-is-best.html



I have no affiliation with any servo brand, and there is no such thing as a servo that will last a lifetime, but I do expect a servo to last at least 2 years for 1/8 racing as my personal expectation. I couldn't even get 2-3 months out of the AGFrc branded servos :(



I have nothing but good things to say about NitroPro, perhaps I might apply to become a sponsored driver with them in the future and then their pricing will likely be lower than what I'm getting from ECO Power as I feel performance is a wash between both brands based on my experience with both brands.


*** PURE SPECULATION FOLLOWS ***

I am just making a guess, but it's possible that the A81 series may be comparable to the CT1 from NitroPro, so I can only wonder what (if any) upgrades AGFrc has made to any of their servos to get up to CT2 or CT3 specs.... I suspect that NitroPro has exclusive rights to the CT3 design and may not be available from AGFrc so if you want the best quality servo with peace of mind, then get the CT3.


In contrast, JX also makes a great servo, and that's why I've grown fond of the ECO Power 250T but I have no idea which JX servo is spec'd to mirror the 250T. I'm starting to think that's where ECO Power and NitroPro may have custom spec requests that aren't part of the OEM lineup.... again this is just speculation as I don't have any insider information.

Horatio 02-18-2025 09:29 AM

My only doubt regarding the CT3 being an upgraded A81 is that the A81 has the better spec. And it's about $50 cheaper.

Both the Nitro Pro and AGF have a 1 year warranty.

Obviously - the warranty is only good when it is honoured.

billdelong Where did you purchase your Nitro Pro servos from?

Horatio 02-18-2025 12:12 PM


Originally Posted by staiguy (Post 16166644)
@billdelong what exactly is nitropro warranty? They just say lifetime manufactur warranty. Do that mean no questions asked if something breaks? Most companies say warranty doesnt cover abuse or normal wear and tear. I would consider a steering servo automatically disqualified from any warranty use.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...940a02a384.png

So what we need to know is:

For the extra $50 - one has to ask what precisely has been upgraded on a Nitro Pro CT3 over an AGF A81BHMW?

$157 price tag puts the CT3 servo directly up against the:
$159 Protek 170SBL
$159 KO Propo RSx4S

Those are some big boots to fill.

rustyus 02-18-2025 12:17 PM

Every time someone brings up AGFrc servos... poof. I love the AGFrc servo story. It literally prompted me to go out and buy a couple of AGFrc servos. Granted, I may not have bought them (A73BHLW V2) if they were not on sale ($52 each), but I had to see for myself. So far so good. 🤞🤞

Horatio 02-18-2025 01:16 PM


Originally Posted by rustyus (Post 16166772)
Every time someone brings up AGFrc servos... poof. I love the AGFrc servo story. It literally prompted me to go out and buy a couple of AGFrc servos. Granted, I may not have bought them (A73BHLW V2) if they were not on sale ($52 each), but I had to see for myself. So far so good. 🤞🤞

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...dac53dd180.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...155ad66022.jpg
I'm loving the AGF 81BHMW. I've run them on the highly modified Kronos XTR, for speed runs running heavy belted tyres.

I also running one on the Sworkz T2E where it performs admirably:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...9a7ccbeea7.jpg
No failures.

Compared to the 170SBL's and TBL's, it's hard to see where the compromise is. Response and centering are excellent but they're waterproof!

Given the option of spending $100 or $150 on a servo - I know what I'd rather. There has to be a solid spec reason for parting with the extra coin.

I haven't felt the need to use a warranty in the past 20 years, so in all honesty, it's not likely something I'd be concerned about on an imported item. I would just like the servo to perform well - bang for buck.

petersen114 02-18-2025 01:32 PM


Originally Posted by Horatio (Post 16166769)
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...940a02a384.png

So what we need to know is:

For the extra $50 - one has to ask what precisely has been upgraded on a Nitro Pro CT3 over an AGF A81BHMW?

$157 price tag puts the CT3 servo directly up against the:
$159 Protek 170SBL
$159 KO Propo RSx4S

Those are some big boots to fill.

These are what I’ve been using for the past 7 years and have had zero issues with them in Truggy.. I bought 4 extras as backups and they are still sealed in their cases. Definitely a lot cheaper. Says there out of stock so I don’t know if they are still offering them. Best servo for the price IMHO.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...ed0061159a.png

Horatio 02-18-2025 04:31 PM


Originally Posted by petersen114 (Post 16166783)
These are what I’ve been using for the past 7 years and have had zero issues with them in Truggy.. I bought 4 extras as backups and they are still sealed in their cases. Definitely a lot cheaper. Says there out of stock so I don’t know if they are still offering them. Best servo for the price IMHO.

So the FK500 is a good servo in your estimation.

They're unavailable, but when they were - they were $109 dollars and very similar in speed to the A81BHMW. They have significantly less torque though - (500oz Vs 625oz) but cost the same.

So I'm still failing to see the advantage, but agree they are a decent spec.

​​​

Horatio 02-18-2025 04:40 PM


Originally Posted by rustyus (Post 16166772)
Every time someone brings up AGFrc servos... poof. I love the AGFrc servo story. It literally prompted me to go out and buy a couple of AGFrc servos. Granted, I may not have bought them (A73BHLW V2) if they were not on sale ($52 each), but I had to see for myself. So far so good. 🤞🤞

Copy that!

The mystery thing here is that Bill reminds buyers that AGF don't fulfill their warranty - so recommends Nitro Pro that cost more and essentially are AGF servos made to spec for Nitro Pro.

They'll always cost more, because even if they were identical, there's no way Nitro Pro can sell them less than the actual manufacturer can.

​​​​​

billdelong 02-18-2025 07:20 PM


Originally Posted by Horatio (Post 16166719)

billdelong Where did you purchase your Nitro Pro servos from?


I only bought 1 NitroPro servo (CT1) that was rebranded under the JTP logo which stands for Jared Tebo Products, at the time when I bought the servo Jared Tebo was ranked the #1 fastest driver in the world and I bought that servo directly from Jared Tebo himself when he showed up for a local race event in my area, he currently sells the CT3 servo for $160 here:

https://shopjtp.com/products/jtp-ct3-1-8-servo


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...021a2938_b.jpg


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...e4471d9279.jpg

Horatio 02-19-2025 05:27 AM


Originally Posted by billdelong (Post 16166871)
I only bought 1 NitroPro servo (CT1) that was rebranded under the JTP logo which stands for Jared Tebo Products, at the time when I bought the servo Jared Tebo was ranked the #1 fastest driver in the world and I bought that servo directly from Jared Tebo himself when he showed up for a local race event in my area, he currently sells the CT3 servo for $160 here:

https://shopjtp.com/products/jtp-ct3-1-8-servo


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...021a2938_b.jpg


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rct...e4471d9279.jpg

Well it's unlikely Jared would muck you about if your servo failed prematurely :lol:

Definitely better than dealing with faceless, stroppy commies!

I guess it's different if you're routinely at meetings where you can get supplies from reputable companies or fellow racers that you meet F2F routinely that can help if something fails.


petersen114 02-19-2025 11:48 AM


Originally Posted by Horatio (Post 16166830)
So the FK500 is a good servo in your estimation.

They're unavailable, but when they were - they were $109 dollars and very similar in speed to the A81BHMW. They have significantly less torque though - (500oz Vs 625oz) but cost the same.

So I'm still failing to see the advantage, but agree they are a decent spec.

​​​

500 is way more than enough for 1/8 and imo anything higher isn’t needed.

Horatio 02-19-2025 12:49 PM


Originally Posted by petersen114 (Post 16167045)
500 is way more than enough for 1/8 and imo anything higher isn’t needed.

Totally agree. Crazy torque specs these days are way more than we need.

However, I think it's safe to say we can now draw a line under the unsubstantiated 'higher spec' claims.

BGMilton 06-10-2026 01:25 AM

hola buenas, queria preguntar que servos chinos le han funcionado bien ?,pensaba comprar afrc para correr 1/8 GT8 , otros que vi son OCS servos no se si alguien los haya probado ?


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