Dead Servo Help!

[kent83]

I'm a newbie and am posting for the first time. I got pretty good with a esky lama 4 and wrongly thought I was ready to move up to a cp, so I bought an esky belt cp. I worked with a sim a bit and thought I was ready for my first hover, and as soon as it left the ground it moved backward and to my left and crashed. That was two long months ago.... after replacing blades and the boom I thought I was ready to fly again, but now the tail servo does not move. I ordered a new servo. Still didn't work. The servo was connected to the gyro, so I figured the gyro was next, so I replaced that. The servo still doesn't move. So now what do I do? The next link is the receiver, but I've wasted money twice now on a new servo and a new gyro I didn't need. How do I tell what needs replacing? Right now I'm grounded and pretty frustrated, although more time on the sim is never bad. All I want is another chance to crash, but I have to get this servo working again. Any advice?!

Thanks in advance for any and all help and suggestions.

[DA54]

Not to ask the obvious, but is it plugged in correctly? The plug into the receiver is not reversed? I did that once and thought I had toasted the servo. Was plugging in another servo to test in that position and noted wires did not match the rest of the servos. Turned plug around and it worked like new. Felt like a dummy, but hey.......................

[kent83]

Good question -- when it stopped working it was still connected as from the factory with the wires tied together with the other servo wires. Before I ordered a new servo, I pulled and pushed just to make sure the plug was in snug. I made sure to plug in the new servo the exact same way. I'm pretty sure that it's all connected correctly. Same for the new gyro -- I unplugged each connection one at a time and made sure to reconnect the exact same way. Still no movement from the servo.

Thanks for the reply.

[DierWolf]

which gyro do you have the stock one or Head Hold.

Either way is the Gyro initializing? meaning

Stock Gyro : Fast red flashing for a few seconds then Solid Red LED after
HH : Solid Red then Solid Blue LED

If so then the Gyro is functioning and connected to the reciever properly, the only
other thing then could be the servo itself is plugged in backwards on the gyro. if there is a servo extension wire on it make sure that too is plugged in correctly with colors matching.

[kent83]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have all stock parts -- so it's the stock gyro. The gyro initializes, so that means it is communicating with the receiver and the receiver is working fine? The other two servos are working, which means if there's a problem with the receiver, it's only with the tail servo/gryo. I'm at a loss because I've now tried two gyros -- they both initialize -- and have tried two servos -- they both do not move at all when I move the stick. I'm pretty sure the servos only plug into the gyro in one direction but I'll check to make sure. My tx works fine on the sim, so I'm assuming if it's sending out the signals to the sim, it would be sending out the signals to the receiver. I'm really puzzled by this.

[DA54]

Have you plugged one of the working servos into the non working position? Does it still work? Have you plugged the non working servo into one of the working servo positions. That should tell you if the pin position is dead or not.

[kent83]

Thanks everyone for your help. I tried plugging the servo/gyro into other slots and the servo started working. I switched back to the original slot and they both started working properly again. Still not quite sure why it suddenly stopped working in the first place, but it's back working now. Had my first few hovers ever with the belt cp, then of course crashed and bent the tail boom again and cracked a blade. But at least this time I got it hovering twice and actually felt like I was in control, at least for a few moments.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! This is definitely a challenging hobby, but having Helifreak and all your experience as a resource is incredibly helpful and encouraging -- thanks again for the advice.

[DierWolf]

You'll soon learn wood blades = constant buying LOL.

[kent83]

I have an irrational fear of putting carbon blades on until I develop better control -- probably doesn't make sense. I have just accepted that, at least for now, rc helicopter flying = constant buying (and constant waiting for the parts to come)! Thanks again for the help.

[mnwizard]

:) I'm just smiling 'cause we've all been there. In the beginning it seems like you'll never get the hang of it and all you're doing is buying parts.

It does get better! Each time you fly you'll hover a little longer, and suddenly you'll find yourself moving the heli to where you want it to go, rather than just reacting to it.

If you don't have a sim yet, I really recommend that you get one. Even the free Esky one (which is really the FMS sim - http://n.ethz.ch/~mmoeller/fms/index_e.html) will help you learn to hover in all orientations.

There's also ClearView which costs $35, but has a good Belt model which I find flies just like my stock Belt. http://rcflightsim.com/

Don't give up! It will get better and we'll help you all we can along the way. :thumbup: