Finally! A way to repair your Spektrum DX6i trim-switch.

[Fat Corgi]

So it would appear that a number of people have reported that the trim switches on their Spektrum dx6i tx’s are failing. Well mine did today, 2 minutes into my first battery (perfect conditions too… thanks Murphy). By failing, what usually happens is you can no longer trim your affected channel in a certain direction. For me it was my all important rudder channel, something that I use all the time, as I haven’t upgraded my gyro yet.

Now, I must stress here that I chose to conduct these repairs myself, and if you happen to live a little closer to Horizon Hobby than me, you may prefer to have it replaced, repaired or exchanged by individuals other than yourself. However, if you are like me and on the other end of the planet, then this might be a good solution if you’re confident in your abilities. Not all of your trim switch failures may be the same as mine, but from what I can find in the forums, this is the most common situation.

Okay having said that, let’s get started.

Firstly, remove your tx batteries and make sure you are certain of which trim-switch you are going to be trying to repair. There are 6 screws that hold the tx together accessible from the back. Remove these.

[Fat Corgi]

Gently pull the sections of the tx apart, taking care of the wires that connect the two halves. There are three sets of wires that hold the two sections together that can be removed be gently pulling the plastic plugs that connect at the circuit boards. Before you do this though, make sure you devise a system of remembering which plug goes where, so there is no confusion when you are putting the tx back together.

[Fat Corgi]

No that you can see the entire guts of the tx, you can find the small trim-switch printed circuit board (pcb) that hold the little offender. Triple check that you are looking at the right one, before attempting to remove it. The locations of the 4 trim-switches are indicated in the picture below.

[Fat Corgi]

Undo the 2 screws that hold you trim-switch pcb into the chassis of the tx. The trim-switch assembly simply sits on the other side of the pcb, and will come loose once you lift the small circuit board up.

[Fat Corgi]

By gently plying the opening at the back of the trim-switch assembly you will be able to remove the rocker switch.

Now you should be able to see the broken arm on your rocker switch. If the arm has come completely separate from the rest of the rocker switch then your repairs are going to be considerably trickier, but you can follow the same principles and have success.

If it looks like the repairs will be too fiddly for you, I recommend putting the whole thing back together and sending it off to Horizon Hobby before going any further. If not…

Read on...

[Fat Corgi]

Now at this point, you’ll have to improvise a little. You need to find something small and with square edges that you will shape to make little braces. I found an old 2-wire connector that I was able to cut up and sand into shape.

[Fat Corgi]

Cut it down to a very small size that will not protrude over the edges of the rocker switch arm. Grab some super-glue and apply it to the broken arm and the area where you are going to be placing the little strengthening bracket. Make sure there is enough super-glue to adhere the little bracket to the arm and the body of the rocker switch, whilst taking care not to let excess super-glue spill onto other parts of the rocker switch that may hinder it’s movement inside the trim-switch casing.

You want to make sure the arm protruding from the rocker switch is at as close to a 90-degree angle as possible.

[Fat Corgi]

It’s up to you which side of the arm (top or bottom) you place your little brace. Or maybe you want to do both just to be safe. As long as the braces are small enough, there should be no issue. I put one on my other arm for super-safeness.

[Fat Corgi]

It’s at this point I discovered that Spektrum has made changes to their design of these little rocker switches. The one that failed on mine is not of the new design. The newer design incorporates a small chamfer to reinforce the arms as can be seen below.

[Fat Corgi]

Once your glue has dried and you are confident in the strength of the repaired rocker-switch arm, you can slide the rocker back into the trim-switch casing. Test to make sure that the trim-switch can move through it's full arc in its case, unhindered by your new brackets.

Replace the 2 screws that hold the trim-switch pcb, plug in the 3 sets of wires that join the two halves of the tx, then to finish, fasten the two sections of the tx together with the 6 original screws.