Kraton I lost my steering, and have questions.

[dpricenator]

So We were out running the Kraton up and down a big damp grass field yesterday and at one point I hit the post on a soccer goal. I thought for sure I had broken something in the right front wheel or ARM assembly, but nope, all looked good. However when I tried to steer it after that the front wheels would not turn. I can grab both wheels and turn them both left and right. But when I use the controller, I get nothing.

I am newer to RC, but handy enough to easily fix the mechanical breaks and issues. However, the electrical stuff is all new to me. So if I did not break any of the non-electrical parts what do you think broke? I'm guessing it's the steering servo, and will go in to remove it this evening. I am concerned about the wiring, as I am not as good with the electrical stuff, as I wish I was.

Are these all just plugs, or am I in charge of soldering wires and all that.

And to be clear on the problem, when I turn the control knob, the servo doesn't twitch or try at all. no sound or movement at all.

Any suggestions or ideas about how to approach this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Timritchieblue]

Open the receiver box, check the plug in port#1, make sure it's plugged in. I would plug in another servo to make sure it worked. You probably stripped the gears, servo horn, burn servo motor.

 

[lonee]

hopefully the steering is in the middle position an the trim on 0......
Is it not better to check the servo itself with a servo tester to prevent harm?

 

[dpricenator]

The steering was dead nails straight before the bump, and still seems straight since I can still hit the throttle, I was able to test that. I am now thinking it may just be the plug. Really hope so.

 

[Petey694]

Sounds like you stripped gears out of servo. I've gone threw 3 stock servos before upgrading to Savox and gka servo brace

 

[dpricenator]

I thought so too, but I would expect the servo to twitch a little or to make some effort when asked to. even if just a fraction of an inch. But I get nothing, no sound, an

 

[Zer0Fame]

If there is no sound then it either unplugged itself or you burned the servo ... or you broke some cable.

Check receiver box first ... if it's plugged in correctly deinstall servo and check if the cable is okay.
If everything is alright, plug it in again and listen closely if you can hear anything ...if not you either completely burned the servo or you broke the gears inside of it ... or port 1 on receiver is broken.
If you have another servo somewhere you can plug that in and check if the receiver still works.

If receiver works but servo doesn't, it is probably time for a new servo. If it's just the cable of the servo (maybe it got clamped during the crash) you can solder it or have it soldered.

 

[Va-jeeper]

So We were out running the Kraton up and down a big damp grass field yesterday and at one point I hit the post on a soccer goal. I thought for sure I had broken something in the right front wheel or ARM assembly, but nope, all looked good. However when I tried to steer it after that the front wheels would not turn. I can grab both wheels and turn them both left and right. But when I use the controller, I get nothing.

I am newer to RC, but handy enough to easily fix the mechanical breaks and issues. However, the electrical stuff is all new to me. So if I did not break any of the non-electrical parts what do you think broke? I'm guessing it's the steering servo, and will go in to remove it this evening. I am concerned about the wiring, as I am not as good with the electrical stuff, as I wish I was.

Are these all just plugs, or am I in charge of soldering wires and all that.

And to be clear on the problem, when I turn the control knob, the servo doesn't twitch or try at all. no sound or movement at all.

Any suggestions or ideas about how to approach this would be greatly appreciated.

So, a couple of questions. When you turn the wheels left and right does the servo still makes a noise like it is still engaged and working or is it dead silent? If it's dead silent then you've stripped the gears or killed the servo motor. Second, not to be a smart a$$ but did you check the controller to make sure the St D/R wasn't accidentally set to zero? It's kind of weird that it isn't making any noise. If it isn't set to zero than it sounds like it's unpluged. Hope that helps.

 

[dpricenator]

When I manually turn the wheels it feels like the servo is still engaged or still has it's gears. The wheels do not just turn easily. No different in that aspect than it started.


Thank you guys very much. As soon as the kids stop jumping on me, I'll take a look and hopefully just plug it back in.

 

[dpricenator]

So it was not just the plug. I have the servo out, and I have the receiver out. I am not above replacing both right now, and am going to pull the trigger on the GKA Servo Mount as well. So I have some questions about my shopping list.

So which servo do I get? I here the Savox is good, but I want water proof for sure.

I can't get the horn off the stock servo, can I just buy another one?

And which receiver do I get. I would like no antenna, if possible.

And If I am going to shim up the differentials, which shims and how many do I need?

 

[Bigjoe]

Do you have another rc car to plug the servo into just for the hey of it. Really strange there's no noise or anything.

As far as the diffs, I used this kit, http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJAM6

There were already shims behind the four spiders so I first added one large shim behind one of the side gears. Everything spun smooth so I then added a large shim behind the other side gear.

Now when spun there was some interference, not good for my taste so I removed that shim and then swapped all four of the original spider shims with a mugen shim. The mugen shims were I believe .05 ish thicker (trying to go off of memory here) which brought the spiders a little deeper into the mesh, further tightening the diff assembly up.

Just make sure if you play with the shims on the spiders to make sure all four are the exact same thickness otherwise there will be some uneven forces being applied to those poor little spiders.

With it all back together the diff still spun smooth and with the gears deeper into their mesh, it will be more durable. Fingers crossed as I've yet to run my Kraton, haha.

 

[dpricenator]

I'll try the other RC Car tonight. The wife was buggin me last night so I had to stop. I did notice that the receiver was loose inside the box when I opened it. I doubt that can be a good thing.

Oh well I guess I am going to be out of commission for a minute. I just ordered a new servo, full dogbone and drive shaft set, a screw set, a pin set, differential shims, front and rear chassis brace, O-rings and diff gaskets. PLUS I have to install the Fast Eddie Bearings, I won in the contest. Maybe I can get some of the bearings done while I wait on shipping.

 

[Rob]

To stock servos are rubbish I got a 32kg top gear servo and it has been great can turn the big proline blockade's no problem

 

[stewdog]

got it -thx so much-Had Throttle servo in 3 instead of 1-ugh
thx again