Senton Senton 4x4 Mega : Journey from stock breakages to brushless and beyond.

[Jerry-rigged]

Here is a servo from Hobbyking -
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/trackst...course-steering-servo-11-1kg-0-09sec-57g.html
I have two of these, one in my son's re-re-RC-10WC, the other in my Hobao hyper SC10e SCT. Seems fast and strong. I have not run my Hobao, though. Just have the servo mounted... LOL

 

[ptr1ck]

I take it you are working without an additional Glitch Buster ?

I didn't even know that was a thing. I am running a Team Associated XP-R4 DVC receiver though, if that makes any difference.

 

[Curvin]

@Jerry-rigged ,

Awesome, looks exactly what I am after, and HobbyKing has an Australian arm ( well based in Hong Kong ) that I will be picking one up from. A lot lower operational latency of the Power HD , and will run with out the glitch buster, perfecto.

@ptr1ck ,

Glitch busters are basically little capacitors that maintain a small charge that keeps the current to the receiver when using larger capacity servos , I thought it was overkill , but it was recommended when I bought the Power HD. I'd rather use that channel for something else if possible like the engine fan I currently have running off the B port, which is not ideal.

 

[Curvin]

Just ordered one of the Trackstar Servos from HobbyKing, and discovered they actually have a local warehouse.

Wow, that one slipped under the radar.

I'll swap the PowerHD/Glitch Buster out of the truck, and pop it up for sale, I am sure it will be fine for a Rock Crawler, MT, etc.

 

[Curvin]

Hobby King already shipped via local courier who I use for my business, so I'll see it Monday I suspect.

With them having stock locally, this is going to shake up a few LHS's in Australia.

 

[Curvin]

Just browsing the Hobby King site for basic screws, nuts, etc, and have been blown away at the differences in pricing compared to LHS's.

Example, standard M3/M4 screws at various lengths , could be anywhere from $5-$10+ for a pack of 4-10 screws depending on size , same screws $1.00-$2.00. Not a huge expense, but stock up on various lengths, countersunk, bullet head, nuts, etc, and it quickly adds up.

I Digress.

 

[bicketybam]

My local hardware store sells them dirt cheap.

 

[Curvin]

Cool, you guys in the US seem to have iot a lot easier.

Our local hardware chains don't stock anything resembling what we require for RC's unfortunately, except maybe some M3/M4 washers , but definitely not the M3/M4 hex screws.

 

[bicketybam]

I have two trays of button head, flat head and cap head screws all in varying sizes. Some I’ve ordered from Tower, some I have picked up at Home Depot and some are spares from past trucks. I keep everything because you never know what you can use it on.

 

[Curvin]

I found the culprit for the constant re-trimming of the steering , the servo saver had worked a little loose.

Bonehead design hiding the servo saver/horn in a position where you have to remove the whole electronics module to tighten and adjust the saver.

A touch of blue Loctite will be used on reassembly with new servo.

 

[Curvin]

I'm running the 12mm Tekno 1654x hexes.

@ptr1ck ,

With your Tekno 1654x hex's , did you use any shims , which may or may not be supplied. I have been reading up a little on the Tekno hexs and they mention needing shims in some instances. I also saw a mention of them used on a Senton 4x4 in the FB group, which also mentioned shims, but of course can't find that post now.

I have some landing early next week, and just want to ensure I don't have a repeat of my failed custom hex experiment.

 

[ptr1ck]

I used some Traxxas 1985 PTFE coated washers. Like 1 each wheel between the pin and the bearing. I think one wheel took 2 because it had extra slop in the axle.

The axles are made for larger pins, but I just used the smaller pin that came with the hex and it still works. That's the main reason I used the shim.

 

[Curvin]

Thanks ptr1ck , I'll suss out the spacing when installing.

Not sure I'm 100% on using the smaller pin , I'll most likely enlarge the slots in the hex's to suit using a dremel tool and use the original pins.

 

[Curvin]

Quick heads up, the Trackstar Servo from Hobby King didn't even last a battery pack , and I have discovered the PowerHD is also damaged and not getting full operation left to right , so can't swap that back in.

We ran the Senton through some gravel, rocks jammed in between the horn/saver and the bottom of the chassis , as is typical with this thing. Servo doesn't sound like its stripped its just non responsive, so in short, they are garbage IMO, at least I got a few months out of the Power HD.

The design/positioning of the servo/horn is idiotic on the Mega 4x4's, I had taped the bottom holes in the past but rocks still enter through the front access area anyway.

So Senton is down again , son just looked at me and said, can we get rid of this thing ? !

To add insult to injury the Hunter also damaged its standard 9KG servo today, erratic response turning right, must be the full moon rising.

So I lost 2 servo's today, well 3 counting the original Power HD , which is 1/2 working.

So apart from Savox, is there anything worth a pinch ?

I also decided not to use the Tekno Hex's, I would end up butchering them to get the ARRMA 2.5mm pin seated correctly.

Not a good day :-(

 

[ptr1ck]

The $18 DS3218 servos are still working well for me. I probably don't run as much as most guys though.

Just use the small pin in the hex and be careful when you set the hex in place. I pulled on the axle outward until I got each hex tight. No problems here.

 

[bicketybam]

Being totally non responsive is odd, no? Does it make noise when you turn the wheel? I’ve had a few rocks jam in there on mine and the servo survived. I use the Arrma branded servo that comes standard on the Kraton. In my Granite I run a Savox
https://www.amazon.com/Savox-SW-0231MG-Standard-Waterproof-Torque/dp/B01N2SNOJP

 

[Jeremy in WI]

Quick heads up, the Trackstar Servo from Hobby King didn't even last a battery pack , and I have discovered the PowerHD is also damaged and not getting full operation left to right , so can't swap that back in.

We ran the Senton through some gravel, rocks jammed in between the horn/saver and the bottom of the chassis , as is typical with this thing. Servo doesn't sound like its stripped its just non responsive, so in short, they are garbage IMO, at least I got a few months out of the Power HD.

The design/positioning of the servo/horn is idiotic on the Mega 4x4's, I had taped the bottom holes in the past but rocks still enter through the front access area anyway.

So Senton is down again , son just looked at me and said, can we get rid of this thing ? !

To add insult to injury the Hunter also damaged its standard 9KG servo today, erratic response turning right, must be the full moon rising.

So I lost 2 servo's today, well 3 counting the original Power HD , which is 1/2 working.

So apart from Savox, is there anything worth a pinch ?

I also decided not to use the Tekno Hex's, I would end up butchering them to get the ARRMA 2.5mm pin seated correctly.

Not a good day :-(

I got sick of picking rocks out of my granite, so I decided to try and get something going to help keep debris out. This is the best I could come up with - I took some screen from the last time my kids pushed it out of the front door, cut a strip and started dry fitting and trimming. Ultimately it turned into some inner fender walls that still allow air flow. I used hot glue to hold it in place, and I only glued to the removable sides. It isn't fancy, but I haven't had any rock issues since I did this a few weeks ago.

 

[Curvin]

To add further insult to injury, what is happening here ?

I have obviously assembled this incorrectly, but I am scratching my head at what point.

@bicketybam ,

The servo is maybe twitching a touch, I think , but it doesn't have the typical sound of the internals moving full range with stripped gears tho. It progressively got worse to the point of being non responsive. Damage was done when some larger rocks jammed and the boy kept slamming on the remote I suspect. I have had numerous rocks jam with the 20KG Power HD, we simply cleared the rocks and carried on.

Mind you I have since discovered the constant steering trim was due to it not re-centering consistently, so it was damaged.

Most of those cheaper servos are too slow, designed for rock crawlers and I also never had full range with the Power HD even with dual rate wound right up. The Trackstar was immediately noticeably better, faster, more responsive, full range, no drifting or re-trimming, but died in short order.

The cheaper Savox are too slow , the decent ones are the lower KG TG versions, but they are $120.00 here. I have managed to source a SH 10KG one from a seller who I bought some other bits off last week , but that will most likely go into my Hunter. I can easily just get another Power HD, maybe lower KG just to get the truck sorted. If the ARRMA stock was available I would install a standard 7KG stock unit to get it back to close to out of the box as I am most likely going to strip the mods and move it back to stock components, brushed motor , ESC, repair the one stock shock shaft ( whenever they become available , out of stock since April ) and move it on. Thats if anyone would want it.

Thanks to all who have helped along the way , the truck has been a basket case from day 1 , we haven't driven it that hard , and I am over playing whack a mole.

Seriously, while the 6S line is commendable if not formidable, the MEGA's are garbage IMO, and while the 3BLX may have addressed some of the driveline flaws, it still carries the same idiotic servo layout design.

If only the older 6S Sentons were more available in Oz on the SH market, rare as hens teeth is an understatement.

I digress.

 

[Curvin]

And now the fun begins with HobbyKing.

Warranty rejected as they needed a video, fair enough , they have no facility to upload said video, nor send it via the email ( non reply ) that the rep used to informed me of the rejection and asking for video, round and round we go.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Dang, that sucks.

I've done a few RMA's with Hobbyking, but not with the new website. The old way, on the page that shows all your RMA's, you could open the RMA, then add media - pics or video. But I have not messed with the new site.