Vorteks Vortek Turning Circle Huge

[Tony Slade]

Hi All
Recently purchased a Vortek 3s. Standard servo failed after a couple of runs so purchased a 25kg servo off E Bay. Took car out yesterday and it doesn’t seem to turn very well at all. Worse than my Kraton a Bus would turn in a smaller space. Have I done something wrong when installing said servo? Is the servo not good enough? Any help as always will be gratefully appreciated

 

[Engineer]

Did you set the steering travel endpoints after installing the new servo? If not that may be your issue. Did you also install a new 25T servo saver? Is anything binding?

 

[Tony Slade]

Yes both to the above. It’s not too bad on Tarmac but grass or Astroturf it’s rubbish. The servo at 25k should be more than capable shouldnt it ?

 

[gotnitro]

25kg/cm= about 13.8oz per kg. That puts you at about 345oz which is more than enough in a servo if it's not overrated china garbage. Did you change the BEC voltage to 7.4 and try it that way first?

 

[Tony Slade]

That’s the servo I got .
I don’t think I’m able to alter the BEC as I’m running the standard ESC that came with the car.

 

[Adiabatic]

Those servos are known to have overrated torque specs and are also slow especially if running your BEC at 6.0V, which may have more to do with your wide turning radius than lack of torque. They're popular among users here because they're cheap, but I would use something else if you care about performance especially in a smaller, more nimble car like the Vorteks.

 

[Tony Slade]

Those servos are known to have overrated torque specs and are also slow especially if running your BEC at 6.0V, which may have more to do with your wide turning radius than lack of torque. They're popular among users here because they're cheap, but I would use something else if you care about performance especially in a smaller, more nimble car like the Vorteks.

Have you got any recommendations? Not silly Expensive but something better than that? Also that will run with the standard BEC setting?

 

[gotnitro]

Have you got any recommendations? Not silly Expensive but something better than that? Also that will run with the standard BEC setting?

You have the BLX 100 ESC, it has a BEC setting to change it from 6v to 7.4v.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Yes both to the above. It’s not too bad on Tarmac but grass or Astroturf it’s rubbish. The servo at 25k should be more than capable shouldnt it ?

Is this on power or off power?

The 4x4 platform (Vortex, Granite, etc) does not have a center diff. Any time you are on the power, the weight is transferred to the back tires, and you won't have good steering. The 6s trucks (like the Kraton) have a center diff, so you can tune the center diff for front/rear power to give more or less steering.

As for the 25kg, the Arrma 4x4 servo saver is pretty weak so IMHO, anything more that about 10kg is probably wasted.

 

[SrC]

Aside from ruling out the servo, I think your Servo Saver (Horn/arm) maybe be too weak. Spring tension being too soft.
Do you get full steering travel when the rig is lifted off its weight?
Generally, most any 25 kg servo is plenty enough for a 4x4 rig. The SS is usually the culprit. A Servo is only as good if the SS can keep up with it.
Many even run 35 kg servos. FWIW
Many upgrade their SS Arm/horn to stiffer 25 Spline Kimbrough HD SS's. Might need slight trimming for best fitment.
While some just use a sold rigid servo Arm. ( No Servo Saver).
Not recommended. You can eat servos this way. Especially weaker ones with softer Brass and/or Alloy gear trains. Stripping the gears easily with impacts and no SS to Save it.
Depends how well and hard you drive.

 

[slick2500]

You have the BLX 100 ESC, it has a BEC setting to change it from 6v to 7.4v.

The BLX100 has a fixed bec of 6v. And the Vorteks comes with the Firma 100a esc not the BLX100.

Those servos are known to have overrated torque specs and are also slow especially if running your BEC at 6.0V, which may have more to do with your wide turning radius than lack of torque. They're popular among users here because they're cheap, but I would use something else if you care about performance especially in a smaller, more nimble car like the Vorteks.

I have like 6 or 7 of these servos and have not had issues with them being slow or underpowered. Hell I even replaced a few Savox servos with these things because in my opinion they are better servos.

Odds are that he either has something set up wrong or he got a dud which is probably the most likely scenario. According to the eBay history he's had that servo since August of 2021 so I'm thinking he left out some details as his eBay purchase history doesn't line up with his story. Op says he recently purchased the Vorteks the servo died so he ordered a servo on eBay for it. If he just ordered it why does it say he bought it in August?

 

[Tony Slade]

The BLX100 has a fixed bec of 6v. And the Vorteks comes with the Firma 100a esc not the BLX100.



I have like 6 or 7 of these servos and have not had issues with them being slow or underpowered. Hell I even replaced a few Savox servos with these things because in my opinion they are better servos.

Odds are that he either has something set up wrong or he got a dud which is probably the most likely scenario. According to the eBay history he's had that servo since August of 2021 so I'm thinking he left out some details as his eBay purchase history doesn't line up with his story. Op says he recently purchased the Vorteks the servo died so he ordered a servo on eBay for it. If he just ordered it why does it say he bought it in

The BLX100 has a fixed bec of 6v. And the Vorteks comes with the Firma 100a esc not the BLX100.



I have like 6 or 7 of these servos and have not had issues with them being slow or underpowered. Hell I even replaced a few Savox servos with these things because in my opinion they are better servos.

Odds are that he either has something set up wrong or he got a dud which is probably the most likely scenario. According to the eBay history he's had that servo since August of 2021 so I'm thinking he left out some details as his eBay purchase history doesn't line up with his story. Op says he recently purchased the Vorteks the servo died so he ordered a servo on eBay for it. If he just ordered it why does it say he bought it in

The BLX100 has a fixed bec of 6v. And the Vorteks comes with the Firma 100a esc not the BLX100.



I have like 6 or 7 of these servos and have not had issues with them being slow or underpowered. Hell I even replaced a few Savox servos with these things because in my opinion they are better servos.

Odds are that he either has something set up wrong or he got a dud which is probably the most likely scenario. According to the eBay history he's had that servo since August of 2021 so I'm thinking he left out some details as his eBay purchase history doesn't line up with his story. Op says he recently purchased the Vorteks the servo died so he ordered a servo on eBay for it. If he just ordered it why does it say he bought it in August?

Recently purchased was probably not the best description lol. Purchased June last year killed stock servo straight away and purchased one above. Car hasn’t been used this year until Friday. This is when noticed how poor it steers.

 

[Adiabatic]

Are you saying the steering performance was potentially just as poor with the stock servo and you didn't have time to notice? If so then I'd suspect your servo saver is the issue. I noticed mine is quite soft, definitely erring on the side of servo protection vs steering response.

What was said above about the lack of centre diff is also true and you may not be able to make it steer as well as the 6s cars with a centre diff.

 

[Tony Slade]

Are you saying the steering performance was potentially just as poor with the stock servo and you didn't have time to notice? If so then I'd suspect your servo saver is the issue. I noticed mine is quite soft, definitely erring on the side of servo protection vs steering response.

What was said above about the lack of centre diff is also true and you may not be able to make it steer as well as the 6s cars with a centre diff.

To be honest I can’t remember how the stock servo behaved it’s been that long. I think it literally died second run out. As I mail ordered the car I just bought New Servo from E bay.

That’s the servo saver that I put on

 

[slick2500]

Recently purchased was probably not the best description lol. Purchased June last year killed stock servo straight away and purchased one above. Car hasn’t been used this year until Friday. This is when noticed how poor it steers.

I know this is going to sound like a stupid question and I am sure you already checked but is your dual rate knob turned all the way up?

 

[Tony Slade]

I know this is going to sound like a stupid question and I am sure you already checked but is your dual rate knob turned all the way up?

I know this is going to sound like a stupid question and I am sure you already checked but is your dual rate knob turned all the way up?

View attachment 217760

I know this is going to sound like a stupid question and I am sure you already checked but is your dual rate knob turned all the way up?

View attachment 217760

It’s turned all the way up but either way has little effect to be honest.

 

[gotnitro]

The BLX100 has a fixed bec of 6v. And the Vorteks comes with the Firma 100a esc not the

That said, I messed up saying BLX, the firma 100 amp esc has a 7.4v BEC option.