[BigJohn]

OK not a big problem as I can order what I need if one of my buddy's don't have what I might need.OK I have a bunch of 24" gold heavy dutie servo wires(very nice)but I'm putting together my Yak and it call for 36" servo leads.So what I have is 24" gold heavy dutie and 12" gold heavy dutie.So the question put out here is can I safely use them put together or should I just spring for some 36" one piece units.I have no worry about them coming apart as I use heat shrink tubing to hold them together.I'm not sure if I lose to much with the extra connection in the middle or not.Like I said its not a problem to buy 36" but if I don't need to why should I as well the servo's are not digital or coreless just some analog heavy duties servos.Thanks for any help with this,John

[Gary Maker]

John, I've done the same thing with my Yak on the Elevator servos. 2- 24" extentions and 2-12" extention to get the connections from the rear of the plane to the receiver. I've tested it out thouroughly and have absolutely NO problem with this setup. Range test was just fine also. Your using the HD extentions which I believe are 22AWG so you should experience no line voltage drop or signal loss. I honestly didn't for sure!

On our 50' outdoor blimps, the servo extentions are around 20' - 25' long and use Y Harnesses that are another 6' long to split the line for both elevator halves and the dual rudder fins. Without using anything to boost power we get a good signal with no glitches what so ever using a Hitec Optic 6 Radio and a standard Supreme 8 channel RX. Servos are 4-HS985MG's. So I doubt you will have any problem with coupling 2 extentions together to get your 36" length dispite your worries about the extra connector.

[BigJohn]

Thanks Gary as I'm using the new 2.4 JR 9303 in this plane I thought I would post it out there.Its just I have the stuff on hand so I wasn't sure if there was any real need to worry about it.I just receive my $50 rebate from Great Planes so I have to use it for something so I might get a couple 36" ones from one of the supplers that I can as well I'm going to get one of those Great Plane painted pilots with it.I'm going to use the 24"+12" for the time being as I'm just setting up the plane and won't be flying untill I finish putting it all together.John

[YoungestPiperCub]

Power Losses In Servo Extensions


Servo Extension Length Expected Torque Loss
6" 1.5%
12" 2%
18" 2.5%
24" 3%
36" 4%
48" 5%

Taken from troy built models. (those figures include connectors)

[Gary Maker]

Originally Posted by YoungestPiperCUb

Power Losses In Servo Extensions

Servo Extension Length Expected Torque Loss
6" 1.5%
12" 2%
18" 2.5%
24" 3%
36" 4%
48" 5%

Taken from troy built models. (those figures include connectors)

Using the above figures, your talking about a 1% loss in torque per foot of extention.

A 36" extention used with a Hitec HS5955TG Coreless Digital Servo would mean a 13.32 in/oz of torque loss at 6.0v, leaving a torque of 319.68 in/oz. This is pretty miniminal.

ALSO is the above chart for standard servo extentions or Heavy Duty extentions, because it would make quite a difference depending on the AWG wire used?? There would definitely be less loss if using HD 22 AWG extentions as opposed to STD extentions. And some of the larger setups use even heavier wired extentions.

There are other factors to take into consideration also. Most people use heavier than called for servos anyway, so even a 4 or 5% loss will remain miniminal, so is of no real concern! It is interesting to see those figures though, thanks for sharing that info!

BigJohn,

I make all of my own extention now. Purchased a crimping tool, 50' of 22 AWG twisted silicone servo wire, and 40 each of the gold plated male and female connectors/pins from Thunderbolt RC. Took me a couple of tries to get it perfect with the crimping tool, but now, no sweat getting super quality extentions.

I made all the custom extentions and "Y's" for my AW Yak 54, the H9 Edge 540, and my Tree Hopper. The nice thing about making your own, beside beeing much cheeper, is that you can make them the exact size needed, instead of having to loop up and tie off inches of wire thats not needed. Where it called for 36" extentions in the Yak, I made them 30" to get an exact length. Makes for a much neater looking installation.

I figured out the retail cost of all the extentions made and I have more than paid for the crimping tool and all the wire and connectors! And I still have more than 50% of the stuff left to make more extentions. Its a great deal!

[VERTOL]

Extending servo leads.

Just buy a pack of 10 feet length servo wire AWG #22 by MPI only $7.99.
You will also need heat shrink tubing and some solder.

Cut the original servo wire (attached to the servo) in the middle, strip the ends to expose
wire just enough (5 to 10 mm).
Cut a piece of wire from the 10 feet AWG #22, making sure you have enough length of
run from the servo to the receiver, include slack and extra in case you use ferrite rings,
strip wires and solder to both ends of servo and connector
(don't forget the heat shrink tube on all the soldered connections).

You have made a simple and more reliable connection that still retains the original servo
connector.

For long servo runs sometimes you need to install a ferrite ring (choke) specially when
used on 72 mHz ( has something to do w/ the long servo wire becoming an entry point
for RF interference.

my cheap suggestion.
(I say cheap because you will do more than one servo)

[scaleguy]

John,

It's OK to join the 12" and 24" together. Just get a piece of 3/8" x 1.5" length of heatshrink tubing and shrink it down over the connection point so the connectors will not vibrate loose and come apart.

[YoungestPiperCub]

Those figures are using 22 gauge wires and standard connestors. I would agree the loss would be very minimal and you could just put the two together. If you had to make 20 foot extensions though dont plug 40 6" extensions together though it would not work to well hahaha

Take Care

[Gary Maker]

Originally Posted by YoungestPiperCUb

Those figures are using 22 gauge wires and standard connestors. I would agree the loss would be very minimal and you could just put the two together. If you had to make 20 foot extensions though dont plug 40 6" extensions together though it would not work to well hahaha

Take Care

Now that an easy one to fully agree with! lol!