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kwsmith29
2010.03.20, 06:37 PM
I need help.

I have a new 03 LM. The servo gear was broke when I took it out of the package. I have installed two more since. They break right away. I use a Futaba 3PK. I have the stearing end points turned down to 42 as KO suggests. Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone know of a fix for this problem?

Thanks,
Wade

chad508
2010.03.20, 06:47 PM
wade when i used the 3pk i had my steering down to 35. i believe the ko setting are only fo the ko radios. hope this helps

kwsmith29
2010.03.20, 08:45 PM
I'll give it a try. 45 is the setting for the 3PK according to the manuel for the 2.4 module. I dunno, I'll try anything at this point....


Wade

chad508
2010.03.20, 10:22 PM
i never saw a setting specifically for the 3pk. i dunno. what i normally do is flip the car over and listen to the servo motor as i adjust the end point. i found on both the 02 and 03 it was around 32-35. but even if it was to high the servo saver should keep you from breaking gears.

TheSloth
2010.03.20, 10:56 PM
...but even if it was to high the servo saver should keep you from breaking gears.

The servo-saver works the other way right? To protect the gears from shocks to the steering linkage??? :confused: But would it also protect the gears in case the servo itself is misbehaving (over-travel)?

pedrocamp
2010.03.21, 08:15 AM
The servo saver will not protect the gears from over travel from the servo motor. The last gear with the arm that connects to the saver has positive end stops. The small extended nose gear that drives this last gear has little material at the gear root. This is the gear that I have seen broken in the two cases I have seen and I would suspect all the failures happen at this gear. It is very important to set the radio end stops correctly on the 03. I wouldn't just trust any recommended settings, set the end points to your chassis.

kwsmith29
2010.03.21, 11:25 AM
Thanks Pedro...

mini-z
2010.03.21, 07:54 PM
Wade, where did you buy your 03? If the servo gears were broken out of the box, Kyosho should replace them. If you bought it from shop.tinyrc.com, open a Support Ticket and we'll make sure you get taken care of! :)

seanp2k
2010.03.21, 08:31 PM
Wade, perhaps you should post some pictures with an arrow or something pointing to what is breaking so we can make sure that your setup looks right, maybe something if a bit off kilter or installed upside-down.

kwsmith29
2010.03.28, 08:26 AM
Ok, I took some advise and reset my Radio(Futaba 3PK). I turned the dual rate to 100% and backed the end points off to zero. I then turned the car to full lock right and raised the end point to full lock, then back it up two clicks so I wasn't full lock. Did the same for the left side. Went to the track set the car down backed my dual rate down to about 86% and still broke the front gear in the servo assembly. To top it off I have purschased another new 03 and had the same thing happen. This gear breaks with in three laps. I know you might be thinking this guys must really bounce off the walls, but this is not the case. I consider myself a seasoned racer and this is not the case.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

There are three racers here at HSH that are having this same problem. All three of us are using the Futaba 3PK. Could this be a radio problem? Maybe a setting we are missing.

Has anyone else had this problem.

Thanks,
Wade

chad508
2010.03.28, 09:46 AM
its for sure odd. i ran my 3pk on my 03's with no problem. and i can not think of anything else in the radio settings that would cause this to happen. are you getting the steering glitch were it will twitch to one side at full speed. mine would do this from time to time with a 70 turn only, it may be twitching the same you turning and stripping the gears, other than that, thats all i got. good luck

Half
2010.03.28, 10:40 AM
http://www.kopropo.com/america/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109&Itemid=153

it is true that this is related to KO's transmitters, but have a moment checking this settings out cuz mini-z's boards are KO's design aswell.

LogicBytes
2010.03.28, 12:26 PM
I guy at my local track has been experiencing the same thing with his 03 he has went through a ton of servo gears and he is using the stock kt-18 remote. I believe he picked up a 03 LM set as well maybee this is specific to the LM chassis sets?

kwsmith29
2010.03.28, 12:46 PM
Not just LM, My new stock car has the same problem.

EMU
2010.03.28, 05:21 PM
I think it is a radio issue. The racer that was having the same problem at the local track LogicBytes was talking about, borrowed an EX1-UR last race and didnt have any problems all night last night. Before he would be able to get maybe 5 laps before he had to switch out the gears.

Are you using any steering functions at all? Maybe there is something you could do with the ICS adapter with the Futaba radio to make it work correctly...

There were no issues with the ASF MR02... just the MR03.

mleemor60
2010.03.28, 06:53 PM
I have three 03's running so far and have had issues with one breaking servo gears. All are operating on the same radio model with exactly the same adjustments. As a lefty the radio is a 3PKS. The one that has failed has done so twice and the other is perfectly fine.

The one that has failed would suddenly not turn to the left after a right hander. It would just go straight ahead. When you let go of the wheel and turn to the left again it would turn as if nothing happened. I initially pulled the top cover off and watched the servo operate and was amazed at how much fore aft motion there was in the gears while turning. There are no small spacers on the shafts like the 02 has. Not sure what is going on. I did notice though that with the car off and steering manipulated by hand there was a slight bind to left of center as if the servo saver was hanging on the toe bar. It only took one tooth this time. I'm just happy that I have someone with good enough eyes to make repairs.

LogicBytes
2010.03.29, 02:49 PM
EMU do you think his kt-18 has to be reset? also a wierd issue that they would break after dialing down the end points.

arch2b
2010.03.29, 06:38 PM
i have yet to see this happen with any of the cars in our club, about 10 +/-. sucks to hear some are having issues like this. has anyone returned the chassis to see what if anything kyosho will do?

TheRinger
2010.03.29, 09:16 PM
i have yet to see this happen with any of the cars in our club, about 10 +/-. sucks to hear some are having issues like this. has anyone returned the chassis to see what if anything kyosho will do?

Actually ray, rob had this problem. It seem 2 be due 2 having the end points adjusted 2 far. And this was with a KT-18 radio. He replaced the gears, readjusted the end points and hasn't had a problem so far.

arch2b
2010.03.29, 09:23 PM
wow, good to know. was it at awsome? he never mentioned it at hobby works.

TheRinger
2010.03.29, 09:41 PM
I think it was? All I know is he was having handling problems 4 a while. 1 day I was looking at his car and noticed it had no resistance turning 1 way from the other way by turning it manually. Rob took it apart and found 1 of the gears was stripped almost halfway around. He replaced the gears and checked the end points. Noticed it was turning 2 far in both directons. He turned the end points down correctly and as far as I know he hasn't had a problem since. But Rob thinks the actual problem was from an accident but I'm not sure.

arch2b
2010.03.29, 09:46 PM
are the gears the same as the mr-02? it might be good to have a set on hand just in case.

hpotter
2010.03.29, 10:13 PM
We have someone at our club who has had this problem since day 1 with the MR-03. He bought a second 03 and same problem. Using the KT-18 we dialed down the steering to not only the point where you don't hear the servo motor anymore but to the point where he could barely turn the car, same result, stripped gears. So what we did was replace the gears and bound it to my EX1-UR (KT-18 nowhere in sight)--For the first time since purchasing an 03 he was able to run the entire night of racing without the gears breaking. Now all we have to do is test it with his other MR-03, but it sounds like something with the KT-18 and 03's.

mleemor60
2010.03.30, 06:13 AM
are the gears the same as the mr-02? it might be good to have a set on hand just in case.

Completely different gear set. K# MZ-404.

kwsmith29
2010.03.30, 10:20 PM
I think I found the problem. I'll give you guys an update after a visit to the track tomorrow.


Wade

kwsmith29
2010.03.31, 04:13 PM
Problem fixed, thanks for all the input.

For just $19.95 plus shipping I will gladly fix yours fo you....

:D:D:D:D


Just Kidding, I will post details later this evening on how to fix this problem.

Thanks for all the help,
Wade

chad508
2010.03.31, 06:42 PM
good to hear. now if you can figure out a fix for the steering twitch that would be great.

mleemor60
2010.03.31, 07:15 PM
Chad. Get in touch with Pedro. He has that handled. The info that TJ put up is very usable.

Traveler
2010.03.31, 07:53 PM
I will post details later this evening on how to fix this problem.

Spill it KDub!

kwsmith29
2010.04.01, 12:16 AM
OK here goes, hope I can make this clear.

The gear that keeps breaking is the elongated one which meshes with what I'll call the potentiometer gear(the gear the pot fixes to). The pot gear does not have teeth all the way around it. What I see is when turning to the left there is plenty of gear to mesh, but when turning to the right the pot gear runs out of teeth. Thus when going past the end point the elongated gear breaks.

I think there is two reasons for the breakage. First of all the two in line gears(elongated gear and the one behind it) need to be shimmed forward. I used a .0015 motor shim to do this. I belie the spacing was allowing the elongated to slide back and have a little less than half a tooth to do the work. Thus under pressure breaking.

The other problem is when the end points are correctly set.

When turning to the left the servo end point is dictated by the servo saver bottoming out on the plate. When turning right the end point is dictated by the pot gear and elongated gear running out of teeth, but not the servo saver bottoming out on the opposite side of the plate. So the gear set still wants to move left, but because the pot gear has no more teeth it just snaps the leading tooth off.

I fixed this by adding two strips on electric tape to the left side of the plate where the servo saver will bottom out rather than strip the gear.

I know this probly sounds like a bunch of jiberish, but I tried. I going to get some pictures this weekend and show exactly what I'm trying to say.

Thanks again,
Wade

EMU
2010.04.01, 11:24 AM
Wade, makes sense to mean. Thanks for your work in figuring out this problem. At least now we all have a better understanding about what causes the breakage.

arch2b
2010.04.01, 11:32 AM
question the becomes, can/will pn/atomic/3r make a gear with additional teeth? would that even solve the problem or is the bottoming out the only resolution?

thank you for the explanation. pictures will do wonders :)

kwsmith29
2010.04.01, 09:50 PM
:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

Sorry guys, Race nite is over nad i have two sets of broke gears...

color01
2010.04.01, 10:42 PM
Wow, I noticed the tooth-count issue when I took my 03 apart, but I didn't realize that it could be the source of such frustration. :eek:

While I have not raced my 03 intensely in a while, according to my transmitter's model memory I'm not even using 80% of the total steering throw of the 03 servo... so there's no chance for the servo to overrun past the teeth on the final gear at all. My take on this is that 1) while the final gear should definitely be fixed (kudos to Wade for figuring one out), 2) I'm pretty sure you don't need the full travel of the 03 servo to race. You can definitely dial in a bit more steering if you require that much steering travel.

pedrocamp
2010.04.01, 10:55 PM
I have seen Wade's servos and agree with his earlier findings. There is the fact though that the only drivers having continuing gear issues at our track are Futaba users. I have two cars that I have raced quite a bit with no issues, I have an EX1-UR. The real mystery though is that some of the Futaba users have cars that break and cars that don't. Are other Futaba users around the country having gear issues? KO users?
It would certainly help if the servo gear design were adjusted to prevent the over-run problem. A slightly shorter connecting arm would do the trick.

yasuji
2010.04.02, 12:48 AM
when i made the change to mr-03 using my sig pancar...i had no problems!
as soon as i found out i had to drive ASC in the next 2 events...i swap body's but not wheel offsets.. and low and behold......1st time i ran wide and snagged the wall... there it was....broken gear.... replaced the whole gear box...went back out drove clean and felt the same...jus tooling around i ran wide in the sweeper and there it was again! broken gear...all within a few hours...
soon after fixing it once again i took off my +3 fronts and replaced them w/ +2 fronts.....i shouldn't say it but here it goes....I HAVEN'T BROKE A GEAR SINCE!
I use a ko mars and use it on level 1.....st travel 65 balance 66/66
AND THAT IS MY STORY:)

Ricochet
2010.04.10, 05:32 PM
I too have gone through two sets of steering gears in a week’s time. The elongated gear that is rotating with the POT gear is the issue. Odd thing is when I break gears I brake two teeth but not in a row. In between the two broken teeth is one gear intact. I realized I had this problem when my steering would not align. I run a 98mm McLaren so I rely on the steering alignment for the long straightaways. The steering was fine for a few weeks out of the box but in the last two sessions I broke a gear set each time. I use a KT-18. Are there directions or a tutorial online on how to adjust the tx endpoints on the KT-18?
I am surprised Delrin does not offer replacement gears for the MR-03 like they do for the MR-02.

Half
2010.04.10, 06:23 PM
Are there directions or a tutorial online on how to adjust the tx endpoints on the KT-18?

Steer fully left or right and then press trim buttons.
example:
(to adjust left steering end point)

Steer fully left.
(maintain that position)
Now press steer trim button to right. This will adjust the end point giving you minor angle of total steering to left side (the difference is small, but perceptible from eye).

Reverse thing to change the right.
I do not advise to put more total steering angle than what has come from box. Even that angle I do personally think is way much!

I have been racing for 4 months and my gear set also got 1 dent off (driving with the kt-18). Still waiting for the new one to arrive.
Can't recall how much angle I took off, but I think it's 3 or 4 "clicks" on each side.

If you don't get it online, pm me.

kwsmith29
2010.04.14, 08:52 AM
Guys I think I finally have my problem fixed. I belive one fix is transmitter settings.
I have turned my transmitter sterring speed down to 90% and put a little bit of negitive sterring curve(about -30) and so far(knock on wood) I haven't broken any more.

The true problem is the clocking on the pot gear. Onced sterring is centered when sterring to the right there are only about 4 teeth before run out. On the left side there is ten or more teeth before run out. There is a fine line to the right on adjustment. If I'm correct the suggested setting for the EX-1 and EX-10 on sterring speed is not the max setting. I think this is why most are not having problems, if set correctly.

I think Kyosho needs to looking this and maybe give everyone a fix.

Regards'
Wade

arch2b
2010.04.14, 10:07 AM
i'm sure atomic or 3racing will put out a new derlin gear before kyosho does. seems like a simple fix in terms putting out a new gear.

Tjay
2010.04.14, 12:33 PM
I received a call from NC but I forgot the guys name, I think it was Rodney? But I'm not sure. Anyways, I only know 2 guys that broke their servo gears locally and that's from not setting the steering travel/balance properly.

As for the 3PKS radio, I doubt it's the radio to blame. We probably have 40 active drivers and 50% of them runs Futaba 3PK and few 4PK's. The rest runs KO and KT18. As mentioned above, it was the settings that caused the gears to break... We don't use PN adaptor as this adaptor seemed to catch glitch, once and a while... Which can also be the cause of your steering servo breaking. When the steering catches a glitch, your steering travel "may" have exceeded its travel point and strips the servo gears. Knowing that the servo motors are very well capable of stripping gears, it is a possibility that the "steering glitch" maybe the cause of the stripped gears. We have our KO ASF module plugged into the tx using reflex racings tutorial. Others uses custom plug-in wire and a couple using kyosho's adaptor (I think the label name is router246?).

Our Futaba radio steering settings are:

D/R:100
L/R balance: 45-55

Everything thing else like the curve, speed, etc.. are at default.

pedrocamp
2010.04.22, 04:30 AM
Here is some translated text from the Japanese MiniZ dNaNo Newsflash site

http://ameblo.jp/kyoshoblog-en/.

There are some good tips on reducing or preventing the servo gear problem, it is happening in Japan too, we know it will get fixed!

2010-04-20 11:25:19
How to protect servo gears

Good evening.
This is the team leader, Ishikawa.
Looking at the title of today's article,
You might think "I have replaced damaged servo gears many times!"
I'm sorry that it has taken a long time to invedtigate this issue.
We have gotten not a few complaints from customers that
"MR-03 servo gears break apart again and again."
This problem usually happens on specific customers again and again.
(And never happens on other customers...)
We had borrowed the car from the customers for investigation but initially we were not able to replicate the problem here,
so the investigation has not proceeded smoothly.
Thanks to many customers who has helped us investigete this,
We finally successfully replicated the problem at a track I visited.
And we have also investigated many other MR-03's and
the cause of the problem and measures have become clear.


I think there are three causes:

1. Malfunction of the servo motor because of noise from the main motor.
This can sometimes happen on a brandnew car or after replacing the main motor.
Inside a new motor, sometimes abnormal sparks happen at the brushes, because the brushes have not been broken in, and the noise comes from the sparks can cause mulfunction of the servo motor and it breaks the teeth of a sepecific servo gear.

 Measure: Break in a branknew car at a slow speed with wheels in the air.
By doing this, the brushes in the motor are broken in and the noise becomes
low and does not cause malfunction of the servo motor.


2. Overshoot of the servo and improper Tx settings.

Usually, the steering end point should be set inside the points
where servo starts make noise when you steer fully.
Slightly reducing the maximum steering angles from these points the servo
is free from stress and the gear usually won't break.
However, if you use a high-end transmitter and you use very quick settings on the steering curve, speed or response, the servo will move very quick and
exceed the end points and give stress to gears.

Usually, servo passes over the target point and then return to the position
(overshoot), and the quicker the tranmitter is set up,
the bigger the overshoot and the risk of servo gear breakage becomes.
 
Measure: First set up your transmitter to the default setting and adjust the steering end point making sure not to stress the servo. 


If you have set up the Rx unit from the ICS interface, first set it back to default.
And to lower the risk of servo gear breakage, change
DUMP to Smoother way,
PNCH to smaller way,
SPEED to Slower way.
and then set the GAIN to Mid.


And if possible, please try to steer smoothly
This will reduce overshoot.
     

3. Using high voltage batteries
The electronic circuit of the MR-03 is adjusted to 6V power source.
If you use Oxyride, LiFe or LiPo batteries, which are more than 6V when used on Mini-Z,
the possibility of servo gear breakage becomes higher.

The FET that drives the servo motor gets the source power voltage as is.
So the servo motor is driven at 4.8V if you use NiMH batteries and in case of LiFe batteries the servo motor gets 6.6V.
This power is huge and breaks the gear tooth in pieces if the servo gears are locked.

Measure: Run with Alkaline or NiMH batteries.

Because the servo gear unit of the MR-03 has 3 times shorter gear ratio
and is equepped with a coreless servo motor, the speed and torque has
been improved a lot.
And for that reason, when the servo motor is malfunctioning it can break the gear teeth.
To customers who have damaged servo gears again and again, I'm sorry that we have taken a long time to come to this conclusion.

I'm sure the probability of gear breakage becomes much lower with above measures.

I hope you will try them.

However, some of you might think that the Mini-Z is the real racing machine only when running with LiFe batteries and with the highest steering speed and response.

For such customers, I'm now testing a metal servo gear that will not break under extreme conditions.

It will take some more time to finish developing it, but
I'll try to release it as soon as possible.
I would like to listen to you customers voice and try to
reflect it to our products so that you can enjoy Mini-Z longer and better.

Thank you very much for your help.

And thank you for reading my article.
Ishikawa

Traveler
2010.04.22, 05:05 AM
Good find Pedro!

Maybe Toyota could learn something from Kyosho!

kwsmith29
2010.04.22, 06:16 AM
See, See I'm not crazy.......


Thanks Pedro, I'm in for three of those replacment gears.:):):)


Wade

Oh, and I will vote for you...

arch2b
2010.04.22, 07:52 AM
confirms my opinion, simple redesign of the gear. i'm sure gpm, atomic, 3racing will follow suit. gpm used to be the main brand for aluminum servo gears way back in the day. i'm sure we will see derlin options as well.

EMU
2010.04.22, 10:49 AM
Arch, Im not sure GPM will be making any parts for the MR03. Have you seen any? I think that they have realised that there are many more better suited hop up manufacturers in this scale now that produce performance oriented parts rather than dress up parts... Very few of the GPM parts for the MR02 were performance oriented.

I still havent had any problems on my MR03 with my Helios... Its good to see that Kyosho have recognized the problem, and are troubleshooting.

arch2b
2010.04.22, 12:06 PM
i have not had any indication from gpm that they would but they already have the base modeling nearly done for the needed gear and just as easy to modify and release. i would not put it past them is all, not suggesting that they are desired as a manufacturer anymore.

i have not had any issues with the 2 mr-03's i have and my helios either.

herman
2010.04.23, 02:58 AM
kwsmith29 (a.k.a. wade) & pedrocamp

thanks for posting info regarding issues on the mr03 servo gears...

explanations seem quite logical...

end point settings - with the newly (but poorly? - hmm more on this later) designed servo motor/ servo gear in the mr03, ishikawa points out...

...the servo gear unit of the MR-03 has 3 times shorter gear ratio
and is equepped with a coreless servo motor, the speed and torque has
been improved a lot. And for that reason, when the servo motor is malfunctioning it can break the gear teeth.

having your steering move faster with more torque, you would definitely have to properly set your end points... if there is something that will hamper movement while turning to one side, something eventually will have to give...

which lead me to my opinion of a poorly designed servo gear unit... however, labeling it ''poorly'' may be too harsh though... maybe just it was just a slight oversight...

maybe a redesigned gear somewhere would definitely help out... or a redesigned servo saver, or chassis... as wade did mention that one side's end point was dictated by the servo saver bottoming out, thus limiting anymore movement, while the other side's endpoint was limited by the number of teeth... causing breakage on the leading tooth...

i feel quite lucky that i haven't broken any servo gears yet... i can probably attribute this to one of the first things that i do when i get a chassis....
i properly set the end point settings... this puts lesser stress on the servo motor / servo gears... :D

herman
2010.04.23, 03:15 AM
hmmm as ishikawa explained...
Malfunction of the servo motor because of noise from the main motor. This can sometimes happen on a brandnew car or after replacing the main motor. Inside a new motor, sometimes abnormal sparks happen at the brushes, because the brushes have not been broken in, and the noise comes from the sparks can cause mulfunction of the servo motor and it breaks the teeth of a sepecific servo gear.

i guess this is the reason behind the sudden wheel/steering jerk to one direction when the main motor sparks... when this happens to a car with endpoints not properly set, it may cause servo gear breakage...

anybody with a broken-in motor experience wheel/steering jerk? :confused:

arch2b
2010.04.23, 06:47 AM
i don't recall ever having this problem either.

does the cap on the new stock adn x-speed motors reduce this effect to the chassis? i know it's a topic already covered but it's been awhile since i've even used one of these motors.

mleemor60
2010.04.23, 08:48 AM
I have one of four 03's breaking servo gears. The one car has done it twice. All vehicles have been operated on the same model with identical settings. Another of the cars is experiencing the throttle up Mambo to a small degree so far but hasn't damaged any gears yet. All cars are on PN70T motors in varying stages of run in.

An issue exists with the clocking of the potentiometer into it's gear. When everything is stacked together the number of available teeth for engagement differs from side to side at lock. The actual stop seems to only engage in one direction. In the other direction at the established end point a small space remains between the stop and it's engagement point. Any contact that occurs at full turn creates an unsupported weak point that the gear is all to eager to sacrifice itself for.

When you remove the little arm that connects the servo to the saver and then clock the servo for equal travel in each direction the hole spacing in the arm is incorrect. Our group has tried a number of solutions with qualified success and failure. Any input from the ranks is appreciated.

arch2b
2010.04.23, 03:37 PM
this is the image floating around jpn blogs.

mleemor60
2010.04.23, 04:27 PM
We were discussing this earlier today at the shop. This gear will be the rosetta stone for the 03 servo issues.

LeftHandedRacer
2010.05.03, 09:47 AM
i too am having this problem, i only had this problem running 94mm with the 360gt and F430gt with the red front springs. i have tried setting end point( which is a little tricking on the kt-18) i just finished shimming the servo gears, and im also going to switch to the RR kingpins. i am also having the glitch when on throttle the steering gos left really quick then back to normal, not sure if its related but i have rewiring the board and the motor, im not sure what people mean by gluing the pot?

Thanks!
Lucas

mleemor60
2010.05.03, 10:36 AM
Watch your front wheel offset. If it happens again then reduce your offset by a half or one mm to help keep the tire and wheel from hooking the rail if you get too close as it seems to be a contributing factor.

LeftHandedRacer
2010.05.03, 11:08 AM
im using 0 offsets, forgot to mention that. i am on my 5th set of servo gears.

mleemor60
2010.05.03, 11:20 AM
Turn the car full left or right or both for that matter and see how much tire is sticking out past the body. It can be turned off for this. What is protruding is a big part of the issue. One of the things I like to do if I can't reduce the offset is to gently heat up the body in front of the wheel opening and then flare it out until the tire/wheel is fully protected. After you have finished just site down the side of the car to see how straight you kept it. You can clean up any ugliness with a file to square the edge back up. I usually use a baby spoon to do the shaping. The bowl of the spoon helps keep you from making it too ugly. Pulling the fenders out a little also helps front down force as well.

EMU
2010.05.03, 11:23 AM
How long have you had the KT-18 that you are using? Have you tried re-binding the car? When I bind a car, I set the radio to bind, walk a few paces with the car, then bind the car. It seems to get a better bind that way. When I bind with the radio near, I get some intermittant steering and throttle response occasionally, this seems to help. Also make sure you turn the radio on first, wait about 10 seconds, then turn on the car when you are placing it on the track... This is not necessarily targeted to the gears, but ASF in general.

Make sure that nobody is binding their car near you when you bind.

So far, I have yet to see somebody with a Helios or EX-1UR have this issue. I have seen it with the KT-18, and Futaba 3PK.

LeftHandedRacer
2010.05.03, 11:57 AM
nope the wheels don't stick out when turned lock to lock. i tried rebinding and walked back a few step, it reduced the glitch but its still there, i have had the kt-18 sine they first came out with the mr-02 conversion kit. i find it strange that i only have this problem in 94mm with softer springs. i will be getting a 3pk in a few weeks, i would get a KO but i race left handed :P

mleemor60
2010.05.03, 12:17 PM
Welcome to my world. One of our guy's has a very nice 3pks up on the marketplace. You should check it out.

Felix2010
2010.05.03, 12:58 PM
Man, I am very sorry to hear so many racers having servo gear problems on their 03's:( I have yet to have any servo gear breakage (Knock on wood). Each 03 chassis was purchased at a different time: My first 03 was from the "1st-GEN" with the FET/motor issues; The 2nd 03 I bought had the "soldered" motor connections; ANd the 3rd chassis I recently purchased at my LHS and it is the newly-released White Porsche 03 chassis set.

In addition to making sure the front wheel track doesn't exceed the body width, I find it important that the wheels do not touch the underside of the wheel wells while racing, even the tiniest bit (Especially when using new tires, which increase the overall wheel diameter). I check the suspension clearance carefully, moving the steering linkage lock-to-lock. There may not be binding with the wheels straight, or when turned slightly left/right; But during hard left/right turns when compressing the suspension the wheels often rub the under-body area. During suspension travel, if there isn't enough wheel-body clearance, the wheels can contact the underside of the body. This can cause big problems especially now with the hi-torque coreless servo motor of the MR03. The force of the 03 servo trying to move the steering linkage while the wheels are stuck or even being slightly-resisted by the underside of the body can cause servo gear breakage.

Using soft springs is when this problem becomes very noticeable for me. When cornering running soft front springs, the front suspension compresses more and there is more chance of wheel-body contact. When you try to steer the car the wheels won't be able to move freely. Something has to give... Delrin servo gears would definitely help increase servo gear strength. Hopefully Kyosho has a Delrin or metal servo gear upgrade coming soon.

You almost need a Dremel tool nowadays. Some bodies out-the-box have body/wheel-suspension binding and you need to modify the body's undercarriage to allow enough tire clearance. I usually shave-out the wheel-wells on all my bodies now; And also check the front windshield.

I hope this helps:)

LeftHandedRacer
2010.05.03, 02:16 PM
well i checked the clearance agin and sure enough the tire rubs where the window mount is, i checked by removing the springs and letting the suspension fully compress, witch im sure wont happen during racing. hopefully this will help.

dgomes
2010.08.07, 09:01 PM
I managed a temporary quick fix if only one tooth is broken.

On a friend's car, the gear that broke was the last one away from the servo motor. The one with most reduction and therefore the one that suffers most stress. (It is also the one that is replaced by the Kyosho MZW417 Metal Servo Gear replacement.)

As it is the gear with greatest reduction, it never goes around one complete turn on stock set ups.

I managed to adjust the position of the broken tooth to the one place where it is never used in either end travel points.

I am not sure how long it will last, but so far we had two race evenings running fine.

In this case it held well until the replacement MZW417 arrived.

Regards,
Daniel