Fake Futaba servos

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Re: Fake Futaba servos

Postby NZ_AJ » Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:57 pm

I’ve heard many times that when something appears too good to be true then it usually is and in this instance it certainly was.
I scored 4 of these 3003 servo's on Ebay at a rather cheap price but when they arrived I discovered why (some rigorous ground testing paid off for sure).
The units I received looked very similar to the fake ones shown here and have some severe performance issues.
The potentiometers that provide position feedback to the units were extremely bad which caused the centre position to vary 55 degrees from centre on each side (yes, you read that correctly, 110 degrees variation overall!) and made position control totally impossible.
The other issue was the motor strength, the servo was very week, almost to the point of acting like one of its 12gm little brothers.
I did try my luck with the seller (who was upset when I threatened to leave feedback mentioning his misleading sale of Fakes) and he promised to send 2 new ones after personally testing them.
Well, they arrived and were even worse than the original 4.
I learned many lessons in this exercise, I still love Ebay but wisdom, discernment and common sense are invaluable :-)
NZ_AJ
 
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Re: Fake Futaba servos

Postby phil f » Mon Jul 16, 2012 7:48 pm

I recently bought a bag of 8 Servos ,supposedly Futaba 3003's at a bring and buy at a local show . Cost £8 for 8 servos that looked as new ! When I got home I tested them on a servo tester and they all seemed to work Ok . I noticed that the plugs never had tabs on them so looked further and yes they are fakes . Needless to say they wont be going into any planes for controls .They will Possibly be used for toffee bomber box servos or similar. Obviously the previous owner thought the same and put them in the sale.
phil f
 
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Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:05 pm

Re: Fake Futaba servos

Postby thailazer » Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:25 am

A big Thank You to you Bruce for having the article on fake Futaba servos. I have 23 bucks worth of them on the way! Here are two Ebay sellers that appear to be selling them so be cautious out there. Folks should look at the seller names and stay away. Can't believe this has been going on for four years now.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/111118263612?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649


http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Torque-Futaba-S3003-Standard-NIB-Servo-for-RC-Car-NIB-Plane-Boat-Helicopter-/290920853514?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43bc3bf00a
thailazer
 
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