Gang,
Those reading in..
IT IS BEST TO REGULATE servos that are not designed for high voltage packs like LIFE or LIPO..
Do you HAVE to do it.. NO.. but you are spinning the chamber.
Your call...
Grim
Grim,
If LiFe packs required the purchase of HV rated servo's or a regulator there would be very few people running LiFe packs but there is almost no one left that doesn't have their receiver/servo's powered directly by LiFe packs without the use of HV servos or going through a regulator.
Just don't want people reading your posts and thinking oh holy chit I gotta buy two $100 + dollar servo's to run a LiFe pack. That's crazy.
And just because a servo does burn up just blaming it on the extra voltage of a LiFe packs is probably not the case. I saw more servo's burnt up with NiMh than I see burning up today. Sometimes the extra voltage will prevent a servo from burning up. They burn up when they lock rotor and it frys the amplifier from over current well with the good strong battery it isn't nearly as likely to lock rotor like a weaker lower voltage pack will allow. Once they can't turn from the load the amperage draw goes through the roof and the magic smoke releases.
95% of even old standard analogue servo's are designed to handle 4 AA dry cells. 4 new AA dry cells are 6.40 volt. A LiFe pack is 6.66 -6.68 volt fully charged.
.28 volt more a LiFe pack has isn't much more than the 4 AA dry cells that the servo's were fine with.
They aren't like Lipo's where the voltage charged is higher than the packs stated voltage where 2S LiPo's are 7.4 volt and charged they are over 8 volts.
A 2S LiFe pack while charging takes the voltage to 7.20 but once they settle down that bleeds off because it wasn't really the packs voltage just the charging voltage. Once they come back down they are 6.68 volt tops.
I have sold probably 2000 or more LiFe packs and almost all are going in boats with servo's that are not HV rated because they do not need to be.
The only time you really need HV rated servo's is if you are going to run a Lipo unregulated.
Not talking about what servo's Doug may have but in general with todays current available servos you almost certainly can run a LiFe pack without risk of burning up the servo.
Are there any that will not take a LiFe pack ? No doubt there is but for 95% or better and 99% of anything currently being used it is perfectly fine. If it burns up your old junk I would consider it has done you a favor. Now you have a good reason to get current. Lol.