Fail safe systems

[nitronewbie]

What is your guys opinions of fail safe systems set up the throttle servo. I am setting up the radio box on my new 1/8 scale. Who makes a system that is worth anything or better yet, is worth the value of an scale hydro Thanks guys

 

[gene gager]

I run two radios, one for steering and the other for throttle and fuel mix. you will have to carry two batterys,two recievers and two antenas. put new on/off switches in at start of year, and coat reciever and plug ins with corrosion X . then pray for good luck. geno

 

[Climate Boatworks]

Fail-safe = crash over here...or crash over there.

They should be called Fail (somewhat less un-) safe

While the idea of a fail-safe is a great idea, unless it can be set for a "hold on loss of signal" it is pretty well useless. If the cause of your signal loss is a low receiver battery, the fail safe is useless as the power required to move the throttle servo is already gone.

All modern FM radios have much cleaner signals than radios of a 10-15 years ago.

If you are getting radio "Glitches" it is time to look for the problem, or perhaps have your radio re-tuned.

If the cause of the signal loss is someone turning on the same frequency or 3PM you may have a lesser chance of a crash with a failsafe on board, but even a slow boat these days still travels well over 50 feet even when you chop the throttle. If your boat happens to be pointing at a dock or shoreline when it decides to loose the radio signal, your are screwed.

A lot of times a partial signal is better than no signal at all. If your fail safe cuts in and tries to reduce the throttle, that opportunity at the partial signal may be gone depending on the cut in / cut out time of the failsafe.

For the price of a fail-safe unit, you can have your radio re-tuned several times. I would say that re-tuning and a good clean set up is better insurance than a fail-safe.

 

[ClayGlover]

Some swear by a throttle return spring, others say it can hurt the throttle servo. I think that a return spring is good insurance and doesn't require a battery. The spring resistance is negligible if done correctly. I run pcm receivers with the f/s too. I had a receiver pack fail completely at wot and the spring worked, an electronic type f/s wouldn't have done it. jmo...

 

[gene gager]

return springs draw on the batterys, and somtimes don't return all the way so you still hit the bank at a good clip. done that. geno.

 

[ClayGlover]

return springs draw on the batterys, and somtimes don't return all the way so you still hit the bank at a good clip.  done that.  geno.

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yes, it ain't foolproof, just another option. from what I can tell, the return springs are considered standard equipment on nitro rc cars though

 

[Terry Keeley]

I don't know why anyone would run without one, both for safety reasons and to protect your expensive "toy".

I've tryed the RAM units and they don't work very well IMHO. I had a pack go bad and it didn't pick it up and close the throttle like it was supposed to. I've also used a cheap copy of the Futaba FS1 made by MHZ, same thing.

For the past couple of years I've used the FS1 in all my boats and am very happy with them, even though they aren't cheap. I had my 20 mono shut down unexpectedly last year, it was the FS1 working when a small pack I was running got low.

No failsafe can protect you from a bad switch or broken wires though, I'll only use a good quality slide switch (Noble), spring loaded on and locks on all power connectors.

 

[boaterbill]

I don't know why anyone would run without one, both for safety reasons and to protect your expensive "toy".
I've tryed the RAM units and they don't work very well IMHO.  I had a pack go bad and it didn't pick it up and close the throttle like it was supposed to.  I've also used a cheap copy of the Futaba FS1 made by MHZ, same thing.

For the past couple of years I've used the FS1 in all my boats and am very happy with them, even though they aren't cheap.  I had my 20 mono shut down unexpectedly last year, it was the FS1 working when a small pack I was running got low.

No failsafe can protect you from a bad switch or broken wires though, I'll only use a good quality slide switch (Noble), spring loaded on and locks on all power connectors.

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I've been running MPI fail safe units in all my boats for the past ten years, with no problems. Best price for f/s you can get. Some of the newer Futaba radios have their own built in fail safe, I think.