Servo, DS125CLHV

Suitable uses for a DS125CLHV include small unmanned vehicles for civilian consumer, defense contractors, and industry alike. Examples include;

• 1/24th scale crawlers
• Fixed-wing 3D EDF models
• Tactical surveillance UAVs
• Micro rotary-wing applications

Click Specs next.

MIL-STD-810G-Part 16

• Shock - Test Method 516.6
• Vibration - Test Method 514.6
• Rain - Test Method 514.5

Making the ProModeler DS125CLHV better than hobby-grade servos, is it's built with MIL-SPEC components and tested to these MIL-STDS (military standards).

These are real world ownership considerations applicable to civilian-use, also.

Popular with defense contractors and industry, civilian users of the DS125CLHV also include modelers for whom the bottom exit servo lead makes it ideal, like the immensely popular Axial SCX24 micro crawlers. Ditto for those who benefit from the strong steel gears and rigid case structure, which include aircraft modelers who require an extreme duty sub-micro servo like those from Freewing and such models as a micro-turbine powered model because while tiny, they're fast and excellent centering resulting in a precision feel unlike anything else on Earth. Especially when durability is the significant consideration.

Demanding model applications require our best performance considerations - like centering, power, and speed - but always rugged durability above all. This servo is engineered to deliver in spades! Let's see where the ruggedness is built in.

For example, the all-alloy case looks trick, but lots of imports servos have alloy cases. What separates ProModeler is how it's built.

Case has several jobs . . .

• Mounting tabs
• Cooling fins
• Transmission section
• Hard points for gear shafts
• Steel gears
• Environmental protection (seals)

Electronics Section

• Million-cycle potentiometer
• Potting compound on PCB
• Slip-fit brushless motor

To begin, the foundation is the 10-bolt construction. It's one where Allen head machine thread fasteners thread into the center case. This makes it more rigid in torsion (twisting force that's trying to lever the case sections apart and screw up the gear mesh). Reason this is important is if the gear-mesh changes under load it creates bad wear patterns leading to failure (basically bad juju for any servo).

Speaking of gears, they're all-steel. Why steel? Simple, because it's the best and most durable material available. For example, did you know NASCAR, drag racers, Ferraris, and Corvettes use all-steel gears, also? There's nothing better. Fact.

But equally important is where the steel gear shafts are anchored. In this servo, the gear shafts are anchored withing bronze hard points embedded into aluminum. These reinforce the case and spread impact loads. Servos without these soon end up with round bores for the shafts that get pounded into an egg shape, thus allowing the gear mesh goes to Hell.

Believe me, if that happens then it's new gears 'and' a new case because you can't put new gears into a case with worn bores (you can but they'll get trashed really quickly). So what this really means is those servos are throw aways. It's out view you're better off if we reinforce the case to begin with, agreed?

This area will contain installation tips for this servo into the fabulous SCX24.

Installation into an EF-model will occupy this area.

This area will contain installation tips for DS125CLHV sub-micro servo in boats

This area will contain what you get for this servo.

Note1

These are tiny servos with even tinier gears and operating them manually via the servo horn may damage them. This damage is not covered by warranty. Please do not treat these like a standard size servos. If you fit a servo arm and zing is back and forth to feel the compression (just kidding) and damage it, it's on you. And if mounted in a rig, use a servo saver to protect the gears, they're not unbreakable! You've been warned.

Note 2

Operating voltage is 4.8-8.4V, but optimal performance is obtained with a 2S LiPo instead of a BEC. This is because LiPos deliver the required current without voltage spikes, noise, or otherwise adversely affecting the delicate avionics (15C or better is recommended). After all, synthetic orange colored Tang may have gone to the moon, but it doesn't compare to freshly squeezed orange juice. Same thing when it comes to feeding your avionics! Learn more by reviewing this article;

• BEC or dedicated pack?
• How many Amps can the servo connector handle?
• The case against synthetic voltage
• Why's my pack got two JR-connectors?
• Maxxing a servo's performance requires 8.4V, right?

. . . major point being, individually these things can draw 1.35A apiece so if you have a model jet with 9-10 of them, or a 3D model with four, which is not hard at all, then exceeding the 3.5A rating of the connector going between speed control and receiver (the throttle lead is how the receiver is back-fed power from the ESC through the BEC-circuit) it's pretty easy to exceed what is safe. Heads up, OK?

Note 3

We're often asked why we say not to use this for the throttle servo of model airplanes/boats/helicopters/trucks since a carburetor only needs maybe 10oz-in of torque. The reason has to do with the tiny component size and withstanding vibration. Even when we protect the PCB with potting compound, what we can't protect is the potentiometer because it directly links mechanically to the output gear. So even when protected with rubber isolation (which we offer as an option but don't supply as standard equipment since these things mostly go into small electric models with relatively low vibration levels), an internal combustion engine (gasoline or nitro, no matter) is feeding vibration into the pot via the throttle pushrod. This *will* destroy the servo - and really really quickly. Point being, we have too much experience with this and thus, while we love you as a customer, we don't love you enough to be warrantying what we know will break. Thus, we'd rather warn you off the product thereby risking the sale from the get go, capisci? What would we suggest instead? Maybe a DS100 is the better alternative but in truth, we'd really rather guide you to a standard size DS90DLHV equipped with a PDRS105 servo horn. Review this article to learn more.

• Gasser throttle servo

. . . and note, while this is aimed at modelers with gasoline engines, the same holds true for cars and trucks, boats, and helicopters with high RPM nitro engines which typically also use a very short 1/16" steel pushrod to make the linkage. Trust us we know what we're talking about . . . please!