Bottom line? This is one bad ass servo we're making here. Period. Unbreakable?
- No, we'll never say that because we're not stupid.
However, it's a very tough to beat servo in the +600oz-in class because beyond the best materials and design, we nail the price point, also. Feel free to look around because we're not shying away from anybody's product. Not even at this price point because we think this DS630 is the best in class your money can buy. Period!
Read on to see if the DS630 fills your bill of requirements.
Materials, or what goes into it.
The best materials. Period. Nobody does it better at any price. So what does it mean? Materials includes 6061-T6 aircraft aluminum, 35NiCrMo16 steel gears, SAE 660 bronze bushings, ABEC-9 bearings, BUNA-N o-rings, and DIN-912 18-8 stainless socket cap screws. Add brushless motor, million-cycle potentiometer, gold-plated connectors, surface-mount components, even time consuming potting compound!
- But even the best stuff put together cheaply can be shit.
We'll show you photos of how it's made, and explain what it's made of to your satisfaction before you'll buy, we get it. However, what you can't see or measure is an intangible that's just as important. This is because with the DS630 you also get our best effort and dedication - our very heart and soul. We like to say; Better parts. Better servos. It's true. So let's look at the design.
Pilot information:
If you fly IMAC maneuvers, then centering is your single-most important consideration. After all, you can't possibly fly precise maneuvers otherwise. For you, one of the principal reasons for wanting this servo are the MIL-SPEC components and genuine Nobel potentiometer because you get consistency. These are game changers for the sport and while we pioneered their application expressly to suit our largest customer (the one delivering ordnance on a target 8000 miles away via GPS-steering), the intense R&D required just happens to suit your needs as well. Think of it as a little lagniappe derived from your tax dollars at work!
If you prefer your flying in doses of adrenaline because you fly 3D/XA, we got you covered with lighting fast as well as powerful.
We also pay very close attention to little things. Like making them nearly impervious to dust, water, and exhaust-oil. How? Through the use of o-rings for sealing (a total of 13 in this servo vs. 2 in a Savox 2290SG) plus - where the wires exit the case - a custom seal and a special 3M-adhesive.
By the way, notice how the wires aren't perfectly square where they exit the case. This is because the leads are soldered to the PCB by hand (to include both left and right-handed technicians) and before the glue dries, the wires relax to their natural set and rotate a little bit before the glue sets up. As it turns out, not forcing it but letting it take a natural set results in a better seal. going with the flow became a saying for a reason and this is better than listening to our inborn OCD!
Driver information
I have to discuss things with drivers that I don't, generally, with pilots. Pilots know good and well when they tore up a servo in a crash not to come whinging to us. After all, unlike roots, curbs, and fence posts which aren't compressible, air is quite compressible so you're never gonna break the teeth off these steel gears in the air. Ain't happening!
However, drivers often include a younger demographic. Kids occasionally demonstrate behaviors in which, our grown ass customers don't engage. For example, young guy sent in this DS630 from steering his RC truck used for bashing; says, 'I wasn't doing nothing but driving it up and down the street and then it wouldn't turn.' only to see this when we received it. That's a 6m steel shaft twisted like this and he claims he, 'didn't do nuttin', it just happened.'
- The best steel gear money can buy aren't proof against curbs and roots
So either these customers are lying, or maybe they don't appreciate what the forces involved are when an 8-12lb vehicle kisses a curb at 25 mph, or when they launch their X-MAXX 50' and it lands on one front wheel (quite likely as they're not airplanes and have no rudder and elevator controls). Or, they're lying and trying to pull a fast one, or maybe they're just that dumb. Either way, when we receive a servo for warranty and it looks like this, we ain't paying, it's not warranty and we can fix it usually, but it's on your wallet, not ours!
Another example are gear teeth broken like this . . .
. . . and that's a steel gear, the best we can lay hands on. And no, it didn't just happen. And no, we're not going to warranty this kind of damage. And if our telling you this up front is off-putting such that you'd rather buy an import-servo instead, then please go ahead because we aren't in the business of paying for some knucklehead's definition of fun involving launching your rig - and we go out of our way to warn against bashing or using in large rigs like an X-Maxx where we offer servos more suitable.
Tricks that raises costs for everybody else.
This section is titled like this because that's what you're really asking us with your stupid tricks; to pass the expense on to others. No offense but we're not playing and we'd rather alienate you up front than make believe in fairy tales like unbreakable servos. Blunt? We're a company made up of engineers. Blunt assessment is what we do. Simple minded stories are for others!
Another example is we open it and it's fried. For example, this servo died during a 5A event. Doesn't happen just sitting there. Something bound up, wiggled wheels back and forth trying to get unstock, or maybe an end point wasn't set properly, whatever. Ain't on us. In other words, this isn't on us to pay for the repair. Don't even try because we know our product. Don't like it? Buy an import. We don't make what you need. Everybody else, keep reading as long as we're clear, we don't offer an unbreakable product, so to the question are, what's the warranty, and who pays?
Warranty: 1-year parts and labor against defect in materials or workmanship
While nothing's unbreakable, we really do try to make the best possible. This is what we offer. First, it's built like a brick shithouse. As you read you'll learn it got a steel gear train because there's nothing better. And that said gears are supported better than popular competitors like a Savox 2290SG.
But if you ask us to warranty a breakage, it'll be clear whether you broke it, or under a microscope, we see an occlusion or defect in the metal. If this is the case, we'll repair it and return it under warranty, no expense to you. But if it broke due to external forces, you pay. Clear?
What if it just doesn't work? Again, return it. We'll figure it out quickly and return a warranty repair promptly. But if you burned it up, we don't want to hear the excuses and BS. Cry online about it all you want because everybody that owns the product will recognize a cry baby because it's clear what we're making. No offense.
And especially with something big and fast like an X-MAXX where this servo is NOT recommended (we recommend the DS930 because it's a bolt-in or if you're a racer guy and into modding, or any series 2 like 635/834/1155 because the gears and output shaft are larger and more gnarly), so don't even pick up the phone to complain when you break it. You can, you will, not our fault because we tell you at the start what to look at instead, capice?
Look, regarding a warranty for gear breakage. When we see deformation and fracture due to external forces that's not warranty. Damned good servo but not warrantied against breakage. 1-year warranty labor and materials against defects in materials or workmanship.
We've been doing this a long time, we know what we're doing and we'll always be fair but don't try to take advantage of us. Ask around.
Better components. Better servos. The formula is simple. Decisions regarding what go into ProModeler servos aren't made in accounting (where they always optimize price and profit) but by engineering where they don't give a damn what things cost because it has to suit the mission.
Of course we know this servo is a little pricey. We know similarly priced competitors like the excellent Savox 2290SG make a tad more torque. But because we gave engineering a free hand, nobody builds better and if you really need a little more torque than the DS630, and are thinking of a Savox 2290SG, you owe it to yourself to look at our DS930 or DS1155 alternatives because the amount of money difference is half a tank of gas, OK?
Gears:
For example, marketing wondered why we didn't use titanium gears. It's sexy, they said. It's easier to sell, they said. Well, the reason has everything to do with steel having better mechanical properties for gears! Sure titanium, like carbon fiber, is sexy and easy to sell but if titanium were the be-all, end-all for gears, then in Formula 1 racing where it's very much a 'cost be damned world', they'd be using titanium gears, right? They don't for the same reason we don't, our engineers are of the opinion our steel alloy (nitrided 35NiCrMo16) is better . . . so engineering told marketing to stick it in their ear!
Reinforced case;
The case is made of aircraft grade aluminum alloy. But that's not strong enough inplaces so we reinforce it with bronse inserts. Hardpoints just like the wings of aircraft that deliver ordinance are hardened with hardpoints. Same principle.
There was the time accounting wondered why we use pricey Swiss-machined bronze inserts (we press them into the case for reinforcement). The way it works, under the kind of loads this servo may encounter, the aluminum pockets where the steel shafts fit are pounded so hard sometimes they go egg-shape (because steel is harder than aluminum). Since these are the shafts upon which the gears themselves rotate, once that happens gear wear accelerates because the gear-mesh has gone to hell (meaning a new set of gears won't solve the problem because the case itself is deformed).
So engineering addressed the problem by reinforcing the aluminum bores with SAE 660 bronze bushings, which nobody in the hobby-business does to their aluminum servos. Granted, accounting had a point - the bushings 'are' a little expensive (and we use 3 in each servo) but it's only because they're very small parts (and thus, more difficult to handle which makes them more costly).
Ultimately, their complaint boiled down to, "Our competitors fit shafts directly into the aluminum bores!" to which we politely observed, that's because we don't build hobby-grade servos! So basically, we told them to go pound sand - but very politely because they do the paychecks!
So how strong is this servo? Well, 630 oz-in ÷ 16 oz/pound results in nearly 40 pounds, which is significantly more than a concrete block - or about as much as a 5 y/o weighs!
Final note: operating voltage range is 4.8-8.4V, but optimal performance is obtained with a 2S LiPo instead of a BEC. In part this is because we don't know of any BEC that can reliably supply the clean current our high performance servos need at the same time as the drive motor is making it's maximum demands on the propulsion battery. Moreover, even if we knew of a BEC (either incorporated into the ESC, or a stand-alone unit) whose output wasn't garbage compared to even the cheapest LiPo on the planet, our advice is still . . . you're way ahead of the game by isolating control-electronics from noisy propulsion-loads. Yes, we know this means charging two separate battery packs, and yes, we know this is more trouble, but a dedicated battery for the radio is better. More here:
OtherResources
For detailed specifications and dimension drawings, select the Specs tab above. If they match up with your requirements, then pull the trigger and add a set to your cart. You're going to love them!