The other day, I went to the field to fly with my faithful Futaba 8FG . When i powered up my model I noted that it had substantial up elevator. Perplexed, I went to the Servo menu on my radio to see that almost full up elevator was given as a command, even with the stick neutral and the trims almost centered.
The gimbal and stick did not seem to have any mechanical problem, and when i moved the stick the center point changed randomly. The servo bar moved with the stick was usually offset and never centered. It was a very nervous moment - Imagine what this could have done, with comeone flying a multi rotor, only to have it come flying back at them with no stick movement !!
Or for that reason go flying anywhere else !
The stick was smooth, and the radio has had no history of problems or handling problems.
Of course i would never fly with such an equipment, so went home and opened the radio. Everything inside was clean and factory set.
The gimbal was connected to the motherboard with a cable with connectors on each one. One end plugged into the gimbal and the other into the main board. i noted that when I touched these connectors, the servo output varied.
So, I took of the connector, cleaned it with some iso propyl alcohol, and after drying, put it back and all the problems were gone !
The centering works fabulous !
I wrote to Futaba support on RCU and the thread is linked below.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/futaba-radios-direct-support-forum-125/11598036-stick-centering-problem-futaba-8fg-super.htmlFutaba seems to acknowledge the problem by :
- A Removing the connecotrs in the 8FG super and soldering them
- B Explicitly saying that we should clean the connectors routinely.
Amazing how such a big reputed company can expect people to open up their radios routinely, and take out the delicate connectors and clean them - Plus this never being documented anywhere in maintenance regime !
Perhaps an important thing to note for all current 8FG users.
Cant think of what all damages this can do ! All Futaba 8FG users should be alerted !