Ragleth; adding radio control

Post by **-steves-** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 10:10 am

A word of advice for everyone.

Be very very careful of using nylon geared small servo's as the slightest snag on them and they will strip those tiny little gears quicker than you can blink and you will be replacing the entire servo. I have totally given up on them now and will only use metal geared servos of an identical size, which are also dirt cheap to buy.

I honestly hope this helps a few people

.

Boustrophedon · Post by **Boustrophedon** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:01 pm

I am using metal geared servos.

mikewakefielduk@btinterne · Post by **mikewakefielduk@btinterne** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:11 pm

I totally agree, servos with nylon gears are a failure waiting to happen. The blue servo I showed (with the bracket I'd made) was just a broken one of the right size I'd had kicking around. The metal geared servo I used originally had been moved on and installed in a Bertie.

Boustrophedon · Post by **Boustrophedon** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:38 pm

I have used smaller servos than the size that would be indicated by the spacing of the bolt holes on the running plate. The spec shows they have more than enough power.

I have ground some sharp edges off the reverser that were causing a notchy motion and fitted a much lighter friction spring, just enough to hold the lever against the stand.

So far I have only fitted the reverser servo.

Photos to follow.

mikewakefielduk@btinterne · Post by **mikewakefielduk@btinterne** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 8:15 pm

and fitted a much lighter friction spring

Do you need one at all? I discard mine and rely on the servo to hold the reverser in position.

Boustrophedon · Post by **Boustrophedon** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 9:52 pm

mikewakefielduk@btinterne:123602 wrote:
and fitted a much lighter friction spring
Do you need one at all? I discard mine and rely on the servo to hold the reverser in position.

It seemed to flop sideways too far for my liking.

Chris Cairns · Post by **Chris Cairns** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 6:37 pm

Glad I stopped by with this Topic as I've now got a couple of 'To Do' items completed.

4 x AAA battery holder now fitted to the Ragleth, replacing a 4 x AA battery pack, making it more accessible for recharging/removal. Finally cut an extra slot in the display board so I can now store this loco in 32mm gauge in the Accucraft box.

Tried fitting a flat 4.8V AA battery pack to the Edrig inside the right side tank but it fouled operation of the reverser. So flat 4.8V AAA battery pack fitted, so no requirement to carry the battery pack/holder in an attached wagon.

I can understand your sentiment regarding metal geared servos, but so far I've not stripped any of my servo gears - all plastic/nylon. Roundhouse fit Hitec HS81 servos to some locos, and if you are fitting a Roundhouse radio control kit to your loco it will probably specify HS81 servos. The problem with all these cheap generic servos being flogged from Asia is that many do not provide all the relevant sizes so you do not know beforehand if you will have fouling problems.

Chris Cairns

TonyW · Post by **TonyW** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 8:23 pm

HS82MG are the equivalent to HS81 but with metal gears.

Chris Cairns · Post by **Chris Cairns** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:10 pm

Briefly discussed this subject at last weekend's running day.

What seems to be missing with some of these generic/unbranded servos is proper dimensions (not just the mounting holes), so you can work out a direct replacement for the HS 81 (or HS 82) when there is no stock of the Hitec servos available (as was the case when I was looking for some last year - I guess they were waiting on a ship delivery from Asia). I spent some time searching some Radio Control Forums & Traders websites but could not locate a non-Hitec direct replacement for the HS 81. Eventually more HS 81 stock arrived.

Chris Cairns

Boustrophedon · Post by **Boustrophedon** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:00 am

Hmm! Coming to this as a noob, I had no idea which of the 1000s of servos on offer to use. So I looked at the utterly cheap, blue 9g servos I used for my foamboard RC planes. I looked at the specs and measured the force needed to move the controls on Ragleth and bought some better versions with full metal gears, about £5 each. They are much smaller but have more than enough torque to work the controls on Ragleth. How long they last we shall see.

No Ragleths were harmed during the making of... (No holes drilled.)

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Batteries in the usual place under the floor, switch in the right hand hole, charger plug in the left.

(pictures uploaded using the drag and drop method.)

Boustrophedon · Post by **Boustrophedon** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:07 am

I understand why Roundhouse et al use such big servos, moving a full or semi Walschaerts takes some effort, but the Ragleth control valve takes hardly any force to move.

I have to say just how much nicer a Ragleth is with full RG. I tried it on reverser only but throttling it down, whilst it works is very noisy, so much nicer to have the throttle on RC as well.

RSB · Post by **RSB** » Fri May 12, 2017 7:30 pm

Could someone please tell me the type of Futaba servo commonly used on the reverser of a Ragleth / Mortimer / Caradoc loco?

tom_tom_go · Post by **tom_tom_go** » Fri May 12, 2017 7:53 pm

RSB wrote: ↑Fri May 12, 2017 7:30 pm Could someone please tell me the type of Futaba servo commonly used on the reverser of a Ragleth / Mortimer / Caradoc loco?

I used a S3001, more than enough for the job.

tom_tom_go · Post by **tom_tom_go** » Fri May 12, 2017 7:56 pm

Boustrophedon wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:07 am I understand why Roundhouse et al use such big servos, moving a full or semi Walschaerts takes some effort, but the Ragleth control valve takes hardly any force to move.

I use a Tower Pro SG90 micro servo on the reverser on one of my Roundhouse chassis locos...

RSB · Post by **RSB** » Tue May 16, 2017 9:14 pm

RSB wrote: ↑Fri May 12, 2017 7:30 pm Could someone please tell me the type of Futaba servo commonly used on the reverser of a Ragleth / Mortimer / Caradoc loco?

thanks

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