Connecting 2 Firgelli L12 Servos to one RC Channel

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I am a photographer in Alaska and last spring I started building a rc rover with a camera mounted on it to photograph wildlife. I used the Wild Thumper 6wd chasse and controller as the platform. It worked pretty well and I captured a few awesome images, but there were some design issues.  So this spring I am improving upon my design, however, I have ran into a small problem.

In my new design I am using 2 Firgelli L12-50-100-6-R servos to tilt the camera up and down. Now for the problem, when I connect both with a "y" cord to one channel on the RC Receiver, nothing happens.

This is what I have tried to troubleshoot the problem:

-Each L12 servo works flawlessly on its own.

-I connected 2 standard servos to the "y" cord on one channel and they work perfect together.

-I connected 1 L12 and 1 standard servo to the "y" they worked together.

-If both are connected to the "y" and i unplug one, the other starts working and goes right the the position it should be at.

-I have 3 L12 servos and tried every combination of them together, with no luck.

-I tried running power for the servos directly from the Wild Thumper Controller's 5v output and just connecting the white signal wire to the receiver. Didn't work.

-I contacted Firgelli tech support and asked them. They said it should work, no problem. They guy even sent me a video of his quadcopter he built with 4 L12's connected to one channel on the receiver to control the landing gear.  

 

Basically I have tried everything and I have no idea what is going on! haha

 

So if anyone has any thoughts or has any idea what is going on I would love to know!

 

My next question is, if I can't get this to work via a "y" cord directly into the RC Receiver. Is it possible to use the Wild Thumper Control board to relay the signal to 2 outputs. Or to rephrase, can I program the board to receive the signal from the RC receiver in one I/O pins and then just redirect the signal out to 2 different I/O pins (one for each L12 servo). If so, how the heck do I do that! haha

I know it's a roundabout way of doing this but it's the only thing I can think of unless anyone else has any suggestions. 

 

 

Thanks!!! :)

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No problem

First off, are you the Lion Guy? If you are, you are sorta famous 'round here. --At least your Wild Thumper is…

My first guess would be a simple crappy connector. Tug on the wires themselves, I would put money on one of them being loose in its crimp.

You second option is incredibly doable, and the code change would take 5 minutes. I would be happy to do it for you if a replacement code does not fix it.

[email protected]

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Thanks for the quick responses!

 

Duane- I am using a Racers Edge 7.2v 6cell 5000MAH NIMH battery. The tech guy at Firgelli said each servo only uses about 75-100mA when operating. If you stall them out they can reach a couple amps. But I was just testing them laying on my desk with no load. I did run them on separate channels at the same time for a bit and there were no issues.

 

Chris- HAHA! no I wish thought! Those guys are awesome!  I checked all the connections and swapped out cords… everything! It seems like something simple but I can’t figure it out! If I cant figure it out I would love help with the code. I bought this board with the intent of eventually learning at least the basics of Arduino. As of now, all I have managed to do is switch the D0 and D1 pins with D10 and D12. 

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With all the focus on current draw of the servos

seeming to get nowhere. I am starting to wonder if the resistor on the signal wire might actually be a good plan. If the receiver is the problem, it might be having trouble driving enough current down the signal wires to two servos. 

***Mind you. I am just thinking “out loud” here. I have no degree or advanced knowledge. Only enough information to make me dangerous. :smiley: ***