Servo knockoffs?

Community General Discussions
1

What's with all the Tower Pro servo knockoffs? I was just about to buy some Tower Pro MG996R servos and I noticed they're mostly Towardpro, even from hobby shops listing them as "Tower Pro". Anyone know if these are cheap knockoffs or are they manufactured by the same company under different labelling?

I've also seen some color4way that look like the Tower Pro purple label on ebay. Since I'm seeing them at hobby websites listed as Tower Pro I'm afraid of what I'll get when I order.

2

I noticed that. It makes it

I noticed that. It makes it very difficult to order parts. Wish China would do something to it’s copywrite laws. I think there’s simmilar ones that are out there that work well. I think hobby king had some that were really nice.

3

Hobby King

That’s one of the websites advertising Tower Pro but the pictures clearly show Towardpro. I don’t mind if they’re equivalent and it seems the industry in general doesn’t care. I just don’t like the false advertising, it looks shady. They should say “we have Towardpro which is the equivalent” or something but they don’t. If you’re going to get generic don’t go claiming it’s brand name.

4

Wish I’d read this forum first

Wish I’d read this forum before I bought a set of Tower Pro SG90 9g servos from eBay. So naive I thought they had just changed the designs … (I know… I know… way too trusting!). Tell tale signs

  • only 2 kinds of horns in the pack
  • blue clear plastic slightly darker colour from genuine ones
  • horns from genuine ones don’t fit
  • turn with a different sound from genuine ones (harsher)
  • make a click before they move
  • get hot easily
  • nylon used in horns is paler and less flexible

…oh … and they fail at the drop of a hat.

The label though was a spot-on copy of the original!

Hey ho! Lesson learned

5

Fake servos
Some of the towerpro servos advertised having ball bearings in fact do not. They have just plain plastic or nylon sleeves.
These tend to be on EBay and are cheap.