ofna fail safe

[ayk_driver]

has n e one seen or used this failsafe? im thinkin' of buyin' one if towers ever gets them in... n e one no the price of them too?

[ayk_driver]

n e one out there help me out?

[tadium54]

I have the old green one in my MP. It works ok, but I think a throtle return spring would be better.

[ayk_driver]

o ok no thats not the one im talkin' about... this one is...
http://www.ofna.com/elec-failsafe.html

[1/8buggyman]

ive got one on my ofna buggy. ive never had to use it, but it does work well. ive tested it just by turning off the transmitter. The green one and the red one are the same. the red one is just smaller. if it didnt come standard on my buggy, then i dont know if i would get one. i think i would just use a throttle return spring.

[InspGadgt]

You don't need a fail safe. You need a throttle return spring and constant checking of your batteries. Do a search on fail safes and you'll find several posts where I posted a long explanation of how fail safes actually work (or don't).

[ayk_driver]

well i think i wood prefer a failsafe over a spring cuz after a wile from the sevo pulling the spring it will stretch out and be inaffective... plus the spring mite now be strong enuff... i just dont want my maxx to go 45mph into a tree... truck... or even worse.. a person..

also does n e one have the part number for the green failsafe?

[Matlock]

A failsafe may not be that useful if you just bash, but if you race I could see where it would help you more. Of course, either way you should get a TRS.

[ayk_driver]

well the 2.5 maxx engine has the TRS spring built into it but i want extra security thats all........

[Matlock]

Theres no harm in having a failsafe, it can only do good. I'm just saying I don't know if it will really do much. But hey, its your money do what YOU want. Thats whats important.

[ayk_driver]

well i live in canada and considering this truck is gonna cost me around 700 i dont wanna have a 45 mph run away and have it break its first time out thats all

[InspGadgt]

An external fail safe is not going to protect you from having a WOT (wide open throttle) run away. They do not help in the case of battery disconnection as they need the battery power to function, and they can not determine if your car is having RF interferrence based off of throttle signal input. Basically the only real instance they will do anything for you is if you drive out of range. But since transmitter range is generally further then you can see chances are you won't be playing with the truck that far away.

[ayk_driver]

well the 2.5 has a TRS built into the slide carb so thats ok im assuming... but i want a failsafe and am looking for sum help from ppl on these boards

[CJ3willyMX]

thats not all true. i have a failsafe on my buggy and it has saved it a few times. I was running in a praking lot once and i was WOT when all of the sudden the Brakes slammed on. My reciever batteries had gone dead. And the problem with a TRS is you have to find a spring strong enough to pull the servo but you dont want the servo to have trouble pulling the spring. In that case you are just puttin on un nessesary stress.

just my opinion
Pat

[ayk_driver]

ok kewl

so has n e one used the new ofna failsafe?

[InspGadgt]

Your reciever pack should not have gone dead. Any time you run your cars that should be one of the first things checked. I'm quite surprised that it did work especially since a fail safe needs power in order to work. Glad it did though.

[InspGadgt]

Your reciever pack should not have gone dead. Any time you run your cars that should be one of the first things checked. I'm quite surprised that it did work especially since a fail safe needs power in order to work. Glad it did though.

In 11 years of racing I've never had a run away with my nitro cars. With proper precautions, which should become habbit to any RC'er, any instance where a fail safe would actually work would never happen. Accidents like someone turning on a radio with the same channel do happen but even then a fail safe would not help you.

[ayk_driver]

but my q still stands... has n e one used this speed control? thats my only q and i wood really like and answer plz

[1/8buggyman]

actually if someone turned on their radio while you were driving, the failsafe would help you. when it loses the radio signal, or gets some interference, it slams on the breaks

[ayk_driver]

yeah thats y i want one...

[InspGadgt]

Originally posted by 1/8buggyman
actually if someone turned on their radio while you were driving, the failsafe would help you. when it loses the radio signal, or gets some interference, it slams on the breaks

Actually it can't even though that's what the manufacturers say. Ok I guess it's time to copy/paste in my super long explanation of how these things supposedly detect radio interferrence.

External fail-safe devices activate only in the event of a loss of signal to the throttle servo. Now exactly what causes a loss of signal? There are 3 causes for a loss of signal. 1) Transmitter stops transmitting (batteries die, transmitter gets turned off, etc. etc.). 2) Receiver stops receiving (this can only happen from a loss of power from the receiver battery pack) or goes out of range. And 3) Signal cancellation. Now the first 2 causes are rather self-explanatory, but the third can cause a great deal of confusion to those who have not studied waveforms such as radio waves. Basically in order for signal cancellation to occur 2 or more waves when intersecting must be exactly opposite of each other to bring the combined waves to zero. Now lets think this from the other end of the equation. Most of us have made the mistake of turning on our car before the radio on more than on occasion. Now, what happens when the car is on but the radio isn’t? Most people will say, “The car goes crazy”. But this is not entirely accurate. I have on many occasions had the car just sit there and not go crazy at all. What causes the car to go crazy is the multitude of RF signals in the atmosphere from various sources such as cell phones, microwaves, aircraft radio, power wires, etc. etc. If your car were turned on in a room that shields all such signals out it would just sit there and do nothing. So if signal loss doesn’t cause glitching what does? Glitching occurs when the receiver receives more than one command on the same frequency. Since there are so many other sources of RF out there it’s quite easy for the receiver to pick up on one of these and get, shall we say, confused. Because there is no loss of signal in this case then an external fail safe device would do nothing to prevent a runaway. However it would make for a good alternative to a throttle return spring, as it will activate under the same circumstances. Additionally it will not place added stress on the servo.

There is one type of fail-safe device that will activate to prevent glitching. That is the fail-safe built into a PCM radio system. PCM works by having a code within the signal that is transmitted. If the receiver does not get that code or receives fro multiple sources then it automatically goes into fail-safe mode. But will not go into fail safe in the event of a loss of power so you would still need a return spring.

Now just because you have a fail safe, throttle return spring, or even PCM, don’t think you’re entirely safe. Let’s say your in the middle of a race, leading the A main and screaming down the straight when someone keys on their radio on your channel. Luckily you have PCM and your car safely fail-safes and comes to a stop…in the middle of the straight. And right then, second, third, and forth place cars slam into yours at full speed.

[ayk_driver]

And right then, second, third, and forth place cars slam into yours at full speed. [/B][/QUOTE]

lol that wood hurt!!!

[Pro3/nmt105]

Even if the failsafe you have dosnt stop the car when it notices low voltage in the reciever pack, it will be the same thing as loss of signal so it will stop your car anyway when your rx battery gets low it almost always have the power to move the throttle to the preset position, its just that it dosnt have enough power to communicate with the transmitter so it goes into loss of signal mode and stops the car. Unless In some very strange case your rx batterys all of a sudden go completly dead (or they fall out), or you start the car at wot with a completly dead rx pack.

I wanted to put a TRS on my nitros but I use cheapo s3003 sevos for throttle and they dont have the power to move the linkages and pull a TRS, atleast quickly.

[ayk_driver]

well r there n e other fail safes sum one could suggest? im gonna be using a trinity ni-mh 1150 mAh pack and sum failsafes wont work with ni-mh pax

[dan7532]

All fail-safes should work with nimh packs. The only thing is with the low-voltage situation. Fail-safes are made to kick in when the receiver pack hits around 4.0 volts to stop the car before the batteries get too low and risk a run-away. Nimhs have an irregular discharge rate and the fail-safe may not kick in to stop you from the voltage getting too low (it might not "recognize" that the battery is too low). As long as there is sufficient voltage, it will still work. It just will not kick in because of low voltage; it would take another warning for it to kick in. So in the end, all should work with a nimh, but some might not prevent your batteries from dumping (with a nicad, they would stop the car before the voltage gets too low, it could "recognize" that your batteries are getting too low and would stop your car). So if your batteries dump completely, you could have a run-away.

[ayk_driver]

i no most fail safes will work with ni-mh but the futaba failsafe will only work with ni-cd's... not ni-mh thats y i ask

[robc]

The 2.5 DOES have a weak built-in TRS but it won't save your Maxx in a bad moment. I totally agree with the previous posters, a TRS is the way to go, required at my local track. Failsafes are a waste of money IMO.

[InspGadgt]

Originally posted by Pro3/nmt105
Even if the failsafe you have dosnt stop the car when it notices low voltage in the reciever pack, it will be the same thing as loss of signal so it will stop your car anyway when your rx battery gets low it almost always have the power to move the throttle to the preset position, its just that it dosnt have enough power to communicate with the transmitter so it goes into loss of signal mode and stops the car. Unless In some very strange case your rx batterys all of a sudden go completly dead (or they fall out), or you start the car at wot with a completly dead rx pack.

I wanted to put a TRS on my nitros but I use cheapo s3003 sevos for throttle and they dont have the power to move the linkages and pull a TRS, atleast quickly.

Yes...But if your running a $800+ nitro powered car you should NEVER get yourself into a situation where your RX pack gets low in voltage. This should be something that is always checked. My RX packs always get charged the night before a race day and then repeaked before the mains even if they do not need it. It's just a wise thing to do. Also if your going to spend the money on a nitro car you really should invest in some good coreless servos. TRS's can pull those back easily and have plenty of torque and speed for any kind of car you want to put them in.

[ayk_driver]

well i no to check that...

DOES N E ONE HAVE INFO ON THE OFNA FAILSAFE? IF NOT THEN DONT REPLY PLZ!!!

[Tabushi]

Im using my Ofna Failsafe for about 4 months and there is a corner of my track that always cause glitches and i can note that my car if i take the curve too open tends to apply brakes, so the FS its working ...

cya

[Razoo]

I use the OFNA failsafe in all 3 of my vehicles. It cost about $20.00 and works great. My track won't let you race without one. I'm not sure what your question is, but I highly recommend you get one.