Tongde Matilda elevation and recoil servo not working [solved]

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I have run the Tongde Matilda a bit. The low speed control is fine, something I should like to have on all WWII AFVs. At first everything functioned well. Unfortunately, after a short time, the cannon elevation and recoil stopped functioning.
I have since
1) done a factory reset
2) checked all the other functions
3) checked all connections to the Tongde 3.0 board to make sure they are secure and correctly placed
I have not dug into the turret to see if both the recoil and elevation connections are secure on that end, but they seem to resist any gentle tug on the wire. The cannon recoil is on CH1 and elevation on CH2, and I wonder if these connectors are somehow failing on the board. I will test a bit more, but am ready to contact the seller (from which firm I have had good service) to ask for advice as a lead-in to asking for a new Tongde 3.0 board. Stay tuned...

[ColemanCollector]

Oh, oh! Fingers crossed it's just some connectors that loosened in transit.

Mike.

[PainlessWolf]

HerrDr.Professor,
Let us know what you find out, please. The Elevation on the Crusader stopped working ( even though it still dips on its own when the tank is started ). I checked everything including taking the Servo apart and checking the gears movement. The only oddity is the Servos micro Board gets very hot when the Tank is on and the Elevation is tried, so I think that the Servo just packed it in. I have yet to find that exact type of Servo for replacement, either from Toucan or anywhere else.
regards,
Painless

'Lord Save Us from Beasties and Cheap Chinese Electronics that go 'BOOM' in the Night....'

[Kaczor]

In my experience, cheap servos could be failing. Try connecting a separate servo to the appropriate ports.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Yep, that's right in this case, too: "even though it still dips on its own when the tank is started" Uh-oh! I will be using my servo tester and checking micro-servos from the board a.s.a.p. I am trying to figure out if its the servos or the board.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning Gentlemen,
I bought some new small metal gear Servos to test with and they use a standard flat plug connector and there are open ports for that on the main MFU in the Crusader. Of course, the Elevation Servo plugs into the Daughter Board in the Turret and uses an older style of 3 pin Plug-in. I'll try the original Servo using my Tester to see if it is still capable of full range of movement. If so, that points to the Daughter Board. Something else that I have been unable to source as it does not correspond to the Boards in other Users Crusaders. Otherwise the newer type of Daughter Board is available at Motion RC. Something to check to see if a new Elevation Servo can be run off of the main MFU using another switch on the Radio.
regards,
Painless

[SoCalBobS]

Confused; are we talking Crusader or Matilda?

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning,
Both Tanks, my Crusader and Herr Dr. Professors Matilda have the same issue with Elevation Servos and\or Board Ports. I jumped in because the Manufacturers may have used similar parts or boards. Just treating it as a general fault.
regards,
Painless

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I had fun today. Because neither the recoil nor the elevation on my new Matilda would work (see above), I continued testing.

1) I tested the servo tester on a known working servo---all fine
2) Using the servo tester, I tested CH1 the recoil servo as it is to function in the Matilda---no action
3) Using the servo tester, I tested CH2 the elevation servo as it is to function in the Matilda---no action
4) Using the known functioning spare servo installed in CH1, and using the transmitter, I tested the recoil function---no action
5) Using the known functioning spare servo installed in CH2, and using the transmitter, I tested the elevation function---no action
6) I checked the servo connector orientation of CH1 and CH2---correctly oriented




7) Rereading the instructions yet again (with a new tank, I read instructions first of all and keep them on hand as I try each function), I discovered that the "V" button and the "B" button used simultaneously constitute the "Tanks/Infantry Vehicle function switch." Could it be that simultaneously pushing the "V" button and the "B" button toggle the transmitter between the functions for either a tank (e.g. the Matilda) or an "Infantry Vehicle" (e.g. the M113)?

Could those good-for-nothing-hammer-headed-pukes who write instructions be organized, thorough, and clear--just once, maybe, pleeeeease!

So if you simultaneously hit the "V" (Volume) button on the face of the transmitter and the "B" (cannon firing) button atop the right side of the transmitter, you will switch your Matilda so its elevation and recoil do not work. (Replace "Matilda" with another Tongde AFV using a Tongde V3 transmitter).

[Stormbringer]

So you got it working then mate ?